PBX Features: Virtual Call Centers and TeleHK's call Queuing

Virtual offices and virtual call centers

Because we can send calls to any phone in any locations, the TeleHK's Virtual PBX system allows you to set up call centers with distributed workers. Hardware-based PBX systems usually require all employees to be in a central business office. With TeleHK's Virtual PBX, call center agents can work from a main office or branch offices. They can set up home offices and still be a part of the call center. They can even log in while they are traveling and receive calls as though they were still in the office.

When your employees can work from anywhere, you have the freedom to set up your company any way that makes sense. Keep your agents together in an office most of the time, while facilitating travel or telecommuting, or set up a virtual office, with employees scattered across town or around the globe. Make your phone system adjust to your business needs, instead of the other way around.

Calls queuing

ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) queues are used when callers may know what they want but not who they want. Typically, these callers will want to be connected with a department, such as sales or support. Without ACD queuing, callers must know the extension number of the person with whom they want to speak. With ACD, employees (agents) log into a queue group so they can answer calls for a specific department. Incoming calls are routed into the appropriate queue, and the calls are distributed to the agents logged into that queue. ACD queuing is a critical business function, especially for call centers, and needs to be as robust and feature-rich as possible to allow the maximum flexibility for your company. Many suppliers simply route calls to a list of names (a hunt group) and call it ACD queuing—leaving customers with incomplete and frustrating systems. TeleHK's Virtual PBX offers the most sophisticated ACD capability of any hosted system, through our calls query technology, which offers a whole list of advanced features, such as:

• Self-managed agent presence
• Protected queues
• Custom on-hold information
• Real-time monitoring
• Queue logs

Self-managed agent presence

Managing ACD queues can be complex and time consuming for administrators. With most systems, administrators must keep track of who is working, when employees go on breaks, when someone comes in late, etc. TeleHK's Calls queuing allows employees to log themselves in and out of queues, and the system dynamically and automatically adjusts call routing appropriately. Administrators never have to be involved in the process. Management can monitor queue and employee activity, in real time, but they don't have to re-configure the system with every employee change.

Protected queues

A TeleHK's Virtual PBX system allows callers with the proper password to be allowed to enter the ACD queue. For example, your company can maintain "standard" and "high-priority" ACDQ queues for your sales team. Every caller would have access to the standard priority ACDQ queue. Your most exclusive clients could be given a pre-determined password that would connect them to an ACD queue supported by your best sales agents.

Information or music on hold

ACD queues are used by many businesses as a way to keep up with a large number of incoming calls using a limited number of employees. The highest business efficiency comes when there are always calls waiting to be answered—as long as they aren't waiting too long. TeleHK's Virtual PBX gives you the option to play music from a broad selection of styles while callers wait, or to play a custom informational or promotional message. The music and message can be different from queue to queue and you get wide flexibility in when to use the recordings.

Real-time monitoring

Effective management of a call center often means knowing what is happening all the time. How many callers are waiting? How long is the wait time? How many employees are actively answering calls for each queue? These questions and more can be answered in real-time through our sophisticated queue monitoring tools. Part of our browser-based management suite, these tools allow managers to see exactly what is happening from any computer with internet access. Whether employees are located in the same facility as the manager or telecommute from home offices, management can monitor activity levels and ensure that calls are being taken in an efficient manner.

By monitoring call activity, managers can move assets from one ACD queue to another as needed, or know when they need to get extra help. Real-time queue monitoring will improve your business response and efficiency. Most virtual phone solutions don't offer it. Get it all from TeleHK's Virtual PBX.

Queue logs

In addition to knowing what is going on at any given moment, which TeleHK's Virtual PBX provides with real-time monitoring, it is often useful to know what has happened in the past. We provide our customers with queue logs, so they can see when agents logged in and out of queues, how many callers were waiting at any time, and other important management data. This queue history will help your organization improve customer service and staff your organization appropriate to need.