Integrating all communication lines of a business is never easy. My company has 3 offices across the country. Our communication lacks the type of integration that large companies have. After a quick meeting with our administrators, we decided to choose a VoIP service.
There are a few advantages to this. All communication is made online, even phone communication. This gives us the advantage of archiving conversations with customers. It allows us to improve customer service communication with real feedback.
At the same time, we will implement a free local toll-free number. We can be on the phone with our customers as soon as they need help. As a company, we will only gain in transparency if we decide to communicate with our customers over the phone instead of delaying their problems with an e-mail chat system.
This system also allows us to have music-on-hold. We have 10 customer support people in all 3 company locations. But even our 30 employees get busy at times. We aim to take all calls within 1 minute. However, we want to have either a recorded message or music playing during this minute.
Nextiva is the service we decide for. It has plenty of features and its inexpensive to implement. The service also offers unlimited calling which then allows our customer support employees to thoroughly discuss any issues our clients might have.
Nextiva Features
Toll-Free Numbers and Local Numbers
With a growing team, we are going to expand internationally in 2 locations. Our company already has 3 locations inside the US and having a toll free number is very important.
Local numbers also go a long way in terms of marketing. We advertise on billboards and local numbers are easy to remember and quick to dial on the phone.
Now, these numbers might be new for some companies. If you are thinking about changing your numbers from your current number to a toll-free number or a local number, you need to know that this service is offered for free.
The company offers free phone number changes and your old phone number can redirect to your new toll-free number. For large companies, changing a phone number is a complex task. But this is automated and it can even be done from the service’s official app.
Unlimited Calling
Unlimited calling is offered for all those who joint the company on any of its 3 plans. Our administrators were happy that the time on the phone with our customers can be slightly higher because of this.
Instead of worrying about the rise of international and national costs, most users can have quick access to all the explanations from our customer support team. Here’s our structure.
Level 1 support is offered online by a ticket’s system. Mainly used to answer matters which are not urgent, it is the simplest solution to resolve non-urgent matters. When this is not possible, we escalate to Level 2 customer support for urgent matters with our products.
Our Level 2 teams discuss the issues over the phone. Resolving a technical issue can take up to 10 minutes, depending on what the problem is. As a result, there are a few benefits to having such a communication system implemented for use. In time, our company plans to move the entire support team to over-the-phone communication.
Nextiva App
Most features offered by the company can simply be controlled from the app. If you’re worried about being away from the computer, you can still change a few things about your communication straight from the phone.
For example, if you want to change your hold music, you will only have to enter the app and make the change. However, advanced features such as user analytics are limited on the app version and you’ll need to log in from a computer to view the data.
Call Recording
Call recording has been voted as a must-have in our company. Most of those who voted for it said it could be a good tool to check how our employees treat customers. We also decided to have a pre-recorded message which announces customers the call is going to be recorded.
We discussed this particular feature with other companies from abroad and they encouraged my company to implement it. Recorded calls prevented one lawsuit for the company which advised us to sign the deal. A false claim was made by a customer but the recordings stood as evidence in front of lawyers and the case never got before a judge.
Customer Database Analytics
Another interesting feature of the service is the customer database analytics tools. With a few clicks, we know who’s calling, where our customers are calling from, how much time they spend on the phone and if they call back.
As I see it, the table which tells use which customers called back is the main indicator of the helpfulness of our customer support team. It’s important to find the best solutions for 100% troubleshooting success. We’ve estimated that about 6% of the customers are going to call back. We hope to keep the percentage as low as possible.
Team Performance Analytics
Another indicator which is seen under our company’s profile is team performance analytics. Each customer support member has a designated online profile. Troubleshooting success needs to be nearly at the maximum level for each one of our employees.
Their performance is going to be analyzed weekly even without this tool. However, it may be difficult to analyze employee performance during the busy months of the year. This toll highlights the employees which we need to train further for better results.
Price
Pricing varies according to the features you need. Call recording and official app support are only included in the expensive Enterprise pack.
The Basic pack includes free local and tool-free numbers as well as the hold music feature. Here are the pricing plans per user in the 3 packs you can choose from.
If you plan to have multiple users, you need to add up these monthly plans. You can also differentiate the plans per user as not every team member needs to have access to the ultimate plan.
Pros
Cons
Final Verdict
The software makes calling automatic and manageable. Instead of depending on a phone company to manage all calls professionally, it allows any business to handle its communication network.
If you want to automate all communication channels, you can benefit from signing up as well. You can even create contacts and send a welcome email online, without having to discuss with customers on the phone.
I think it’s a solution which also saves time. If you’d like the service implemented in your company, you can request a demo. For a limited number of days, you can test the service internally to see its real potential. You can do this by calling the company or discussing it with them online.
