| Agent |
The
person that handles calls in a contact center. Also referred
to as customer service representative.  |
| Business
to business |
Contact
that is primarily to other business. Also known as b2b.
|
| Call
blending |
Combining
the flow of inbound calls and outbound calls with other
contacts such as email or web transactions to an agent.
|
| Call
center |
A
call center is a facility that answers inbound, or places
outbound telephone calls. Call centers, also known as contact
centers or customer care centers, use sophisticated software
to provide a full range of services. |
| Continuity
program |
A
direct response offer involving systematically- scheduled
purchases over time of a set of products or of product replenishments.
|
| CRM |
Acronym
for Customer Relationship Management. Refers to a program
that provides integrated functionality for marketing, sales,
customer support and call center requirements. |
| Cross
selling |
Suggesting
to a direct response customer the purchase of an additional
product or service that may not necessarily relate to the
original product purchased but which represents an attractive
and/or limited time value. |
| Customer
service representative |
An
agent who handles customer calls and contacts including
account inquiries, complaints, or support calls.
|
| Database |
Collection
of data structured and organized for quick and easy access
to information of interest. |
| Data
mining |
The
detection of trends and associations in a set of customer
data. |
| Disposition
reporting |
|
| Next
available agent |
The
practice of routing the first contact in queue to the first
available agent. |
| Outsourcing |
Contracting
with an outside company to handle some or all contacts with
customers. |
| Predictive
dialer |
A
device used to automate outbound calls and direct them to
an agent when a live person answers. Predictive dialing
screens out answering machines, busy signals or operator
intercepts and records the results. |
| Que
time |
The
"waiting time" for delayed calls. A queue holds
the call until an agent is available. |
| Recorded
announcements |
An
announcement heard by callers while waiting in queue. This
announcement may provide information about products or services,
remind callers what information to have ready, or provide
an estimate of wait time or a better time to call back.
|
| Save
the sale |
A
call center function wherein the agent attempts to deal
with a complaint in such a way as to reassure the customer
and avoid the return of the product. |
| Screen
monitoring |
A
monitoring system that allows a supervisor/manager to simultaneously
see an agent's screen activity. |
| Script |
The
written words and logic to be followed in the handling of
a contact. A script is used to assist the agent in maintaining
focus on the content of the contact. |
| Upselling |
Suggesting
to the purchaser of a direct response product that he could
add to his original purchase in some value-enhancing way,
such as with a useful accessory or a deluxe, more fully-featured
model. |
