Customer service is the core of any business because of course, there is no business without customers. The companies that thrive are the ones that come up with creative ways to enhance the customer experience and market their products. No matter what type of business you run, your goal should be to make consumers feel like you care about them and not merely their business.

Due to how expensive it is to run a call center, many small businesses are turning to call center software to better serve patrons. With new contact center tech, companies can have their own remote customer support team taking inbound calls, making outbound calls, and providing online support. Continue reading to learn some of the many ways helpline technology can help to enhance your company’s development.

Interactive voice response (IVR) makes it easier for customers to get the solutions they need.

Have you ever made a call to technical support and were bounced around from channel to channel trying to find the right agent? It’s one of the most frustrating things about calling customer support. Leaving customers waiting for answers is one of the best ways to run them right into the longing arms of your competition. However, the quicker you can get consumers to a live agent who can provide them with the solutions they need, the more likely your patrons are to remain loyal to your brand.

With IVR systems, you vastly improve your customer interactions. Rather than pressing numbers that correspond most closely to the reason for an inbound call, IVR prompts consumers to verbally communicate the reason for their call.

Not all IVR systems are created equally. Have you ever communicated via IVR and felt like you had to speak as robotic as the prerecorded respondent to be understood? Bright Pattern’s IVR systems allow you to communicate using natural language without having to use “robot talk.”

The main benefit of IVR software is that it allows customers to speak plainly about their problem and be transferred to the right agent without having to listen to a menu full of options. If you want to cut the length of time of your phone calls, IVR software is one of the best tools you can use. After all, it’s not the talking to customer support that gets under customers’ skin—it’s having to wait to speak to the right agent that’s the real pet peeve.

Live chat and chatbot technology allow you to prompt customers to seek support when they visit your website.

Have you ever uses an online tool like a mortgage or savings goal calculator? You put in some of your information as well as how much you’re looking to spend or save, and the calculator gives you a monthly projection of your payments or savings. It’s a tool that allows customers to serve themselves.

Chatbots are very similar to online calculators in the sense that they enable customers to serve themselves. Chatbots prompt visitors to your website to state the reason for their visit or ask questions for which the chatbot already has answers. Even though chatbots are powered by automation, they’re a bit of a self-service tool for consumers.

Omnichannel technology allows your team members to communicate with customers on various platforms.

Even though customers can often get live support via the internet, most consumers still prefer phone calls over online customer support. There’s something about a human voice guiding you through a tech problem for which there is no substitute.

The great thing about omnichannel software is that it allows customers to begin a customer support interaction online and carry it over to the phone system. The best thing about Bright Pattern’s omnichannel solutions is that customers can continue their support over the phone with the same agent who was helping them via live chat. That means customers don’t have to start their call from the beginning when switching communication channels.

With features like IVR, chatbots, and omnichannel tech, you can cut down wait times and offer customers a plethora of support platforms. Running a successful business is all about enhancing the customer experience, and so is call center technology.