Every day, the entire VirtualPBX team makes use of the same tools it offers its customers. We handle calls with our Business Phone System, and with the release of our Advanced Call Reports tool, we can analyze all our inbound and outbound traffic.
Our director of operations, Jeff Weinstein, uses Advanced Call Reports more than any other VirtualPBX staff member. He’s charged with making sure our customer support operations move smoothly, so he turns to Advanced Call Reports to make sure the Support team is providing the best service possible for our customers.
Today’s blog offers a brief look into Jeff’s personal workflow and the benefits he gains from our latest online tool.
Can You Provide an Example of How Advanced Call Reports Helps You Manage the Support Team?
“Advanced Call Reports provides me with a full history of inbound calls the Support team takes.
“We use ACD Queues to route calls to multiple members of the team. Each member is listed as an agent in a queue, and with Advanced Call Reports I can see how often any agent is listed as Ready, Away, or other status in that queue. Basically, my reports show whether or not individuals are answering calls.
“One day I was looking at my daily report and saw that one of our agents was getting all the calls. The rest of the team was Ready, but they were also idle because one of them was completing most of the work.
“What I found in Reports was that the queue wasn’t functioning properly. It was set to the Least Idle routing configuration instead of Round Robin. If I hadn’t noticed this in my report, the one agent would have kept receiving more calls than the rest.
“This is a great example of how one tool can help spot problems you wouldn’t expect. I thought the queue was configured correctly, and the data from the Advanced Call Reports tool might have been interpreted in a way that showed one agent working hard while the others were slacking. A few minutes of investigation, though, let me discover the real problem and get it straightened out.”
How Do Your Call Reports Directly Impact the Team
“My previous example helped me switch the routing setup so calls were distributed more evenly across agents. There’s always a connection between report data, my actions, and the Support Team members; sometimes it can be even more direct than the issue we encountered with the routing configuration.
“By looking at an agent’s status, I can get a glimpse into their work day. I can see, in a manner of speaking, whether or not they’re sitting around doing nothing.
“Instead of jumping to that conclusion, I like to ask agents how their days are going. I might find out that their equipment hasn’t been working well or that they’re working through an illness.
“The factual data within the Advanced Call Reports tool is great to have, but it doesn’t always tell the full story. When I ask agents about their work days, I can get a more complete picture.”
What Reports and Filters Do You Use the Most?
“Filters help you clean up the data in your reports. I often stick to two major ACD Queue reports and then use filters that sort by individual agent or time of day. That way, I can show fine-grained information about a single person or look at calls related to a specific shift.
“The filters for individual agents help me have more informed conversations with people in the department. I like to know how everyone is handling their calls and whether or not the status quo is best for the team and for our customers. Highly specific reports like these help us tweak things from day to day.
“If I look at a specific shift or look at days’ worth of data, I can make better decisions for the department as a whole. For instance, I might see across multiple reports that the past few weeks have shown a high call volume in the afternoon but that we’re not staffed to handle the load. When I create new schedules for the upcoming weeks, this data will show me where I can best place another staff member.
“I look at different reports to manage the team on a day-to-day basis. The overall goal stays the same: Providing excellent customer service.”
Do You Prefer the Advanced Call Reports Interface, or Do You Receive Reports by Email Most Often?
“I like both of them for different reasons.
“I have reports that come to me every morning. These help me see what happened as an overview of the previous day of work. It also lets me see how many calls were taken when I wasn’t present. Our support services handle calls 24 hours a day; these reports give me insight about the hours I’m off the clock.
“Inside Advanced Call Reports, I can easily find more specific information as needed. If there’s an issue with our Tier 1 support level, I can jump into Reports and immediately see what’s going on.”
What’s Your Overall Impression of Advanced Call Reports?
“With this reporting system, everything is there for you. The Advanced Call Reports tool opens up a whole new world of information that you can use in any way you prefer.
“You don’t have to ask Engineering, for example, ‘What happened with this call?’ just to get the details about how a specific issue was handled. Reports show me who answered a call, when the call was taken, if it was transferred, and loads of other information. I know where to start when investigating an issue.
“I also like that the reports are downloadable. You can put them into a spreadsheet or a pivot table if you need to. You get to decide what types of information you want and how you want to act on it.”
Explore the Advanced Call Reports Tool
Jeff’s use of our Advanced Call Reports tool is just one example of what can be achieved by applying raw data to the functions of a business.
He leads by example in showing that different types of reports can lead to improved department function. In our case, we’re happy to see improvements in the customer service we provide to all our clients. You can explore Advanced Call Reports for yourself by reading our feature page or setting up a Free Demo of our phone system to see how we can help you achieve your goals.
