Monetize Excess Call Center Capacity with Call Blending

Most contact centers handle a combination of inbound and outbound calls. The ratio of inbound to outbound calls may vary widely from case to case, but a couple of factors remain constant:

1. The volume and distribution of inbound calls over time is unpredictable. However, the volume and distribution of outbound calls is predictable and controllable.
2. Inbound calls tend to take priority over outbound calls. That makes sense, as organizations are normally more comfortable responding to inbound customer contact than making outbound calls.

Predictions and probabilities

In order to address the first point above, companies like Mitel have developed workforce management (WFM) solutions. These systems go a long way to solving the unpredictability of inbound call traffic by using advanced probabilistic and statistical algorithms to predict future call volume fluctuations and allow contact centers to plan ahead.

However, like most systems based on probability and particularly those that try to anticipate human behaviours, these algorithms will not predict these fluctuations with complete consistency and accuracy.

Using spare capacity

If your contact center has strict service level agreements for inbound queue length and wait times, you may overstaff your inbound workforce as an insurance policy. That means that much of your agents’ time could be spare capacity on the inbound side of your contact center. In order to avoid wasting expensive human resources, it’s common practice to fill any inbound “dead air” time with other types of work. One of the most common types of “filler” work is outbound calling.

Using downtime between inbound calls for outbound activities is called call blending. In a very simplified way, it works by setting a parameter X which represents the maximum number of calls allowed to sit waiting in an inbound queue. When the length of queue drops below X, the call blending software will start sending dialer-made outbound calls to “blended” agents. And when the queue length exceeds X, the call blending software cuts down the number of outbound calls.

Real-world functionality

Call blending is a great tool, but some vendors’ call blending solutions fail to live up to expectations. and this is where Mitel MiContact Center Outbound call blending technology can offer a clear advantage. Built over many years of live experience, our call blending technology has evolved from the ground up to serve real customer needs with a minimum of fuss. Combine our outbound solution with the appropriate training can deliver the ultimate in contact center effectiveness to drive increased revenue at reduced cost.

For more information on how you can do more with less, including demo videos, visit our MiContact Center Outbound page.