How to Reduce Wait Times with Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Making your customers wait on call is a conversion killer. Data estimates that 44% of people become annoyed, irritated, or angry— even with a 5–15 minute wait time.

As such, improving customer service with ACD technology has emerged as a prerequisite for businesses. ACD, or an Automatic Call Distribution tool, can route calls to agents intelligently so that your customers don’t have to wait endlessly.

In this guide, we will understand the pain points customers face with regard to quality service and how ACD technology can iron out most of their concerns.

4 Challenges of Customer Service in 2023

– Long Wait Time + Endless Call Transfer + Re-explaining Issue + Longer Issue Resolution Time = Recipe for Disaster

Being on the other side of the phone is difficult for customers—particularly ones who might already be disgruntled with a company’s product/services.

Here are some of the most pressing concerns for customer service:

• Customers have to wait on call for extended periods of time: It’s a known fact that customers hate waiting of any kind. For 56% of people, long wait times are the number one factor for poor customer service. The longer the wait time, the higher their frustration.
• Callers have to explain the same issue to different agents: Another pain point that has emerged is customers having to explain the same issue to varying agents again and again. These agents often do not have the context of the issue and need a quick recap of sorts, which can be extra (read: unnecessary) effort for customers.
• Callers are bounced around to multiple agents: The inability to reach real agents quickly is a major issue for about 70% of respondents. And who can blame them? Switching agents and departments can eat into the customer’s valuable time—never a good sign.
• Callers want the issue to be resolved within the first attempt: Seamless support is the name of the game, yet most customers complain of fragmented interactions. This means customers often have to tackle disjointed conversations where the problem doesn’t get solved, even after multiple calls.

The thing about customer calls is that all the issues are interrelated. If the experience is poor, 71% of customers will switch brands.

In all these crippling scenarios, automation can turn out to be the superpower brands need. Enter Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) technology.

How Optimizing Call Center Operations With ACD Actually Works

Want efficient call routing for reduced wait times? Don’t want customers to wait on hold endlessly? Want to supercharge your call center efficiency and productivity?

No matter what your end goals are, you can leverage ACD to optimize your call center operations.

An ACD system ensures that your customers receive impeccable service from the right agent at the right time. This technology can:

• Distribute inbound calls across teams.
• Diffuse the call load during peak hours.

The secret to an ACD system’s efficiency lies in its power-packed value-add features such as:

• IVR: Callers can be guided to the right resources/departments with customized ‘smart’ IVR menus. Agents can design custom IVR menus to resolve customer issues in the first attempt itself.
• Intelligent call routing: The tool can intelligently route calls to idle/available agents and get VIP clients connected to their suitable agents within seconds. If you want to impress your customers, intelligent call routing is a surefire way to boost the customer satisfaction rate.
• Call queues: During the call wait time, the call center agents can play personalized music or use a custom message to make the process of waiting more pleasant. This feature allows you to easily line up client calls and connect them with the next available agent as soon as possible.
• Queue callback: You can say goodbye to letting your customers wait on call with the queue callback feature. Customers can request a callback option if all the agents are busy. This will lower your chances of call abandonment and boost customer retention.
• Call analytics: Agents can access a detailed overview of all the outgoing calls, allowing them to make more data-informed decisions.

In the current business landscape, 57% of customers are willing to interact with AI-powered solutions if the hold time is less than five minutes. On the business side of things, companies can benefit from reduced costs when using a mix of human agents and automation to deliver an exceptional customer experience. Investing in an ACD tool has benefits for all the stakeholders within the company—be it the end customers, the CX agents, or the brand itself!

ACD Technology is the Key to Streamlined Call Routing

Minimizing wait times using Automatic Call Distribution is a sound decision, particularly if your organization is scaling operations. On the one hand, your customers won’t have to waste time waiting for their queries to be addressed. Plus, your call center agent will be able to boost its productivity as the team’s focus won’t be on repetitive admin tasks but on what matters the most for the business: your customers.

One such tool that you can leverage is JustCall’s Automatic Call Distribution functionality. This feature seamlessly integrates with your existing CRM and helpdesk tools. The idea is to keep all your customer conversations connected, updated, and synced 24×7.

The writing is on the wall: The opportunity to capitalize on call center automation is now, with 80% of consumers willing to converse with a machine to avoid long hold times! Needless to say, AI-based call center solutions are the future, and the future is here.