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Call Queueing

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Consumer Opinion Services

What is Call Queueing?

Call queueing is the process wherein if customers call a contact center and all their agents are busy, they are lined up in a call queue where they wait until they are routed to an available agent. Contact centers aim to reduce or eliminate the average time in queues as customers do not like to be kept waiting and want to be connected to an agent as soon as possible. 

“Average Time in Queue” is an important KPI (key performance indicator) in call centers and is a good indicator of whether or not your call center is providing callers with good service.

Call Queueing1

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Causes of Long Calling Queues

There are many reasons for long call queues, and these are important ones

Insufficient Agents

Understaffing is one of the main reasons for long call queues as there aren’t enough agents to answer all the calls coming into the call center. In this case, a call center will need to hire additional representatives to match the high volume of calls.

Outdated Technology

Outdated call center software and technology can significantly curb agent efficiency, increasing handle time and queue time. Good contact centers must employ updated technology, such as predictive dialers, to help them work more efficiently and automate repetitive and mundane tasks.

Peak Seasons

Some businesses can experience a spike in callers due to seasonality or certain promotional activities. If this increase in calls is not appropriately handled, caller experience ratings can fall.

Long Average Handle Time (AHT)

Long call handle times lower the potential frequency of calls handled in a specific time frame. Hence, the call queue will keep building when calls are long, keeping more customers waiting for longer.

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Strategies to manage Contact Center Queues

These are some strategies to reduce average time in the call queue and improve customer experience (CX) in the process:

Add the option of call-back queues

By providing callers with the opportunity to get a call back when agents are available, customers can avoid waiting on call while still holding their spot in the queue.

Set maximum queue sizes and wait time restrictions

Contact centers should limit wait time as customers who stay for really long on-call will be very unhappy with the service. Instead, contact centers must send customers to voicemail, IVR, or direct them to another channel when the maximum wait time is reached.

Use workforce management to ensure that your contact center is adequately staffed.

A long call queue is often caused by understaffing and hence is a workforce management problem. It is crucial, in this case, for call centers to objectively decide how many more agents they may require to meet the call frequency and then hire them.

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Switch to Voxco Telephony System to improve your Call Center Productivity by 400% or more 

Voxco CATI

Powerful phone survey software with advanced telephony features for contact centers of call centers of all sizes

Voxco IVR

Automated interactive voice response survey software with auto call detector, advanced call routing system & manual TCPA compliance.

Voxco Dialer

Power, Predictive, Preview and Hybrid modes. Tailor your dialling method to each project.

Survey organizations around the world have maximized their phone survey ROI with the advanced features, hosting options, seamless telephony integration, and flexible pricing of our CATI software.

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What Contact Center features can improve call queueing management?

Long call queues can reduce the productivity of your contact center or call center, which leads to frustrated agents and unhappy clients. To solve customer queries quickly, your contact center software should have these features:

Workforce Management Software

Workforce Management Software allows supervisors to schedule the agent workload by using the available historical data. Call Center Scheduling Software allows contact centers to function smoothly with a high number of incoming calls by ensuring enough agents are present online to solve customer queries. By reducing the amount of time spent in the queue, you can improve call center productivity by improving customer experience.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

An IVR System provides advanced call routing capabilities along with an option to self serve. A pre-recorded audio message can be used to greet the incoming customers, entertain when put on hold, and collect crucial information before routing to the correct agent. 

A detailed IVR Survey Software aids contact center agents by reducing the number of calls, providing customer information in advance, and informing customers about the queue information. 

Cloud Dialer - Skill-Based Routing

Cloud Dialer can improve call queue management by using skill-based routing which forwards the call to the agent based on agent call history. This reduces the average call time and speeds up the query resolution process. 

Voxco’s Cloud dialer has a hybrid dialing mode which makes it possible to blend incoming with outgoing calls. Thus, inbound calls can be routed to agents while they’re handling outbound calls simultaneously.

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Why Voxco for Call Queueing Management?

In the last 45 years, Voxco has helped hundreds of companies with phone survey centers transition to a better and more flexible solution.

Powerful Telephony Features

With Voxco CATI survey software, you can efficiently manage call queueing with powerful features like IVR, in-call routing, call blending, flexible quota creation, and many more.

With such features, you can significantly improve your hourly talk times - as high as 52 mins - and overall project and call efficiency.

Cloud Dialer

Combined with the Voxco dialer software, you can create a phone survey system that would guarantee efficient call queueing management and ensure unparalleled productivity.

Integrated System

Voxco system can be integrated with any other system of your choice for better performance and data sharing.

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FAQs on Call Queueing

What tools can be used to reduce the average time in the queue?

Answer: Tools such as predictive dialers and IVR (interactive voice response) can improve the quality of service provided by agents and significantly drop Average Handle Time (AHT). This will increase the frequency of calls a contact center will tend to, decreasing the average time in the queue.

How can you decrease the abandonment rate in a call center?

Answer: When callers are kept in a call queue for too long, they may abandon the call before they can even be routed to an agent. To decrease the abandonment rate, call centers must implement strategies to reduce the average time in the queue.

What are virtual queues?

 Answer: A virtual queue system places customers in a virtual waiting queue instead of a physical line. In virtual queues, customers can wait remotely and are not confined to a waiting area. Customers even can opt for a call back to avoid waiting for an agent to get online.

What is the purpose of call queueing?

Answer: Call queueing prevents callers from being turned away in case of insufficient staffing in a call center. Many more calls can be taken by allowing customers to wait in line and routing them to agents as soon as they are available.

How can a call queueing system benefit a business.

Answer: These are a few ways in which a call queueing system can benefit a business:

  • Reduce the frequency of missed calls.
  • Manage a large volume of calls even with limited staff.
  • Reduce the negative image of having a busy signal.
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