Skill based Routing: How Contact Centers Can Benefit From It?

We are always advised to make a good first impression. The same applies to all the contact centers as well. Not being connected to the right agent is a frustrating ordeal. Contact center owners are aware of how this reflects poorly on them in terms of time and revenue. Therefore, skill based routing is a must-have technology in a contact center.

Skill based routing is an automated technique by which the customer is always directed to the agent who is capable of resolving their problems. It is not limited to just voice channels, but is a feature that can be extended to other digital channels as well.

 

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Skill based routing is a robust feature that should be available for any omnichannel-positive contact center solution. From efficient queue management to enhanced first call resolution score, it can reap various benefits for your business.

 

Traditionally, the telephony system in place will just direct the customer to the next available agent. However, it wasn’t always ideal as customers also got connected to the wrong departments or under-equipped agents.

The skill based routing system will ask the caller to choose a category or a series of categories to identify their problem and preference. With all the gathered information at hand, the technology will now find the most suitable agent for the task and connect them with the customer. This facility is not exclusive to voice channels but can be integrated with any digital touchpoint.

For example, John Doe wants to stop his debit card service. He goes to the company website and taps on the Live Chat option. On the chatbox, he is prompted with different categories and chooses the one that will lead him to his solution. Once chosen, the Live Chat will automatically bring in an agent who will cancel his debit card service and close the ticket.

 

Benefits of skill based routing in a contact center.

For being such a simple feature, skill based routing brings a lot of benefits to the contact center. Given below is an elaborate list of benefits.

 

Business channels are always busy with customers pouring in at every moment. Eventually, the queue grows giving rise to a higher waiting time to each adding customers. Amidst all this, if any customer is being transferred from one agent to another because the former wasn’t equipped enough, I am afraid it adds up to poor customer service.

Skill based routing will ensure that such nuisances do not occur to spoil the quality of your service. It ensures that customers are distributed across the right agents and the queue is always moving forward without any hold-up.

 

Customers hate it when their problems aren’t resolved at once and the issue has dragged on. With skill based routing, they are usually connected to the right agent at the first attempt. This creates a higher chance of the customer’s problems being resolved at the very first interaction.

The industry standard for a good FCR is 70-75%. First contact resolution metrics when improved, generate strong customer loyalty and retains them for more.

 

Skill based routing definitely enhances the operational efficiency at a contact center. By connecting the right agent, it saves a lot of time and effort that could have been lost otherwise. It also ensures that agents aren’t sitting idle or wasting time on tasks that is not meant for them to do. With this feature, they dedicate their effort to the task they are capable of and increasing their productivity.

 

Apart from FCR, skill based routing has impact on another contact center metric i.e. AHT. Average handling time is the amount of time taken by the agent to complete a customer interaction. Connecting to the most suited agents ensures that no time is wasted. The agent who is experienced and familiar with the issue can swiftly resolve the problem and free up their channels for the next customer.

 

No customer likes to wait or shift through agents while they are the ones paying for a service or product. Customers find it absolutely useless and unwanted to go through such hassles to get their issues resolved. Poor customer experience will always lead to churn and eventually add an advantage to your competitors. However, thanks to skill-based routing, customers will get their issues quickly resolved by well-dependable agents, generating a great impression of your brand.

 

While the traditional manner of skill based routing is pre-baked into the IVR and call campaigns, the future is becoming more dynamic. With AI based smart routing, the caller can be paired to the right agent based on caller accent, tone or even sentiment and the CSAT score of the agent for similar skill.

This will lead to faster resolution and creating happier customer at the other end.

 

Skill-based routing is an essential feature for any contact center software to have. C-Zentrix’s contact center software with omnichannel integration ensures that customers are routed to the right agent based on their conversational history and preference. This makes skill-based routing easier and personalised for better customer experience. If you want to learn more about this feature, talk to our experts.