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8 Ways to Analyze Your Call Center Data

Posted on by Nadine Sampson

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#74605379 ID#27446420

Integrating advanced call handling features into your call center data analysis toolkit empowers your business with a deeper, more nuanced understanding of both agent performance and customer sentiment. Whether you’re optimizing quality assurance, enhancing agent training, or driving strategic customer engagement, our analytics-focused features—call recording, call detail records, and AI insights—provide a deeper view into customer interactions

In this post, we will outline 8 ways to gather valuable data about the functioning of your contact center so that you can determine ways to improve performance.

Analyze Your Cloud Call Center Data: 8 Methods

Tracking and call center analytics continues to be important as contact centers can use these insights to offer better service, find valuable leads, and increase sales. And once your company has this information, you can identify areas of strength and weakness and then improve your service and increase customer satisfaction. Here are some useful and practical ways to track and collect call center data:

call detail records

1. Watch Your Call Detail Records

Call detail records list down all incoming and outgoing business calls. This means that you can get insights into how many calls your business makes and receives per day. You can identify patterns such as what days in the week or times of the day your business receives the most calls. This information can help your call center prepare for high call traffic periods by having more agents on call during those times.

Additionally, you can use call tracking to identify where your calls are coming from. For example, you can assign different local numbers for different geographical regions or advertising channels. And as calls come into specific numbers, you will be able to determine which location or marketing channel this customer came through. This information will help improve marketing efforts in areas responding well to your services.

2. Track Call Center KPIs

Track call center KPIs to see how your cloud call center is performing. Tracking these KPIs should be the focus of your business as they can help you maintain desirable performance. Six of the most popular contact center KPIs include:

1. First Call Resolution: Measures how often a caller’s query is resolved on the first call itself. This means, no follow-up calls or emails were required.

2. Average Time in Queue: Measures the time callers wait in the queue before being helped. This KPI gives you a good idea of how efficiently your agents respond to customer calls. Track the response time for various channels like live chat, email, or social media.

3. Average Handle Time: Measures the average time spent on handling a call (talk and hold time). A delicate balance must be struck between keeping low handle times and effective customer service. If you cut down on the handling time, you may negatively affect customer service quality.

4. Average Abandonment Rate: Measures how often customers leave or abandon a call. Customers may abandon calls after waiting for too long. Short wait time and easy-to-navigate IVR systems can help reduce the average abandonment rate.

5. Customer Satisfaction or CSAT scores: Tracks how satisfied your customers are with your company. Use surveys, feedback portals, and forums to gather CSAT scores.

6. Response Time: Measures the percentage of calls answered. This helps your team understand the goals and standards set so they can work towards them.

7. Agent Absenteeism: Measures the amount of time agents are not at their desks. Productivity can be impacted by missing agents. Therefore, you must identify this issue and resolve it.

8. Agent Turnover Rate: Measures call center turnover rates so that you can identify reasons why agents leave and how to make them stay.

analyze call center data

3. Unlock Deeper Insights with AI Call Insights

In addition to traditional metrics, our new AI Call Insights suite provides transformative tools to analyze your call center data. With advanced features like Call Summaries, Call Transcripts, and Sentiment Analysis, you can automatically distill lengthy conversations into actionable insights.

  • Call Summaries: Quickly review key points of every call without listening to the full recording. This helps managers identify recurring issues and successful strategies at a glance.
  • Call Transcripts: Automatically generated transcripts offer a searchable text of every conversation. Use these call transcripts to identify common customer queries, agent responses, and potential training gaps.
  • Sentiment Analysis: Understand the emotional tone behind customer interactions. This feature categorizes calls on a five-degree sentiment scale, allowing you to pinpoint both positive feedback and areas needing immediate attention.

Integrating these AI-powered tools with your existing call detail records and KPIs gives you a comprehensive view of call performance and customer sentiment, helping you improve agent training and boost overall satisfaction.

4. Study Customer Preferences

It’s no secret: good customer service leads to good sales. In order to offer better customer service, you need to understand your customers and their preferences. This is where it is important to listen to what your customers need, pay attention to and understand their emotions, study their preferences, and so on.

Likewise, adopt and empathetic active listening, ask for their opinion, and offer service that complements their preferences and expectations. For instance, some customers may prefer email or live chat over phone conversations. Having email and live chat as alternative communication methods can help satisfy these customers.

5. Enhance Quality Assurance

Quality assurance (QA) is critical in any call center environment, and our Call Recording and AI Call Insights features elevate QA practices by automating the analysis of calls. Instead of manually reviewing hours of recorded calls, managers can rely on AI-generated call summaries and transcripts to quickly assess agent performance. Here are some ways to use these features to analyze call data:

  • Faster Feedback Loops: Use AI insights to identify strengths and areas for improvement, enabling timely coaching sessions.
  • Data-Driven Decisions: Combine sentiment analysis with traditional QA methods to create a more objective measure of customer satisfaction.
  • Continuous Improvement: Regularly analyze trends in call data to refine scripts, update training materials, and implement changes that drive better service outcomes.
  • Training Sessions: Review recorded calls to train agents on appropriate and inappropriate behaviors.

This powerful combination of technology and traditional QA methods ensures that your team is consistently delivering high-quality customer interactions. By prioritizing call center QA, you are not only monitoring agent performance and employee-customer interactions but also improving your overall client relations.

6. Key into EX Metrics

EX refers to employee experience and this is one of the call center analytics that does not get talked about enough. While businesses focus on improving the experience for customers, not many focus efforts on creating a good and healthy work environment for employees. EX metrics are important to measure since low EX rates can lead to more attrition and agent turnover, which in turn will cost your company more.

Some ways to improve EX and reduce turnover rates include:

  • Training new agents and offering refresher training for current agents on a regular basis
  • Equipping employees and agents with the right cloud call center tools to do their jobs effectively
  • Making sure management is approachable
  • Offering incentives for good and successful results
  • Helping employees maintain a good work-life balance
  • Keeping remote working as an option
  • Asking for feedback from employees

7. Collect Customer Feedback through Surveys

Lastly, another piece of call center data is collecting customer feedback. Feedback can help you identify how customers view your service and what they need from you. And you can use this information to make your service better and improve customer satisfaction.

8. Actionable Insights for Customer-Centric Strategies

Beyond operational metrics, understanding customer emotions is key to driving strategic change. With our AI Call Insights platform, you can turn raw data into actionable strategies that enhance customer service.

  • Identify Patterns and Trends: Use call transcripts and sentiment scores to discover what customers value most and where service gaps exist.
  • Personalize Customer Engagement: Tailor follow-up actions based on recordings and issues detected during calls. For example, escalate calls with negative sentiment to customer care managers for immediate resolution.
  • Measure Campaign Effectiveness: Analyze post-call sentiments to assess the impact of new initiatives, promotions, or service changes. This helps in refining marketing strategies and customer outreach efforts.

By leveraging AI-powered analytics, you not only optimize daily operations but also craft long-term strategies that enhance customer loyalty and boost overall business performance.

Use Call Center Analytics to Reach More Customers

Call analytics and virtual call center software can help your business attract new customers across the world as well as increase the retention of current customers. Set high standards and track metrics to ensure your teams maintain those standards, and watch your business grow locally and internationally.

Want to see these features in action? Book a demo today or chat with our experts to learn more!

Call Analytics: What Are They and How to Use Them?

Posted on by Miguel Isabal

Many businesses are drowning in phone call data, yet struggle to extract actionable insights from every conversation. Without clear, immediate understanding of call outcomes, critical details slip through the cracks—resulting in missed sales opportunities, ineffective customer service, wasted resources, and reduced ROI. This gap in understanding not only hampers effective marketing and customer service strategies but also leaves valuable opportunities unrecognized, affecting overall business performance.

To execute smart marketing, sales, and support strategies that will increase your business’ visibility and awareness, your business needs to know what exactly your target audience wants and how to best appeal to them. And one of the ways that they can study this is through call analytics.

Let’s look at how call analytics work, different features and solutions teams can use to analyze call data, and why your business needs to invest in these tools.

 

Why Call Analytics is Necessary for Business

First, what are call analytics? Call analytics involves collecting detailed data on phone interactions—from call duration and frequency to conversion rates and customer sentiment. This data is then analyzed to identify patterns, gauge campaign effectiveness, and uncover insights that can improve customer engagement.

By integrating features like call recordings, AI insights, call detail records, modern call analytics transform raw data into actionable intelligence.

Why should your business analyze call traffic?

By harnessing the power of call analytics, your business can uncover hidden patterns, optimize marketing ROI, and elevate the customer experience. Whether you’re analyzing individual interactions or examining aggregated data trends, robust call analytics delivers insights that traditional metrics often miss—providing a strategic advantage to refine your approach and drive success. Leverage actionable insights to drive operational efficiencies and boost overall business performance. Identify areas for improvement in real-time and ensure every customer interaction is optimized for success.

The best part? The analytics come in handy across sales, support, and marketing efforts, helping your teams make the most out of call content and data.

How Does Conversation Analytics Work?

Call analytics can help your sales, support, and marketing teams gather information about calls and their outcomes so you can use this to your advantage. Call analytics helps you analyze:

  • Individual calls to study how particular calls go, why they succeed or fail — Use call sentiment ratings or call summaries.
  • A group of calls to determine their source and how they impact your business — Use filters, phone tags, and date ranges.

So, how do call analytics work?

  1. Use virtual international phone numbers that have call tracking abilities.
  2. View call detail records to see core call traffic data like call direction, duration, caller ID, phone lines called, etc.
  3. Access deeper insights with advanced features like recordings, transcripts, AI analysis, sentiment ratings, and so on.
  4. Apply the insights to enhance your strategies across different departments and locations.

Top Features of Call Analytics

For companies that use phone numbers as their main call-to-action, call analytics can give great insights into which areas of marketing are more successful than others. This is done by evaluating various call analytics features such as:

Advanced Reporting

In order to conduct call analytics, one must have access to advanced and detailed call records. This is where advanced reporting comes into play. This feature will give users access to information needed to study how different communication and marketing channels are working. For instance, you can gain insights into peak and preferred call times, preferred communication channels, geographic information, and so on.

Call Recording

Hosted call recording records all incoming and outgoing calls and stores them for future review. Reviewing recordings will help you understand what works and doesn’t work when an agent or employee is on a call with a potential customer. You will also be able to identify areas of concern that customers may have or certain preferences and expectations they come with. You can then target these issues in your ads and drive up your conversion rate.

Call Summaries

With AI-driven call summaries, you can review lengthy conversations to identify key points and action items. Use AI to quickly distill lengthy conversations into concise summaries, highlighting key discussion points and action items so you never miss critical insights. Review summaries with team members for faster decision-making and improved follow-up processes.

Sentiment Analysis

An AI-powered sentiment analysis tool evaluates the tone of each conversation, allowing you to gauge customer satisfaction and adjust your strategies accordingly. The call sentiments are typically rated as positive, neutral, or negative. Use these ratings to identify which calls require further attention, helping managers and agents fine-tune their approach to customer service.

Call Transcriptions

While call recording lets you listen to each call, call transcriptions let you read the conversation. Again, similar to call recordings, reading call transcriptions can help you get a visual idea of how calls are performing and what can be done to make them better. Another similar feature is voicemail transcriptions that send voicemails in text format to your email. This too can help you gain insight into customer behavior and preferences.

Ways to Use Call Analytics: Use Cases Across Teams

From unlocking patterns in customer interactions to tailoring your messaging and support to provide targeted coaching and enhance overall team productivity, managers and agents can use analytics to improve different facets of the business. Here are some common use cases:

Sales Teams

Call analytics empowers your sales team by offering a detailed breakdown of every interaction with prospects. By analyzing individual sales calls, you can identify which parts of your pitch resonate most with potential customers. For instance, you can track the tone and language used during successful conversions, then refine your messaging to highlight those winning elements.

This granular insight enables your sales team to adjust their approach in real time, boosting conversion rates. Additionally, by comparing calls that resulted in closed deals versus those that didn’t, you can pinpoint key differentiators, overcome objections more effectively, and fine-tune your overall sales strategy for improved performance.

Support Teams

By delving into individual support calls or tracking call activity across different service centers, you can identify recurring issues or common pain points that customers face. These issues could relate to product development or may be location-specific, and with the ability to filter and gain a more detailed look at call activity and content, you can determine critical gaps.

This data can inform targeted training for support agents, ensuring they are equipped with the right knowledge and skills to address these issues efficiently. Furthermore, by monitoring call resolution times and customer sentiment, you can optimize workflows, streamline problem resolution, and ultimately enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Marketing Teams

For marketing teams, call analytics is an invaluable asset in measuring campaign effectiveness and channel performance. By assigning unique call tracking numbers to various marketing initiatives—whether it’s your main business line, a dedicated number for social media campaigns, or numbers for specific geographic locations—you can gain clear insights into which channels are driving quality leads.

This allows you to track the source of each call, assess the conversion rates of different campaigns, and allocate your marketing budget more effectively. By understanding which initiatives generate the highest ROI, you can optimize your marketing spend, focus on high-performing channels, and continually adjust your strategy to align with evolving market trends.

Agent Performance Management

For global sales and support managers, ensuring agents perform at their best is essential for driving customer satisfaction and revenue growth. Call analytics provides a data-driven approach to evaluating agent interactions, allowing managers to identify both strengths and areas for improvement. By analyzing call duration, sentiment trends, and conversation effectiveness, managers can gain insight into how well agents handle objections, resolve customer concerns, and follow call scripts.

Training and Debriefing

Effective training and debriefing are critical for improving sales and support team effectiveness. With recordings, AI-powered transcripts, and call summaries, managers can easily review key interactions and extract learning points without listening to hours of recorded calls. New hires can benefit from training modules that showcase successful call strategies, while struggling agents can receive tailored coaching based on actual call performance data.

Integrations and Unified Communications

Call analytics becomes even more powerful when seamlessly integrated with existing business communication tools. Many organizations rely on CRMs, help desk software, workforce management tools, and unified communication platforms to manage customer interactions. By integrating call analytics with platforms like Salesforce, Zoho, HubSpot, or Zendesk, businesses can consolidate customer insights, track communication history, and create a more connected customer experience.

Call Analytics with United World Telecom

Our advanced features go beyond basic call analytics to provide you with a comprehensive view of your call data. By combining call detail records, call recording, and AI insights, we can help you transform raw call information into clear, actionable insights, empowering sales, support, and marketing teams to enhance performance and boost customer satisfaction.

  • Get a comprehensive picture of call traffic and activity by viewing call activity reports or listening to recordings.
  • Whether it’s extracting key conversation points with automated call summaries, generating detailed call transcripts for in-depth review, or evaluating customer sentiment, AI Call Insights is your gateway to smarter decision-making and improved business outcomes.
  • Integrate call analytics into your favorite CRMs or help desk software; chat with us to learn more!

Best Practices

To maximize the benefits of Call Analytics, consider these best practices:

  • Regularly Review Call Data: Schedule routine reviews of call summaries, transcripts, recordings, reports, and sentiment reports to identify trends and areas for improvement.
  • Integrate with Your CRM: Ensure your call data is seamlessly integrated with your CRM to create a unified view of customer interactions.
  • Train Your Team: Use detailed analytics to provide targeted training sessions, helping agents refine their communication skills.
  • Monitor KPIs: Track key performance indicators such as call conversion rates, customer satisfaction scores, and agent performance metrics to continually optimize your strategies.

Maximizing Business Communication with Call Analytics

Ready to unlock the full potential of your call data? Embrace the future of call analytics with advanced reporting and analytics features by United World Telecom. We can get you set up with call recording, call tracking, AI insights, custom reports, and detailed call records to study how your incoming and outgoing business calls are performing. To learn more, visit our website or speak with our experts today.

5 Ways a Local Phone Number Can Increase Business Visibility

Posted on by Luke Genoyer

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#347696228 ID#27446420

When entering new markets, businesses need more than a great product or service—they need to be visible, approachable, and credible. One way to do this is by using local phone numbers to establish a presence in target regions without the cost of setting up physical offices.

Local numbers make it easier for customers to reach you, improve call answer rates, and help you build trust in new markets. Here’s how your business can use local phone numbers to boost visibility.

How to Improve Business Visibility Locally?

Improving local visibility starts with being where your customers are—and making it easy for them to contact you. A local phone number is a simple yet powerful way to show that your business is accessible and relevant to a specific community or market. Whether you’re launching a regional campaign or entering a new international territory, a recognizable local number can give your brand the familiarity and credibility it needs to connect and grow.

With that in mind, let’s look at how local phone numbers can increase your business visibility in the following ways.

1. Create a Local Presence in Target Markets

Local phone numbers come with area codes that are familiar to people in specific cities or regions. For example, in the United States, almost every state and city has at least one area code. In Florida, some area codes include the Orlando 407 area code, Miami 786 area code, Jacksonville 904 area code, etc.

When customers see a local area code, they are more likely to answer the call or return it. According to Software Advice, people are four times more likely to answer calls from local numbers than unfamiliar ones. More specifically, 27.5% said they would answer an unknown number with a local area code while 7% would answer an unknown caller with a recognizable toll free area code.

This is because local calls incur local calling charges and make the business or caller seem local instead of long-distance or international.

With outbound caller ID management, you can display a local number (previously purchased) as your caller ID during outbound calls. This gives prospects the impression that you’re nearby and easily reachable—a key to building early trust.

Using our Local 2-Way Voice service, you can also make outbound calls and receive inbound calls on the same local number, giving you a consistent and authentic local presence.

2. Make It Easy for Customers to Contact You

Local numbers signal familiarity, giving customers a reason to call you back. Customers are more inclined to return a call or dial a number that looks local, believing it could be a known contact or a nearby business. This creates a reliable channel for ongoing communication and follow-up.

Forward these calls from local numbers to your main support or regional sales teams globally, ensuring seamless connectivity without compromising customer experience.

3. Expand into New Regions Cost-Effectively

Virtual phone number providers offer various local and toll free numbers from countries across the globe. United World Telecom, for example, can help you get local phone numbers from more than 160 countries across the world.

With virtual local numbers, your business can reach customers across cities, states, or even countries without opening new offices. This is especially useful for international expansion; you get the benefit of geographic reach while maintaining operational flexibility and low overhead.

4. Support Local Marketing and Advertising Campaigns

Local phone numbers can complement your geo-targeted marketing campaigns. Use these numbers in:

  • Local ads, search results, and landing pages
  • Regional social media posts and profiles
  • Community event promotions or sponsorships

Having a local number listed in ads reinforces your presence in that area and increases response rates. Plus, it helps you measure campaign performance more accurately when paired with advanced analytics such as call tracking, Custom Reports, and AI Call Insights.

5. Improve Accessibility and Customer Experience

Being accessible is one of the most important components of business visibility. Offering a local phone number shows customers that you’re available, responsive, and attuned to their needs.

Whether it’s for sales inquiries or customer support, local numbers make your brand feel more approachable. And with features like voicemail-to-email, IVR, and call routing, you can manage these interactions efficiently from anywhere.

Start Building Your Local Presence

Local phone numbers are more than just a way to receive calls—they’re a strategic tool for growth. Whether you’re entering a new region or trying to improve engagement in an existing market, local numbers can help your brand connect and stand out.

At United World Telecom, we offer:

  • Local phone numbers in 160+ countries
  • Local 2-Way Voice (inbound and outbound calling)
  • Outbound caller ID management
  • Advanced call analytics and AI call insights

Ready to improve visibility and scale your business into new markets? Explore our local number solutions today.

5 Signs You Need a New Business Phone System

Posted on by Virendra Singh Jaitawat

Your business phone communication system can make or break your sales and customer support efforts. More specifically, a bad phone system can lead to miscommunication and ineffective communication which can result in a loss of valuable customers and leads. Here we look at 5 signs that scream “Your business needs a new business phone system!”

When to Start Looking for a New Business Phone System?

Since so much of your business’ success depends on good communication, it is important to find the right business phone service. Here are 5 signs you need a new business phone system. In other words, consider getting a new phone system if your current office communication system has any of the following:

1. Bad Pricing and Low Reliability

Are you struggling with paying the bill for your current phone system? Is the pricing not straightforward, leading to confusion and paying more than you originally signed up for? Your business phone system provider should be reliable and trustworthy. And you should be able to predict your monthly bill without any surprises for better accounting.

Switch to a business phone service provider that helps you understand what to expect from your monthly bill. As you sign up, you should have a clear idea of what you are paying for. This means no hidden fees or set-up/installation fees that just turn up out of nowhere. With a predictable monthly bill, your business can manage its communication-related finances better.

Related: How To Set Up a Business Phone System in your Office

2. Less Variety of Virtual Communication Features

With the advancements in telecommunications and technology available, businesses now have access to many opportunities and top-notch services and features. And so, if your current phone system is offering you the bare minimum, then you are missing out.

Advanced services such as global call forwarding, call recording, a variety of virtual numbers, and so on, can help with effective call management by providing your business with the right communication tools. These services can improve productivity and efficiency in your office which will lead to better customer service and more sales.

3. No International Call Forwarding

Any business with a goal for expanding globally must have international call forwarding. An international call forwarding service enables businesses to connect easily with their global customers. With this service, you can have incoming calls from different countries route to a destination of your choice. For example, your US-based company can receive international calls from customers in the UK, Asia, Australia, and more via virtual phone numbers. These calls are forwarded to your main office in the US or remote offices around the world via international call forwarding.

As such, call forwarding helps businesses maintain global connectivity by providing customers around the world with inexpensive ways to call for product inquiries or customer support. Even if your business is located outside the country, customers can call your local or toll free number and evade long-distance calling rates. This encourages customer calls and builds trust and credibility for your international business.

4. Limited Customer Support

Customer support is an essential tool for any business. And so, if you cannot reach customer service for help with your business phone system, especially during emergencies, then again, you stand a chance of losing out on customers. Unreachable or bad customer service can break a company.

Look for a business phone service provider that is available 24/7 and offers multichannel support. For example, United World Telecom offers 24/7 customer support via voice, live chat, email, and trouble tickets. We also have an online knowledge base with self-service information.

5. Long-Terms Contracts

Lastly, you want a business phone system that does not force you into long-term contracts. In case things change within your business, you should be able to scale up or down or switch to new services. A provider that locks you in with contracts or high cancellation fees can make it difficult to grow your business.

Why Should You Consider United World Telecom?

Since 1996, United World Telecom has been providing businesses around the world with cloud phone systems and virtual communication tools to boost sales, customer support, and international business. Advanced services and features we offer include:

  • International call forwarding
  • Outbound calling with customizable caller ID
  • Hosted call recording
  • Cloud IVR
  • Extensions and DID numbers, and more

United World Telecom’s plans are straightforward with no hidden fees or long-term contracts. We don’t force our customers into commitments as we know our service will speak for itself. We offer five different plans for businesses of every size and type; so you can choose the plan that works best for your communication needs.

Get a New Business Phone System Today!

We offer a variety of services that can help you create the ideal cloud phone system for your specific company. Get a VoIP business phone system today by calling us for more information or by signing up on our homepage!

Top 7 Benefits of Business VoIP

Posted on by Virendra Singh Jaitawat

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#209723450 ID#27446420

At this point in time, most businesses are using business VoIP to create strong, reliable, and efficient business phone systems. Voice over IP technology has made it possible to make and answer calls via the internet instead of depending on physical phone lines. And by doing so, users can stay connected from any location and any device. So, why should you get business VoIP for your company?

Top 7 Advantages of Getting Business VoIP

From encouraging global expansion to providing easy scalability, VoIP technology gives businesses an opportunity to expand and grow with ease. If you are on the fence and are not sure about how VoIP can be useful to your company, here are 7 benefits to consider.

1. Variety of Business Numbers

VoIP phone systems work alongside voice over IP numbers. VoIP providers like United World Telecom aim to offer companies a variety of business phone number types. For instance, United World Telecom offers numbers for more than 160 countries around the world. Additionally, we offer toll free, local, international toll free, universal toll free, national, and vanity numbers.

Want to enter local markets and encourage locals to connect with your business? Buy a local phone number. Want to offer free calling to customers within your target country? Get a toll free number. Want to attract public attention with a memorable and creative number? Get a vanity number. You can get a business number that suits your purposes in a target country and lets you expand your customer base.

2. International Call Forwarding

International call forwarding is a popular service of VoIP phone systems. With this service, you can have calls forwarded internationally from one country to another without paying high international calling fees. For example, your customers in Mexico can call your Mexico number for free or at local calling rates. And these calls are routed via international call forwarding to your main office in the US, the UK, Australia, or wherever you desire. You can even have calls forwarded to a satellite office or remote workers.

With call forwarding, you can manage your incoming calls better and make your business accessible no matter where you or your team is located.

3. VoIP for Remote Team Management

Voice over IP phone systems are ideal for remote teams or distributed teams. Business VoIP gives your team the tools they need to stay connected and accountable even with distance involved. Benefits for remote team management include:

  • All users are connected from any location or device through a stable internet connection.
  • Voice, SMS, and more can be transmitted through the system.
  • Users can use softphones or web phones on their devices to make and receive business-related calls.
  • Access to a variety of features such as call recording, DID numbers, call transfer, outbound calling, and more.
  • Call monitoring and web analytics tools that help managers keep track of employee KPIs and performance.

By presenting voice over IP for remote team management, your business can stay active and accessible at all times.

4. Global Expansion Possibility

Businesses using VoIP services or phone systems have a chance of going beyond their immediate location and entering new markets. More importantly, they can do this without increasing their expenses.

For instance, when a business tries to target a new city or country, the general idea is to open a field office and create a local presence. However, with international toll free numbers available for multiple countries, your business can create a virtual presence without needing to be physically present.

You can use international call forwarding and routing options to stay connected overseas. You can have calls ring on multiple devices across the board. Or, you can have calls routed based on the time of day or the location of the caller. The bottom line is you have access to multiple tools for effective call management, making it easier to manage international business.

5. Higher Scalability

Need to scale up or down instantly? No worries. VoIP accounts need little to no work when it comes to adding or removing users and employees. As such, you can quickly expand your business when needed, especially during high traffic periods, and cut down as necessary without changing your phone system.

6. Low Costs and Better Voice Quality

Another reason why business VoIP is so popular among all types of businesses (start-ups to large enterprises) is that it is a cost-effective solution. You only pay what you subscribe to and have a fairly predictable bill every month. And with that plan, you can target new countries and regions, utilize call tracking, forward calls to as many devices you want, use an effective IVR system, and more. And so, you get a high-quality business phone system for exceptionally reasonable rates.

Related: How to Measure and Improve VoIP Call Quality

7. Mobility and Flexibility

Lastly, with business VoIP, you can take your business with you wherever you go. Need to move or travel for work? Want to employ remote customer service teams to provide better international coverage? Need to switch to remote work due to a global pandemic? Whatever the hurdle, your business can continue to work and remain reachable with a reliable VoIP service.

So, is Business VoIP Right for You?

The answer to this depends on what you want to achieve with your company’s communication system. Do you want to expand in a cost-effective manner? Would you like to offer remote work options? Do you want a unified platform for all communication? Then, VoIP is your answer. However, how exactly VoIP can benefit your business depends on what you need. Speak to our experts today to learn about custom solutions to see if business VoIP is a fit for you!

5 Benefits of Unified Communications for Remote Teams

Posted on by Virendra Singh Jaitawat

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#86591198 ID#27446420

Struggling to manage your remote teams? Unified communications for remote teams or UCaaS can be the solution you need to increase visibility of remote teams while maintaining productivity.

Unified Communications for Remote Teams: 5 Benefits

Unified communications compiles all business communication and phone system tools together in one place. And so, you and your remote teams can access voice, video, email, and text messaging in one location, one platform.

UCaaS focuses on internal communication. As such, it benefits remote team collaboration and connectivity. This is why unified communication is growing more and more popular as a communication solution for remote teams. So, how exactly can your remote and distributed teams benefit from this service?

1. Mobility: Make Remote Working a Possibility with UCaaS & VoIP

Voice over IP (VoIP) is a communication service that enables business communication such as audio, video, and SMS transmission via the internet. With VoIP technology, users can make and receive calls from any location and any device as long as they are connected to a stable internet connection.

This means you can improve connectivity with your remote workers by giving them the ability to stay connected no matter where they are. And so, they remain accessible not only to the rest of your team but also to customers and business contacts. With call forwarding, customers won’t even realize that the business number they dialed is being forwarded to another location. They can still receive timely and efficient customer service even when your teams are distributed.

2. Easy-to-Use Softphone Solutions

Most VoIP providers will offer you easy-to-use softphone solutions that help users transform their devices into business communication tools. Softphones or webphones come in a variety of forms. You can get a software application, web dialer, or web/Chrome extension. A web phone has many advantages such as:

  • Making outbound calls to anywhere in the world using a dynamic caller ID feature to match the location being called
  • Access to contacts and customer history
  • Call logs and records
  • Quick and easy call transfer within your network
  • Free in-network calls to other team members
  • Access to voicemail

Having this tool can help your users stay up-to-date on calls and contact history which paves the way to better internal and external communication.

3. Flexibility: Use Any Device

Whether or not your business implements a BYOD policy, unified communications for remote teams will let users use devices they are comfortable and familiar with. This gives them the opportunity to use tools and apps that can improve their efficiency while not having to panic when a device fails. They simply log in through another device.

4. Plenty of Communications Tools to Use

The best part of UCaaS and VoIP working together is that your team gains access to advanced communications features such as:

  • Call monitoring
  • Call recording
  • Outbound calling
  • Call transfer and extensions
  • SIP trunking
  • Creative routing strategies
  • SMS, voicemail, and fax forwarding
  • IVR

These tools and features are designed to boost your workforce for optimum results. In addition to these tools, you can also invest in an online client portal so that employees can effectively handle customer queries and communication in a centralized platform. By equipping them with the right tools and software, they can do their job effectively, even when working remotely.

5. Maintain Productivity & Efficiency

The biggest issue businesses face when switching to a remote working system is accountability and lower productivity rates. But unified communications for remote teams can help fix this issue by making your remote teams more visible and transparent. You can continue to maintain productivity and the desired results by reducing the space between you and your teams through virtual communication.

Remote Working Made Easy with UCaaS & VoIP

Because of COVID-19, remote working as a trend has grown popular and will continue to be a desired workplace policy. And so, businesses should prepare for remote teams to ensure there is no drop in efficiency and business growth. Speak with one of our experts today to see how unified communications and VoIP can support your company!

What is Click-to-Call? Definition, Benefits, and How to Set It Up

Posted on by Luke Genoyer

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#33421127 ID#27446420

A click-to-call feature can help increase productivity and efficiency in your office by speeding up calling processes with accuracy. Here is an in-depth post detailing the different types of click-to-call features and the benefits of using them.

Click-to-Call: Explained

A click-to-call service is a business communication tool that enables phone calls through a VoIP connection. Other names include click-to-dial, one-click calling, and click-calling. There are a few types of click-to-call features in the industry. Among these are:

  1. Dialer extensions or CTI enabling agents to call contacts by clicking on their computers instead of manually inputting phone numbers.
  2. Wrapping website phone numbers in hyperlinks with the tel: schema so website visitors can easily click to call.
  3. ‘Click to call me’ lets interested prospects input their contact information through a web form, which instantly triggers a callback from your business.

The first type of click-to-dial feature lets you place calls without having to dial or type a number in. You simply click on the lead or customer’s name or a call icon and instantly place the call. Originally a call center feature meant to support outbound calls without human error or misdialing, now businesses everywhere can use click-to-call to make outgoing calls swift, easy, and accurate.

The second type of click-calling feature lets you insert a linkable phone number on your website. This way, when customers visit your website and need to call you, they simply click the link. They are then sent to their phone app and upon confirmation, the call is placed.

The third type is a call page. This is a widget or webpage that can be placed on your website and lets web visitors provide their name and phone number to receive an immediate callback. This way, you can connect with these interested prospects while they are still learning about your product.

clikc to call process

Benefits of Click-to-Call

Call centers have used click-to-dial functionality to effectively measure and enhance workforce efficiency. The benefits are not just limited to the ability to quickly dial phone numbers. It enables call center agents to optimize their inside sales efforts, leading to improved outcomes. By incorporating a call center CRM with a click-to-dial feature the following key benefits can be achieved:

  1. Speed up workflow — call leads and clients quickly, speed up callbacks, and reduce human error.
  2. Encourage web visitors to call your business — allow website visitors to easily connect with your company.
  3. Implement call tracking — learn more about where your calls are being sourced.
  4. Improve conversion rates — finally, give your team the right tool to engage customers over the phone.

How to Set up Click-to-Call

You can get click-to-call to make calls through your control panel when you sign up for an account with us. Within the panel, you can add and manage contacts and then use the click-to-dial feature to quickly and efficiently place calls without having to type the number in each time.

Additionally, you can also get a ‘call now’ button for your website easily by embedding a snippet of HTML code to the website. Once the code is in, the button will appear on your website and visitors can use it to receive a free callback from your business.

Get the Right Communication Tools for Your Business Today!

The click-to-dial feature can come in very handy for businesses dealing with large call volumes. By taking out the ‘dial the right number’ process, more time is spent having conversations. To learn more about our click-to-dial solution, call us today!

Toll Versus Toll Free: What’s the Difference?

Posted on by Miguel Isabal

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#50391053 ID#27446420

When purchasing a new phone number for your business, you will be able to choose between different number types.

In this post, we will explain the differences between toll numbers and toll free numbers.

Understanding the Difference Between Toll and Toll Free Numbers

A phone number is either toll or toll free. The difference between the two number types is the concept of a “toll,” which refers to a fee or tariff. Calls to a toll number incur a charge, while calls are free to a toll free number.

What are Toll Numbers?

Toll numbers are your regular telephone numbers where the caller is charged per minute for calling. This is not an official number type. It is referred to as a toll number because it charges a toll for calling. Therefore, if you are charged a local calling rate when calling a number, then it would be considered a toll number. Toll numbers usually consist of home phone numbers, local numbers, and so on.

Premium Rate Numbers

Premium rate numbers are a type of toll number, specifically 1-900 numbers, that use a pay-per-call model to provide services via calls and charge higher than normal rates. Unlike a regular call, part of the charges for these calls is paid to the business using the number. This way, businesses could be funded via these calls. For example, a caller would call a business (e.g, psychic services) and pay for the minutes and time spent on the call as part of the service itself. These numbers were commonly used for tech support, chat services, directory questions, weather forecasts, televoting, consulting, and so on.

toll free numbers

Toll Free Numbers

Toll free numbers are the opposite of toll numbers in that these numbers are toll-free. In other words, callers do not incur a charge for calling these numbers. The format for these numbers is very distinct and different from regular phone numbers. They usually begin with a special prefix such as 1-800, 888, 877, 833, and so on, followed by a subscriber number.

However, there are certain rules. For example, calls to a country’s toll free number are free only when called from within the country. A US toll free number is free to call by locals and businesses within the US.

Benefits of a Toll Free Number

TFNs are generally used by well-established businesses as a way of making it easier for customers to receive support. A local customer does not have to worry about calling fees when dialing a toll free number. This, therefore, encourages them to place calls to inquire about a product or speak with customer service.

Additionally, since TFNs have been traditionally used by large corporations, getting such a number for your business can build trust. Customers will appreciate your efforts to make your business accessible and easily reachable.

Reasons to Consider an International TFN

Furthermore, you can even use an international toll free number to extend operations to different countries around the world. How this works is you get an ITFS number for a country and callers within the country can call your number for free. These incoming calls get forwarded to a destination number of your choice in your specified country. For example, your UK business can get Singapore and Australia toll free numbers through a service provider like United World Telecom. Then, callers in Singapore and Australia can call their respective numbers for free, and you can have those calls routed to your UK office. ITFS numbers help businesses expand globally without moving physically.

Speak with an Expert About Toll Versus Toll Free Numbers

If toll or toll free numbers are what your business needs, then we can help! You can buy global phone numbers for more than 160 countries around the globe. And so, whether you want to offer free calling within your country or for other countries, we’ve got you covered. Sign up on our homepage today or call us to learn more!

What is a SIP Proxy and How Does a SIP Server Work?

Posted on by Luke Genoyer

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#10446710 ID#27446420

We write a lot about SIP. That’s because we have been a leading SIP trunk provider for over twenty years. Read on to learn more about SIP servers and how they work.

What is a SIP Server?

A SIP server or SIP proxy processes session initiation protocol (SIP) requests. This server is the main element of an IP private branch exchange. SIP is an internet protocol used to initiate and receive voice and video communication by transmitting data packets across an internet connection. This enables the quick and easy transmission of SIP calling between 2 or more parties.

How Does a SIP Server Work?

A SIP server works alongside a voice over IP or VoIP phone system. Both systems together make cloud communications possible. A SIP proxy can:

  • Set up a session between 2 or more endpoints; such as audio or video conferencing between 2 or more parties
  • Replace one endpoint for another; during call transfer or routing
  • Negotiate and adjust media parameters and specs during a session; such as putting a call on hold
  • Terminating a session

It is important to note that the SIP server does not actually transmit media. Media transmission is performed by a media server using the RTP protocol. Within an IP-PBX, the SIP server and media server are present on the same machine. However, a high-volume SIP server like a VoIP provider may separate the two servers on different machines and balance the load.

Additionally, there is no fee or charge to get a SIP address for your server. These addresses connect to unique phone numbers. This enables each user on a SIP network to have a direct inward dialing number to place calls. Furthermore, companies can use these systems in a package such as a hosted PBX.

SIP Proxies: Modes of Operation

A SIP server generally operates in one of two modes: Stateless or Stateful.

1. Stateless SIP Proxy: This type of SIP proxy receives and transmits messages but does not keep any record of the transmission. A stateless SIP proxy works this way: Send > Receive > Delete. This server works at a faster speed because of its limited functionality. Additionally, this simplicity in functioning makes it desirable to small businesses as they can easily scale and upgrade their SIP system.

2. Stateful SIP Proxy: This type of SIP server transmits as well as stores messages and information to access later. Because of this functionality, it can pick up a request message and try again. Or, it can reroute the message through another aspect of the network. A stateful SIP proxy works this way: Send > Receive > Save. An example of this is Time of Day Routing that routes incoming calls based on the time of day and predetermined rules. For example, calls made to a business after hours can be forwarded to a different office location or remote agent.

What Does SIP Trunking Do?

SIP trunking is a service that enables your PBX system to send VoIP and SIP calls over the internet. This service works with virtual telephone lines and sends and receives messages through bandwidth data. You can get multiple SIP trunks and cover various geographic areas. SIP trunking makes it possible for your business to expand operations beyond your immediate location.

An image of a SIP proxy and server.

Benefits of a SIP Proxy and SIP Trunking

SIP servers and SIP trunking have become increasingly popular with businesses of every size. Here are the top benefits of switching to SIP:

1) Enable Unified Communications
SIP trunking enables voice, video, and text messaging from one platform. There’s no need to invest in different services to keep your communications stable. You can make and receive high-quality calls, audio and video conferencing, and texting from SIP trunking.

2) Forward Calls
With a SIP server, you can quickly and easily forward or direct incoming calls to several SIP and VoIP devices. This is helpful for any office with a busy call volume. Plus, with a stateful SIP proxy, you can save and access calls or messages that didn’t go through the first time and try again later.

3) Cut Communication Costs
VoIP and SIP are in demand because it not only offers high-quality communication but also a comfortable price. Sending and receiving voice, video, and text over a SIP server costs almost nothing to users.

4) Network Security
Secure VoIP is a necessity within any business. A SIP server protects your communication system from hackers by disconnecting calls and users without credit or authorization.

5) Access to VoIP Features
With SIP trunking, you can gain access to useful voice over IP features that can help organize calls and provide a professional image to your business. Features include, but are not limited to;

  • Call forwarding and routing options
  • Automated greetings
  • Analytics and reports
  • Unlimited extension, and so many more

Where Can I Get SIP Trunking?

United World Telecom can help! You can buy SIP trunks directly from our website or contact one of our experts to learn more.