Contents
- ServicePattern Virtual Queue
- 1 Overview
Overview
Virtual Queueing, also referred to as Callback Option, is an enhancement of the regular automatic call distribution method (ACD) used in inbound call centers. During periods of significant wait times, this option allows customers to hang up the call while keeping their position in the service queue and to receive a callback when it is their turn to be connected to an agent. The benefits of using the virtual queueing include:
- improved customer satisfaction – after requesting a callback customers get back to their normal activities instead of being tied on the phone
- reduced abandonment rates – customers who can continue their normal activities are less likely to abandon their service requests (i.e., to ignore the callback)
- reduced talk time – customers waiting in a virtual queue are less likely to spend any time venting their frustration with a long wait when they are finally connected to an agent
- lower telco costs – customers waiting in a virtual queue do not occupy physical voice channels
ServicePattern Virtual Queue works in the following way:
For each incoming service call, the system calculates its estimated waiting time in queue (EWT). If this time exceeds a threshold EWT value pre-configured for the given service, the system notifies the calling customer about the wait time and offers him the option of receiving a callback when it is his turn to be connected to an agent. The customer can request the callback to be made to the phone he is calling from or to a different number that he can enter using the keypad of his phone. The original live call is then disconnected while customer’s position in the service queue is maintained by the system as if he remained on the line (hence the name Virtual Queueing). When it is customer’s turn to be connected to an agent, the system makes an outbound call to the designated callback number. Upon answer this call is connected to an available agent. To the agent, the answered callback appears as a regular incoming call.
Because callbacks may not always be answered immediately, and sometimes not at all, the system does not explicitly “reserve” agents for callback attempts. (Doing so would affect agent availability and increase the overall queueing times.) Instead, the system constantly re-calculates the EWT of a virtual call to allow for maximum precision in predicting the moment when an agent will become available to take this call.
If an agent becomes available for a given virtual call before the estimated wait time, the callback is made at the moment when the agent becomes available. Otherwise, the callback attempt is made a few seconds before EWT expiration based on the prediction that an agent will have become available by the time the callback is answered by the customer. If an agent does not become available at that time, the answered call is placed in the first position in the service queue to be connected to the next available agent. An IVR announcement can be played for the answered callback to prevent the customer from hanging up a call if it cannot be immediately connected to an agent.
Subsequent processing of answered callbacks delivered to agents is no different from processing of calls waiting in the queue.