Call Queues

Whether you are in charge of an outgoing or incoming call center, it’s important to have your calls organized. There’s nothing more frustrating than a customer lost “on hold” who never phones back. Conversely, there’s nothing more annoying to a call center agent than trying to find a “live” prospect to talk to, and reaching a dial tone. “Queuing up” your calls can keep them organized, waiting to be answered as quickly as possible.

Call queues are a great convenience for outgoing call centers. Most predictive dialer software will keep all calls in one queue, transferring them to available salespeople when they connect. Having one main queue has shown to keep calls moving--they can be instantly addressed as soon as they come through. Plus, with a queue, the administrator can get a quick overview of how many calls are being attempted, which have gone through, and which are dead ends.

Incoming call centers can also benefit from call queues. Rather than letting calls pile up on individual phones, where they can be forgotten or overlooked, a queue will line them up and prioritize them however your company sees fit. This is a great help for call centers with congested phone lines. There are three main ways to organize calls: First In First Out, which answers calls individually, in the order in which they were placed; Last In First Out, which answers the last calls first; and Processor Sharing, in which customers are served equally. They are networked, and share approximately the same delay.

“Queue” & A: An Answer to Call Center Delays

One important goal for every call center is to keep calls moving. You want to communicate your message to as many people as possible. And you want to solve as many problems or answer as many questions as you can. All in the shortest amount of time. Call queues can help maximize your call center’s efficiency, and avoid dropped calls and customer frustration.