Take Control of Your Incoming Phone Calls

In the fast-paced ‘90s, customers want service in a hurry. How is your business responding? The telephone is often your first and most frequent contact with customers. And the way you handle incoming calls speaks volumes about your business.

When call handling is a challenge, you’ll be amazed how quickly Norstar MINUET Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) turns chaos into calm. Here’s how it works:

· You assign some or all phone lines to MINUET ACD.
· Incoming calls are recognized and automatically answered. These calls are then intelligently distributed to groups or individuals based on your flexible routing specifications.
· If your staff is busy, Norstar MINUET ACD holds the call in queue until a phone representative becomes available. Based on your instructions, Norstar MINUET ACD can play voice announcements to encourage callers to wait as well as promote your company’s new products and services.
· When staff members become available, the call on hold the longest is sent to the next available person or the one most qualified to handle it.

Benefits:

Norstar MINUET ACD makes call handling faster and easier with:

· More efficient call routing
· Improved customer service
· Better employee morale
· Increased revenue
· Reduced line and toll charges

Call Handling Efficiency

Norstar MINUET ACD supports call handling in two different ways. MINUET ACD supports a small, formal call center, where a company has dedicated several people to take similar kinds of telephone calls. MINUET ACD also supports an "informal" call center, in which staff members are not dedicated to just answering incoming phone calls, but have other responsibilities as well. Businesses of every type can benefit from automatic call distribution options, which make your business easier to deal with for your customers. And better customer service leads to increased revenue.

Norstar MINUET ACD can support your busy receptionist during the day. MINUET ACD queues the calls in a first-in, first-answered manner, allowing the receptionist to handle a large number of calls more efficiently. Plus, MINUET ACD can play recorded announcements about current service offers and promotions to callers on hold, reassuring them that they haven’t been forgotten. (Research shows that 34% of callers will inquire about a product or service advertised via a recorded announcement.)

Managing Communications

For maximum effectiveness, simplicity and cost, Norstar MINUET ACD combined with Norstar Voice Mail offers a better way to manage your communications, and ultimately your business. Integrating these applications makes your incoming call coverage complete and provides important options for your callers. Callers can either go into queue to speak to a representative, or go into Voice Mail to leave a message. Plus, Voice Mail works 24 hours a day, so your customers can always leave a message for you to return during business hours.

Managing Peak Periods

Managing your business communications also means adjusting call coverage for peak and non-peak periods. Norstar MINUET ACD software supports from 1 to 10 employees or customer representatives simultaneously, and allows you to establish two different answering groups for greater flexibility in call handling. Some customers designate the second group as overflow, to handle those extra-busy times. This kind of flexibility keeps your company responsive and competitive…and your customers happy.

Value-Added Call Statistics

To effectively manage your business, you must know what’s happening with incoming calls. Norstar MINUET ACD provides this information by displaying call statistics on the LCD Window of your Norstar telephone.

You can tell how many calls were answered, abandoned or disconnected during a specific time period, as well as the average time it took to answer a call. These statistics are crucial in managing customer service levels. By knowing when call volume is heaviest, you can add staff or an overflow group to meet this increase. Norstar MINUET ACD’s Call Categorization allows your staff to enter a numeric code at the completion of a call indicating business referrals, advertising or promotions results, or type of problem reported. This information can help you focus your business in the most beneficial areas.

More Revenue Opportunities

Efficient call handling and equitable distribution of calls can have an immediate effect on customer relations and staff productivity. When calls are equitably distributed among employees, industry averages cite productivity increases between 20% and 40%, which can have an immediate impact on customer relations. And with more calls handled in less time, you can provide additional services and generate more sales with your existing personnel.

Plus, Calling Line ID information is passed directly to the person taking the call, so they can tell who is on the phone. Calling Line ID information can also be used in conjunction with a "screen pop" application to bring the customer’s record from your company database right to employee’s computer screen to make order taking and verification faster and easier.

Reduced Labor and Long Distance Costs

Norstar MINUET ACD impacts your bottom line by helping decrease staff turnover and reducing long distance charges. By distributing calls equally among your staff, Norstar MINUET ACD prevents anyone from being overloaded with calls. It’s no surprise that when employees are happier in their jobs, there is less absenteeism and turnover.

When the Delay Answer feature is turned on, Norstar MINUET ACD checks for an available representative before answering an incoming call. If one is not available, MINUET ACD automatically waits a specified amount of time—which you determine—before answering the phone. This answering delay immediately saves you money in 800/888 line charges.

ACD Migration Path

Today, Norstar MINUET ACD can handle your incoming calls with remarkable ease and efficiency. But what happens tomorrow when your company expands and the volume of incoming calls increases? As you grow, look no further than Norstar for your communication solutions. With Norstar MINUET, PRELUDE and CINPHONY ACD applications, Norstar provides call center solutions that support from 2 to 80 employees and up to 24 groups.

Developed specifically for growing companies with basic call handling needs, Norstar MINUET ACD is an excellent way to enhance call routing efficiency. Norstar PRELUDE and CINPHONY ACD are designed for telephone operations that need more sophisticated options.

Product Developer

Norstar MINUET, PRELUDE and CINPHONY ACD are products of Cintech Tele-Management of Cincinnati, Ohio. Since 1990, Cintech has delivered powerful software solutions to Norstar users especially designed to meet the needs of small business, departments, and branch offices.

1040 Serpentine Lane, Ste. 207, Pleasanton CA 94566    Ph: 925-462-0505    Fax: 925-462-8258    Email: info@lazertel.com