Recent changes in state and federal regulations have caused more companies to invest more time and money in using call monitoring software. New liability concerns and federal and state compliance requirements are two driving factors of increased usage of call center monitoring equipment.

A call monitoring system is an automated system that allows businesses to record and listen to calls between call center staff and customers. Consider learning more about the following topics to ensure you are completely knowledgeable about using call monitoring systems:

1. Research more about why call monitoring software is used.

2. Read about how to effectively use data derived from call monitoring.

3. Determine if VoIP call monitoring is right for you.

Action Steps
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Research benefits of employing a call monitoring system

Calls recorded by call monitoring equipment are used to evaluate staff performance, assess the efficiency of processes to resolve customer disputes and help identify staff coaching and training needs. Previously primarily used by call centers, various types of organizations are also now using call monitoring equipment as a way to prevent lawsuits and other regulatory compliance issues.

I recommend: Read more about call monitoring systems by visiting Technology Marketing Corporation. Check out Call Center magazine to learn more about trends in call center monitoring to help you use your system more efficiently.

Research call monitoring best practices

While call monitoring is a business function that has existed for years, many companies never thought about linking customer service satisfaction to call monitoring practices. Because call center monitoring systems are in place to improve internal processes and staff performance, call monitoring is actually a great way to enhance customer service and customer satisfaction. Linking customer satisfaction to call monitoring results is also a great way to maximize the return on your investment in purchasing call monitoring software and equipment.

I recommend: Read more about call monitoring best practices by checking out Focus Magazine. Learn the challenges of using call monitoring by reading the article on the Frost & Sullivan website. It will also teach you more about how you should use call monitoring data.

Get the latest on VoIP call monitoring technology

Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP call center monitoring has become significantly popular among business owners. In recent years, VoIP has been a hot topic among companies looking to explore the latest technology to improve their call monitoring processes. VoIP is a technology that allows businesses to not only make and receive calls via the Internet, but also record those calls.

I recommend: Learn more about using VoIP call monitoring by reading blogs on the topic. Visit Smith on VoIP to learn more about VoIP and find the top 30 VoIP blogs. You can also read more about trends in using VoIP call monitoring by checking out VoIP-News.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Ask telephone call monitoring vendors about various performance management features included in their software that may help you set key metrics and indicators and continuously monitor critical success factors in using call monitoring. Without these basic software features, you'll be unable to clearly identify and resolve customer communication issues.

If you've made a phone call in the past decade, you've surely heard the words "this call may be monitored for training purposes." Business owners who want to ensure that their employees follow proper sales and customer service procedures sometimes record conversations to evaluate employees' interactions with customers. By listening to these calls, or hiring an outside company to listen to them, business owners can:

1. Find out which sales approaches bring the best response.
2. Reward helpful and efficient employees.
3. Retrain or remove employees who can't help customers.

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Install an automated system

You could walk around your office taking notes on employees' calls with pen and paper, but that's hardly an efficient way to work. Instead, install an automated monitoring system that scales to fit your needs and lets you either record calls or listen in on calls as they happen. Many come in versions specific to industries ranging from health care to finance to law.

I recommend: Order from Data Collection Resources (the CEMS system), Accurate Always (the Voxida system) or VoiceGate.

Hire an outside evaluator

Listening to employee calls yourself can be a bad idea because (1) you have better things to do with your time and (2) you are emotionally attached to the business and might not have the right perspective. An outside monitoring service can objectively evaluate how employees handle calls, typically by using a check sheet to make sure that employees give their names, ask the right questions, remember customers' names, speak courteously, and do whatever else you ask them to do.

I recommend: BPA International, At Random Communications, and J. Lodge all provide remote call monitoring.

Be the customer

You can monitor random calls from customers, or you can quiz your employees on exactly the topics you're most curious about by hiring 'mystery callers,' who work the same way as mystery shoppers in retail environments.

I recommend: Check out mystery calling services from J. Lodge, At Random Communications and Call Metrics.

Follow a customer's tracks

You can monitor calls to learn how customers discovered your business. By tracking leads, you can learn which of your advertising and marketing campaigns work best, helping you save money in the future and direct campaigns where they are most effective.

I recommend: Who's Calling employs lead tracking to boost the return on investment (ROI) of a company's ad budget.

Call monitoring on a larger scale

If you have ten or more employees answering calls, then you may want to establish a 'call center' (or 'contact center' if these employees also answer e-mails and web requests). Building a small call center from the ground up will cost$1500 to $2000 per employee, including software and phones – but keep in mind that most call center software performs many functions, including call monitoring.

I recommend: To receive call center software quotes from multiple vendors, complete this Buyerzone questionnaire.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Tell employees that they're being monitored, and explain the goal of your program. They may not like it, but they should know about it.
• •  Inform callers that your company monitors or records calls.
• •  Focus on in-coming calls, not outgoing ones. If employees are allowed to call friends and family from work, they shouldn't have to worry about their calls being monitored.
• •  Give employees some leeway. You want their personality to shine through to the customer since he or she will appreciate personalized, empathetic service.

Call center monitoring is important for any company that does business over the telephone. Call monitoring equipment serves multiple purposes. It can improve customer satisfaction by helping you analyze the quality of your employees' phone skills. Depending on the particular workplace, there are call monitoring systems for both traditional phone lines, as well as Internet calls.

Call monitoring education and training should begin with the software title your company will use to monitor calls. There are many resources to teach employees to use these programs, including:

1. Training sessions held by professionals who make the the call center monitoring software.

2. Written and video tutorials that walk employees through features of the software.

3. Live or web seminars that train employees to use the monitoring software.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get your staff up-to-date on your call monitoring system with a training session

Training sessions for call monitoring software are often hosted by professionals who work for the software company. This allows you to move past the basic functions of the call monitoring software and get to the specific features a particular program offers. Most training sessions are held in the workplace, using real calls as teaching examples.

I recommend: Virtual Observer provides on-site implementation and training for its call monitoring systems; it offers group and individual training options. VPI offers on-site and distance learning opportunities for those who chose its call monitoring software.

Learn how to put call monitoring services to use in the office

Many seminars on call monitoring software are tailored to buyers who choose which type of call monitoring program to use. These sessions make a pitch for how a call monitoring system could improve business, how to analyze recorded calls for quality, and what bosses need to know about training employees to use the software.

I recommend: The Resource Center offers a day-long seminar on the topic of implementing a quality call monitoring system in the workplace. Training-Classes.com offers a certificate program that teaches people how to take information provided by call monitoring software and use it to improve business practices.

Use professional sales training programs that incorporate telephone call monitoring

When doing business over the phone, sales training is necessary for better customer satisfaction and higher overall sales. Many training companies make call monitoring solutions part of an ongoing training program. These firms provide sales training, then follow up by monitoring employee sales calls. Employees are scored and given feedback based on their performance.

I recommend: ContactPoint offers power and sales training, then makes use of monitoring systems to see if your employees are following instructions. CallSource uses a call monitoring system to analyze sales skills and recommend new strategies.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you already use call quality monitoring in your business, it's a good idea to give employees refresher courses. These can be held every six months to a year, depending how frequently the software is updated.

Many businesses that have not previously used call monitoring are now required to do so by state or federal regulations. If your business is among these, keep in mind that while call monitoring requires a financial investment, the benefits to your company may outweigh the costs. You can use your call monitoring system to evaluate employee performance, improve in-house coaching and training, assess your internal processes and even facilitate conflict resolution, when that need arises.

Here are some of the current trends and terms:

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On-premise VoIP

Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) allows your business to make, receive and record calls over the Internet at a considerable cost savings compared to the cost of land line services. On-premises VoIP means that a company purchases and maintains its own servers and phone switching equipment in house. Start up costs are higher, compared to hosted VOIP.

I recommend: Learn more about on-premise VoIP at the VoIP Supply website.

Hosted VoIP

With hosted VoIP, a third party vendor provides a company's VoIP service. Clients use the vendor's servers, which are located at the vendor's site. This is the less expensive way to utilize a VoIP system, often making it a good choice for companies just beginning to monitor their calls.

I recommend: To learn more about the advantages of hosted VoIP visit VoIPMonitor.net.

Screen recording

Screen recording captures on video the full computer desktop screens or specific areas of the screens of call agents. Recording can be customized according the prompts selected, such as the start of a call, an email, or other triggers. Screen recording cannot be detected by the employees being monitored.

I recommend: You can find out more about screen recording at the VPI website.

Interactive voice response (IVR)

Interactive voice response (IVR) technology automates a company's interactions with callers. IVR is used in many types of business calls--sales, service, collections, inquiry and support calls--and it can reduce costs in each of these areas. IVR can be used with both inbound and outbound calls and new versions record the caller ID, time of the call and the duration of the call.

I recommend: Read more about advanced IVR at the Database Systems website.

Third party remote call monitoring

Many businesses find that they don't have time to listen to the calls they record. A third party remote call monitoring company can analyze the calls on behalf of the company, allowing it to take advantage of the knowledge gained through monitoring. A third party company can also record calls for clients from a remote location.

I recommend: Find out about the advantages of third party remote call monitoring at AllBusiness.com.

CallMatch

In real time, CallMatch sends a caller's Automatic Number Identification (ANI) to a proprietary database that returns their name, address, telephone number, gender, date of birth and credit score predictor to the agent. This information can automatically populate the fields on the agent's screen, enabling the agent to appropriately and efficiently route or handle the call.

I recommend: Find out more about CallMatch at the Technology Marketing website.