Call Monitoring 101

Call monitoring involves listening to live or recorded customer interactions. It is one of the most valuable ways to determine key performance indicators for contact centres. It allows managers to see how well their agents are doing and where there might be room for improvement. In this blog, we’ll break down all of the different methods of call monitoring and its advantages.?

Call Monitoring Methods?

Call Listening

This method involves a contact centre manager listening in on an agent’s customer interaction while taking notes. Then, they record their feedback and provide it after the fact.?

Call Whispering?

This method is very helpful while training new agents. Managers can talk directly to agents while interacting with a customer without the customer hearing them.?

Call barging

This method involves the manager interjecting on a live call if the agent has issues.?

Call recording

Lastly, this method involves recording phone calls to listen to after the fact. Call recording is helpful because managers can play back old conversations to show agents what they would have done differently under the same circumstances. It can also be used to train new agents. If a very successful call is recorded, it can be played to show the team exactly what to do.?

Advantages of Call Monitoring

Customer Advantages

Call monitoring ensures that all customer interactions are consistent. Customers don’t want to call twice and hear different information with each call. With call monitoring, supervisors can ensure their agents are sticking to the script and not making any promises that can’t be kept that may lead to future frustrations.?

Contact Centre Supervisor Advantages

Call monitoring allows supervisors to develop solutions for any agent issues as they come up. When they listen to live calls, they can interject and help struggling agents or customers. When they listen to recorded calls, they can quickly identify issues and ensure certain agents get the training they need. This quick and easy identification will help improve day-to-day operations by pinpointing which agents need training and who are ready to be promoted. It will also help narrow down customers’ pain points so your organization can develop strategies to resolve these issues.?

Contact Centre Agent Advantages

Although call monitoring may be a little intimidating for agents, it is advantageous for this group as well. It allows them to be better prepared for challenging situations with customers. It’s an opportunity to improve their skills and potentially move up in the company.?

Overall Advantages

In summation, call monitoring has the following advantages for all contact centres:?

• CX improvement
• Callback reduction
• First Call Resolution improved
• Employee Retention?
• Brand loyalty?
• Operational cost reduction?

How to Use Call Monitoring to Improve Your Contact Centre?

Once you’ve gathered all of the information you need from call monitoring, it's important to use it properly. It can be challenging to provide feedback, but here are some ways to optimize your agents’ performance:?

• Ensure the criticism you’re providing is constructive and based on objective data.
• Quantify feedback into quotas or measurable goals?
• Give customers post-interaction surveys to gain extra insight
• Factor in other data such as queue time, hold time, handle time and transfers.?

As you can see, call monitoring is an effective and cost-efficient way to improve the overall efficiency of your contact centre. If you’re looking for a customer experience solution, we’re here to help you!?

At Innovative Vision, we are passionate about the world of Customer Experience. Founded in 2002, we are a marketing technology firm specializing in Contact Centre BPO. Through the power of omnichannel support and hybrid live agent/AI models, we ensure that every interaction that a customer has with your business is positive and meaningful.

Allow us to inspire your company to grow through our enhanced approach to guiding the customer journey. To learn more about our advanced and specialized services, contact us today!