A Sponsored Article by Avoke
We have all heard the phrase “less is more,” but how does it relate to capturing call recordings in the call center? One may think that gathering as much data as possible would be the best approach to understanding operational costs and assessing the customer experience. However, call center analytics is not about the number of calls you record, but the insights you are able to gather from the data. And you don’t need to study 100% of inbound calls to identify opportunities to improve self-service utilization or business processes. A representative sample analysis can empower you to obtain a comprehensive understanding of your center and yield actionable improvements to drive success.
Sample Analyses or 100% Recording
Why use samples? Samples make it easier to correlate data sources and perform in-depth analyses to identify and explain trends in the larger population. Essentially, they can be helpful for assessing almost anything within an error margin. The key is that, if you want a smaller error margin, you must choose a larger sample size. A prime example of sampling is opinion polls. Opinion polls allow research groups to gather intelligence about the views of the general population without needing to survey each and every person. By surveying a representative sample of the population, researchers can make pretty accurate statements about people’s feelings toward specific topics and what matters most to the voting public.
Sample analyses are also well-suited for optimization tasks. The first step in optimization is to understand the status quo. Once you have a thorough understanding of the current situation, you can develop a plan to address problems and make improvements. For example, in the call center, if your goal is to improve the caller experience, you must first study and understand the experience of your average caller. By analyzing a sample of calls, you can isolate reoccurring problems and recognize where processes might be breaking down. These insights empower you to make informed decisions about where to make targeted changes to improve the overall caller experience.
Why use 100% recording? Some companies employ 100% recording to comply with industry regulations. While sampling is typically a more cost-effective approach, some companies choose the expense of 100% recording to protect themselves from potential legal proceedings and penalties.
Analytics in the Contact Center
AVOKE Analytics offers a Caller Effort Index that looks at key performance indicators across several high-level performance categories and automates measurement of high-effort events. By focusing on particular metrics that require more customer effort, you can better understand what’s going on and what recommendations to make. For example, one AVOKE customer noticed that the “Multiple Re-prompts” metric, which measures the number of times a caller is re-asked for information in the IVR, was too high. They used the AVOKE Call Browser to isolate a sample of calls to investigate the issue. In those calls, it was easy to identify improvement opportunities such as changing the inter-digit timeout to reduce the number of re-prompts experienced by callers. In this way, the AVOKE Caller Effort Index provides companies with the direction to decide which areas need attention and where sampling might be most valuable in uncovering opportunities for improvement.
Summary
Although many companies are persuaded to invest in a 100% recording and analytics solution, sample analysis is beneficial in almost all use cases. Root cause requires deep understanding and deep understanding requires meta-data and effort that you cannot attain using big data. Before committing to the cost of a 100% analytics solution, take the time to consider whether a sample analysis could better suit your needs and budget.
To learn more about sample recording and analysis download AVOKE’s latest webcast: “Do you really need 100% call recording to understand what’s happening in your call center?”