When getting things done, we work with you to design a system that operates as personable and intelligently as possible. In any business, some client phone calls must be handled by a live person. In other areas a well-designed automated solution will give clients the answers they need and speedily get tasks done. This will avoid unnecessary expenses, cut down on wasted time, and result in a happier, more productive work environment.

Routing for example, a magazine's billing department, can avoid verifying a customer's account information, the voicemail system simply checks the caller-id and if it's listed on the account, that question is skipped.  Many of the questions related to an account are simple Yes/No type questions; do you still live at 2216 Wilshire Way? If the answer is no, the voicemail system can record the user speaking the new street address followed by the # key. Once the address is verified and the customer has specified corporate or private billing, the customer usually waits, and waits, and oh yeah, waits some more.

CTC doesn't just leave customers sitting there, the system will provide them with a number of options, allowing them to select their favorite genre of music, blessed silence, or even give them the opportunity to be called back once an agent is ready.  If the magazine is sports related, customers can even be given the option of playing a sports trivia game while they wait.  It's these little touches that will keep customers from feeling like rats trapped in a maze.  Instead, they'll feel appreciated and that their time and preferences are valued.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about waiting on hold, is sitting there waiting just to have the simplest question answered.  Thankfully many banks now offer automated ways to access a checking account balance, this is done quickly, easily, and error/liability free; these types of services are extremely valuable.  They avoid simple mistakes like reading a 7 instead of a 1 or giving the savings account balance instead of checking. Account balances are obvious, but what if a customer wants something more complicated like knowing all the calls to a particular area code made from their cell phone? Your virtual employee will read, fax, or even e-mail them the list.  It can even offer to exclude all calls made to area codes within your local calling area. Okay so it can answer simple questions, but what about the hard ones?

It's true in many cases a customer service representative is unbeatable, but if you can have virtual employees answering the easy questions, your reps. will have more time to handle the difficult ones.  And you will need far less employees sitting around and answer phone calls all day for customers with simply answered questions. Truly this is a better approach to customer service: find out what the customer wants, answer quickly, and do it all with dramatically reduced overhead.

Synthesized speech isn't perfect; it is true people don't mind hearing digitized numbers and dates, but they have far less tolerance when their names are mispronounced. One of our clients read all unique first and last names of their customers in our portable sound dampening booth, avoiding synthesized names altogether. We just displayed each name, the secretary read it aloud, and then pressed the space bar to end the recording and move on to the next name. Our program even automatically removed the silence from the beginning and end of everything she read. This was good because, while she had to remember how to pronounce names like "Nguyen," the system was still recording which would have added unnatural pauses in the speech.

What if you thought that you’re your company was to complex for an automated system?  For instance, what if you are a dentist, your customers probably aren't going to call in to check for cavities right?  This is true but if you are taking in a high volume of traffic from the phone, we can create a system whereby they can call in and automatically verify their appointment or select a new one.  It can also give reminder phone calls, faxes, and e-mails on the month, the week, and the morning of their visit. Not only that but it can play pre-recorded suggestions about brushing, flossing, tooth paste, and oral rinses.  There is no limit to what you can make an automated phone system do for you and increase your profit return from an intelligent investment such as an automated phone system.