If you have a telemarketing or call centre setup for your business, you know the importance of staying updated about what your agents communicate to your prospects and customers. Thus, a voice recording is essential for businesses which have a telemarketing team in place.
What is a Voice Logger?
A voice logger (or voice logging system) is a device that regularly records telephonic conversations. Businesses that engage in voice logging include public safety (emergency responses, mental health helplines), customer service call centres, financial services (telephonic stock-market trading and any other institution for compliance purposes).
The three types of voice loggers are:
1. Analog Tape:
These are the oldest recording audio solution, where tape recorders use reels to record multiple telephone lines on different tracks. Simpler systems that involve audio cassettes and microcassette tape recorders also exist. (We still can see how they looked in old movies.)
2. Digital tape:
Also known as recordable disks, these are the most common voice loggers today. They consist of specialized hardware in a PC motherboard. They record metadata about recorded calls, including start/stop timestamps, extension number or name, dialled and more. Many systems allow administrators to listen to live conversations or to access records from any remote location.
3. Software-only Systems:
This is software running on servers to record and monitor calls. However, this type of software can usually only record a single line at a time and is much more limited in features. Business-class recording and monitoring systems enable businesses of all sizes to deploy centralized call recording and monitoring for IP telephony systems.
The Benefits of a Voice Logger
Voice loggers go beyond the simple role of voice recording. Companies can leverage it (and are doing so) to improve customer service and increase sales.
The top five benefits are:
1. Improvement in Quality
Managers can listen to voice recordings and provide feedback to the agents on how they can improve their interactions with customers. Thus, they can identify areas of improvement for their agents and whether their agents are adhering to company policy while communicating with customers. Plus, they can resolve issues before they turn into large issues. All this means that the quality of customer interaction improves.
2. Accuracy in Data Entry
It’s natural for human beings to make errors. But these errors in data entry can prove costly if the stakes are high in a conversation. At such times, recordings are helpful for people to go back to check whether they’ve accurately entered data, and correct it if not.
3. The clarity in Communication with Customers
In business, disputes with customers are a common scenario. If things spiral so much out of control that a lawsuit beckons, these recordings can prove useful to resolve conflicts and clear you of any liability.
4. Performance Management
Data and reports tell managers how long agents take on calls, how long they place customers on hold, and what their CSAT scores are. Recording can help managers understand the underlying reasons behind them. They can listen to calls and figure out what agents are doing to get those numbers. They can use the calls of top-performing agents to train others, and understand areas of improvement of low performing agents and prepare them accordingly.
5. Company Adherence
Compliance is one of the most important metrics for call centres. Voice loggers enable the quality and monitoring departments to track whether agents are adhering to company Do’s and Don’ts and not engaging in activities outside the company’s protocols of safety and regulations.
Use Cases for a Voice Logger
The most effective use cases for voice loggers in India and how they enable telemarketing businesses and call centres to achieve their goals are as follows.
1. Monitoring and Reporting
This is the most common reason why audio recording are sought after.
You can monitor live and recorded calls – inbound and outbound – and track their quality. The entire call logs list is available to the managers. They can search for specific voice recordings and perform various operations like emailing them, listening to them, and more.
2. Coaching and Training
New agents can be trained using calls recorded on the floor to understand how to live interactions flow. On-floor agents can also be coached based on their own calls or by listening to calls of other agents who are doing well on the floor. Thus, the quality of performance of the entire process improves.
3. Detailed Recording
Calls don’t just get recorded. You also get a more detailed analysis – timestamps, name of agents, durations of calls, and more – in voice loggers. You can analyze the data and come up with insights on how you can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your floor and the organization.
4. Maintaining Compliance
Voice loggers can store data for a period of up to six months or more as per your requirement. Thus, at such times, if the recordings are asked for by authorities during a dispute, they can be made available.
What to Consider While Buying a Voice Logger
There are certain factors which you should keep in mind while buying a voice logger in India. Here are five of the most important ones.
a. Integration with Other Software
The voice logging system should be one that can be integrated easily with other applications like call management. This will ensure that you can keep voice recordings safe and give access only to authorized personnel.
b. Easy User Experience
The voice logger will be used by employees and managers, which means that it’s critical for the software to be user-friendly and easy to learn and use.
c. Technical Support
Even your systems administrators will need support – technical and non-technical – when the voice logger gets deployed. This support could be either in the form of simple how-to questions or issues that need to be addressed urgently. You would ideally want a service provider who provides swift support so that your business doesn’t suffer. It’s best to have a word with people in your network to identify a reliable service provider.
d. Suitable Recording Formats
Ensure that the recordings are in a format that’s compatible for use between colleagues and offices at different locations of your organization. This means your people will not waste time in trying to convert the format and instead, will use their time more productively.
The most effective way to ensure whether the voice logger you’re evaluating ticks the circle beside the above points is to get a demo. At such times, consider the following questions:
1. Does the voice logger help your business achieve its goals?
2. Is the system customizable to match your business needs and processes? If yes, how much customization does it need? (If the answer is “too much customization,” it’s best to look for other options.)
3. Is the team giving the demo well-versed in how the software works?
4. Is the software compatible with your systems and other software?
5. Any other questions you may have.
Why are Voice Loggers alone not enough?
If you are trying to set up a Telemarketing, telesales or a tele-support team, then just having a voice logger system does not serve the purpose. Here are a few reasons for the same:
- Supervision or coordination? You are not going to listen to all the calls. So just having call recording function does not work. Reporting and analysis is a must for voice logger systems.
- Consider the larger purpose. Also, consider the purpose of deploying a calling system in the first place. If the calling system is deployed for managing Sales, then there has to be a comprehensive system to manage the sales process. Likewise, for the tele-support team, the ticketing system or helpdesk is a must. Consider buying an integrated CRM system also. Then the reporting becomes complete.
For a free, no obligations demo for a voice logging software that can accommodate your changing business needs and requirements, and you can click here.
