The role of ACD systems
ACD systems (Automatic call distribution systems) are used in inbound call centers for effective and reliable distribution of incoming calls among agents. The primary function of ACD systems is to route calls to agents who can provide the services needed by a customer. For example in a call center rendering computer repair service, there would be agents specializing on laptops, printer, desktops etc. An ACD system is responsible to connect the customer to an agent with the required skill set. Another important function of the system is to uniformly distribute the calls among agents, so that no one particular agent gets overburdened by calls.
ACD software requires fixed addresses for phones extensions and workstations in a call center to be stored in a central database. Whenever agents login to a particular terminal they provide the telephone extension number, workstation ID and their respective skill set. When a customer calls in with a particular service request, the system scans the database for the agents with the skill set, and transfers the call to his telephone extension and computer terminal. The customer request is taken either through an IVR (interactive voice response system) or through another agent. ACD system also keeps track of agent idle time and distributes call accordingly. The system maintains a log of real time agent idle time after each call. Whenever a call comes in, it is transferred to the agent with the maximum idle time. This ensures an even distribution of calls, giving a much needed rest to an agent who has just finished a call.
ACD systems are used today in many call centers. The disadvantage of these systems is that they are costly and require dedicated single purpose hardware and software. A centrally maintained database of telephone and workstation addresses has to be maintained. A new technology approach being implemented in call centers today makes use of TCP/IP protocol of the internet. In this approach way of distributing calls, telephones are essentially eliminated and only the workstation IP address and agent skill set needs to be mapped. Moreover, the agent can be located anywhere where there is an acceptable Internet connection.
