American Communications Center Inc.
By Laura LaLuzerne
ACC Communications Center Inc. (ACC) offers customized virtual receptionist solutions for all types of businesses, both large and small. Founded in Pennsylvania in 1993, ACC helps national and international companies run more efficiently 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. While many call centers began allowing agents to work remotely in 2020 due to the pandemic, ACC’s virtual receptionists have been working remotely since 2017. ACC prides itself on being 100% US-based, with a100% remote workforce, offering 100% availability, and providing 100% customized services for each client.
Preparing for the Future
Every call center must be able to meet the needs of current clients while also providing services that attract new ones. As new technologies continue to emerge, keeping up with new software options and using these to offer additional services helps call centers and contact centers provide enhanced features for current clients and attract more clients who need these services.
Adding New Capabilities
Because today’s contact centers answer for a diverse client base, efficiently handling calls for plumbing companies, HVAC, apartment complexes, funeral homes, doctors, hospitals, dentists, vet clinics, and property management can be challenging. “We also answer for a TV station, and we have a very large national and international insurance company that does all kinds of insurance, including workers’ compensation and auto insurance, so we handle many different types of calls,” stated Crystal O’Hara, ACC Vice-President.
Always looking for ways to improve and enhance their capabilities, Crystal began comparing the software available from the various vendors while attending trade shows. “Going to ATSI every year and hearing the vendors speak, I’d hear what one vendor was doing, and then the next year, other companies were catching up, so the other companies were behind,” according to Crystal.
Making the Decision to Upgrade
After continuing to see more opportunities to grow their business, ACC decided to upgrade to a more advanced call processing system. “Our decision was based on the fact that we want to move forward with the times and not go backward,” said Crystal. “Seeing demos with other products and companies, the things we liked about the new system outweighed the others.”
ACC Operations Manager Amber Lawrence continued, “The big thing for us is having those additional capabilities that we don’t currently have, which opens us up to be able to reach out to current clients or potential clients that are looking for something that no one else can do.”
Solutions Built for Remote Workforce Needs
With agents in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma, ACC needed a user-friendly solution to simplify complex calls and keep their agents updated. “The web-based agent software has a more modern look, so as you’re hiring younger people, it’s going to be easier for them to catch on because it looks like a web browser,” stated Crystal.
Tools Designed to Keep Clients Connected
In preparation for upgrading to the new system, ACC sent a survey to its customers to get their input. According to Amber, “One of the largest complaints clients mentioned was spelling accuracy. So, this is a huge thing because our current system is not set up to catch spelling errors. The scripting capabilities in the new system are going to help immensely.”
ACC is also looking forward to having clients enter their own on-call schedules, which will save time for the ACC supervisors, improve accuracy for agents with instant access to schedule changes and overrides, helping ensure they always contact the correct personnel.
Providing Insights for Management
ACC plans to implement a secure, cloud-based call quality management and message archival platform that includes call logs, statistics, recordings, transcripts, agent call history, script logs, message archival, and custom scoring scripts for automated call scoring.
“We’re looking forward to using the new platform,” said Crystal. “One of my favorite things from long ago was a voice logger that also did screen capture. That way, I could see what the agents were clicking on. We will have that in our new system, and the capability to grade calls will be very helpful. It makes it possible for us to use supervisors in other ways in our company because we can have the automated scoring tell agents what they did right or wrong.”
Consider Training Options
While learning a new system may seem like a lot to absorb, Crystal and Amber felt that going directly to the vendor for dedicated hands-on training was a good choice for them. “It was nice to be in person together and learn something new, and then we can go back and figure out the best way to set everything up,” said Crystal. Amber added, “We’ve learned so much – even things we didn’t know we could do. It opens up more possibilities for offering even more services for our clients.”
Using Scripting to Simplify Setup
Crystal and Amber plan to build scripts that will streamline call handling for agents. “Currently, we ask a question on the screen and fill out a hypertext link that directs them to the next step,” said Crystal.
“Our office account is split into subaccounts based on who they’re asking for because each has different instructions.” She continued, “Now, we can build a script for each person, which simplifies programming and cuts out a lot of information that we don’t need.”
A Bright Future
While getting everything set up the way they’d like it will take some time, ACC is optimistic about its future. Crystal commented, “Moving forward, we’ll be able to use Teams, Zoom, and other online platforms for additional training and to answer questions. We’re looking forward to getting started, because we know we have more options with the new system in the way that the future is going.”
Advice for Others Moving to a New Platform
Crystal and Amber have helpful suggestions for those looking to start a system upgrade process.
Crystal summarized the major points:
1. Research Your Options: “Do your due diligence and pick a system that will work for you and your company. Look for opportunities that will propel your company forward.”
2. Narrow it Down: “Don’t think that you’re going to use every single feature that is available. Look at what’s available, and before you start programming, figure out how you want the accounts to look, because they need to be consistent.”
3. Choose On-Site Training: “Go on-site to the vendor’s location for training! Honestly, I would, because I think it was the best decision we made.”
4. Have Your Team Available: “If you’re planning on having your company complete the setup, involve the person or people who will be working with you so that you can make decisions right away before you start. Bring your right-hand person, like I brought Amber.”
5. Don’t Rush: “It’s a change. It’s different, and it will take some time to learn it. You will likely be training other people, and those people need to teach other people. You may not train them on everything right away, but having many people familiar with the new system is very important.”
Laura LaLuzerne is a Marketing Coordinator at Amtelco
