Call Center Terms and Jargons Newbies Should Know
Summary
TLDRThis video script offers an insightful overview of the call center and BPO industry, particularly for newcomers. It explains the concept of BPO as a broad service outsourcing sector, with the call center industry being just one of its many facets. The script clarifies the roles of 'accounts' and 'agents,' the difference between inbound and outbound calls, and various job titles like CSR and TSR. It also covers essential industry terms such as 'product training,' 'tools,' 'mock calls,' 'nesting,' and 'escalation.' The speaker invites viewers to request a follow-up for further exploration of the topic.
Takeaways
- π BPO stands for Business Process Outsourcing, where a company hires another to perform certain tasks, often due to lower labor costs.
- π Call centers are a subset of BPO, focusing on customer service via phone, while contact centers also handle emails and chat.
- π The Philippines is highlighted as a popular location for BPO due to cost-effective labor, with examples like Amazon and eBay outsourcing customer service.
- π The difference between inbound and outbound calls is based on the direction of the call flow: inbound from customer to agent, outbound from agent to customer.
- π₯ CSR stands for Customer Service Representative, responsible for addressing customer inquiries and problems.
- π» TSR refers to Technical Service Representative, requiring specific technical knowledge to assist customers with more complex issues.
- ποΈ An Account in a call center context is the client company for whom the call center is providing services.
- π Product training is essential for new hires to learn about the account's policies, processes, and tools needed to assist customers.
- π§ Tools are the applications and software agents use to assist customers, varying in number and complexity depending on the account.
- π Mock calls are practice sessions simulating real customer interactions to help agents get accustomed to handling calls.
- π Nesting is a training phase where new agents take real customer calls under supervision, typically for a reduced number of hours to facilitate learning.
Q & A
What is BPO and how does it relate to Amazon or eBay?
-BPO, or Business Process Outsourcing, is a process where one company hires another company from a different country to handle certain tasks for them. Companies like Amazon or eBay might outsource their customer service needs to another company in a different country to take advantage of lower labor costs.
Why would a company choose to hire another company from another country for BPO services?
-Companies often choose to hire another company from another country for BPO services due to the lower cost of labor in that country, which can result in significant cost savings for the hiring company.
What is the difference between a contact center and a call center?
-A contact center deals with emails, chat, and calls, while a call center typically only deals with calls. Both are places where agents make and receive calls and interact with customers or potential clients.
Why might people in the Philippines commonly associate BPO with call centers?
-In the Philippines, the term BPO is often synonymous with call centers because a majority of the BPO companies there are call center companies, even though BPO is a broader term that includes various skills and services.
What is an 'account' in the context of call centers?
-An 'account' refers to the client company that the call center is working for. It is the company that pays the call center and for which the call center agents provide services.
What are the three parties typically involved in a call center setup?
-The three parties typically involved in a call center setup are the account (the client company), the call center company (which manages payroll and operations), and the call center agents (who interact with customers).
What are 'inbound' and 'outbound' calls in a call center?
-Inbound calls are those coming from the customer to the call center, such as for customer service or booking appointments. Outbound calls are made by call center agents to potential clients, for example, to sell products or conduct surveys.
What does CSR stand for and what is their role in a call center?
-CSR stands for Customer Service Representative. Their role is to answer customer questions, solve problems, and assist customers with their concerns.
What is the difference between a CSR and a TSR in a call center?
-A CSR is a general customer service representative, while a TSR (Technical Support Representative) has a more specific field of expertise, often dealing with technical issues such as fixing computers or internet connections.
What is 'product training' in a call center and why is it important?
-Product training is the process where call center agents learn about the account they will be working for, including company policies, processes, and the applications and software they will use. It is important because it equips agents with the necessary knowledge to assist customers effectively.
What is a 'mock call' and why is it used in call center training?
-A mock call is a simulated call where a trainee acts as a call center agent, and another person, usually a trainer or fellow trainee, acts as the customer. It is used to help agents get used to taking and handling calls in a realistic setting.
What is the purpose of 'nesting' in call center training?
-Nesting is a part of call center training where trainees take actual calls from real customers under the supervision of a trainer. It helps trainees transition into actual work by providing a shorter, supervised experience before full employment.
What are 'warm transfer' and 'cold transfer' in a call center?
-A warm transfer is when an agent informs the next agent about the customer and the issue before transferring the call, allowing the next agent to prepare. A cold transfer is a direct transfer without such preparation, often used to save time or when transferring between departments where an introduction is not needed.
What does 'ACW' stand for and what does it involve?
-ACW stands for After Call Work. It refers to the tasks that agents must complete after a call, such as updating customer information or resolving issues, which can vary in complexity depending on the account.
What does 'avail' mean in the context of a call center?
-'Avail' in a call center means changing one's status in the dialer from unavailable to available, signaling readiness to receive calls from customers.
What is the difference between 'cueing' and 'veil' in a call center?
-'Cueing' refers to a situation where many customers are calling and waiting to be answered, indicating a busy line. 'Veil', on the other hand, describes a status of a queue when no one is calling and the line is available.
What does it mean to 'escalate' a call in a call center?
-To 'escalate' a call means to transfer it from an agent to someone higher up, such as a supervisor or the escalation department, when the agent cannot resolve the customer's issue or the customer requests to speak with a higher authority.
What is 'de-escalation' in a call center and when is it used?
-De-escalation is the process of convincing a customer not to transfer a call to a supervisor when the issue can be resolved at the agent level. It is used to manage call volume and keep as many calls as possible from going to team leads or supervisors.
What are 'auto in' calls and how do they affect the call center workflow?
-Auto in calls are calls that are automatically dialed by the system, either for inbound (receiving calls) or outbound (making calls) purposes. This can lead to less downtime between calls, potentially increasing stress for agents as they have fewer breaks between interactions.
Outlines
π Introduction to BPO and Call Center Industry
The video script introduces the concept of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), explaining that it involves one company hiring another to perform tasks due to cost-effective labor. It clarifies the difference between a contact center and a call center, with the former handling emails, chat, and calls, while the latter primarily deals with calls. The script also highlights that the call center industry is just a part of the broader BPO sector, which includes various skills such as virtual assistance and graphic design. The Philippines is used as an example where BPO is often synonymous with call centers, but the reality is that BPO encompasses a wide range of services.
π Call Center Terminology and Roles
This paragraph delves into specific call center terminology, including 'account' which refers to the client company, 'inbound' and 'outbound' calls, and various agent roles such as CSR (Customer Service Representative) and TSR (Technical Service Representative). It also discusses the importance of product training for call center agents, which covers company policies, processes, and the tools required to assist customers. Mock calls and nesting are introduced as training methods to prepare agents for real customer interactions, with the former being a simulated call and the latter involving actual customer calls under supervision.
π Understanding Call Transfers and Call Management
The script explains the process of call transfers, distinguishing between 'warm transfer' where the next agent is prepared for the customer's issue, and 'cold transfer' which is a direct transfer without prior notice to the receiving agent. It also covers 'ACW' or After Call Work, the tasks agents must complete after a call, and the concept of 'avail', which means agents are ready to receive calls. The terms 'veil' and 'cueing' describe the status of call queues, while 'escalate' and 'de-escalate' refer to transferring calls to higher authorities or resolving issues at the current level, respectively. The paragraph also touches on 'auto in' for both inbound and outbound calls, which automates the call process for agents.
π Call Center Dynamics and Viewer Engagement
The final paragraph addresses the dynamics of working in a call center with auto-in systems, which can be stressful due to the lack of rest between calls. It invites viewers to request a part two of the video if they need more information and encourages them to comment with suggestions for future content. The script concludes by thanking viewers for watching and signals the end of the video.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘BPO
π‘Call Center
π‘Labor Cost
π‘Inbound and Outbound
π‘CSR
π‘TSR
π‘Product Training
π‘Tools
π‘Mock Call
π‘Nesting
π‘Soup Call
π‘Warm Transfer and Cold Transfer
π‘ACW
π‘Avail
π‘Cueing
π‘Escalate and De-escalate
π‘Auto In
Highlights
BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) is a process where one company hires another to perform certain tasks, often due to lower labor costs.
Amazon and eBay are examples of companies that outsource customer service needs to BPOs.
The difference between a contact center and a call center is that the former handles emails, chat, and calls, while the latter primarily deals with calls.
In the Philippines, BPO is often synonymous with call centers, but BPO encompasses a wide range of skills beyond just call centers.
A call center industry is a subcategory of the broader Business Process Outsourcing industry.
An account in a call center context refers to the client company that the call center is working for.
Call centers in the Philippines often partner with multiple accounts, and vice versa.
Inbound calls are those coming from customers to the call center, such as for customer service or booking appointments.
Outbound calls are initiated by call center agents, such as for sales or conducting surveys.
CSR stands for Customer Service Representative, responsible for answering questions and solving customer problems.
TSR (Technical Service Representative) focuses on the technical side of customer support, such as fixing computer issues or internet connections.
A Sales Representative promotes a company's products and services or offers appointments over the phone.
Product training is essential for call center agents to learn about the account they will be working for, including company policies and processes.
Tools in a call center are the applications and software used to assist customers, which can range from 5 to 20 depending on account complexity.
A mock call is a simulated call used for training purposes, either during the job application process or for ongoing skill development.
Nesting is a training phase where new agents take real customer calls under the guidance of a trainer.
A supervisor call, or 'soup call', is a call where a customer specifically requests to speak with a supervisor.
Transferring calls can be done as a warm transfer, giving the next agent time to prepare, or as a cold transfer, which is more immediate and less informative.
ACW (After Call Work) refers to tasks that agents must complete following a call, which can vary in complexity and time requirements.
In the Philippine call centers, 'avail' means changing status to receive calls, while 'veil' describes a queue with no active calls.
Cueing, or queuing, is when many customers are calling and waiting to be answered, indicating a high call volume.
Escalate refers to transferring a call to a higher authority when an agent cannot resolve an issue, while de-escalate is the process of handling the issue at the current level.
Auto-in is a call center setup where calls are automatically connected to agents without the need for manual dialing.
Transcripts
these terms that i'm going to discuss in
this video are the terms that you are
going to encounter especially if you are
still starting out in this industry
without further delay let's begin
bpo is basically a process where one
company from a certain country
hires another company from another
country
to do certain tasks for them for example
amazon or ebay they are both online
stores
they need another company to take care
of their customer service needs
in this case they hire company b from
another country
to do the task for them now you might
ask
why would company a hire another company
specifically from another country
well in most cases that's because of the
lower cost of labor
i'm not entirely sure about this but i
heard that the salary
of one call center agent in the u.s
or canada could already pay three
or four call center agents here in the
philippines therefore they can save more
the difference between contact center
and call center is that contact center
deals
with emails chat and calls
while call center usually only deals
with calls but they are both
headquarters where agents
make and receive calls and talk to
customers or sell to their potential
clients
now in the philippines i'm not sure if
this applies to other countries as well
but when someone says bpo
people usually think of bpo as
synonymous to call center
that's not entirely correct and that's
because bpo
is a vast umbrella it includes a lot of
skills
and it happens that call center industry
is just one of those skills
a company could be a company of virtual
assistants graphic designers
and it would still be under the bpo
umbrella in short the call center
industry is just a subcategory
of the vast umbrella that is the
business process outsourcing
i think the reason why most people
usually think of bpo as
entirely similar to call center is that
in the philippines a majority of the bpo
here are call center companies but the
thing is there are also companies who
manage
virtual assistants graphic designer
computer programmers
you name it there's a lot of them
an account simply is the client company
that your call center company is working
for
remember our setup before with company a
and company b
well company a is the account and
company b
is the call center and you are the agent
so think of the account as
the client of the call center company
that you are working for
because there are basically three
parties involved in most call center
setups in the philippines
there's the account which is the one
paying
your call center company and then
there's the call center company who
manages the payroll
make sure that you go to work and
provides the computers
and then there's you the call center
agent so if somebody asks you what
company are you in so just say
the name of the company that your call
center company is partnering with
or working for by the way just a side
note that
a call starter company could partner
with multiple
accounts and it's also the same the
other way around
inbound and outbound these words simply
refer
to the direction of where the calls are
coming and going
so when the call is coming from the
customer going into the call center
then that is called inbound this applies
to customer service where
customers call in order to ask a
question or
get an agent to help them with their
problem this also applies when
a patient needs to book an appointment
with the clinic
the call is going to the call center
from the customer
and outbound is the exact opposite
instead of the customer doing the
calling
it's the agents that's doing the calling
this happens with sales account
where the agents have to call their
potential clients to sell
products and services another example is
a company
called ssi formerly called opinionology
where the agent's task is to call people
and ask them for their opinion
to basically conduct a survey so that's
outbound because the call
is coming from the call center
csr simply means customer service
representative
if you are a csr then you are
responsible answering the customer's
questions
and solving their problems and just
overall helping them with their concerns
think of tsr like a csr but their field
of expertise is more specific think of
dsr as the ones
helping customers to fix their computer
or fix their connection
they focus more on the technical side of
things to be a tsr
you usually need to have technical
knowledge about
computers how to fix an internet
connection routers
you need to have those basic knowledge
this is self-explanatory this is the
sales representative the one who calls
potential clients to promote the
company's
product and services or to even offer
appointment
product training simply means the
training specifically about the account
that you're going to be working for
so once you're accepted in the job
interview the next stage is usually the
product training where you will have to
know
everything that you need to know about
the the account
in this training you're going to learn
the company policy the processes
the applications and software that you
need to handle
to help your customers this is usually
the part of the training that's
very tedious but also the most important
because if you miss one day of training
then you are going to get left behind
tools are simply the applications and
the software that you're going to be
using to assist your customers
typically most accounts usually have 5
up to 20 tools depending on the
complexity of the account for example
there are going to be tools
to request for a refund pull up the
customer's account
check her billing statements tools that
you're going to be using to call the
customers
or to receive calls so it really depends
on the account that you're going to be
working for
mock call you probably already know this
mock call is simply
a call simulation you'll usually have to
take my calls in two occasions
first is when you're applying when
you're still applying for a call center
job
and second is when you're already on on
the training floor
and your trainer wants you to practice
handling your customers so
in that case you're gonna have a mock
call or call simulation where you have
to act as a call center agent
and somebody else preferably your
trainer or other trainee
will act as your customer just to help
you get used to taking calls and
handling customers over the phone
by the way i have five mock calls so far
in this channel so if you want to check
that out i'm gonna link it up here
and then nesting nesting is the part of
your training
usually after the product training where
you have to take
actual calls from actual customers based
on my experience
when you're nesting you don't usually
have to take calls within the whole
eight hours
usually when you're in the nesting stage
you're only going to be taking calls
for four hours and the rest of that is
going to be spent with your trainer
discussing questions about your calls
this part of the training will help you
transition
so just think of nesting as an actual
work but
shorter compared to an actual employment
soup call simply means a supervisor call
this is a type of call
where a customer is asking specifically
to talk to a supervisor
that call is called a soup call and
another situation that
a regular call will turn into a soup
call is
when you cannot solve a certain problem
or answer a certain question
from a customer and you need the
expertise of your
team lead to answer that or you need the
escalation team to solve that problem
but when a call is clearly a sub call
and the customer really wants to talk to
supervisor then
all you have to do is to inform your tl
about it and tell her that hey
somebody here wants to talk to a manager
a supervisor and that's it
the two kinds of transfer the warm
transfer and the cold transfer
so when you are required to warm
transfer a call
it means that you're gonna have to
inform the next agent or the next person
where you're going to be transferring
the call to for example there's a
customer named karen on the other end of
the line
she doesn't want to talk to me she
doesn't want to talk to anyone else she
wants to specifically talk to a
different agent
let's say the rep is called nicole
and let's say that i cannot solve
karen's problem that only
nicole the other agent could solve it so
my only option would be to transfer her
now if i'm gonna transfer her using the
warm transfer
the first thing that i'm gonna have to
do is to call nicole
to call nicole and then tell nicole like
this hey nicole
there's a customer here on the other end
of the line
named karen and she's specifically
asking for you i tried checking her case
number
and it seems like only you has the
access to the
vendor for this customer so would you
mind talking to her i have the order
number do you want it and then
you just give nicole the order number
and then you will have to give nicole
time
a few minutes to check the case of the
customer and once nicole is ready
she's gonna give you the signal to go go
right ahead transfer the call give me
karen
and then i will have to get back to
karen and tell karen hey karen
um i'm gonna have to transfer you now to
nicole thank you for calling
bye and then i will now click a button
to transfer the call to nick to nicole
so that is a warm transfer you're
basically giving
the next rep time to compose herself and
prepare herself for the case so she will
have the data
to assist the customer that's warm
transfer but there are also situations
where cold transfer is
more preferable than a worm transfer in
order to save time
cold transfer in a nutshell is the
opposite of
warm transfer which means instead of
informing the agent about the call
about the customer you will have to
directly
transfer the call to the next agent it's
not going to be so nice for the next
agent
because she's not prepared for the
customer but there are situations
where this is more appropriate goal
transfer is usually more appropriate
when
you are transferring this customer from
this department to
another department in this case there's
no need for an introduction
from one party to the other so that's
called transfer
depending on the situation worm transfer
might be appropriate
and vice versa in my next mock calls i'm
probably gonna be demonstrating
the difference between cold and warm
transfer so you will be able to
familiarize
yourself once you get this work in the
call center
acw simply means after call work
it simply means the work that you have
to do right after the call
in some accounts they usually only allow
you to spend two minutes on and after
call work and then
proceed to another call in the account
where i was working three years ago
the after call work was a little bit
more complicated and harder
because after each shift we have to
contact
certain people in behalf of the customer
we had to contact
usps career services vendors suppliers
so the after call work was heavier
avail i am not sure if this is a word
that
other call centers outside the
philippines are also
using but this is definitely a term that
we use in the philippine call centers
when your tl or your team lead says
avail
it means that you need to change your
status in the dialer
from unavailable to avail once your
status isn't available
it means that you will start receiving
calls from customers
a veil by the way is also used to
describe
the status of a queue when nobody is
calling
and the line is available then
that's called a veil so again i don't
know if this is
this is a term that all call center
companies around the world are using
but this is definitely a term we use
here in the philippines
cueing is the opposite of a veil this
is the situation where the lines are
busy
and customers are calling like crazy in
the call center industry we call that
queuing
it means that a lot of customers are
calling and there are other customers
who are waiting to be answered
escalate and de-escalate when someone
says escalate
it means to escalate the call it means
transferring the call
from an agent to someone higher up
usually to the escalation department
or to a supervisor or your team lead it
usually happens when
the customer is specifically requesting
to talk to a supervisor or some or to
someone higher up
or in technical support it usually
happens when an agent
could not solve the customer's problem
and then the call will be escalated to
someone who will have better access or
better resources to solve that problem
so that's
escalation and de-escalate on the other
hand is the opposite of
escalate just because a customer is
asking to be transferred to a supervisor
doesn't mean that you have to transfer
every single time
for example if you are dealing with a
problem that you know you can't solve
and the customer is okay with it
you can try to de-escalate it you can
try convincing the customer that hey i
can't solve this problem
there's no need for a supervisor so that
process is called
de-escalating or de-escalation this is
especially important because there are
more call center agents than
team leads so as much as possible you
want
less calls going to your team lead and
you want to be able to solve
as much problem as possible without it
going to your team lead
you only need to transfer a call to your
team lead when
you cannot solve the problem or the
customer really
wants to talk to a supervisor auto in
it just means that the calls are going
in and out
automatically so if it is an inbound
auto in
it means that the calls are going in
and being answered by the system
automatically
without you having to press a button i
think this is a setup if your account
doesn't really have an acw where you
only have to talk to the customer and
all the work is done
right after the call so that is usually
where call center companies use
auto in on the other hand if it is an
outbound auto in
it means that the system itself is the
one
doing the dialing you don't have to dial
anything the system will do that
automatically
so right after you finish a call the
system will automatically dial
another number for you to call whether
it's an inbound or an outbound auto
in you will not have much time to rest
between
calls which means it's probably going to
be a little bit stressful for you
because you don't have a breather other
than your lunch and your
break time 30 minute break so that's
something that you should think about if
you
are ever assigned to an account where
the system
is auto in
i know that i have missed a lot of words
here i am just focusing on the words
that you should know
if you're still starting out in this
industry if you want me to do a part two
of this
comment down below and let me know if
you have any requests for my next video
i will make a video for you in the
future all right
thank you for watching bye
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