7 Top Tactics for Handling Call Volume Spikes in a Contact Center

Making the best use of automation, omnichannel options, and call-back services are keys to managing call spikes.

06:32 30 November 2021

We’ve all been there. You desperately need to speak to a customer service agent about your cloud PBX service, but every time you call, an automated voice answers. It either tells you that the waiting time is too long and then the call is ended, or you’re placed on hold with elevator music from hell. Indefinitely. 

 

It’s not just bad for customers - it’s bad for business too. Irritated customers are likely to look towards your competitors and leave bad reviews. Meanwhile, your stressed and overwhelmed staff might look elsewhere too! Luckily, there are ways to manage call volume spikes and prevent these outcomes.

 

What are call volume spikes? 

Call volume spikes are “unusually” high volumes of calls to your call center. They’re unusual compared to the average number of calls received at any given time, but they’re not necessarily unpredictable. They’re simply a higher number of calls than your team might typically be equipped to handle on an average day. 

 

Why do they happen?

Spikes occur for a variety of reasons. Reasons can vary from lunch hours, commute times, holidays, you name it! They’re usually caused by predictable rhythms within society and can be handled with a little preparation and forethought of your workflow processes.

 

Let’s take a look at seven top tips for handling them.

 

1. Omnichannel communications

Instead of only offering one method - the old school telephone - to get in touch with your contact center, make sure you provide other options such as email and instant messaging services. The time pressure on these forms of communication is less intense than the phone, and it’s very attractive to all the people who dislike using telephones (hello introverts, we see you!). 

 

 

While telephone communication remains the most-used customer service channel, the other options are catching up quickly. Many people don’t relish the idea of sitting on hold for an hour (or longer!), so offering alternative methods of communication not only benefits your team, but also greatly benefits your customer. 

 

2. Automate

Another thing to consider is automation. By using automation to handle the simpler, more repetitive aspects of customer service, you can free up your agents to handle the more difficult communication.

 

One common use of automation is an IVR (interactive voice response) system. You know, the always very polite, usually female “robot” that leads you through a series of questions, asking you to press different buttons, or spell different words, depending on your needs and preferences. 

 

This is a good option for ensuring callers get to the right agent, first time. These systems are getting better at understanding a variety of accents - even heavy Scottish ones! - so they’re a lot less frustrating to use than they were maybe five or ten years ago. 

 

You can also automate your instant messaging system through the use of chatbots. These bots are capable of understanding and finding answers to a large array of commonly asked questions. The majority of customers who have spoken with a chatbot appreciated the speed of response, and many also found they could either help or transfer to an agent who could.

 

Of course, you can never forget the good old Frequently Asked Questions section of your website where folks can get the scoop on their most pressing queries! Automation can help track the most common questions asked of your customer support team, and you can use that data to build an excellent FAQ.

 

3. Call-back service

One great way to handle a spike in call volumes is to offer a call-back service. Customers can provide their information to an IVR system or through email, and be given a time slot when someone will get back to them, usually at a quieter time. This can be done online, or over the phone. It reduces stress on both sides of the call, and allows the customer to organize their day without being stuck on hold indefinitely. 

 

4. Forecasting

By analyzing past trends in the call volumes your center has received, you can predict some likely future trends. Are weekends busier than weekdays? Are evenings busier than mornings? By forecasting based on past experience, you can prepare your staff numbers ahead of time and organize shifts around expected volume spike hours. 

 

You can look at daily, weekly, monthly, and even seasonal trends. Reliable data about past events is great, but it’s also worth keeping an eye on current events too. For instance, if you run a restaurant chain near a well-known sports stadium, knowing when fixtures are can help predict peaks in reservations. 

 

5. Outsource

Outsourcing is growing ever more popular, especially with the rise of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). You could choose to outsource some of the work to external companies when your core staff is overwhelmed with calls. You would usually have to plan for this in advance, so forecasting is still important. 

 

Outsourcing does have an initial up-front cost, but you don’t have to worry about hiring new staff, or renting out a larger office. However, be wary of false savings, as an external company will not have the same knowledge and dedication to your brand as you do, so they won’t know the ins and outs and be as efficient at more intricate aspects of the work. 

 

Some companies opt to outsource in order to encompass other timezones. This is particularly useful if you have customers across the world, and don’t want to rely solely on asynchronous communication. If you do go for this option, just make sure you choose a company that you trust and can depend on.

 

6. Better training

 

 

An important but often overlooked solution to call volume spikes is offering your existing staff some robust training. Lack of knowledge and experience with handling calls can add to an already pressured workload through longer phone calls, lack of clarity, and missing information. This can lead to customers needing to call more than once, or worse, similar to the effects of shopping cart abandonment, they might abandon your company!

 

If a customer can have their query dealt with quickly on a single phone call, that will greatly lighten your workload, and improve your customers’ experience of your brand. It’s always better to work smart rather than to work hard, so giving your employees the tools they need to get through calls more efficiently is a great method for handling high workloads. It’s also cheaper than simply hiring more people. 

 

Part of training can involve asking customers for helpful feedback so that agents can improve their performance. Monitoring calls can also help managers get an idea of which areas their employees can use more training in - just make sure not to go big brother on your staff and make them feel micromanaged. The point is to help improve their performance, not drive them to another company. 

 

7. Solid collaborative software for your call center team

 

 

The software your staff use should make their job easier, not harder. Solutions like a hosted predictive dialer or automatic call distribution (ACD) system can be really useful here. This might seem ridiculously obvious, but if you’ve ever worked in an organization that’s been around for longer than ten years, it’s scary how much old, ineffective systems can get clung to. 

 

When employees have been around a long time, there can be a tendency to avoid new technology and hold to old methods of doing things, even if they’re very inefficient. This can happen even if most of the employees are new, as long as the managers have been around a long time. 

 

It’s usually a good idea to embrace new ways of doing things, and only hold onto the things that are still useful. If only 2 people in the office can navigate your internet phones for business, then it’s simply not intuitive and user-friendly enough for your team. So make sure that your software is easy to use. 

 

Some other tools to consider include:

• A shared inbox can help your staff share workloads.
• Software that can help transfer calls quickly and easily.
• A customer relationship management (CRM) solution.
• Internal communication software for asking questions instead of transferring calls
• A cloud-based phone system

 

Handling call volume spikes shouldn’t be daunting

If you have an outsourcer you can rely on for backup, or you use reliable forecasting methods to better organize your workers’ shifts, call volume spikes shouldn’t be a problem. By investing in useful collaborative software and continuously training your staff, you’ll help them to be better able to handle more intense workloads. Making the best use of automation, omnichannel options, and call-back services will massively reduce the intensity of your workload and stress. 

 

It isn’t just your employees who get stressed out by large and unexpected volumes of calls. Customers trying desperately to get in touch because of canceled flights or lost internet connectivity, for example, can also feel really stressed out. Keeping your employees and customers happy is essential to running a good business. 

Bio:

Richard Conn - Senior Director, Demand Generation, 8x8

Richard Conn is the Senior Director for Demand Generation at 8x8, a leading cloud PBX service platform with integrated contact center, voice, video, and chat functionality. Richard is an analytical & results-driven digital marketing leader with a track record of achieving major ROI improvements in fast-paced, competitive B2B environments. Here is his LinkedIn.