Queue position announcements provide updates to call centre customers on their current position in the queue as they wait to be connected to a live agent.
With VoIP technology, queue position announcements can be used in calls and a live chat channel.
Queue position announcements are normally configured in your ACD or PABX.
Benefits of Queue position announcements
Let’s face it, nobody likes being in a queue whether it’s in a retail setting or a call centre waiting for our call or live chat to be connected.
It’s almost like the company has said “I value my time much more than yours”.
Ouch.
Thankfully, with technology, there are now some alternatives that reduce the pain of your bad forecasting.
Announcing to the customer in the queue their position, and providing them with a regular update on their progress can lead to lower abandonment and ease the pain a little bit for your customers.
The downside of queue position announcements
Imagine ringing up and being told you are the 145th person in the queue.
I’m not sure about you but I’m unlikely to hold on for that one.
In fact, customers that hear a big number (what’s a big number is subjective) are more likely to hang up immediately than if they had otherwise not known.
The other challenge of Queue Position Announcements is the lack of any information relative to the wait time itself.
You might be next in queue but if the average call time is 20 minutes you may still be waiting a while.
Alternatives to Queue position announcements
You may be interested in learning more about Automatic Callback and Intelligent Callback that enable a customer to retain their position in the queue without physically having to hold on.
There is also Expected Wait time announcements that rather than let customers know their position, the technology provides an estimated of the expected time before their call will be answered.
Next steps
If you’d like to find suppliers of queue position announcements and other technology to improve the wait experience search our Business Directory for suppliers.
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