XPhone Connect with Hotline Management

Whether external service or internal helpdesk: hardly any company can do without hotlines. Unified Communications specialist C4B now offers a feature that closes the gap between simple group calls and complex call center solutions. With XPhone Connect TeamDesk, calls can be optimally distributed to a team and availability can be increased.

Munich, May 13th 2020. High availability and good customer service are mandatory for many companies. After all, at the end of the day the waiting time often determines how satisfied a caller is. The problem: Until now, companies have only had the choice between simple group calls and a call center solution that is as complex as it is expensive.

"In terms of call management, the motto so far has been: all or almost none at all. Because a call center solution does not pay off, medium-sized companies are left with only those functions that their telephone system provides by default. And these are not enough in the front and back," reports C4B Product Manager Thomas Pecher-Wagner. "With our new XPhone release and the TeamDesk feature, we are closing this gap."

With the help of TeamDesk, companies can set up as many hotlines as they want without much effort and define individual distribution strategies and business hours for them. While call center solutions usually require a separate client, TeamDesk is completely integrated into the XPhone client. The advantage: all employees in the company use the same communication solution. They see each other's presence status and can exchange information via chat, screen sharing, etc. "A hotline employee can consult with a colleague during a customer call or add him or her to the conversation. This makes communication much more efficient," emphasizes Pecher-Wagner.

Hotline login in the home office

Especially crucial in the current situation: Hotline employees are not dependent on their office phone: "TeamDesk users can log in to their home office without any problems," explains Pecher-Wagner. "They can use the softphone as well as their private landline or mobile phone via AnyDevice". Hotlines can also be set up across multiple locations - even if different telephone systems are in use there.

Transparency and good organization are crucial to sustainably increase availability. That's why every TeamDesk member sees the central KPIs of his hotline in the client: How many team members are currently available? How many callers are waiting? If the waiting field becomes too large and the waiting times too long, team leaders can assign additional members to the hotline. "With us, team members and team leaders use the same licence," says Pecher-Wagner. If necessary, all users can be created as team leaders. This allows the teams to organize themselves completely. "Our customers do not have to do endless calculations and planning beforehand, but have all the freedom they need after purchasing a licence."

For even greater transparency, C4B has integrated its Business Intelligence tool "Analytics" into TeamDesk: The Web interface lets you analyze how many calls were received, how long callers waited and when bottlenecks occurred. On request, an employee-specific evaluation - with clear names or anonymized - is possible.

Federation with Skype for Business

In addition to TeamDesk and Analytics, the new XPhone release offers the option of federating with external contacts: "Thanks to the federation function, XPhone users can also chat with external contacts and exchange their presence," explains Pecher-Wagner. Federation is released for Skype for Business on Premises and XPhone Connect.

Another new feature is the reminder function: XPhone users can create reminders for important tasks both in the client and in the App. The reminder can be linked to the presence status: For example, the reminder popup for a call appears only when the contact is actually available.