A Call Management Guide to Improve Customer Satisfaction

Poor call handling frustrates customers, leads to missed calls, and damages your reputation. Without a clear call management system, even the best contact centers struggle to provide consistent customer service.

That’s why call management is so important. The right strategy ensures calls are routed correctly, customers aren’t kept on hold, and issues are resolved more quickly. This increases customer satisfaction and operational performance.

Before we look into the strategies and tools that make this possible, let’s first clarify what call management is.

What Is Call Management?

Call management is the efficient handling of inbound and outbound calls using technology and workflows in a contact center. Effective call management correctly routes calls, minimizes wait times, and optimizes customer interactions.

You’ll never have to ask a customer to leave a voicemail again because every call stands a good chance of getting through to the right person. As a result, expect first-call resolution (FCR) rates to reach new highs. Fluid call center operations depend on factors that are related to people, processes, and technology. To get your call management in order, you need to become familiar with these six key components of a call management process.

Benefits of Effective Call Management

Good call management software and strategy shape the customer experience. Here’s what makes call management so valuable:

Strengthened customer satisfaction (CSAT) and loyalty

Fast, competent, and friendly call handling gives customers a sense of value. Efficient call management reduces frustration, shows that the company respects customers’ time, and builds a positive reputation. Smooth customer interactions drive customer loyalty and encourage referrals.

Increased first call resolution rates

An organized call management system connects customer calls with the right contact or department. This minimizes unnecessary call transfers and saves customers from calling again with the same issue. A higher first-call resolution rate means faster customer assistance and a more manageable workload for your team.

Reduced operational costs and increased efficiency 

Automating routine call handling through interactive voice response (IVR) or intelligent routing helps resolve more issues on the first call. This reduces labor costs and repetitive tasks for agents. Lower call volumes and intelligent agent scheduling save on operating costs and simplify daily workflows.

Better agent morale, productivity, and reduced burnout

Team members freed from routine tasks can focus on more impactful customer interactions. Agents can handle different types of calls and aren’t constantly transferring calls or answering the same simple questions. Better call management increases job satisfaction and morale, reduces burnout, and builds positive customer experiences.

Enhanced brand reputation and competitive advantage

Businesses that deliver fast, seamless, and customer-centric call experiences differentiate themselves in the market. Customers remember good service and spread the word. Word-of-mouth and positive reviews contribute to a strong brand image and position your company as a customer-centric business.

Key Components of Call Management

A smooth and stress-free calling experience comes from an intelligent call management system that controls every step in the background. Good call management relies on several key components. 

Call routing

Call management software uses rules to automatically route incoming calls to the right person, team, or line. It also offers skills-based, time-based, and data-based routing features. For example, urgent customer calls can be placed ahead of regular queues to receive support faster, preventing delays for serious issues and keeping routine calls organized.

Call distribution

Automatic call distribution reduces agents’ call load. Call distribution strategies such as round-robin, least-occupy routing, or voice-based routing distribute calls evenly, increasing productivity and reducing wait times. Fair and logical call distribution removes bottlenecks and abandoned calls, improves average handle time (AHT), and drives better call center performance.

Call recording

Call recordings are essential for training, quality assurance, and compliance management. Contact centers use them to resolve disputes and maintain legal documentation. Call center software like Nextiva offers automated transcription and AI-powered sentiment analysis, making it easier to identify recurring customer issues and service gaps and manage agent performance.

Call tracking

Detailed call tracking records call duration, call origin, routing history, and outcomes. Calling data is critical for performance monitoring, capacity planning, and identifying customer issues. Advanced call tracking tools integrate with CRM platforms and analytics dashboards, providing up-to-date reports on key call center metrics, optimizing call routing, anticipating peak times, and improving customer experience strategy.

Interactive voice response (IVR)

An IVR system is the first point of contact for most inbound calls. Simple configurations offer numeric menu options, while advanced interactive voice response systems use natural language processing (NLP) to recognize spoken requests. 

Dynamic IVRs and automatic all distribution systems (ACDs) include intelligent features that personalize menus based on a caller’s history or account information. They offer customized options such as “Press 1 to repeat your last transaction” or “Press 2 to get a callback.” IVRs increase self-service success rates and reduce wait times for complex requests.

AI and automation

Call management software uses AI to improve a call center’s performance. AI turns traditional call handling into smarter, scalable operations. It enables intelligent, customer-oriented call routing, real-time agent support, and predictive analytics to forecast demand. Automation handles routine requests and ensures consistent service quality, especially during peak times.

Call Management Methods and Approaches

You don’t have to go all in with fully automated call management straightaway. Understanding the differences between various call management approaches and the advantages and disadvantages of each one is key to getting your implementation right.

Manual call management

With a manual process, human agents handle calls without automated assistance. A standard method looks like this:

1. Incoming calls reach your contact center.
2. An available contact center agent answers a call.
3. The agent transfers the caller to the relevant department or user.
4. The caller waits on hold until the relevant department or user becomes available.

Small businesses or teams often use manual processes with a low phone call inquiry rate and are considered the most basic call management approach. These are simple and effective, as the customers usually appreciate speaking to a person right away. But as call traffic increases, this method struggles to keep up, leading to longer wait times and higher labor costs.

Pros: Manual call management involves personalized service and full human interaction. Smaller businesses can tout this personal approach as a customer value and make the marketing claim that in their companies, humans support humans.

Cons: This approach results in slow response times and high labor costs, and is difficult to scale. When dealing with high call volumes, it’s impossible to hit answering targets while maintaining a good average handle time.

Semi-automated call management

This combines manual call handling with basic tools like IVR menus and call queues.

• When someone calls, they hear options: “Press 1 for Sales, 2 for Support.”
• Inbound calls get routed to the right queue or department before reaching a live agent.

Semi-automated call management speeds up and organizes call handling. Businesses reduce wait times and connect callers to the right agents without having to manually sort each call. It’s a practical middle ground for businesses that aren’t yet ready for full automation but want more control.

Pros: Semi-automated call management systems are more efficient than manual ones and balance customer service automation with human customer support. You can still offer some level of personalization when calls connect to call center agents, but the connection becomes more streamlined.

Cons: This approach still requires agent intervention, which can slow processes. Customers who are new to numeric menus or spoken IVRs may be unfamiliar with the ones you decide to use.

Fully automated call management

AI-powered contact center software manages routing, self-service menus, and simple request handling without human assistance. Here’s how it works:

• AI routes incoming calls based on customer selection or data.
• Routine issues are handled via automated options.
• Agents only intervene in complex or sensitive matters.

You can remove manual call handling from your call management system and completely outsource the routing, menus, tracking, and recording processes.

Pros: Fully automated call management is highly scalable, reduces agents’ workloads, and improves response times. It’s highly scalable, cuts operational costs, and improves response times. Businesses gain powerful call tracking and performance insights while freeing team members to focus on high-value or complicated calls.

Cons: This approach may feel impersonal if it’s not optimized properly. Customers who expect to speak to a human being right away might be upset.

How To Choose the Right Call Management Approach for Your Business

The best choice depends on your call volume, resources, and service expectations. Here’s a quick guide to help you analyze the right call management solution that works for you:

1. What’s your average daily and peak call volume?

During high call volumes, automation helps maintain speed and consistency. Smaller teams with lower call volumes can handle incoming calls manually or with a semi-automated system.

2. What’s your budget for call management solutions?

Fully automated, AI-powered contact center solutions offer long-term savings and high output quality, but require an initial investment. Manual and semi-automated options have lower initial pricing but higher ongoing labor costs. Choosing the right call management software is a big undertaking and depends a lot on your budget.

3. How big is your team, and what technical expertise does it have?

A small or less tech-savvy team can better handle simple tools than complex AI-driven platforms. For small businesses, consider call management software that works on mobile devices and enables remote work, allowing your employees to securely manage and troubleshoot calls.

4. What are your primary business goals?

Your goals determine the most important features, functions, and level of automation you prioritize. Is your focus on:

• Reducing operating costs?
• Improving customer support and reducing wait times?
• Preparing for scaling as your business grows?

Focus on your short-term priorities and long-term goals to find a call management system flexible enough to handle both.

5. What calling experience do you want to offer?

Do your customers value personal, direct conversations, or do they prefer quick self-service options for routine inquiries? The type of customer engagement you want to create should guide your decision.

Tools & Features for Effective Call Management

There are several call management features available with market-leading call center software. Here are some you could use from day one:

Softphones

Softphones allow employees to make and receive calls over the internet, eliminating the need for traditional phones and manual keypad dialing. You get a built-in contact list, an internal directory, and speed dials. You also get access to call histories, so there’s no need to retrieve call logs and manually copy and paste phone numbers. You increase flexibility and reduce hardware costs, especially if you have remote teams.

Call queues and call routing

When calls enter your business, choose to organize them into a queue and direct them to available agents based on priority, skill level, or customer needs. When you do this, you can expect shorter wait times and ensure that customers speak to the right agent quickly. Your operation won’t have a helpdesk/receptionist feel anymore, and you’ll gain countless efficiencies and free up your staff to assist customers with more pressing issues.

Call recording and monitoring

Businesses can record calls, review them, and analyze them for training and compliance. The simple act of recording calls also helps you take the first step into sentiment analysis and formal quality assurance.

What you do with those recordings is of paramount importance to the transformation of your customer service operations. Use the recordings to review calls, automate quality management, and improve agent performance, customer satisfaction, and legal compliance.

VoIP systems

Using a VoIP system is the entry to cloud-based call management processes and systems. While you can apply various call management principles to an on-premises phone solution, it’s harder to integrate other systems and stitch processes. You’ll also be somewhat restricted when trying to do more with call recordings and when transferring calls between departments.

VoIP systems are scalable and cost-effective, and allow remote teams to handle calls efficiently. When you enable calls to be made over the internet, you get more flexibility, cost savings, and integrations.

Changes to setups can be made via self-service portals using drag-and-drop builders. When you need to make a quick change — for instance, when call volume levels are unexpectedly high — there’s no need to wait for your phone provider to help you.

CRM integration

When you connect your customer relationship management (CRM) software to your call management platform, you share customer data and link caller histories. This not only gives agents personalized information about customers’ previous transactions and preferences but also speeds up response times and reduces post-call activity. With this two-way information sharing, there’s no longer any need for manual reliance and switching between systems, which are susceptible to human error.

Nextiva integrates with major CRM apps like:

• HubSpot
• Zendesk
• Salesforce
• Microsoft Dynamics
• Oracle Sales Cloud
• Zoho
• Bullhorn
• SugarCRM
• ServiceNow
• Act! CRM
• ConnectWise

AI & advanced automation

Simple automation takes over routine tasks, but advanced AI takes call management to a new level. Contact center AI increases efficiency, personalizes experiences, and helps businesses respond faster and more intelligently. Some of the key features that bring about automation are: 

• AI-powered sentiment analysis: Detects tone of voice and emotions in real time to immediately identify issues, manage agent responses, and get insights for quality assurance.
• Predictive analytics: Uses historical data to forecast call volumes and staffing needs for businesses to plan and avoid overstaffing or understaffing during peak times.
• AI agent assist: Gives real-time guidance with suggested answers, customer information, and access to the knowledge base during live calls, which improves accuracy and reduces handle times.
• Intelligent chatbots: Handle common inquiries 24/7 and perform tasks like booking appointments and checking order status without human intervention.
• Automated call summaries: Reduce documentation, collect key details, and gather insights into customer issues and agent performance.

Best Practices To Successfully Implement Call Management

Equipping your business with the best call management software is a starting point. But technology alone doesn’t guarantee a good customer experience. How you use these tools and the processes you build around them make a big difference.

Define clear goals and objectives for call handling

Before choosing a call management solution, set measurable and meaningful customer service goals. For example, set a goal to increase customer satisfaction by 10% within six months or reduce the average wait time to under 30 seconds. Clear, concrete goals will help you focus on improvements and track progress more accurately.

Invest in agent training and empowerment

While sophisticated systems work, they require competent and knowledgeable employees. Regular training should focus on both system navigation and key soft skills such as empathy, active listening, and problem-solving. Equally important is empowering employees to resolve customer issues quickly. You’ll want to reduce unnecessary escalations and improve the customer service experience.

Optimize call flows, IVR menus, and routing rules

Review your call flows, IVR menus, and routing rules regularly, especially based on customer feedback, calling patterns, and changing business priorities. Outdated menus or confusing routing frustrate callers and increase missed calls. A streamlined, user-friendly interface creates a smooth customer experience.

Combine automation and human touch wisely

Using automation to handle routine requests and enable intelligent routing is a good call management strategy. However, human input is necessary when empathy and sensitivity are required. Your goal should be to increase efficiency while creating authentic customer interactions.

Collect, analyze, and act on customer feedback

Run post-call surveys or SMS follow-ups to gain insights into customer engagement. Identify persistent issues and use these insights to optimize call flows, improve agent training, and fine-tune system configurations.

Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and improve

Monitor call center KPIs such as average handle time, first call resolution, abandonment rate, and customer satisfaction score. Analyze this data regularly to detect patterns and identify improvement opportunities.

Prioritize data security, privacy, and compliance

Protecting customer information is essential when managing calls, recordings, and CRM integrations. Your call management system must follow all relevant data protection laws, such as GDPR, HIPAA (if applicable), and local regulations, to protect privacy, maintain customer trust, and avoid legal risks.

Why Nextiva Is the Best Choice for Call Management

Nextiva’s call management system streamlines business communication with VoIP, automation, and CRM integration.

Whether your business needs manual, semi-automated, or fully automated solutions, Nextiva offers scalable tools to enhance customer experience and call center efficiency. What’s more, all these tools are built into our call center solution, which is packed with extras like call recording, sentiment analysis, and workforce management features.

This combination of call management enablement and built-in omnichannel contact center software helps our users create compelling customer experiences.

For example, Reliance Partners, one of the top 10 fastest-growing insurance companies in the United States, handles around 30,000 calls per month. If the company’s 150 agents handled these calls manually, they’d have to spend all their time directing customers to the right teams rather than dealing with the callers’ queries.

With softphones, skill-based routing, AI-driven automation, and real-time call monitoring, Nextiva helps businesses effortlessly improve their call handling and service quality.

Make a conscious choice to automate call management, and see results immediately. Customers will love the reduced wait time, and agents will become more productive, solving genuine customer problems rather than acting like human switchboards.

Want to implement first-class call management? See why millions of customers trust Nextiva every day. 👇