Skills-Based Routing

While a short response time is an essential key performance metric (KPI), skill-based routing enhances many more aspects of customer service and interactions.

Inbound calls are distributed according to predetermined routing rules to agents with particular skill sets who can deal with the issue most effectively.

Real-Life Example

Let’s talk about a real-life example. You get a call from a customer who has a technical issue. In addition, they speak only Spanish. The customer inputs voice commands or presses keys and the skill-based routing system picks from the pool of agents the most skilled agent and sends this ticket to them. So, in this case, it should be an agent from the tech department who is proficient in the Spanish language. This agent has an appropriate level of expertise in technology and can communicate with the customer effectively, provide reliable support and close the ticket.

Benefits of Skills-Based Routing

Now, let’s have a look at some of the benefits skills-based business call routing can bring to your business:

• Increased customer satisfaction - Customers get connected to the right agent who can help them effectively
• Better first contact resolution - Qualified agents can resolve issues on the first contact
• Increased customer loyalty - Customers appreciate being helped by knowledgeable agents
• Decreased waiting times - Efficient routing reduces customer wait times
• Lower average handle time (AHT) - Skilled agents handle calls more efficiently
• Higher agent performance and productivity - Agents work within their areas of expertise
• Better overall efficiency of contact centers - Resources are optimized for maximum effectiveness

What is Omnichannel Skills-Based Routing?

Skill-based distribution doesn’t only apply to calls. All types of customer interactions can be distributed using this approach. You can set up these distribution strategies also for online chats, social media messages, emails, and other relevant tickets.

Businesses with multiple communication channels will find setting up a call route invaluable. Not only for better agent utilization but more importantly, it helps provide a unified customer experience across the board.

How do Skills-Based Routing and ACD Work Together?

The majority of callers value their queries resolved by qualified agents in a short time. This is when skill-based routing goes hand-in-hand with an automatic call distribution system (ACD). When customers answer prompts from IVR’s auto-attendant, they are handed over to the automatic call distributor system. At this point, intelligent routing comes into play. Based on the rules you have pre-set, the customer is forwarded to the caller queue of the agent whose type of skills best suit the particular situation. This could be language skills, level of expertise in a particular field, other customer profile data, etc.

Skills-based routing is a type of router which uses customer information to route customer inquiries to the most suitable and knowledgeable customer service agents. With LiveAgent helpdesk software, customers can be efficiently routed to the best-suited support agents in place, streamlining the customer service process and optimizing customer satisfaction. LiveAgent’s helpdesk software provides the added bonus of tracking and logging customer queries. With the help of this data, customer service agents can provide more accurate and personalized service.