Caller ID Management for Call Center Professionals

Many outbound telemarketing call centers already know the value of local Caller ID numbers. The real challenge is managing those numbers and the strategy behind them, especially across multiple call campaigns. Here are some best practices worth building into your Caller ID management strategy.

8XX numbers don't get answered

Consider Contact Center A, calling into all 50 states with no Caller ID management plan in place. They stick with a toll-free number as their outbound Caller ID, and most calls go unanswered because called parties don't pick up for toll-free numbers. Agents get frustrated, results suffer, and supervisors push harder without addressing the root cause.

Local Caller ID management with name display makes it easy

Across town, Contact Center B has a Caller ID management plan. When they land a new national campaign, their IT team sends a report of leads by area code through QVD's Caller ID management tool, which builds a matrix of how many local Caller ID numbers are needed for the best coverage given lead density per area code. Those numbers, already assigned display names, get loaded into the dialer alongside the matching leads. Agents dial with confidence knowing a local number and the right display name are showing on the called party's phone — and Contact Center B sees a 40% higher answer rate than Contact Center A, with both individual and program results improving because more customers actually pick up.

A good Caller ID management system also routes inbound callbacks correctly — for example, routing based on the caller's ANI to a licensed agent in that caller's state, versus routing based on the offer to a brand specialist.

Tools worth having

A solid Caller ID management solution should give you a web portal to view numbers assigned to your account, update ring-to numbers and display names, and run reports — a daily summary of all DID activity, daily usage on a specific DID, and inbound call detail (Telco) reports by ring-to number or DID.

Best practices to get the most out of it

• Use local Caller ID numbers that target the area you're calling — this is the surest way to raise answer rates and reach hard-to-reach customers.
• Don't skip name display. Showing the called party who you are before they say hello is worth more than repeating the company name once they've already answered — it buys five seconds of trust before the call even starts.
• Assign one person (typically in IT) to own ordering and loading Caller ID numbers for the center.
• Use target-market-specific telephone numbers from a robust inventory, which keeps you in compliance on name display while improving your answer rate and credibility in each calling area.