Caller ID Management for Call Center Professionals

By Kelsey Olsen, Director of Enhanced Telecom Services

Many outbound telemarketing call centers know the value in using local caller ID numbers. Managing the Local Caller ID phone numbers and strategy can be the challenge. It can be an overwhelming task for many companies to wrap their head around; especially when utilizing local caller ID numbers across multiple call campaigns. Here are some best practices that you can implement into your Caller ID Management strategy.

Let’s start at the beginning

To start at the beginning for those of you who may be new to the idea of using local caller ID numbers on your outbound calling campaigns…wait, what… where have you been? In all seriousness the use of local caller ID numbers is no secret. It is beneficial in achieving a higher answer rate that in turn results in more sales, completed surveys, or whatever the end result is you are looking to accomplish. No one answers calls from toll free numbers. Let me repeat, no one answers calls from toll free numbers!

8XX Numbers Don’t Get Answered

Let’s take a look in on Bill’s team, Contact Center A. Bill’s call center has a campaign that calls into all states across the U.S. They are trying to determine the best way to increase their answer rate but have no idea where to begin. Since they do not have a caller ID management plan, they stick to their old ways and push a toll free number as their outbound caller ID number. Many calls made go unanswered because the called party doesn’t answer calls from toll free numbers. The call center agents are frustrated due to the lack of answered calls. Their individual and program results suffer and supervisors are pushing harder for better results.

Local Caller ID Management systems with Name Display (CNAM) make it easy

On the other side of the city is Contact Center B. Katie is the operations manager and has a caller ID management plan in place within her contact center. When Call Center B lands a new national campaign her team already knows the drill. The I.T. department will start with a simple report showing a count of leads by area code and send them to QVD thru our Caller ID management tool. The tool will create a matrix to determine how many local caller ID numbers are needed to give the best coverage across the US given the amount of leads per area code. The local caller ID numbers are assigned with display names and provided back to Call Center B. The center’s IT team loads the actual calling leads paired with the appropriate Caller ID, based on the Matrix into their dialer. Then the agents dial away with complete confidence knowing that a local number is being displayed to the customers along with the display name of the company they are calling on behalf of. By adding this simple solution Contact Center B experiences a 40% higher answer rate over Contact Center A. Both individual and program results soared because they were able to get more customers on the phone.

In addition, part of Caller ID management system is the ability to have all inbound calls, to any of these Caller ID numbers routed correctly to your center. Good management systems allow the center to dictate whether they want the “Callers” ANI or the “Dialed number” to be passed to the inbound ACD. An example how this can impact your center is by routing an inbound call to the appropriate licensed agent for the state in which the caller is calling from vs. routing a call based on the offer to a brand specialist.

Using Local Caller ID Numbers is Easier Than You Think

It can be easy to fall into the same routine of “we’ve always done it this way”. Implementing the use of local caller ID numbers doesn’t have to be a challenge. Below are some useful links to assist you with your caller ID management.

• Area Code Map
• Area Code look up

Your Outbound Caller ID Solution Tools

A part of a good Caller ID management solution Caller ID customers should have a web portal to:

• View numbers currently assigned to your account
• Update ring to number and display names as needed
• Run reports
  • “Daily Summary” Report, features all DID activity for the requested date range and all other associated information such as “Company”, “CNAM”, “DID”, “Dips” and “OCN” (an internal tracking indicator)
  • “Daily Usage” Report, features activity on a specified DID selected via pull down bar for the requested date range and all other associated information such as “DID”, “Dips” “Status” (assigned, unassigned, etc.) “Company” and “CNAM”.
  • “Telco” Report, features inbound call detail such as the callers Caller ID and Duration of call. This report can be run by using the “RTN” ring to number (where we route inbound callers to) OR the actual DID (the called number).

Local Caller ID CNAM Management Best Practices

Additional best practices to get the best bang for your buck (or $2.00 bucks in this case):

• Use local caller ID numbers that target the area that you are making calls. This is the best way to ensure higher answer rates and catching those hard to reach customers.
• Don’t skimp out on using the power of name display. Display the name along with that local number to reap the biggest reward. Showing the called party who you are before they say hello is vital! This will gain trust with the called party that they can read the company name, and then hear the company name in your greeting to them. Avoid repeating the company name, they already read it!

Instead who are you and what do you want, the question is only what do you want. Displaying the name provides you with 5 seconds of trust

• Assign a specific person in charge of ordering caller ID numbers for the center. Typically this falls into the I.T. department’s world. Since they are the ones loading the leads and caller ID numbers into the dialer.
• Specific telephone numbers from our robust inventory can be utilized for each target market
• By using our “Target Market” telephone numbers, contact centers will not only be in compliance by ensuring proper Name Display on called consumers’ telephones, they’ll also benefit from an improved answer rate and increased credibility within their specific calling areas.

Kelsey Olsen is Director of Enhanced Telecom Services for Quality Voice & Data. Kelsey and her team manage tens of thousands of outbound Caller ID phone numbers from every area code in the U.S., ensuring the proper name display for each of her thousands of clients. Inhouse call centers, clients and outbound telemarketing vendors know they can count on Kelsey’s team for prompt, reliable service.