This glossary defines terms specific to Contact Center AI Platform (CCAI Platform) and to the contact center industry in general.
A
AI
Artificial intelligence. A computer system that can to perform tasks normally done by humans, including speech recognition, automated chat, translation, visual perception, and more. AI can also be used to augment human conversations, helping an agent drive towards faster and more satisfying resolutions.
After-call work time (ACW)
The work that an agent does after each call. This could include logging details; updating the status of accounts, tickets, and cases; and notifying colleagues. This is also known as wrap-up time.
After-hours deflection
A feature that uses an automated message to deflect calls that come in after operating hours. Callers might be directed to a voicemail box, a separate IVR, or a different office.
Agent
A person who answers calls in a call center. Also called customer service representative (CSR).
Agent Assist
A CCAI Platform technology that augments human conversations with artificial intelligence. Conversational AI technology helps the agent deliver the best possible customer experience. The virtual agent can assist a live agent with AI-driven recommendations and real-time sentiment analysis, and by surfacing relevant knowledge-base content on the fly.
Agent coaching
A quality management technique in which contact center managers provide agents with feedback on calls, examples of how to improve their skill set, and practice activities.
Agent experience
A holistic measure of how effective, empowered, and efficient a contact center agent is. Agent experience can be improved with coaching, skills training, and team optimization.
Agent occupancy
A workforce management metric that measures the percentage of time agents are actively handling customer calls, as opposed to doing other activities such as updating and closing tickets.
Agent reports
See Reports (Agent).
Agent self-evaluations
A standardized self assessment in which an agent scores their own customer interactions. These scored interactions are incorporated into the contact center's overall quality management (QM).
Agent utilization
A productivity metric that measures contact center productivity by evaluating the ratio between work completed and an agent's work capacity.
Application
The automated transactions (interactions) between the caller, the voice response system, and any databases or host computers that are required for your business.
Application programming interface (API)
The functions and protocols that allow developers to create applications that access the data of an operating system or other service. One very common use of APIs is allowing two applications to exchange data and update each other based on contact center interactions.
Auto dialer
A software system for outbound call centers that automatically calls customer telephone numbers to deliver automated messages. This system might also connect customers to live agents using one of several schemes See Predictive Dialer.
Automatic callback
A feature that allows callers to avoid waiting on hold for long periods of time. Instead, they can choose a later time to receive a call back from a customer service agent.
Automatic contact distribution (ACD)
The ACD is a form of automated switchboard, which answers incoming calls and forwards them to the appropriate agent or department to resolve the caller's issue. Many different distribution schemes are available for ACD, from standard round-robin and least active, to CCAI Platform's Multicast and Deltacast routing.
Automatic number identification (ANI)
ANI, or Caller ID, is a way to identify a caller by their phone number. With this phone number, the contact center agent or software can take actions such as performing an account lookup, retrieving interaction history, and more.
Automatic speech recognition (ASR)
Technology that allows humans and computers to interact using conversational syntax. This technology is used in features like IVRs with speech recognition or directed dialogue capabilities, and is also found in some chatbots.
Automation
Technology that boosts efficiency by fully or partially delegating to software processes that a human agent would normally handle. This frees up agent time and improves their focus.
Average handling time (AHT)
The amount of time that an agent spends handling each customer call, calculated as an average of all their interactions in a given timeframe.
Average hold time (AHLDT)
The average amount of time that a customer spends on hold waiting to be connecting to an agent.
B
Back-office optimization
Streamlining and aligning back-office workforce functions in a call center to be consistent with front-office services. This improves efficiency and the customer experience.
Barge or barge-In
Also referred to as call barging, a barge-in is a three-way calling feature that allows a contact center supervisor to listen in live on a call and interject if necessary.
Blended agent
A contact center agent who handles customer interactions across multiple channels, including voice, web, and chat, and others.
Bot
Also sometimes called a chatbot, a bot is an artificial intelligence (AI) software that automates parts of the customer journey or assists agents. This helps make call centers more efficient and delivers higher customer satisfaction.
Business optimization
The process of measuring productivity, performance, and efficiency in a contact center to highlight areas of improvement.
Business process outsourcing (BPO)
Outsourcing certain business functions to a third party. Some companies choose to outsource their contact center operations to third-party firms who are experts in that field.
Business to business (B2B)
Transactions that happen between two businesses, rather than a business and a customer.
Business to customer (B2C)
Transactions that happen between a business and a customer, rather than two businesses.
C
CCaaS 1.0 (contact center as a service)
A cloud-based contact center platform offered on a subscription basis.
CCaaS 2.0
Purpose-built specifically for the contact centers, CCaaS 2.0 integrates omnichannel, WFO, analytics and AI into one.
CCaaS 3.0
Goes beyond omnichannel with predictive, contextual, and conversational CX built for the way modern consumers communicate.
CRM (Customer relationship management)
See Call Center CRM
CT connect
A computer application that monitors telephone calls. CT connect is often used in contact centers.
CTI server
The hardware and software that supports computer telephony integration (CTI).
Call abandonment
When a customer ends the call prior to being connected to an agent or before their issue is resolved.
Call center (contact center)
An operation that supports inbound and outbound communication between customers and a business, usually for sales, customer service, or technical support. Call centers are often the first line of communication between customers and a business, and are as such crucial in shaping customer experience, company reputation, online reviews, and more.
Call center agent scorecard
A quality assurance (QA) tool that measures the performance of an individual agent.
Call center agent software
Also called the agent desktop or agent workspace, a unified portal and standalone application for call center agents to handle customer interactions and resolve tickets. When integrated with popular CRMs like Salesforce or Kustomer, the agent software can take the form of an inline call control module that appears within the CRM and is accessible at all times.
Call center CRM
Also called Contact Center CRM, a call center CRM is a database that contains details about the company's customers. The CRM provides agents with information about a customer to personalize their experience, facilitates sales, and enable changes, upgrades, refunds, and more.
Call center coaching
See Agent Coaching
Call center management
The tools, technologies, procedures, and people that work together to holistically manage a contact center.
Call center reporting
Tracking the performance of a contact center against various key performance indicators (KPIs) and goal metrics, to improve customer outcomes and enhance staff skill sets.
Call center service level
See Service Level Agreement (SLA).
Call center software
A unified portal or a collection of applications that automate contact center operations and provide agent connectivity.
Call center workforce planning
The process of forecasting staffing needs based on anticipated call volume and other business needs.
Call recording
The act of recording a call for quality control, training, and other purposes. Must be done in compliance with local laws and regulations.
Call time
The length of time it takes to complete a given call between an agent and a customer. Can be expressed as an aggregate figure for agents or teams.
Call volume
The number of calls received or made during a specific period. Call volume is an important indicator because it can vary by large margins, especially in seasonal businesses.
Caller
The customer or party that an agent interacts with on a call.
Cascade groups
In this ring schema, a call first goes to all agents in a group. If the call is not answered, it cascades to add a second group and then a third group while continuing to ring all previous groups.
Central office
The facility that houses the telecommunications network for a contact center.
Channels
The different ways a customer interacts with a business, which might include voice and digital channels, email, and chat. CCAI Platform's CCaaS 3.0 adds additional capabilities, such as sharing screenshots and video, using biometric authentication, and more.
Chat
A digital text based channel built into a business's website or app that helps customers access customer service quickly. Chats may be monitored or assisted by supervisors as well as services by chatbots (see Chatbot).
Chat Platform
A messaging platform that provides the chat channel or digital channel sometimes including integration with social media.
Chatbot
(See also: Bot) An AI function that improves the efficiency of contact centers by routing customer inquiries on voice and digital channels. Bots might also perform more advanced actions such as helping customers (or agents) find relevant knowledge base content, automating common tasks, looking up purchase history, and more.
Click-to-dial outbound
A CCAI Platform feature that reduces effort and errors associated with manual dialing and increases the number of customers an outbound agent can reach in a given time period.
Cloud call center
See CCaaS (Contact Center as a Service).
Co-browse
A technology that allows an agent and a customer to share screens and navigate the same browser during a call. Co-browse can be also be used within apps. The agent can help a customer make a purchase, find an important detail, locate certain documents, and more.
Cold transfer
A method of performing a transfer from agent to agent. This method involves the original agent initiating and completing the transfer without speaking to the receiving agent.
Compliance
Adhering to the rules, regulations, and laws of a particular industry or location. CCAI Platform offers compliance with a wide range of privacy and security regimes.
Computer-telephony integration (CTI)
Technology that provides an interface between telephone networks and computer systems. CTI is the underlying capability that allows a call placed by a caller through the PSTN to reach an agent in a contact center, whereby that agent can answer the call on their desktop or laptop computer or other similarly capable device.
Contact center agent
A customer service representative or call center agent who handles inbound or outbound calls. They might also cover other channels and modes of communication.
Contact center management
Contact center software
Contact center workforce Optimization (WFO)
The set of strategies used to improve the omnichannel customer experience though enhancing the attributes of the contact center workforce. WFO can include agent engagement, training, coaching, evaluations, rewards, and more.
Contact disposition
A status that is assigned to an interaction after completion by either the agent or the operating system. Examples: demo scheduled, upsell opportunity, at-risk.
Container user interface
A system that consolidates contacts into one desktop interface for easier navigation and management.
Context
Identifying information about a customer that helps companies personalize the customer experience. This might include user identity, past purchases, previous contact center interactions, and demographic information.
Contextual routing
CCAI Platform leverages data from your CRM to prioritize routing decisions and help determine customer intent. The goal is to route more efficiently and accurately and thus drive customer experience.
Cross-sell
When an agent or sales representative suggests that a customer purchase an additional product or service. Ideally, this is done by outlining the value, use case, and the pain points that could be addressed.
Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
The average amount of money that a company spends acquiring a new customer.
Customer effort score (CES)
A metric used to measure how much effort a customer must expend to resolve an issue or purchase a product. The lower the score, the better.
Customer engagement
The system of strategies used to engage with customers across the customer lifecycle.
Customer experience (CX)
The experience a customer has when interacting with your company throughout the customer lifecycle. CX can also be thought of as the contact center platform designed to improve your customer experience, such as CCAI Platform.
Customer experience management (CEM)
A strategy used to improve and optimize customer experience and engagement.
Customer experience platform
The software and systems used to manage the customer experience.
Customer feedback
Feedback that a consumer gives to a company that they bought a product or service from. This might include filling out a survey, leaving a review, or calling in with a complaint.
Customer friction
The amount of difficulty a customer has in getting to their intended outcome. This could include time spent waiting, inefficient IVRs and queues, multiple transfers, and unprepared agents. High Friction correlates with a low CES.
Customer frustration
Negative sentiment that a customer has as a result of a poor experience with a company. Often this feedback follows a needlessly high-friction interaction.
Customer intelligence
The process of collecting and analyzing information about a business's customers that helps identify the best way to interact with customers and improve the customer experience.
Customer interaction analytics
Software that reviews and assesses transcripts and voice recordings from channels like voice, email, and chat. Typically the software will attempt to apply some kind of meaningful scoring to the interaction, such as sentiment scores or whether a resolution was reached.
Customer journey
Also known as the customer lifecycle, the customer journey refers to the entire experience a customer has with a company from the first touchpoint to the last. The journey for any given customer is likely to include various incidents involving both positive and negative sentiment. Both of these can provide valuable insight for the contact center team.
Customer journey management
The strategies and software used to provide excellent omnichannel customer experience throughout the customer journey.
Customer journey map
A visual representation of the touchpoints that a customer has with your organization over time.
Customer journey optimization
The process of improving the customer experience over the entire lifecycle of the customer. In other words, this is the time that customer is with a given company.
Customer lifetime value (CLV)
The total amount of money that a customer is worth to an organization over their lifetime.
Customer satisfaction (CSAT)
A metric calculated through customer satisfaction surveys, used to measure how well a company meets its customers' service expectations.
Customer service
The support and attention provided to a customer before, during, and after their purchase experience.
Customer service representative (CSR)
An agent who provides customer support. Agents can connect with customers through numerous channels (such as voice, chat, SMS, email, social) and typically help customers resolve a variety of inquiries/issues.
Customer surveys
A tool used to collect customer feedback after a sale or customer interaction.
D
Dashboard
Dashboards offer streamlined, visual representation of key contact center metrics at a glance, usually in real time or near-real time.
Database
A computer display of real-time personal and business information about a caller, their contact center touchpoints, relevant KPIs or other metrics, and other information that aids agents in a call center as they work to help the customer.
Decibel (dB)
A unit that measures the intensity of a sound.
Deltacast routing
Deltacast routing logic from CCAI Platform focuses on optimizing for chat concurrency and distributing workloads equally between agents.
Dial pulse recognition (DPR)
A system that recognizes dial pulse inputs from callers.
Dialed number identification service (DNIS)
A set of numbers that identifies the caller's phone number. This information can help the agent pull up past history, identify geographic area, and more.
Dialer
An automated system that dials phone numbers for outbound mass communication. Schemas can include preview, predictive, and power. Certain schemas, such as predictive dialing, should be used judiciously.
Digital call center
A contact center that supports multi-channel digital communications, including email, chat, SMS, social media, and others.
Direct access Point (DAP)
Direct access points allow your customers to dial a number and be connected directly to an appropriate queue, which can reduce friction and improve the customer experience. DAPs can also be based on a lookup of user data, or on a key-value pair sent outside of the CRM. In other words, they are not limited to phone numbers.
Direct inward dialing (DID)
Calling within a company without going through the operator.
Directed dialog
IVRs that offer directed dialogue present a limited and usually linear set of voice commands that the caller can use. Examples: "say yes or no", or "more options." This is distinct from natural language recognition, which provides a far more fluid and intuitive interaction.
Dual tone multi frequency (DTMF)
A system of audio tones that represent numbers on a keypad.
E
Echo cancellation
A technology that removes noise interference from a call so the system can recognize natural language inputs when the caller is prompted.
Embeddable voice, SMS and chat
Components of the CCAI Platform web SDK. Each provides an additional channel by which customers can communicate and they are all embeddable within your app or website.
Employee engagement
A measurement of how invested employees are in their work of supporting customers. Employee engagement affects retention, performance, customer experience, and ultimately the success of the business.
Enterprise data window
Centralized data that is shared by users throughout an organization.
Enterprise relationship management (ERM)
The systems that allow an organization to share customer, product, competitor, and market information to better meet customer needs.
Escalation
Transferring a challenging, complex, or unusual interaction to a supervisor for further help and resolution.
F
First call resolution
Also called first contact resolution. A measurement of the contact center's ability to resolve a customer issue the first time they call in, thereby increasing customer satisfaction.
First contact resolution
Forecasting
A workforce management application used to predict the number of agents needed to handle an estimated workload.
G
Gamification
Rewarding agents and teams for staying on task by allowing them to earn points, collect badges, climb the leaderboard, or win recognition.
GrXML
The list of possible spoken responses a caller can use to identify their issue to an AI call router.
Grammar
XML format of a syntax that represents grammars used in speech recognition. This lets developers specify keywords or phrases that a speech recognizer should listen for.
Graphical user interface (GUI)
A program that enables on-screen navigation through menus, icons, and other visual elements.
H
Hardware
The physical components of a computer system or network, including monitors, disks, tapes, central processing units, and more.
Hold time
The amount of time a caller spends waiting to be connected to an agent.
Hosted call center
A customer experience solution where a company's central inbound and outbound call center is hosted on a service provider's back-office network and delivered using the cloud.
Hosted contact center
Hosted dialer
See Dialer. A hosted dialer is a hosted or cloud-based version of the technology.
I
IVR system
See Interactive voice response (IVR)
In-app chat
A component of the CCAI Platform chat channel and enabled through the CCAI Platform mobile SDK, in-app chat allows customers and agents to communicate through a mobile-based messaging experience originating from within a company's mobile app.
Inbound call center (Inbound contact center)
A contact center that handles a large number of incoming calls. Inbound contact centers typically handle customer service, billing, or technical support inquiries. These centers typically don't handle outbound campaigns.
Independent software vendor (ISV)
An organization that creates and distributes software that is compatible with another organization's hardware, operating systems, or cloud platforms.
Integrated services digital network (ISDN)
A set of systems that enable video, digital voice, and data transmission over a telephone network.
Interaction
A touchpoint between a customer and the company using their channel of choice or a combination of channels.
Interactive voice response (IVR)
Interactive voice response is the menu component of a contact center, where the caller can make certain selections that influence routing. Despite the name, most IVRs rely on numeric keypad input. Some common uses of IVRs are to route calls in a queue, leave a message, or make a payment. Directed dialogue and natural language processing are present in some IVRs. More advanced vendors, such as CCAI Platform, offer Touch IVR, which represents the menu visually and allows the caller to directly select options. This is similar to clicking navigation items in a website menu.
Intraday forecasting
A workforce management system that monitors the day's current call volume and trends so managers can make changes if needed.
Intraday management
An administrator-controlled system that gives agents access to frequently used sites on the internet or company intranet.
J
Journey mapping
See: Customer journey map
K
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
A unit of measurement that tracks the progress of a team or individual toward previously-set performance goals. In the context of a contact center, a KPI can be a specific goal (for example, a new purchase, upsell, referral to a friend, or a move to different plan) or experience related to where a customer is in their customer journey.
Keystroke macros
A system that defines a workflow by monitoring an agent's keystrokes.
L
Leaderboard
A centralized monitor that shows agents their progress toward team goals compared to that of their colleagues. Leaderboards typically also display the team's aggregate progress; the goal is to promote healthy competition and also to boost team morale and help the group operate effectively together.
Lifetime Customer Value (LCV)
The estimated total value to the business of a given customer account, over the entire lifespan of that account.
Line-side E1
A method of interfacing a system to a switch or PBX using E1-related software and hardware.
Line-side T1
A method of interfacing a system to a switch or PBX using T1-related software and hardware.
Listening post
A point in the customer journey where feedback is collected.
Local Area Network (LAN)
A communication network in a limited geographical area, such as homes, offices, campuses Contrast with WAN.
Logs
A record of past customer interactions. Also called log files, logs are records of activity on a computer system that usually include the event and the timestamp. Examples of logs may include a list of websites visited or a detailed list of calls made.
M
Macro metric
The top-level, non-technical metrics that contact centers use to measure the health of their customer experience. An example of a macro metric is net promoter score (NPS). NPS and similar scores, like CSAT, are generally customer-reported. They might not directly correlate to day-to-day contact center metrics nor to the SLA.
Marquee message
A message broadcast to all agents in a contact center by a supervisor. Marquee messages can be used for reminders, announcements, product releases, and more.
Megabyte
A unit of measurement equal to 1,048,576 bytes.
Menu
A set of navigation options presented to a user on a website or an app to help them find what they are looking for.
Mobile SDK
Complete developer toolkits to deploy CX widgets and help orchestrate the customer journey on mobile phones. Compatible with iOS and Android.
Mobile voice
Also called voice control or voice access, mobile voice is a technology that allows users to control a mobile device using a spoken command. An example of this is Siri on the iPhone.
Multicast routing
A CCAI Platform feature that offers sessions to all agents who are assigned to the queue when an interaction comes in. All agents have an equal opportunity to answer and the quickest to respond receives the interaction.
Multichannel cloud call center
A call center that integrates multiple touch points - including voice, text, social media, and chat - that runs on cloud-native software rather than on-premise hardware. CCAI Platform is a multichannel cloud contact center platform.
Multichannel cloud contact center
See Multichannel cloud call center
N
Natural language processing
A technology that turns the customer's text or speech input into actions, with the goal of leading them closer to the intended resolution.
Natural language speech recognition (NLSR)
An advanced type of speech recognition that works best with an external or proxy server. NLSR not only recognize particular words and phrases, but it also assigns meanings to them. NLSR is also capable of recognizing numbers and currency amounts.
Natural language understanding (NLU)
The ability for a computer or software to understand informal spoken expressions.
Net promoter score (NPS)
The likelihood that a customer will recommend you to their friends and family on a scale of 1-10. NPS is one of the most common ways companies track loyalty and customer churn. A score of 9-10 indicates a promotor, a score of 7-8 indicates a passive customer, and a score of 1-6 indicates a detractor.
Nuance voice platform (NVP)
See Voice platform
O
Omnichannel cloud call center
A call center that uses cloud-native software (instead of in-house hardware) to handle inbound and outbound calls across multiple integrated communication channels. This includes voice, chat, email, text, and more. Omnichannel typically implies the ability not only to communicate using multiple channels, but to move seamlessly between them. However, few if any vendors have fully delivered on this promise.
Omnichannel cloud contact center
See Omnichannel cloud call center
Omnichannel customer experience
A personalized customer experience where individual interactions seamlessly integrate across channels to create one holistic experience.
Omnichannel customer journey
A series of key customer interactions on multiple channels over the time. This starts with conversion and continues throughout the duration of the customer account. Using this technology, agents and supervisors can readily visualize and understand the customer journey using their CRM or portal.
Omnichannel customer service
The interactions between a customer or prospect and the company across multiple channels. This is at the time of the sale and over the customer journey. Using this technology, agents can move between communications channels as they serve customers.
Omnichannel routing
A call center management system that proactively routes inbound and outbound contacts across multiple channels using apps like ACD, IVR, and AI chatbots. Omnichannel promises the ability for customers to seamlessly move between channels on the fly. However, very few vendors approach this level of customer ease.
Outbound call center
A contact center that makes a large number of outbound calls for sales, fundraising, public safety communication, campaigns, and more. Some contact centers use a blended inbound or outbound approach, while others handle only one or the other.
Outbound IVR
IVR technology that contact senders can use to send proactive and personalized outbound messages to contacts.
Over-capacity deflection
A CCAI Platform feature that deflects interactions using an automated message when a call is placed in a queue and not answered in a predefined amount of time.
P
Performance management system
A system used by contact centers to track, report on, and improve historical, transactional, and real-time employee performance data.
Phoneme
Units of sound that distinguish one word from another word in a language.
Phrase
A set of one or more words assigned to a particular meaning in an application. Phrases are often associated with directed dialog in IVR call center systems and are used to route calls using an automated menu.
Port
A connection point that facilitates the transfer of information between two devices or between a computer and a server over a network.
Predictive dialer
An outbound dialer used in a call center to make a large number of outbound calls at a time and connect them with live agents. Predictive dialers attempt to use agent availability data to route calls as rapidly as possible. This schema should be used judiciously. Many consumers might be weary of predictive dialing, and its use is often regulated by law.
Private pranch exchange (PBX)
A private telephone network system used by a company to make and receive external and internal calls.
Proactive triggers
A CCAI Platform smart actions feature that determines the ideal time to proactively present consumers with a chat or calling bubble.
Public switched telephone network (PSTN)
A public telephone network that connects callers to their destinations. The PSTN is the most common method of making and receiving calls, although it's also possible to do so on purely IP networks.
Q
Quality evaluation
A quality assurance tool that samples agent-to-customer interactions and sends them to a human evaluator for review. The goal of this tool is to flag trouble areas, spot trends, and ultimately to improve the overall customer experience.
Quality management (QM)
The processes and strategies used to ensure a positive customer experience. This includes a quality assurance process in which a supervisor scores an agent based on their performance in customer interactions. QM is often associated with workforce management. QM refers to ensuring the quality of customer interactions, whereas WFM typically deals with managing staff levels, vacation, and absences.
Quality management dispute
A process that allows an agent to disagree with the performance score they've been assigned and to share why they disagree it.
Quality management form
A set of questions and criteria used to evaluate an agent's customer interactions.
Quality plans
The process of ensuring that all of the evaluators in a performance review cycle are reviewing agents in a consistent manner.
Queue
A virtual line-up scheme, where a customer waits to be connected to an agent and has their place in queue maintained. Queues offer various routing schemes, and some of them are partially or entirely staffed by chatbots. Other queues might use AI to adaptively route interactions as needed.
R
Real-time adherence (RTA)
A workforce management metric that helps supervisors identify agents that are not adhering to their set schedule.
Reports (agent)
This report type covers agent-level metrics, such as call volume, average handle time, and dispositions. Depending on their permissions, agents might be able to see only their own reports, or possibly other agents and groups.
Return on investment (ROI)
The amount of money recouped on an investment.
S
SAML
Security assertion markup language (SAML) is an open standard for exchanging authentication between an identity provider and a service provider.
SLA (service level agreement)
Contact center SLAs generally consist of top-level metrics and help supervisors and managers to ensure the center is essentially meeting its service targets. One common example is X percentage of calls, answered in Y period of time - for example, the center might aim to answer 80% of calls within one minute. Unlike other SLAs, the contact center SLA tends to be internal guidance for the team of agents and supervisors. It is generally not tied to direct financial compensation for the customer, and instead represents a high-level target of acceptable service.
SMB
Small-to-medium business.
SME
Small-to-medium enterprise.
SMS blending
Blending voice and SMS channels to make hold times productive by gathering contextual data and setting up the call while customers wait.
SNMP
An internet standard protocol for gathering and controlling information on managed devices in an IP network.
Schedule adherence
Using this metric, supervisors and managers can gauge how often staff are available and actively working during their scheduled shifts.
Scheduled callbacks
An AI technology that allows callers to determine the ideal time for an agent to call them back without waiting on hold.
Scheduling
The process of planning when agents will be available to handle calls in a contact center.
Screen pop
Customer information that automatically pops onto an agent's dashboard that tells them details about the caller, past purchases, previously reported issues, and resolved tickets.
Screen recording
Technology that records the agent's screen during customer interactions. While extremely helpful in the case of post-interaction forensics, screen recording must be handled delicately. Generally, vendors will only trigger automatic screen recording after a customer has actually connected to an agent. Some CX offerings include an option for manual recording toggle. In either case, recording storage must be highly secure.
Secure payments
Payments that are processed through a payment card industry (PCI)-compliant payment IVR, virtual agent, or human agent. Any of these are acceptable channels, as long as the mechanics of the payment itself meet PCI standards.
Self-service rate
The rate at which customers resolve their own issues using online tools rather than speaking with an agent.
Sentiment analysis
An AI tool that picks up on the customer's disposition or feeling about the company during an interaction.
Server
The computer or network that manages access to a network.
Short message service (SMS)
Also known as texting, SMS is one of the fastest-growing contact channels.
Shrinkage
A workforce management metric that measures time that agents are being paid but are not handling customer interactions.
Silent monitoring
The ability for supervisors to silently listen in and monitor agent calls and chats.
Single sign-on
A third-party identity management system using SAML 2.0.
Smart actions
A CCAI Platform technology that allows an agent to communicate visually and contextually with callers. Smart actions help agents resolve calls faster by allowing them to verify customers using fingerprint and facial recognition, send and receive images and videos, receive text inputs, request secure payments, and more.
Softphone
Softphones are software-based versions of hardware telephones. They might exist as a dialer app on a mobile phone or as a standalone app on a laptop or desktop computer. Softphones offer capabilities that are comparable or even better than hardware telephones. Unlike hardware telephone, softphones can typically place calls using the PSTN, pure IP telephony, or a blend of the two.
Software as a service (Saas)
A vendor who provides software based in the cloud, and generally available on a subscription basis. SaaS vendors cover many products and services, such as engineering design software (AutoDesk), customer relationship management (Salesforce, Kustomer), contact center and customer experience (CCAI Platform), and many more. One defining characteristic is that SaaS vendors typically require little or no upfront investment, and charge only a monthly license or seat fee.
Speech analytics
An AI technology that understands, processes, and analyzes human speech.
Speech energy
The sound level in a spoken audio signal.
Structured query language (SQL)
A programming language that is used to store data and query applications.
Supervisor
The staff member responsible for leading the call center, training and supervising agents, and ultimately helping drive towards the company's contact center KPIs.
Switch
A system that controls and directs call and data traffic. A switch that is customer-based is called a private branch exchange.
T
T1
A digital transmission link that has a capacity of 1.544 Mbps.
TCP
Transmission control protocol
Talktime
The average amount of time that an agent spends on each call. In general, the faster an agent can successfully resolve an issue, the better.
Task buttons
Buttons that allow an agent to launch an application, initiate after-call tasks, update CRM data, and more.
Telephone network
A telecommunications network that connects calls between two or more parties, as well as other channels.
Text-to-speech (TTS)
A feature that converts text to synthesized speech.
Touchpoint
Each connection point a customer has with a company that make up the entire customer experience.
Trunk
A communication line or link, such as a wire or optical line that carries multiple signals at the same time. Trunks connect the network access between two points.
U
UCaaS (Unified communications as a service)
A single unified cloud-based platform that provides all of a business's communication needs on a subscription basis.
Upsell
When an agent sells a customer on a product that is of higher value than the originally planned purchase, or adds new paid products to the customer's account as a result of the upsell conversation.
Utterance
A unit of spoken language.
V
Virtual agent
An AI-powered conversational CX agent for 24/7 self service. Virtual agents can speed up human interactions and resolutions, or in some cases handle the interactions without a human agent.
Virtual call center
A call center operation made up of multiple agents working remotely. Note: this is distinct from the concept of a virtual agent. In a virtual call center all agents are human, but they're working from decentralized locations.
Virtual contact center
See Virtual call center.
Virtual currency
Coins or tokens in a contact center gamification strategy used to reward agents for high performance.
Virtual marketplace
A virtual store where agents can redeem the virtual currency they've earned through high performance.
Visual IVR
A component of the CCAI Platform mobile SDK. With visual IVR, customers can navigate the menu structure using visual and touch navigation on their mobile phone.
Vocabulary
A set of insights based on customer preferences, satisfaction, priorities, and more.
Voice (in-app)
A feature that lets a user initiate a voice call to the contact center within the app.
Voice authentication
A biometric verification tool that identifies a caller based on their voice.
Voice PSTN
The PSTN component of a call that connects a voice application to a telephony system used in a contact center. While the PSTN is very commonly used, it might not be necessary in pure IP calls.
Voice platform
A technology that converts a person's voice into a digital signal and allows them to make calls over a computer or another device.
Voice user interface
A CCAI Platform feature that supports inbound calls over PSTN as well as outbound calling using the agent dial pad or click-to-call within the CRM.
Voice XML (VXML)
A markup language similar to HTML that enables a user to interact with an application using voice recognition technology.
Voice of the customer (VoC)
Generalized term for the overall disposition a customer has towards your company, as a result of their various touchpoints with you. VoC also attempts to gauge customer preferences and can help to identify gaps and opportunities. It can be measured in several ways, including feedback provided directly to your company and online reviews.
Voice-over-IP (VoIP)
VoiP refers to the technologies that allow for voice calls to be made using IP-enabled devices and apps rather than relying purely on legacy PBX hardware and PSTN technology. Calls made to or from VoiP endpoints often interact with the PSTN in some way, especially if one party is using a VoiP endpoint and the other is using an analog endpoint. However, VoiP calls can also remain entirely on IP devices and networks.
Voiceprint
The unique sound spectrogram that identifies a caller in voice authentication technology.
W
Wallboards
Screens in a contact center that allow agents and supervisors to view real-time performance. Wallboards can also have historical components, although deep historical data is most commonly found in the reporting suite.
Warm transfer
One method of transferring calls to another agent. Warm transfer allows the original agent to greet the receiving agent and provide a brief introduction and context.
Software Development Kit (SDK)
A software development kit (SDK) is a set of tools provided by a software or hardware vendor. CCAI Platform SDKs proactively engage customers at the right time and use web page views and CRM data to route visitors to the right team.
Workflow
A system that tracks the optimal execution of business processes to improve efficiency. Workflow in a contact center might also refer to the sequence of typical tasks relating to customer interactions. These tasks might include answer a call, looking into details, determining an answer or resolution, and handling wrap-up tasks.
Workforce engagement (WEM)
A strategy to increase agent engagement in a contact center.
Workforce management (WFM)
Managing and monitoring agents in a contact center. WFM tasks include training agents, scheduling, and forecasting.
Workforce optimization (WFO)
Tools that improve the customer experience and agent efficiency. This include AI forecasting, quality management, performance reviews, and coaching.
Workforce planning
Workload management
Real-time monitoring and distribution of work within a contact center based on current call volume. This is distinct from Workforce Management, and refers to an intelligent distribution of inbound (and sometimes outbound) interaction assignments.
Wrap-up time
The same as after-call work (ACW).