
Have you ever wondered how the volume of incoming calls impacts the efficiency of your contact center? An excessive number of inquiries often leads to delays in request processing, increases agent stress levels, and forces customers to wait longer than they would like. This directly affects their experience with your business and can result in lower customer satisfaction metrics.
Reducing the inbound call volume is not just about lessening the workload for your contact center—it’s about creating the conditions for higher-quality service. In this article, we’ll share 6 effective strategies to help you optimize your contact center’s operations, provide customers with more convenient ways to resolve their issues, and improve their overall experience.
What Is Call Volume?
Inbound call volume in a call center refers to the total number of incoming phone calls received by the call center during a specific period. This period can vary—it may be an hour, a day, a week, a month, or even a year. Call volume is a key metric for resource management in a contact center, agent workforce planning, workload forecasting, and evaluating operational efficiency.
In an omnichannel contact center, a broader term is used to assess the overall workload—Contact Volume or Interaction Volume. This metric accounts for all customer inquiries, regardless of the communication channel.
Why Are Call Centers Receiving More Calls?
Did you know that the number of calls to call centers is growing despite the development of digital channels? According to Deloitte, nearly 64% of customers prefer the phone to resolve complex issues. This shows that the phone remains a key communication channel, especially in important or urgent situations. Such a trend places significant pressure on call centers, making effective call management critically important. What factors are driving the rise in call volume in call center?
The Growing Popularity of Smartphones and Mobile Internet
Smartphones, which have become an integral part of our lives, have greatly simplified access to services. However, their use has also led to an increase in customer inquiries. Instant access to support numbers encourages customers to reach out more frequently, which increases the call volume in contact centers.
Calls as a Preferred Means of Communication
Global population aging adds another factor to the rise in call center inbound traffic. Older customers, who may not always keep up with advancements in digital technologies, often rely on the phone as the most convenient way to communicate. This places additional strain on agent teams managing these calls.
Rising Customer Expectations
Modern customers expect immediate responses from companies. For many, the phone remains the fastest way to get answers or resolve issues. This is especially true in cases where the matter is complex and requires personal interaction.
Omnichannel Approaches and Their Impact on Call Volume
Omnichannel customer service allows clients to reach out through various channels but also leads to an overall increase in inquiries, including phone calls. Even with the availability of chats, emails, or social media, customers often duplicate their requests across multiple channels.
E-Commerce and Online Services
The rapid growth of online commerce has heightened the demand for prompt customer support. Contact centers for e-commerce have become essential tools for assisting online consumers who expect quick answers to questions about orders, deliveries, or returns.
Seasonality, Marketing Campaigns, and Crisis Situations
Temporary surges in demand due to marketing campaigns, holiday seasons, or unforeseen crises also contribute to increased call volume. For example, Black Friday promotions or technical outages in popular services can cause a significant spike in calls over a short period.
How Does Call Volume Impact the Key KPIs of a Call Center?
Excessive call volume can significantly reduce the key KPIs of a call center and lower customer satisfaction. Let’s explore how this happens and why it’s crucial to constantly monitor workloads.
Increased Pressure on Service Level
When the volume of incoming calls exceeds expected levels, it leads to longer call queues and increased wait times for customers. Consequently, the Service Level — a key KPI that measures the ability to respond to inquiries promptly — decreases. The longer a customer waits, the lower their satisfaction with the service (CSAT). For instance, studies show that 60% of customers stop doing business with a company after several negative experiences.
Rise in Call Abandonment Rates
Excessive inbound call volume often results in a higher Call Abandonment Rate — instances where customers hang up due to prolonged wait times. This directly impacts customer retention and revenue. Research indicates that abandoned or “lost” calls can account for up to 40% of potential annual revenue losses for businesses.
Impact on Productivity and AHT
When call volumes remain consistently high, agents are forced to work under stressful conditions, which increases the Average Handling Time (AHT). A rise in AHT reduces team efficiency and hinders achieving high performance in other KPIs, such as First Call Resolution (FCR). Declining KPI metrics increase the risk of losing customer loyalty.
Workload and Staff Turnover
Consistently high inbound call volume negatively affect agents: they experience burnout, decreased job satisfaction, and are more likely to leave their positions. Employee turnover in contact centers can reach 30-45% annually, leading to higher training costs for new hires and lowering the overall professionalism of the team. This undermines customer trust and reduces company revenue.
Recommended Reading: How to Overcome Stress in a Contact Center?
6 Strategies to Reduce Inbound Call Volume in a Call Center and Improve Customer Experience
Some may ask, “Won’t reducing calls to the call center negatively impact the customer experience?” Rest assured, reducing the volume of incoming calls does not mean lowering the quality of customer service. On the contrary, it’s an opportunity to optimize operations, enhance customer experience, and reduce costs. There are several effective strategies to achieve this goal while maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction. Let’s explore six key approaches to reducing call volume and simultaneously improving the customer experience.
Strategy 1: Analyze Causes for Contact and Use Contact Center Analytics
The first step to reducing incoming call volume is to conduct a thorough analysis of the causes for customer inquiries. Contact center analytics can help identify the most common customer requests, recurring issues, and “pain points” in service processes. By using tools for data collection and analysis, such as reports on inquiry categories or heat maps of calls by category, companies can understand why customers choose to call and determine how these requests can be resolved through other means.
Moreover, contact center analytics not only reduces workload but also improves the quality of customer service. For instance, if data reveals that a significant portion of calls is related to unresolved issues prompting repeat inquiries, the company can develop specific solutions, such as enhancing internal processes or implementing self-service options. This approach reduces call volume, shortens wait times for other customers, and delivers a better overall customer experience.
Strategy 2: Improving Self-Service
One of the best strategies to lower call volume in a contact center is to implement self-service technologies. In addition to reducing the strain for agents, enabling customers to independently answer frequently asked questions speeds up issue resolution. Among these tools are:
- Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems for retrieving information such as account balances, order statuses, or operating hours.
- Visual IVR menus with step-by-step instructions, enabling customers to resolve issues by following clear guidance.
- Knowledge bases and FAQ sections on websites, offering detailed instructions and answers to frequently asked questions.
- Personalized customer portals where users can adjust service settings, track payments, or manage subscriptions.
Optimizing these solutions involves regularly updating content, ensuring user-friendly interfaces, and providing quick access to relevant information. When customers can find answers on their own, it not only reduces call volume but also creates a positive interaction experience with the company.
Strategy 3: Integrating AI into Voice Chatbots
Artificial intelligence in customer support chatbots opens new possibilities for reducing workloads in contact centers. AI-powered voice chatbots can quickly respond to common inquiries, assist with product or service selection, and even perform simple transactions. However, it’s essential to remember that their capabilities are still limited when it comes to complex issues or situations requiring a human touch.
Integrating AI chatbots into contact center workflows creates an optimal balance between automation and personalization. For instance, a chatbot can quickly identify a customer’s problem, address basic inquiries, or escalate complex issues to an agent, providing additional context. This approach not only enhances service efficiency but also ensures seamless and high-quality digital customer experiences.
Strategy 4: Improving the First Call Resolution Rate
Improving the First Call Resolution (FCR) rate is one of the most effective strategies for reducing the volume of incoming calls to a contact center. FCR reflects the percentage of customer inquiries that are fully resolved during the first interaction with an agent. The higher this rate, the fewer customers need to call back with the same issue, directly contributing to a reduction in call volume.
Key tools for enhancing FCR include an internal knowledge base for the contact center, detailed scripts, and regular agent training. The knowledge base provides agents with quick access to essential information, scripts help standardize the service process and ensure accurate responses, while training improves agents’ qualifications and their ability to effectively resolve customer issues.
Strategy 5: Website Optimization
Optimizing the website of a contact center outsourcing client is a powerful tool for reducing incoming call volumes while simultaneously improving the customer experience. User-friendly navigation, a clear structure, and the availability of essential information on the site allow customers to independently find answers to their questions without contacting agents.
An important element of optimization is the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section. It should be easily accessible, well-structured, and contain comprehensive answers to the most common customer inquiries. The more complete and understandable the information presented in the FAQ, the fewer customers will need to contact the call center with standard queries.
Another useful feature is the callback button or widget. This allows customers to request a call back from an agent at a convenient time instead of waiting on hold. This feature is particularly valuable during peak hours for the contact center. The callback widget not only reduces the number of calls queued simultaneously but also increases customer satisfaction by showing consideration for their time.
Website optimization may also include the integration of an online chat feature, enabling customers to quickly get answers to simple questions in text format. Linking the chat to a knowledge base or CRM system allows agents to provide more effective support. In this way, an optimized website becomes an efficient self-service tool for customers, reducing the load on the contact center and enhancing the overall customer experience.
Strategy 6: Customers Educating
Providing customers with the necessary knowledge and tools to independently resolve their issues not only reduces the load on agents but also enhances customer satisfaction by granting quick and convenient access to information. Moreover, a well-informed customer tends to be more loyal to the company and more confident in using its products or services.
Today, there are many effective ways to educate customers, helping to decrease the number of inquiries to the contact center. These include:
Video Tutorials and Guides
Short, clear videos demonstrating how to use a product or solve common issues.
Webinars and Online Courses
Webinars enable interactive learning and real-time responses to customer questions. Online courses provide more structured information, allowing customers to learn at their convenience.
Interactive Manuals and Guides
Step-by-step interactive manuals help customers solve issues independently by following clear instructions.
Communities and Forums
Creating online communities and forums where customers can interact and share experiences fosters self-learning and reduces the number of support inquiries.
Using these methods improves the customer experience by giving clients the ability to quickly and conveniently access necessary information, solve problems on their own, and gain greater proficiency in using products or services. This, in turn, reduces inbound call volume to the contact center and increases customer loyalty.
Conclusion
There is a global trend toward increasing call center volume, driven by rising customer expectations, the development of omnichannel communication, and the proliferation of online services. In the face of continually growing call volumes, it is critical for companies to monitor this metric and implement strategies to optimize contact center operations to ensure high service quality and efficient resource use.
To reduce the number of incoming calls while simultaneously improving the customer experience, strategies such as inquiry analysis, AI implementation, website optimization, customer service chatbot utilization, improving the FCR metric, customer education, and enhancing self-service tools prove to be highly effective. These approaches empower customers to resolve many issues independently and receive fast, convenient support, ultimately reducing the load on agents and increasing customer satisfaction.