ja_mageia

Page 1

Identification of telephone fraud

Telephone call fraud is becoming big business. Fraudsters are hacking into telephone systems to generate expensive outgoing calls. For the cost of a local call the fraudster may generate calls to anywhere in the world including Inmarsat (satellite) and Premium numbers and you are liable for the costs.

Call Management can be configured to generate alarms when any suspicious activity is encountered. You may be notified by a combination of audible, visual or email alarms of such activity, as it occurs, enabling you to take the appropriate action. For example you can:

• Determine telephone numbers that identify unauthorised calls
• Specify thresholds for acceptable call times and durations
• Highlight fraudulent through-dial and trunk-to-trunk calls
• Automatically generate email alerts identifying the fraudulent calls
• Identify illicit calls to competitors
• Trace malicious and nuisance calls

Page 2

Maximising operator efficiency

The telephone system is a primary interface for your customers and, consequently its efficiency is paramount to your business. Improving the efficiency of your operators is one of the best methods of improving the customer’s perception of your business.

There are many factors that can affect the way that your incoming calls are handled. The use of carefully designed reports within a Call Management package will provide all the information necessary to address any shortcomings such as:

• Analysing response times and the volume of calls being answered
• Identifying unanswered calls and the time of day they are occurring
• Indicating the distribution of calls taken by the switchboard operator
• Analysing the use of DDI (Direct Dial Inward) codes to reduce operator loading
• Monitoring activity levels to identify staffing requirements for different time period

Page 3

Telephone system efficiency

The telephone is an essential element of any business and, to minimise the cost, it is necessary to maximise its efficiency. Many features of modern telephone systems enable them to be tailored to suit specific applications. Call Management provides an excellent method of measuring the effectiveness of your configuration.

With increasing reliance on the telephone system, there is also a real danger of its running costs spiralling out of control. Call Management can assist in making substantial cost savings and give you confidence that you are maximising its potential, for example:

• Exchange line usage reports identify the number of telephone lines actually required
• The detection of abnormal call patterns highlights inefficient system programming
• Selecting the call tariff that is best suited to your call pattern
• Analysing response times and lost calls to identify shortcomings in your operation
• Identifying any unused or underused extensions and DDI codes
• Managing the distribution of calls on GSM gateways to keep within preset limits (with GSM gateway option)
• Analysis of automated attendant performance to improve customer awareness.

Page 4

Tariff Optimisation

Call Management uses comprehensive costing engines that are capable of accurate calculations of all call costs. A range of tariffs may be easily created and managed by the end user giving full control. The resultant reports provide strong supporting evidence to assist in tariff negotiation.

Once set up with the appropriate tariffs, Call Management will provide you with a true impartial picture of how well your tariffs are working for you as well as how they fare against one another.

Setting up and managing your own tariffs within Call Management could not be simpler:

• Tariff cost comparison will identify the most cost effective Carrier for your telephone call traffic.
• Tariff analysis will help you negotiate better discounts to specific destinations.
• Identification of LCR (Least Cost Routing) access digits enable the correct tariff to be applied to each call.
• Call Management constantly monitors GSM Gateway traffic with alarms when thresholds are reached.
• STD locator calculates the cost of any call to any destination for any duration.
• There is no limit to the number of tariffs that be created within Call Management software.

Allocation of telephone call costs

One of the most important aspects of any system is the ability to identify and allocate call costs. The Call Management costing engine has been optimised to produce accurate call costs. A comprehensive selection of reports are available that can allocate call charges to the appropriate department, client, extensions or account code.

Page 5

If your business requires you to allocate call costs to various cost centres using multiple tariffs with varying rates for different clients, Call Management can be configured to do it all.

• Company and department expenditure can be measured against budgets
• Account codes can be allocated to clients, projects or jobs
• Authorisation codes can be allocated to restricted phones located in public areas
• Telephone bills can be produced for sub-tenants with access to your telephone facility
• Check for unallocated resources such as extensions, account codes, STD codes etc
• All calls are logged regardless of whether or not the extension or account code is defined

What does this mean for business?

In some cases, it makes business sense to install call management before any other telephony product. Call management provides the data upon which to make decisions, for example:

• Cost savings can be derived by identifying telephone usage/abuse.
• Identifying the efficient deployment of staff, ensuring that all inbound calls are covered.
• Establishing over or underutilised telephone lines.
• Comparing tariffs and ensuring that your company receives the best deal.

In short, you can not control your costs if you do not have access to crucial information about the usage of your telephone system.

Page 1

Music on hold and Advertising On Hold will help make the most of the time your customers spends with you on the telephone - when you're not speaking to them!

Until recently the most common format to play music or announcements on-hold was via a CD player using a pre-recorded CD with announcements saying “thank you for holding, your call is important to us”. The CD provided would play either royalty-free music or the performing rights license would be prepaid. The drawback of the CD player was, that no matter how robust the machine, there was always the possibility that the the player would fail mechanically and so would need to be replaced.

MP3 players are now taking over as the player of choice - there are no moving parts and a wider range of music tracks can be stored. However, a word of warning. If you wish to play music to your callers you must ensure that that royalties for the music are paid. A performing rights license can be obtained from www.mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk

Professional Services

If you want to advertise your company or products on hold while your customers are waiting to speak to you, a professionally produced solution may be answer. There are a number of companies providing this service, who offer tailored alternatives to standard on-hold messages using professional voice artists. Solutions can range from one-off recordings to regularly updated messages for both your telephone callers and visitors to your website.

Action

If you would like a demonstration of the choices available for pre-recorded messages please contact us at 0800 970 9751 or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it {/reg}