5 Effective Business Solutions Using VoIP Call Transcription
When talking about VoIP, it's easy to get caught up in the multitude of new features available. For anyone who enjoys communication technology and coming up with new business solutions, VoIP is a pretty exciting upgrade. From AI assistants to one-number device following, there's no end to the new things VoIP does for business communications.
But it's also useful to drill down into the practical applications one feature at a time. Pick any single aspect of VoIP and we can suggest half a dozen different ways a business might use the feature to their advantage. Today, we're talking about call transcription, the ability to immediately transform a phone conversation or voice mail into a text transcript of same. In the past, it has taken a lot of setup to get even a small amount of automated transcription, usually with a great many translation mistakes.
But with cutting-edge voice recognition software and VoIP's knack for audio data, it's now possible to use call transcription at every level of business. Let's take a closer look at five different useful ways to apply VoIP call transcription to improve your office experience.
1) Check Your Voicemail as Email
Checking your email is one of the least efficient and most time-consuming parts of a business day. Not to mention the need to sometimes play a voicemail message over several times to get the information. Especially if the person on the other end had background noise or didn't speak clearly. Was that One-five-five or one-five-nine? Did she say her name was Jerry or Sheryl?
Now you don't have to call your voicemail, take notes on messages, OR guess what the other person was saying. Because VoIP will do it for you. With call transcription, you can have all voicemails that are left automatically transcribed by a sharp-listening AI who then sends a helpful email. So your morning startup routine just got about three times easier.
2) Take Notes on Important Calls
Of course, voicemail isn't the only time we need to take notes while listening to the phone. Many of our most important communications with bosses or clients occur over the phone. But unlike email or chat exchanges that you can re-read later, phone calls are ephemeral. Once your client has explained their idea, they expect you to remember but the sound of their voice is gone, gone, gone.
Not only can VoIP enact call-recording (when it's convenient and you have permission), but you can also use transcription to take notes on the conversation for you. No more desperately scribbling short-hand to keep up with a client's explanation. Instead, you can lock that detail into a permanent record with an easily referenced transcript.
3) Complete Customer Service History in the CRM
Modern customer service is all about providing a continuous experience. You want your customers to feel like they're dealing with the same support staff, even when they're not. And the key is a detailed CRM that includes records of all emails and chats had with that customer. But phone calls fall through the cracks. Special requests or problems talked about over the phone are likely to drop details that could be important when providing service later on.
Call transcription can change all that by creating a textual record of every conversation you ever have with a client, and filing it neatly into their CRM entry. Your techs will have a permanent record of their work with customers, and a record of work other technicians have done with that same customer.
4) Create Records of Abusive Calls
On the flip-side, there are also the concerns of dealing with problem customers who make abusive calls. Some even go out of their way to 'frame' phone techs by getting sweet when the manager steps in. While call recording has been used to prove phone abuse in the past, transcription is even better because it makes a record that doesn't have to be played audibly to prove the point.
Call transcription is an invaluable tool for support staff who need to prove when a customer or vendor has been inappropriate with them. It can also be highly useful for secretaries and admins who take external calls and may be harassed or even threatened by callers who want favors, dates, or to be connected with higher-ups for "Networking" (aka: scam / hard sell) purposes.
5) Provide Accommodation for Deaf Employees
Finally, let's not forget that every software upgrade has the potential to help a disabled professional. VoIP focuses mainly on phone calls, but it can also be used to create a welcoming work environment for people who are hard of hearing or deaf. Because VoIP software can transcribe every phone call and voice mail instantly, it can be used to help hearing impaired employees get phone messages, work with audio files, and work jobs with telephone duties. Even in startups where accommodation funds are on the low side.
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VoIP is a treasure trove of possibilities and business solutions, but never forget that even one awesome VoIP feature can be used in a dozen different useful ways. For more on what VoIP can do for your business, contact us today!