The auto-answer feature is an essential tool for your business that maximizes team productivity and optimizes your contact center performance.
This article contains:
What is auto-answer?
The Auto-answer feature automatically connects incoming calls to your most idle but available agents, allowing them to manage higher call volumes, and effectively address more issues.
A few benefits of using the auto-answer feature:
- Reduce customer wait times
Automatic call answering allows your agents to promptly answer incoming calls and effectively reduce customer wait times. - Increase call volumes
With efficient call management, your business can handle a higher volume of calls, boosting operational performance. - Reduce call answer time
With the auto-answer feature, you can define specific auto-answer time for each call queue, reduce call ringing time, and maximize call connect rates. - Enhance customer satisfaction
With faster response times and increased call handling capacity, you can provide exceptional customer service, leading to happier customers.
How does the auto-answer feature work?
If you set up call queues to route the incoming calls to the most idle agents, you can specify a global or custom auto-answer time. Once this time elapses, the call is automatically connected to the customer.
When Auto-answer is enabled, the phone widget displays the auto-answer time for each incoming call, indicating when the call will be auto-answered.
Note: If auto-answer is enabled, the agents cannot ignore calls. Also, the feature can be configured only when you route the calls to the most idle agents.
How to configure auto-answer?
You can configure auto-answer for the call queues in the following ways:
- Global configuration: Set a global auto-answer time, which will be applied to all incoming calls received at your call center.
- Custom Configuration: Configure auto-answer for specific call queues. For example, if you have call queues for your VIP customers, you can configure a custom auto-answer time, exclusively for the VIP call queue.
Note: Auto-answer can be configured only for call queue configurations and is not available for other call workflows, such as Agent Extensions, IVRs or on Freshcaller mobile apps.
Configure global auto-answer time
- Log in as an admin and go to Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Additional Settings.
- Enable the Global Auto Answer settings option and enter the auto-answer time in seconds after which the call will be auto-answered.
- Click Save changes.
Notes: - The maximum global auto answer time you can set is 10 seconds.
- Even if you enable global auto-answer time, the auto-answer does not trigger unless you configure it again in the specific call queue settings. For details, see Configure auto-answer in call queue.
Configure auto-answer in call queue
In addition to the global auto-answer time, Freshcaller allows you to set custom auto-answer time for specific call queues.
- Log in as an admin and go to Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Call Workflows.
- Click Call Queue.
- Enter the queue name, choose a play message, and assign the call attendees.
- Under Route Calls By, select Calling Most Idle Agent First.
- Under Auto Answer, select the auto answer option you want to apply to the queue. The options are:
- Global auto answer settings: Select this to apply the global auto answer time to the call queue.
Note: Ensure that you have enabled and set the Global auto-answer time for your account. For details see Configure global auto-answer time - .
- Custom auto answer Settings: Set a custom auto answer time that will be applied only to this specific queue. Enter the auto answer time in seconds.
Note: The maximum global and custom auto-answer time you can set is 10 seconds.
- Global auto answer settings: Select this to apply the global auto answer time to the call queue.
- Enter the remaining call queue configuration settings and click Save. For details, refer to Setting up Call Queues.
- Click Save.
What will be the agent experience?
Once the auto-answer feature is configured for a call queue, agents will see the auto-answer timer on the phone widget for calls received on that specific call queue.
For example, Sadie receives a call from Gymshark Support call queue with a 10-second auto-answer setting and has 10 seconds to pick up the call before it is auto-answered.