Contact Center Glossar

A

Account Contact Management - The process of collecting and managing specific information identifying a customer account.

ActiveX Controls - A feature set within a web page that allows for interactive functionality.

Agent Coaching - Agent coaching is the ongoing process of helping customer-service employees improve skills, behaviors and performance through feedback, practice and follow-up.

Agent Occupancy - The percentage of time agents are actively engaged in handling interactions relative to their total time logged in to a workforce management system or otherwise registered as working.

Agent Reports - A performance report providing statistical insights related to an individual agent’s average handle time, unavailable time, call log, etc.

Agent Utilization - A workforce management metric that indicates agent productivity.

AI Automation - AI automation is the use of artificial intelligence to understand inputs, choose among approved next steps, and automate business tasks or workflows.

AI Chatbot - An AI chatbot is a conversational software application that uses artificial intelligence to interpret what a user says and provide a relevant response.

AI Conversations - AI Conversations, also known as artificial intelligence conversations, have become an essential part of our digital landscape.

AI Routing - AI routing, short for Artificial Intelligence routing, is a transformative technology that has redefined how businesses manage customer interactions. By utilizing advanced algorithms and machine learning, AI routing intelligently directs customer inquiries to the most suitable agent or department.

Analog - The process of taking audio signals, like voice, and translating them into electronic pulses.

Anrufrekorder - Ein Anrufrekorder (Call Recorder), auch bekannt als Anrufaufzeichnungssoftware, ist eine Contact-Center-Technologie, die den Inhalt von Telefongesprächen aufzeichnet und auch die Bildschirme der Agenten erfassen kann.

Application - Software designed to be interacted with by an end user, enabling them to accomplish specific tasks. Contact center applications can enable the identification, routing, analysis and tracking of interactions, as well as workforce and performance management.

Application Programming Interface (API) - A set of functions and procedures allowing developers to create applications that access the features or data of an operating system, application, or other service.

Auto Dialer - More commonly referred to as a Dialer, this technology automates the process of making calls from an outbound contact center. Dialers can offer advanced functionality, scripting, and reporting. See also: Predictive Dialer.

Automatic Number Identification (ANI) - A service that transmits the phone number of the caller for quicker customer identification; also referred to as Calling Line Identification (CLID) or Caller ID (CID).

Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) - Technology that processes and responds to spoken language commands. See also: Natural Language Understanding, Interactive Voice Response (IVR).

Automation - Technology designed to perform actions or take over processes performed by humans, in order to boost efficiency and reliability, and empower customers with self-service.

Automatischer Kontaktverteiler (ACD) - Der Automatische Kontaktverteiler (ACD) ist ein in der Telefoniebranche häufig verwendetes Werkzeug zur Verteilung eingehender Anrufe.

Avatars - An element of gamification; a graphical representation of an agent for digital platforms. Avatars can sometimes be customized by users to reflect a characteristic or persona.

Average Hold Time (AHLDT) - A standard call center metric used to measure the average amount of time customers spend on hold during interactions with the contact center.

B

Back Office Optimization - Streamlining back-office workforce functions for maximum efficiency and optimal alignment with front-office services in the contact center to improve customer experience and agent experience. See also: Workforce Optimization (WFO).

Blended Agent - A contact center agent who handles inbound and/or outbound customer interactions across multiple voice, web, and digital channels.

Bot - Software that automates tasks that humans would otherwise perform. See also: Chatbot.

BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) - Contracting out specific operations, generally non-core business functions, to a third-party provider, known as the business process outsourcer. These functions may include tasks such as customer service, accounting, human resources, and IT support.

Business-to-Business (B2B) - Marketplace transactions between businesses.

Business-to-Consumer (B2C) - Marketplace transactions between businesses and consumers.

Byte - A unit of data that is eight binary digits long, used by most computers to represent a character such as a letter, number, or symbol.

C

Call Back System in a Contact Center - A call back system is a contact center capability that offers customers a return call instead of requiring them to stay on hold.

Call Barge-in - Call barge-in is a contact center supervision feature that allows an authorized supervisor to enter an active agent-customer call and participate in the conversation.

Call Center (Hosted Inbound Call Center, Outbound Call Center) - A physical or virtual department or operation in which a large volume of inbound and/or outbound calls is handled on behalf of an organizational division (e.g., Customer Service, Sales, Support). See also: Contact Center.

Call Center Abandonment Rate - Call center abandonment rate measures the percentage of eligible inbound calls that end before the caller reaches an agent or completes the intended service experience.

Call Center Agent - A call center agent is a customer service employee who handles inbound or outbound customer interactions on behalf of an organization. Agents may answer questions, resolve problems, process transactions, support sales or retention, and document outcomes.

Call Center Agent Scorecard - A call center agent scorecard is a structured set of metrics used to evaluate employee performance across customer interactions and operational work.

Call center agent software - Technology, often called the agent desktop or agent workspace, that brings together system capabilities, applications and processes for call center agents.

Call center agent utilization - The ratio of an agent’s productivity to their capacity.

Call Center Campaign - A call center campaign is a planned series of customer interactions designed to achieve a specific goal, such as sales outreach, collections, appointment reminders, service notifications, retention or support for a major event.

Call Center CRM (Call Center Customer Relationship Management) - Technology that provides call center employees with access to customer data and interaction information, in order to further personalize the customer experience. See also: Contact Center CRM.

Call Center Management - Call center management is the discipline of planning and operating a customer service organization that handles voice and related interactions.

Call Center Reporting - The tracking and presentation of key performance indicators (KPIs) and selected metrics regarding call center activities and individual call center agent performance.

Call center service level - Call center efficiency in handling incoming calls from customers or clients, represented as a percentage of incoming calls answered within a specified target timeframe. It is a key performance indicator for service level adherence and workforce management.

Call Center Workforce Planning - Call center workforce planning is the process of translating expected customer demand into staffing and scheduling requirements.

Call center-Coaching - Eine Qualitätsmanagement-Aktivität, bei der Kontaktcenter-Agenten Rückmeldung, Beispiele, Leistungsbewertungen und Best-Practice-Aktivitäten bereitgestellt werden, um die für ihre Rolle benötigten Fähigkeiten zu verbessern.

Call Distribution - When a volume of calls is dispersed by an ACD during a given time period.

Call Forecasting - Predicting a contact center’s workload and assessing the relevent agent scheduling or staffing needs. Effective forecasting can be accomplished with a workforce optimization application. See also: Scheduling.

Call Queue - A call queue is a waiting line within a contact center that holds inbound customer interactions until the appropriate agent or resource is available.

Call Recording - The act of recording a telephone call or other audio source through an automated system in compliance with rules and regulations. Calls can then be monitored for the purposes of quality management, agent performance evaluation, and workforce management.

Call Time Mean in a Contact Center - Refers to the length of time a caller is on an individual call with an agent. It typically includes talk time and agent-initiated hold time, but not post-call wrap-up time. See also: Average Handle Time (AHT).

Call Volume - The number of calls or contacts made or received during a given time period.

Caller - The calling party, or customer, with whom your contact center system or agent interacts.

CCaaS - Der Begriff CCaaS steht für ‘Contact Center as a Service’ und bezeichnet cloudbasierte Contact-Center-Lösungen.

CCaaS Solutions - CCaaS, or Contact Center as a Service, is a cloud-based solution designed to help businesses manage customer interactions more efficiently.

Central Office - A site that houses major telecommunication devices and network access facilities for storage and operation.

Chat - A digital messaging application built into an organization’s contact center platform, and launched from the organization’s website or the customer’s mobile device, which allows a customer to communicate and receive service quickly and easily.

Citizen Customer Experience - Interactions and experiences members of the public have when engaging with government agencies and services. This includes all touchpoints, such as online portals, call centers, in-person services, and other channels of engagement.

Client Resource Management (CRM) - The strategies, practices, and technologies that organizations employ to manage, analyze, and improve interactions with current and potential customers, providing value to both the customer and the company. See also: Contact Center CRM.

Closed-loop Action - A voice of the customer (VOC) term that refers to the act of following up with customers who have provided either extremely positive or negative feedback.

Closed-loop Feedback - The process of acting on direct or indirect customer input collected from sources such as customer surveys, contact center interactions, and social media comments.

Closed-loop Survey - A tool within a closed-loop feedback process for proactively collecting customer input.

Cloud Call Center - Ein Cloud Call Center ist eine Unternehmensfunktion, die eingehende und/oder ausgehende Telefonanrufe mit Kunden über cloudbasierte Technologien bearbeitet.

Cloud Contact Center - Ein Cloud Contact Center ist eine Kundendienstfunktion, die Kundenkontakte über mehr als einen Kanal bearbeitet, z. B. Telefon, E-Mail, Chat, Textnachrichten und soziale Medien, und dabei cloudbasierte Lösungen nutzt.

Cloud Contact Center Platform - A complete, unified, cloud-native system that supports multichannel or omnichannel communication between customers and agents (or self-service systems) in a manner that optimizes customer experience and agent experience.

Co-browse - A solution that enables an agent and customer to simultaneously navigate the same webpage during a voice or digital interaction.

Compliance - Abiding by or conforming to rules, regulations, or laws. The term can also refer to agent adherence to their schedules.

Computer-Telefonie-Integration - Unter Computer-Telefonie-Integration (CTI) versteht man die Verknüpfung der Telefonsysteme eines Callcenters mit seinen Geschäftsanwendungen, in der Regel, damit die Unternehmenssoftware mehr Kontrolle über das Anrufmanagement hat.

Contact Center - A physical or virtual department or operation for handling inbound and/or outbound communications between customers and agents (or self-service systems) across multiple voice and digital channels (typically for organizational divisions such as Customer Service, Sales, or Support). See also: Call Center.

Contact Center Agent Experience - The experience (or satisfaction level) of a contact center agent resulting from customer interactions, workforce engagement, their work tools, supervisors, schedule flexibiity, and operational efficiency. It can be improved through coaching, gamification, training, technology, real-time support, AI solutions, and workforce optimization.

Contact Center Agent Self-Evaluations - A quality management activity, also known as a self-assessment, in which agents evaluate and score their own interactions using the same form and criteria that a manager or another evaluator would use.

Contact Center Agent Workspace - A digital platform integrating multiple communication channels and support tools into a single, unified interface, enabling agents to offer seamless and efficient customer service.

Contact Center Analytics - Tools that analyze data points, make correlations, reveal insights, and report on trends to help a contact center or business improve operations.

Contact Center Architecture - An integrated framework of software and hardware components used to manage customer service and support operations.

Contact Center Automation - Call center automation leverages cutting-edge technology and software to streamline and enhance the operations of a contact center.

Contact Center Business Optimization - Improving the efficiency, productivity, and performance of a contact center, with the aim of ensuring its success as a business.

Contact Center Communication Channels - Contact center communication channels are the voice and digital methods customers use to communicate with service, sales or support teams. Common interaction channels include phone, web chat, messaging, email, social media and self-service, each with different operational and customer-experience characteristics.

Contact Center CRM - Contact Center Customer Relationship Management (CRM) ist eine Software, die die Kundeninteraktionen in einem Contact Center über verschiedene Kanäle hinweg verwaltet und optimiert.

Contact Center for Government - A centralized customer service operation for government agencies that handles a wide range of inquiries and requests from citizens and the general public, using various channels such as phone, email, chat, and social media.

Contact Center Management - The policies, procedures, and tools used to manage operations, employees, and interactions within a contact center, with an emphasis on customer experience across all voice and digital channels. See also: Call Center Management.

Contact Center Processor - A contact center processor is a technical component that performs processing work for customer interactions, such as handling media, routing events, application logic or integration tasks.

Contact Center Workforce Planning - The process of forecasting staffing needs based on anticipated volume or other business drivers, then ensuring everything is in place to hire, train, schedule, and manage the required agent team. See Workforce Management (WFM).

Contact Center-Software - Contact Center-Software ist eine Sammlung von Anwendungen zur Unterstützung des Kundendienstes.

Contact Center-Software - Contact Center-Software ist eine Sammlung von Anwendungen zur Unterstützung des Kundendienstes.

Contact Disposition - User-defined statuses that can be assigned to completed interactions either by an agent or by the system.

Context - A combination of identifying factors about a customer -including user identity and environmental and process-based information – that contribute to insights enabling an organization to deliver an optimal customer experience.

Cost Per Call - Cost per call (CPC) is a metric used in contact centers to measure the average cost incurred for handling a single customer phone call.

CPaaS - CPaaS, short for Communications Platform as a Service, is a cloud-based communications infrastructure that enables businesses to integrate real-time communication capabilities directly into their applications.

Cross-sell - When a sales representative suggests to a customer that they would benefit from the purchase of an additional product or service.

CSAT Score - A CSAT score, or customer satisfaction score, measures how satisfied customers say they are with a specific interaction or experience. Organizations typically collect CSAT through a short survey and calculate the percentage of positive responses.

CT Connect - CT Connect ist eine Middleware-Software, die es Computeranwendungen ermöglicht, Telefonanrufe zu überwachen und zu steuern, und die die Telefonzentralen eines Unternehmens mit den im Call Center verwendeten Geschäftsanwendungen verbindet.

CTI Server - A CTI server is the server-side component of a computer telephony integration environment. It receives telephony events and makes them available to business applications so software can respond to calls, control call functions, display customer context and synchronize interaction data.

Customer Care - How a business treats its customers throughout the duration of the relationship.

Customer Effort Score (CES) - A measurement of how much effort a customer expends in getting their issue resolved, purchasing a product, etc.

Customer Engagement - A framework connecting multiple systems, processes, and stakeholders together to optimally engage customers across their customer journey.

Customer Experience (CX) - Customer experience, commonly abbreviated as CX, is the overall perception a customer forms based on every interaction with an organization.

Customer Experience Banking - The perception customers form from their interactions with a bank or financial institution across the full relationship. It includes digital banking, contact center service, branch experiences, onboarding, payments, lending, fraud handling and the many operational processes that affect whether customers can complete financial tasks easily and securely.

Customer Experience Chatbots - Customer experience chatbots are automated conversational tools used across websites, apps and messaging channels to support customers.

Customer Experience Financial Services - The overall perception that customers have of their interactions with a financial service provider.

Customer Experience for Government - All interactions and experiences that private individuals have when engaging with government services. This includes all touchpoints such as online portals, call centers, in-person services, and other channels of engagement.

Customer Experience Interactions - Customer experience interactions are the individual exchanges customers have with a company across channels such as voice, chat, messaging, email, web, mobile and self-service.

Customer Experience Management (CEM) - Customer experience management, often shortened to CEM or CX management, is the practice of understanding and improving how customers experience an organization across channels, products and stages of the customer journey.

Customer Experience Management Software - Customer experience management software, often called CXM or CX software, helps organizations understand and improve how customers interact with the business across channels and journeys.

Customer Experience Model - A framework businesses use to control the quality of the impressions their customers have of the brand.

Customer Experience Performance Metrics - Measurements of a brand’s effectiveness at shaping consumer perceptions about the business.

Customer Insights - Customer insights are actionable understandings of customer behavior, needs, preferences and experiences derived from data. They help organizations move beyond reporting what happened to understanding why it happened, which customers are affected and what action is most likely to improve the outcome.

Customer intelligence - Unter Customer Intelligence versteht man das Sammeln und Analysieren von Kundeninformationen mit dem Ziel, die Beziehungen zu stärken und die Loyalität zu erhöhen.

Customer Interaction Monitoring Tools - Customer interaction monitoring tools are software used to record, review and analyze customer conversations across assisted and digital channels. They help contact centers understand service quality, identify customer issues, monitor defined risk signals and provide evidence for coaching or process improvement.

Customer Journey - Eine Customer Journey ist die vollständige Summe der Erlebnisse, die Kunden bei der Interaktion mit Unternehmen und Marken durchlaufen.

Customer Journey Analytics - Customer journey analytics is the analysis of customer interactions and events across channels and time to understand how people move through a journey and where they encounter friction. Predictive journey analytics extends that analysis by using historical and real-time signals to estimate likely next events or outcomes so organizations can respond earlier.

Customer Journey Based Design - Voice of the customer (VOC) solutions that are aligned with the customer journey and can provide insights about the many different paths customers can take as they interact with a business.

Customer Journey Management - Customer journey management is the continuous practice of understanding, measuring, and improving how customers move through a specific experience over time.

Customer Journey Management - Strategies and software to provide seamless and consistently exceptional omnichannel customer experiences across a customer journey.

Customer Journey Map - A visual diagram of all touchpoints within a customer journey. It can be leveraged in real time for agents to improve an experience or leveraged via analytics to identify trends that help improve the overall customer experience.

Customer Journey Mapping Insurance - A visual representation that outlines and illustrates the various stages that a customer goes through when interacting with an insurance company. The map typically includes interactions during research, policy selection, purchase, claims processing, renewals, and other relevant touchpoints. Insurance customer journey maps help companies understand their customers’ experiences, pain points, and opportunities for improvement, facilitating the development of strategies to enhance overall customer experience.

Customer Journey Optimization - The process of optimizing the customer journey through orchestration and management.

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) - Describes the total value of a customer’s relationship to an organization over a lifetime.

Customer Loyalty - The level of allegiance a consumer feels toward a business, usually characterized by a long-term relationship and the willingness to make ongoing purchases.

Customer Service Administrator - A customer service administrator is a person responsible for maintaining the configuration, access and operational settings of customer-service technology.

Customer Service Escalation - Customer service escalation is the process of moving a customer issue to a higher level of expertise, authority or support when the current resource cannot resolve it effectively.

Customer Service Representative (CSR) - Ein Kundendienstmitarbeiter (Customer Service Representative, CSR), auch Agent genannt, ist eine Person, die in einem Call- oder Kontaktzentrum arbeitet und Kunden bei ihren Anliegen unterstützt.

CX Software for Government - Software designed to help government agencies manage citizen interactions and improve customer experience (CX). The goal is to provide greater accessibility and usability in government digital services, streamline and automate customer service workflows, and collect and analyze data related to interactions with the public.

CX-Lösungen - CX-Lösungen, oder Customer Experience Solutions, umfassen Werkzeuge, Strategien und Customer-Experience-Management-Praktiken, die darauf abzielen, das gesamte Kundenerlebnis zu verbessern.

D

Dashboard - A display of real-time communication, KPI reporting, or historical information on a screen for easy viewing by contact center employees.

Database - An application that stores, organizes, and structures data consistently for easy access and efficient analysis.

Decibel (dB) - A unit of measurement indicating the intensity of a sound.

Detractor - A customer who is highly dissatisfied with a business and may engage in behavior that harms the business financially.

Dialed Number Interaction Services (DNIS) - A set of digits indicating the phone number a call has reached.

Dialer - Technology for automating the dialing of outbound phone calls or the sending of mass digital communications. Dialers range from basic to sophisticated in their features and functionality. See also: Auto Dialer, Predictive Dialer.

Digital - The representation or transmission of data expressed in binary code.

Digital Messaging - A digital messaging system allows remote agents to meet customers on their platforms of choice, have personal conversations and reach successful outcomes at scale.

Digitales Call Center - Ein Kundendienstbetrieb, der seinen Kunden über digitale Kanäle wie E-Mail, Nachrichten, SMS, soziale Medien usw. Service bietet.

Direct Feedback - Customer input gathered by asking consumers what they think about a brand, product, customer service interaction, or other touchpoint along the customer journey.

Direct Inward Dialing (DID) - Direct inward dialing, or DID, is a telephony service that provides externally reachable phone numbers that route directly to an internal user, queue, application or contact center destination.

Directed Dialog - An elementary automatic speech recognition technology that guides interaction by prompting a caller with limited phrases.

Dual Tone Multifrequency (DTMF) - A system that uses audio tones to represent digits on a keypad.

Durchschnittliche Bearbeitungszeit (Average Handle Time – AHT) - AHT) – Die durchschnittliche Bearbeitungszeit (AHT) ist eine Standard-Contact-Center-Kennzahl, die verwendet wird, um die durchschnittliche Zeit zu messen, die zum Abschluss einer Transaktion benötigt wird.

E

Echo Cancellation - Quieting a voice channel to optimize speech recognition and natural language understanding.

Ecommerce Customer Experience Software - The set of tools and technologies used by online retailers to enhance the customer experience and satisfaction with their online shopping journey through personalization, data insights, and customer support.

Education Customer Experience - The interactions and overall experience that students, potential students or faculty have with an institution of learning, including communication, services, and support. It is a crucial aspect of higher education that can impact student satisfaction, retention, and recruitment.

Education Customer Experience Solutions - Tools, platforms, and strategies that universities and colleges can use to improve the education customer experience of their students. They are designed to help universities optimize communication, support, and services to create a positive and effective learning environment.

Education Technology - The use of technology to enhance teaching, learning, and student outcomes in education. Often abbreviated as EdTech, it encompasses a wide range of digital tools, platforms, and resources that can be used to support and enhance the learning experience.

Employee Engagement - The level at which contact center employees are engaged in their work. See also: Agent Experience.

Employee NPS (eNPS) - Also known as the Employee Net Promoter Score, it is a measurement of an employee’s willingness to recommend their employer as a place to work to friends and family.

Enterprise Relationship Management (ERM) - The solutions allowing an enterprise to share information in order to create value, satisfy customers and stakeholders, and increase revenue.

Executive Order 14058 - A mandate aimed at improving the cybersecurity of federal government networks and infrastructure, as well as protecting critical infrastructure in the private sector, through the adoption of specific requirements and provisions.

Experience Analytics - Also called customer experience analytics, it is the systematic collection and analysis of customer perceptions as they interact with various touchpoints along the customer journey.

F

First Contact Resolution - A metric indicating the capability of a contact center to resolve a customer’s issue during their first interaction, eliminating the need for follow-up interactions and driving down the volume of incoming contacts.

Fortschrittliche Contact-Center-Technologien - Fortschrittliche Contact-Center-Technologien ist ein Begriff, der moderne Technologien wie künstliche Intelligenz (KI) und maschinelles Lernen beschreibt.

G

Gamification - Gamification rewards individual employees and teams for staying on task, turning the best behaviors into habits through games and challenges. Employees can win redeemable coins, collect badges or climb a leaderboard.

Grammar - In the contact center, language used in conjunction with IVR systems that require a complete list of possible spoken responses to be programmed for recognition and stored in a grammar file.

Graphical User Interface (GUI) - A computer interface enabling on-screen navigation through menus, icons, and interactive mouse or touchscreen technology.

Guest Experience - The overall impression, feelings, and perceptions that individuals have during their interaction with a particular establishment or event, such as a hotel, restaurant, or entertainment venue. This encompasses every aspect of the customer journey, including interactions with staff, the quality of products or services provided, the atmosphere, and any other elements that contribute to overall satisfaction and enjoyment.

Guest Service Experience - The specific interactions and encounters that guests have with the service providers and staff members of a hospitality establishment, such as a hotel, resort, or restaurant. This focuses on the quality of assistance, responsiveness, attentiveness, and friendliness exhibited by the staff during a guest’s stay or visit. This aspect plays a significant role in shaping the overall guest experience.

H

Hardware - The on-premise, physical infrastructure of a computer or telephony system.

Hold Time - The total amount of time a contact spends in an agent-initiated hold status. See also: Average Hold Time (AHLDT).

Hosted Contact Center - A provider-managed technology services used to operate customer interactions across voice and digital channels. The provider hosts the core software and infrastructure, while the customer configures routing, users, workflows and business rules. Today, many hosted contact center services are delivered as cloud-based Contact Center as a Service platforms.

I

Inbound Call Center - A customer service primarily dedicated to handling incoming customer phone calls, playing a pivotal role in managing customer interactions and inquiries.

Independent Software Vendor (ISV) - An organization that designs and distributes software and is not owned or controlled by a hardware manufacturer, but which often produces software that is complementary to a hardware manufacturer or seller’s products.

Indirect Feedback - Customer input that a business did not solicit, but which it can access for analysis.

Insurance Customer Experience - The overall collection of interactions, touchpoints, and emotions that policyholders and potential customers have while engaging with an insurance company’s products, services, and support. The insurance customer experience encompasses interactions such as purchasing policies, filing claims, receiving assistance, and communicating with customer service representatives. Providing a positive insurance customer experience aims to build trust, satisfaction, and loyalty among policyholders.

Integrated Digital Experience - An integrated digital experience connects the systems and touchpoints behind a customer journey so information, history and actions can move with the customer.

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) - A series of technical standards that enable digital voice, video, and data transmission services over telephone networks.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) - A voice- and call-processing system that responds to a customer’s speech or to digits they enter as they interact with an automated menu. Customers may be given the option to enter a call queue, connect with an agent, complete a self-service transaction, access information, or leave a message.

Intraday Forecasting - Intraday forecasting, also called intraday reforecasting, is the process of updating a contact center workload forecast during the operating day using actual interaction volume, handle time, staffing and other current conditions.

Intraday Management in Workforce Management - Intraday management is the workforce management process used to keep contact center staffing aligned with demand as the day unfolds. When actual volume, handle time, absenteeism or channel mix differs from the forecast, workforce teams can reforecast the remaining intervals and adjust schedules or staffing actions accordingly.

IP Call Center Technology - A communication channel based on an IP standard that transmits voice and data on the same network. VoIP does not require a dedicated connection throughout an entire call and is often seen as a more efficient alternative to circuit-switched networks.

IVR-System - Ein IVR-System ist eine automatische Schnittstelle, die Anrufer zu Beginn eines Telefonats begrüßt und durch Menüoptionen führt.

K

KPI (Key Performance Indicator) - Ein KPI (Key Performance Indicator) ist eine Kennzahl, die Contact Center verwenden, um festzustellen, ob sie ihre Geschäftsziele wie Effizienz und außergewöhnlichen Service erfüllen.

Kundenakquisitionskosten - Die Kundenakquisitionskosten (Customer Acquisition Cost, CAC) sind ein Maß dafür, wie effizient die Vertriebs- und Marketingmaßnahmen eines Unternehmens bei der Gewinnung neuer Kunden sind.

Kundenbefragungen - Kundenumfragen sind Instrumente, mit denen Unternehmen das Feedback ihrer Kunden zu einer beliebigen Anzahl von Themen einholen.

Kundenfeedback - Kundenfeedback ist ein Beitrag, den Verbraucher den Unternehmen, mit denen sie Geschäfte machen, zur Verfügung stellen.

Kundenfrustration - Kundenfrustration ist genau das, wonach es klingt – ein Gefühl der Frustration, das ein Kunde als Ergebnis einer negativen Interaktion mit einem Unternehmen erlebt.

Kundenservice - Kundenservice ist die Unterstützung, die Sie Ihren Kunden bieten – vor, während und nach einem Kauf oder der Nutzung Ihres Produkts oder Dienstleistung.

Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) - Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) ist ein Technologiezweig, der allgemein als das Konzept beschrieben wird, dass Software in der Lage ist, Aufgaben auf eine Weise auszuführen, die als “intelligent” bezeichnet werden kann.

L

Leaderboards - A digital or physical display showing employees where they stand compared to their peers on important key performance indicators (KPIs).

Listening Post - In customer experience management, this term defines a point in the process when companies can identify, collect, and analyze customer feedback.

Local Area Network (LAN) - A communication network linking computers or technical devices within a limited geographic area. They are often used to send data to printers, transfer data between systems on the network, send communications between users on the network, or access wider area networks (WANs).

Logs - Also referred to as log files, these are records that document details, typically time stamps, related to what took place within a computer system.

M

Macro Metric - The result of distilling multiple KPIs related to the health of an organization’s customer relationships into a single unit of measurement.

Menu - An array of options clearly presented for selection by a customer, agent, or user on a computer screen or via a digital or voice channel.

Mobile Voice - Also referred to as voice control or voice access, this term describes technology allowing users to control their mobile devices by spoken command.

Moment of Truth - Any touchpoint along the customer journey in which a business has the potential to change a customer’s perception of the business and increase or decrease the customer’s loyalty as a result.

Multichannel Cloud Contact Center - A contact center powered by cloud-native software (rather than on-premises hardware) to handle inbound and outbound interactions independently across multiple communication channels. The information from an interaction on one channel is not connected or shared across other independent channels.

N

Natural Language Processing - A technological process for turning text or audio speech into encoded, structured information.

Natural Language Understanding - An AI-enabled technology that allows humans to communicate with computers and applications in normal, conversational syntax. This cognitive technology can analyze spoken words, along with elements like context and sentiment, to identify a person’s intent during voice and digital interactions.

Net Promoter Score® - Der Net Promoter Score (NPS) misst die Kundenwahrnehmung einer Marke und kann Umsatzwachstum oder -rückgang vorhersagen.

O

OMB Circular A-11, Section 280 - A section of the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-11 that provides guidelines for federal agencies on how to manage and report on their information technology (IT) investments.

Omnichannel - In customer care, the ability of customers to seamlessly move across channels within the same interaction.

Omnichannel Call Center - An omnichannel call center is a customer-service operation that manages voice and digital interactions through connected channels with shared customer context.

Omnichannel Customer Experience - Omnichannel customer experience is an approach to customer engagement in which voice, chat, messaging, email, social, and other channels operate as parts of one connected journey.

Omnichannel Customer Journey - The complete end-to-end set of customer interactions with an organization or brand, across all voice and digital channels. See also: customer experience journey.

Omnichannel Customer Service - The personalized, tailored service offered to a customer when an organization applies context and insight gained while seamlessly interacting with the customer across multiple channels of their choice.

Omnichannel Retail Solutions - The integration of multiple sales channels and touchpoints, such as in-store, digital, mobile, and call center, to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience across all touchpoints.

Omnichannel Routing - An interaction management system that allows an organization to proactively and productively route inbound, outbound, and blended contacts across multiple voice and digital channels using applications like ACD, IVR, and AI-enabled chatbots.

Operational / Inferred / Unsolicited Feedback - Types of customer input that businesses can leverage to develop a more holistic voice of the customer (VOC).

Outbound Call Center - A business operation for making outgoing calls to customers and prospects, including for sales, collections, surveys, research, fundraising, proactive customer notifications, and more.

Outbound IVR - An IVR technology used to by contact centers to send proactive, personalized outbound messages. Similar to how a predictive dialer distributes outgoing calls, outbound IVR can automatically distribute outgoing messages to contacts across a variety of digital channels.

Outsourcing Call Centers - The practice of using a third-party provider to handle inbound or outbound customer interactions on behalf of a business. Outsourcing can cover customer service, technical support, sales, collections, appointment scheduling and other contact center functions. Some organizations outsource only overflow or seasonal volume, while others use business process outsourcers as a core part of their global service model.

Outsourcing Customer Service - The practice of delegating customer support functions to an external service provider. This provider typically handles various aspects of customer service on behalf of the company, such as inquiries, complaints, technical issues, and more, enabling the company to focus on its core business activities while still providing high-quality customer support.

P

Patient Experience Solutions - A set of tools, strategies, and approaches aimed at improving the overall quality of healthcare delivery and the satisfaction of patients with their healthcare experience. These solutions can include, but are not limited to, patient engagement and communication technologies, patient satisfaction surveys, clinical quality improvement initiatives, patient-centered design, and staff training programs. The goal of patient experience solutions is to create a positive, seamless, and effective healthcare experience for patients, from their initial interaction with the healthcare system through to the conclusion of their care journey.

Performance Management - Performance management is a vital organizational process that helps monitor, evaluate, and enhance employee performance.

Performance Management System - A performance management system is a technology and process framework used to set expectations, monitor results, provide feedback, coach employees, and measure progress toward business goals.

Phoneme - A phoneme is a basic sound unit in a spoken language. In speech technology, phoneme-level information helps explain how a system distinguishes sounds that form different words.

Phrase - A set of one or more words assigned meaning within an application. In contact centers, phrases are often associated with directed dialog in IVR systems, in which a customer interaction is guided by a menu of narrowly defined phrase options a customer can select from through speech.

Port - A connection point that allows the transfer of information between two devices or between a computer and a server over a network.

Predictive Dialer - A predictive dialer is outbound calling software that automatically places multiple calls and predicts when agents will become available. The goal is to reduce agent idle time by connecting answered calls to available agents while minimizing unanswered calls and excessive wait after pickup.

Private Branch Exchange (PBX) - A private telephone system used by an organization to make and receive internal and external calls.

Prompt - A message that guides the customer to respond by indicating a selection, dialing a number, or speaking a phrase associated with a desired outcome.

Proxy Server - An external intermediary used to handle resource requests requiring heavy or intense processing from a server.

PSTN in a Contact Center - The public switched telephone network, or PSTN, is the traditional global telephone network used to connect voice calls between phone numbers.

Q

Qualitätsmanagement-Formular - Ein Qualitätsmanagement-Formular ist ein strukturierter Fragebogen, der zur Bewertung von Kundeninteraktionen verwendet wird.

Qualitätspläne - Ein Qualitätsplan ist ein Instrument zur systematischen Qualitätssicherung in Contact Centern.

Quality Evaluation - A quality management activity in which another individual, typically a supervisor or someone from the QM or QA team, scores an agent interaction based on key criteria defined in a quality form.

Quality Management - The systems, processes, and strategies an organization uses to manage and improve quality. In contact centers, quality management is often associated with workforce management.

Quality Management Calibration - A quality management activity that helps ensure all evaluators are on the same page as to how they are evaluating interactions.

Quality Management Dispute - A quality management process that allows agents to dispute or contest a score they have received on a quality evaluation and explain why they disagree.

R

Real-Time Adherence Software - Real-time adherence, or RTA, is a workforce management capability that monitors whether agents are following their scheduled activities as the day unfolds.

Response Rate - The proportion of survey invitations that resulted in a completed survey.

Retail Customer Experience (Retail CX) - Retail customer experience, or retail CX, is the overall experience customers have across shopping, buying, fulfillment, returns and support.

Return on Investment (ROI) - A financial ratio that measures the profitability of an actual or proposed investment.

RPA Solutions - Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions are revolutionizing business operations by automating repetitive tasks and enhancing workflow efficiency.

S

Sales Performance Management - Sales Performance Management (SPM) is a strategic approach that organizations use to optimize the performance of their sales teams.

Schedule Adherence - Schedule adherence is a workforce management metric that measures how closely an employee follows the assigned schedule.

Screen Pop - A customer information screen that automatically “pops” onto an agent’s dashboard at the same time an interaction is initiated with that customer. It can deliver additional customer context enabled when an organization’s business systems, like its CRM database, are integrated with its contact center platform.

Screen Recording - The act of capturing activity on an agent’s computer screen while they are handling an interaction for quality and coaching purposes.

Self-Service Customer Experience - Self-service customer experience is the experience customers have when they use digital or automated tools to resolve a need independently.

Self-Service Rate - A metric that describes how often customers resolve their own issues or complete their own transaction instead of speaking to a live agent.

Sentiment Analysis - AI-enabled analysis deriving information from speech and text communications across voice and digital channels, indicating the nature of an interaction or the sentiment behind the interaction.

Server - A computer or program that manages access to a centralized resource or network service.

Shrinkage - A workforce management metric that refers to time in which agents are being paid, but are not available to handle interactions.

SMB Contact Center Software - SMB contact center software is customer-service technology designed for small and midsize businesses that need professional routing, agent tools and reporting without the complexity of a large legacy contact center environment. Modern cloud platforms can add digital channels, workforce tools and AI as the operation grows.

SME - An acronym for small-to-midsize enterprises.

Softphone - Ein Softphone ist eine Software-Anwendung, die es Benutzern ermöglicht, über das Internet zu telefonieren, anstatt ein physisches Telefon zu verwenden.

Software as a Service (SaaS) - Software as a Service (SaaS) ist ein Software-Vertriebsmodell, bei dem ein Anbieter die Software in der Cloud hostet und sie den Kunden über das Internet zur Verfügung stellt.

Sprachanalyse - Auch Interaktionsanalyse genannt, bezieht sich dieser Begriff auf Technologie, die künstliche Intelligenz nutzt, um menschliche Sprache zu verstehen, zu verarbeiten und zu analysieren.

Stimme des Kunden (VOC) - Ein Prozess der Erfassung, Analyse und Umsetzung von Kundenfeedback über die gesamte umfassende Customer Journey, wobei eine ganzheitliche VOC-Anwendung verwendet wird, um die Kundenzufriedenheit zu verbessern, Effizienz zu steigern und die Mitarbeiterbindung zu steigern.

Supervisor - Ein Contact Center Supervisor ist für die Leitung und Unterstützung eines Teams von Kundendienstmitarbeitern verantwortlich.

Switch - A device within a telephone exchange that connects calls from recipient to destination, and controls voice and data traffic across the exchange.

System Administrator - An IT role overseeing installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting of software or hardware across a network.

T

T1 - A T1 line is a point-to-point, high capacity phone/data communications transmission service that connects a business customer with a telecom or internet service provider. T1 is quickly being replaced by more modern DSL and cable connections.

Talk Time - The amount of time a contact spent interacting with an agent between the initial greeting and conclusion of a conversation. It includes anything that happens during a call, including hold time and conference time. It can also include inbound time and outbound time.

Task Buttons - A graphical user interface (GUI) element that allows users to issue commands.

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) - TCP establishes network data exchange standards across programs and works with IP, which defines how computers transmit data packets.

Terminplanung - In der Optimierung der Contact-Center-Belegschaft und dem Personalmanagement bezieht sich dies auf die fortlaufende Planung der Arbeitszeiten, Aktivitäten und erforderlicher Personalschwankungen der Mitarbeiter. Siehe auch: Wettervorhersagen.

Text- und Sprachanalyse - Technische Werkzeuge, die künstliche Intelligenz wie die Verarbeitung natürlicher Sprache nutzen, um menschliche Sprache zu verstehen und diese Fähigkeit zu nutzen, um Muster zu erkennen, wie zum Beispiel hohe Vorkommen von Schlüsselwörtern und Phrasen.

Touchpoint - In relation to customer experience, this term refers to any instance when a business makes an impression on a customer or prospect.

Transform Customer Experience - To transform customer experience is to redesign how an organization understands, serves and supports customers across the full journey.

Travel Customer Experience - The sum of interactions, touchpoints, and emotions that travelers go through when engaging with various aspects of a travel journey. This encompasses everything from researching and booking travel arrangements to actual travel experiences, such as flights, accommodations, activities, and interactions with travel service providers. Travel customer experience management aims to provide a seamless and enjoyable journey for travelers, fostering positive perceptions and encouraging loyalty.

Trunk - Also called a telephone line, exchange line or circuit, this term refers to a link between two phone switching systems.

TTS (Text-to-Speech) - A voice processing system that converts text to spoken words using speech synthesis.

U

UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) - A cloud-based solution that consolidates all of a business’s communication needs into one solution and is hosted by a single vendor in the cloud.

UCaaS Integrations - UCaaS Integrations refer to the seamless integration of Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solutions with other business systems and applications.

Unified Communications Cloud - A Unified Communications Cloud is a comprehensive solution that integrates various communication tools into a single, cloud-based platform, enabling employees to use all their communication tools from anywhere, at any time, and on any device.

Upselling - Upselling ist eine Verkaufsstrategie, bei der Kunden ermutigt werden, ein höherwertiges oder teureres Produkt zu kaufen als ursprünglich beabsichtigt.

V

Virtual Agent for Customer Service - A virtual agent for customer service is an AI-powered digital service representative that communicates with customers through natural language. It can provide information, understand intent, collect data, access approved systems and automate routine service workflows across channels such as web chat, messaging or voice.

Virtual Call Center - A virtual call center is a contact center that supports agents working from multiple locations rather than requiring everyone to operate from one physical facility.

Virtual Contact Center - A single, virtual contact center operation made up of multiple, geographically dispersed agents working in smaller remote facilities or directly from home.

Virtual Currency - Virtual coins or digital tokens specific to a gamification strategy. They are used to reward players and create an in-game economy.

Virtual Marketplace - An important element of gamification, it enables employees to redeem earned prizes and rewards that an organization chooses to make available to them.

Voice Authentication - A method of verifying a caller’s identity using measurable characteristics of their voice. In a contact center, it can reduce repetitive knowledge-based questions and help streamline authentication while supporting a broader fraud and identity-management strategy.

Voice Platform - A platform that facilitates the development of voice applications and their integration with telephony systems used by call centers and contact centers.

Voice Response Unit (VRU) - A voice response unit, or VRU, is a system that interacts with callers through automated voice prompts and accepts responses through keypad input or speech.

Voice User Interface - An interface allowing users to interact with a voice application through spoken commands and phrases. It is part of the foundation on which today’s sophisticated, AI-enabled voice and speech recognition technology is built.

Voiceprint - The unique biometric identifiers of a human voice indicated on a sound spectrogram, forming the basis for voice authentication technology.

W

Wallboards - Wallboards sind große Anzeigetafeln, die Echtzeit-Leistungsdaten in Contact Centern visualisieren.

Was ist Business-to-Customer (B2C)? - CXone Mpower revolutionizes how organizations automate customer service from start to finish—with channels, data, end-to-end workflows, and enterprise knowledge converging to improve customer experience at scale.

Was ist ein Contact Center Agent?

Workflow - Ein Workflow ist eine definierte Abfolge von Schritten oder Aufgaben in einem Geschäftsprozess.

Workflow Management - The process of managing the series of steps and stages in a task, often involving multiple people, departments, specifications, internal and external systems, and approaches. WFM tools enable and track efficient and consistent execution of business processes and automated tasks.

Workforce Analytics for Contact Centers - Workforce analytics for contact centers is the analysis of staffing, schedule, performance, quality and customer-interaction data to improve workforce decisions.

Workforce Engagement Management (WEM) - An approach to workforce management intended to increase employee engagement across activities throughout the employment life cycle, such as hiring, onboarding, training, scheduling, professional development, motivational initiatives, and more.

Workforce Management (WFM) - The management, monitoring, and training of contact center employees. This includes scheduling, forecasting, and workforce optimization.

Workforce Optimization - Workforce optimization is a strategic approach designed to help organizations streamline their operations by effectively managing their workforce.

Workforce Planning - The process of forecasting staffing needs based on anticipated volume or other business drivers, then ensuring everything is in place to hire, train, schedule, and manage the required team. See Contact Center Workforce Management (WFM).

Workforce Schedule - A workforce schedule is an essential tool for businesses to efficiently manage and allocate their human resources.

Workload Management - Real-time monitoring, reporting, and distribution of contact center workload resulting from inbound and outbound communication volume.