CXone Attendant - Connect callers to the right person— no receptionist required
- Introduction to Attendant Solutions
- What Are Attendant Solutions in Contact Centers?
- Why Attendant Solutions Matter
- Core Capabilities of Advanced Attendant Solutions
- Call Handling and Management
- Quality Management and Monitoring
- High-Impact Use Cases
- Attendant Solutions vs. Legacy IVRs
- Key Metrics to Measure Success
- Future Trends in Attendant Solutions
- Conclusion
Introduction to Attendant Solutions
Attendant solutions, such as the Attendant Console, are designed to provide a comprehensive and efficient way to manage incoming calls and improve customer satisfaction. These solutions are typically used in contact centers and are integrated with Microsoft Teams, Cisco Unified Communications Manager, and other business systems. The primary goal of attendant solutions is to route calls to the right person, reduce manual tasks, and provide a better customer experience. By using an attendant solution, businesses can save time, reduce costs, and improve their overall customer service.Attendant consoles streamline the process of handling calls by automating many of the tasks that would otherwise require manual intervention. This includes identifying the caller’s needs, routing the call to the appropriate department or individual, and providing relevant information to the agent before they even pick up the call. This not only speeds up the process but also ensures that the customer is connected to the right person who can address their needs effectively.Moreover, the integration with systems like Microsoft Teams and Cisco Unified Communications Manager allows for a seamless flow of information and communication within the organization. This integration ensures that all team members have access to the same information, which helps in providing consistent and accurate responses to customer inquiries. Ultimately, this leads to higher customer satisfaction and a more efficient contact center operation.What Are Attendant Solutions in Contact Centers?
Attendant solutions are automated systems—either voice or digital—that handle the initial interaction in a customer journey. Automated attendants serve as virtual receptionists, effectively managing inbound calls and routing them to the appropriate departments or agents. Their purpose is to:Greet customers
Understand their intent (via touch-tone, keywords, or natural language)
Authenticate identity (optionally)
Route them efficiently or offer self-service options
Voice-based IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems
Chatbots or digital virtual assistants
Visual IVRs (clickable phone trees for mobile users)
Front-end APIs in mobile apps
Conversational AI: Understands spoken or typed input to avoid rigid menus
Contextual routing: Uses customer history to personalize the journey
Speech analytics: Detects sentiment, urgency, or key phrases
Voice biometrics: Verifies the speaker’s identity passively
Why Attendant Solutions Matter
1. Faster Access to Support
By intelligently triaging inbound calls and chats, attendant systems reduce queue bottlenecks. Customers aren’t left waiting while agents manually screen and redirect them. This improves:Average speed to answer
First contact resolution (FCR)
Customer satisfaction (CSAT)
2. Improved Self-Service Capabilities
Attendant solutions can resolve simple tasks on their own, such as:Checking order status
Resetting passwords
Confirming appointments
Making payments
3. Reduced Operational Costs
Automating front-line interaction offloads thousands of routine calls and messages, leading to substantial cost savings on:FTE hours
Queue overflow
Escalation costs
4. Enhanced Personalization and Brand Consistency
Modern attendants can:Address customers by name
Tailor menus based on customer profile details
Speak in branded voice styles
Automatically adjust to language preferences
5. 24/7 Availability
Unlike live agents, attendant systems work around the clock. This ensures customers can always:Speak to someone (even if virtual)
Complete urgent tasks after hours
Receive consistent answers from multiple channels
Core Capabilities of Advanced Attendant Solutions
Call Handling and Management
Call handling and management are critical components of any contact center solution. Attendant consoles, such as the one offered by Imagicle, provide a range of features to manage incoming calls, including call routing, queuing, and recording. These features enable businesses to efficiently handle a high volume of calls, reduce wait times, and improve customer satisfaction.One of the key features of an attendant console is its ability to route calls intelligently. By using advanced algorithms and integration with CRM systems, the console can determine the best person or department to handle each call based on the caller’s history and current needs. This ensures that calls are directed to the right person quickly, reducing the time customers spend waiting on hold.Queuing is another important feature that helps manage high call volumes. Attendant consoles can place incoming calls in a queue and provide callers with estimated wait times and options for self-service or callback. This helps manage customer expectations and reduces frustration.Call recording is also a vital feature for quality assurance and training purposes. By recording calls, businesses can review interactions to ensure compliance with company policies and identify areas for improvement. This not only helps in maintaining high standards of customer service but also provides valuable insights for training and development.By using an attendant console, businesses can improve their call handling and management, reduce manual tasks, and provide a better customer experience. The integration with other business systems ensures a seamless and efficient process, ultimately leading to higher customer satisfaction and a more effective contact center operation.Quality Management and Monitoring
Quality management and monitoring are essential components of any contact center solution. Attendant consoles, such as the one offered by Competella, provide a range of features to monitor and manage call quality, including call recording, silent monitoring, and whisper coaching. These features enable businesses to identify areas for improvement, provide targeted training, and improve overall customer satisfaction.Call recording allows businesses to capture and review interactions between agents and customers. This is crucial for ensuring that agents adhere to company policies and provide accurate information. It also helps in identifying common issues and areas where agents may need additional training.Silent monitoring is another valuable feature that allows supervisors to listen in on live calls without the agent or customer being aware. This enables real-time quality assurance and provides an opportunity to intervene if necessary. Whisper coaching takes this a step further by allowing supervisors to provide guidance to agents during a call without the customer hearing. This is particularly useful for training new agents or handling complex situations.By integrating these quality management features with other business systems, such as quality management software, businesses can create a fully integrated and streamlined process. This ensures that all aspects of call quality are monitored and managed effectively, leading to continuous improvement and higher customer satisfaction.By using an attendant console, businesses can improve their quality management and monitoring, reduce manual tasks, and provide a better customer experience. The ability to identify areas for improvement and provide targeted training ensures that agents are well-equipped to handle customer inquiries, ultimately leading to a more efficient and effective contact center operation.High-Impact Use Cases
1. Insurance Claims
Customer calls to file a claim
Attendant collects policy number and nature of claim
Routes to appropriate claims agent or offers digital intake form, ensuring calls are directed to the correct departments for efficient processing
2. Financial Institutions
Attendant verifies caller via voiceprint
Presents context-aware menu (e.g., “Your card ending in 4321 was declined yesterday—would you like help?”)
Escalates to fraud desk or billing
Ensures seamless integration with the native client, such as Microsoft Teams, for managing call handling and accessing analytics
3. Healthcare
Patient calls to confirm an appointment
Attendant verifies identity and sends SMS confirmation link
Offers to reschedule or route to nurse line if needed
4. Retail
Customer says “Track my package”
Attendant retrieves order status, reads delivery ETA, integrates the information with the existing system, and logs interaction