Customer Experience 
Businesses can live or die by their phone systems. That may sound hyperbolic, but a good business phone system can ensure customers receive the help they need, help contact center agents and sales reps work at maximum efficiency, and keep business operations running smoothly. The impact a phone system has on productivity can’t be overstated.
That’s why an automated telephone system (ATS) is essential. Automated phone systems streamline inbound and outbound calls and provide businesses with important call management features, enabling efficient communications and productivity.
So, what is an automated telephone system, and what features should you look for? Let’s explore.
What Is an Automatic Telephone System?
To begin, we need to understand exactly what an automated telephone system is and how it works.
Put simply, an ATS is designed to automate various phone functions, such as routing incoming calls and accessing basic information, thus improving workflows and automatically carrying out simple tasks. An ATS can be used for both general business needs and call centers, as it provides important call center functionality.
Interactive voice response (IVR) systems are at the core of any automated calling system. This is what enables the phone system to interact with callers, using pre-recorded messages and menus to guide customers to the information and assistance they need.
However, automated telephone system solutions go beyond basic voice menus. They’re powered by a wide array of technologies designed to improve efficiency for agents and callers alike.
Automated Phone System Features for Businesses
What are the key features that make an ATS? These are the most important tools and functions that can help businesses and call center agents:
Automated call routing
One of the most essential features of an automated telephone system is the ability to direct callers to the appropriate department or agent. This is done through voice menus, ranging from the classic “For billing, press 1…” DTMF/touch tone menus to more advanced speech recognition tools.
Automated call routing helps ensure callers can quickly reach whoever they need to speak to without jumping through hoops or being sent back and forth between departments, making it a core component of any ATS.
Self-service options
While an ATS can help callers reach agents and reps more efficiently, they can also assist customers without even needing a human agent.
Today’s automated telephone systems provide self-service options, which allow callers to access information, make payments, and carry out basic tasks. This saves the customer time by assisting them immediately and at any time, even when the business is closed.
Call queuing
Nobody likes waiting on hold, but phone systems can still be used to make the wait a less painful experience. Call queuing provides a virtual waitlist for callers, including options for estimated wait times and hold music.
One of the most helpful options for a call queue is the callback feature, which allows callers to leave their phone number and get a notification when someone is available to assist them. That way, callers can go about the rest of their day without needing to stay on the phone for an extended period or lose their position in the queue.
Voicemail management
Voicemail is such a ubiquitous part of any telephony system that we take it for granted, but proper voicemail management can have a significant impact on efficiency.
Voicemail management features enable callers to leave voice messages for specific individuals or departments. This ensures their messages reach the right parties seamlessly and provide all the information they need to get a callback as quickly as possible.
Today’s voicemail systems include advanced features like visual voicemail transcriptions that instantly capture key details for agents.
After-hours routing
What happens when someone calls into your business out of hours? After-hours routing can assist by automatically directing calls to an answering service, voicemail, or even another line in a different time zone.
Organizations can set their own after-hours routing rules based on their policy and needs. This ensures that even when your call center is closed for the night, calls will still be directed to the right party whether through voicemail or another agent.
Call analytics
Call analytics are essential for any business. They can track metrics such as call volume, call duration, and even IVR menu usage, empowering you with insights into your business operations.
These metrics help you identify areas for improvement, find training opportunities for agents, and discover any trends or potential issues to watch out for. Without analytics, call center managers are flying blind, so the value of the insights a good call analytics feature can provide should never be overlooked.
Benefits of Automated Telephone Systems
Now that we understand what an ATS is, we need to look at its benefits. How can an ATS improve business processes, agent efficiency, and employee satisfaction?
Improved efficiency
The first (and arguably most important) benefit of an automated telephone system is efficiency improvement. Automating routine tasks saves contact centers time on every call in several ways.
First, automation can help customers get help quickly, as they can use self-service options to get help instantly or have their call routed to the right agent or department.
For contact centers, this also frees up agents to deal with more complex customer inquiries and helps them instantly handle repetitive tasks like logging calls and taking notes, freeing up time from every call.
All these improvements add up to a significant boost in efficiency across your contact center environment.
Reduced costs
It’s important to have a fully staffed team, but overstaffing can result in unnecessary expenses. Automated telephone systems can help strike a balance.
Adding self-service options helps lower your overall call volume, keeping staffing needs at a reasonable level. At the same time, predictive call analytics can identify your peak call hours and find any trends that will impact call volume so you can adjust your staffing to make sure the right number of people are available.
24/7 availability
Automating your telephone system means customers can receive support 24/7, even when no agents are available. Self-service options and after-hours routing help ensure that customers will be able to receive basic services or information, even outside of business hours or time zone limitations, thus improving customer support and satisfaction.
Enhanced customer service
All these improvements lead to one important result: an empowered support team capable of providing superior customer service.
Customers can receive quicker responses for basic inquiries and more easily reach the department or agent they need, in addition to the improved self-service options at their disposal. Agents can also dedicate more time to helping callers, as all their manual, repetitive tasks are automated.
Contact center supervisors can also use robust call analytics to get better insights into their agents and contact center efficiency, identifying pain points to address or opportunities to focus on. This helps improve customer service all around, both on the customer and business ends of the call.
Increased customer satisfaction
As efficiency and customer service improve, so does customer satisfaction. Reducing wait times and giving customers easier access to information and self-service options can go a long way to improving satisfaction, but improving agent efficiency and accessibility can also significantly increase it.
No one likes waiting for hours in a call queue or being constantly forwarded from one agent to the next, so an efficient call center leads to happy customers.
Other Use Cases for an Automated Phone System
The uses for automated telephone systems don’t end there, as there are several other ways they can be used to improve efficiency and customer support. Other ATS use cases include:
Appointment scheduling
Customers can automatically schedule appointments as part of the ATS’ self-service features. This is useful for a range of services, including health care, repairs, professional services, and so forth. The phone system can also automatically send out appointment confirmations and reminders.
Order tracking
Order tracking is another important self-service feature. Customers curious about their orders can call in and quickly receive status updates and tracking information without needing to speak to an agent.
Bill payment
An automated phone system can also enable customers to securely make payments through the phone system. This is another useful self-service option, allowing customers to enter their payment information and quickly process their purchases or invoices, even outside of working hours.
Market research
Surveying customers and collecting feedback is an important part of any business, and automated telephone systems can help with that as well. An ATS can use automated prompts to conduct surveys and gather feedback, either immediately after a call or later at the customer’s convenience.
Choosing an Automated Telephone System
Now that the uses and benefits of an automated telephone system are clear, you might be wondering how to find the best ATS for your business. When looking for an automated telephone system, there are several key factors to take into consideration.
First, consider your call volume and the complexity of your calls — how many of your calls can be resolved via self-service, and how many calls are your agents already handling daily?
Then you’ll want to identify the features and functionalities that will help your call center teams thrive. This will help you narrow down your choices to systems that offer the tools you need, whether it’s robust analytics or customizable after-hours call routing rules.
However, prices and ease of use will vary greatly between systems. You’ll need to evaluate your budget to see what price range you can afford as well as analyzing your organization’s technical expertise to find the right level of complexity. Many vendors can assist with setup, onboarding, and support, but you’ll still want a system that’s user-friendly and intuitive.
Finally, consider how your business is growing. You’ll want a system that can grow with you and scale to support your team as it expands, as this will ensure you can always keep up with your staffing needs without paying for seats and lines you’re not using.
Transform Business Communications with Nextiva
If you’re ready to start looking for an automated phone system, there’s no better choice than Nextiva. We offer a comprehensive cloud-based VoIP business phone system that’s affordable, scalable, secure, and reliable.
Plus, Nextiva provides a wide array of features, including:
- AI-powered auto attendant
- Built-in auto-dialer
- Real-time AI-powered transcriptions and call summaries
- Native workforce optimization
- Automated outbound campaigns
- Skills-based routing
- Unified reporting
It’s no wonder enterprises, small businesses, and call centers of all shapes and sizes choose Nextiva for their communications. When you’re ready to improve your call center’s efficiency, boost customer satisfaction, and support your customers at any time, then it’s time to try Nextiva.
Impress your customers every day.
With all conversations in one platform, Nextiva helps you deliver the best customer experience at scale.
Automated Telephone Systems FAQs
Automated telephone systems revolutionize call center operations. They employ IVR menus to identify caller needs and direct them to appropriate agents. This process improves response times and allows agents to focus on complex issues.
An ATS offers notable features such as:
Booking appointments: Customers can book, confirm, and receive appointment reminders independently. This capability benefits health care providers and service-oriented businesses.
Order updates: Customers can get real-time status updates on orders using their automatic number identification without speaking to a representative.
Self-service options: For common requests, these virtual phone services can offer conversational dialogue and troubleshooting for common workflows. And if callers need more help, they can reach a live agent.
Many small businesses use automatic phone solutions like Nextiva for round-the-clock information like addresses, hours of operation, weather closures, and special offers. This service ensures continuous customer communication and improves overall satisfaction.
If you need total coverage, you can configure your phone system to direct incoming calls to a 24/7 phone answering service on your behalf so you never miss calls.
No, automated phone systems are primarily designed to manage incoming phone calls and direct them to the appropriate person or department. Companies also use specialized inbound call center software to manage a high volume of calls.
Auto-dialers are popular for call centers and designed for outbound dialing. Learn more from these detailed guides:
What is an auto dialer?
Auto dialers vs. predictive dialers
What is an outbound dialer?
