Call parking offers an opportunity to improve an organization’s customer experience through hold features. It allows an agent to collect new information, go through devices or even transfer the call to another agent with more expertise. The feature works by creating a virtual extension where the caller is engaged through music or recorded messages.
This article discusses how it works, the types, benefits, and practices best adopted when parking a call.
What is Call Parking?
Call parking is a feature present in a business phone system that allows users to place an active call on hold in a virtual space. It could be a cloud or a server hosted internally. They can be reconnected when it is transferred to another agent, or device or after obtaining all the necessary information required to complete the conversation.
The features of call parking offer versatility and flexibility that can assist an organization in improving its customer experiences after every inbound call.
How Does Call Parking Work?
Call parking is not highly sophisticated or a revolutionary feature, yet still has advantages for an organization. It works by allowing users to switch from one device to another while on a call or even park a call temporarily while waiting for another agent.
The goal is to offer a better customer experience that improves your bottom line. Research has found that 86% of customers have listed great customer service as a reason for making purchasing decisions.
When a call is parked, the call is basically transferred to an extension that is not currently active. This inactive extension can either play recorded voice messages or on-hold music while the caller waits. However, an agent can retrieve the call by dialing the parked extension and the call would be reconnected to continue the conversation.
Types of Call Parking
There are varying types of call parking that are dependent on the providers and their functionality. Here are descriptions of the types of call parking available:
- Simple call parking: Parking an ongoing call in a virtual parking spot while waiting for the call to be retrieved.
- Advanced call parking: There is music playing in place of the call or even a previously recorded message that is aimed to keep the caller engaged. This is done while still parking the call in a virtual spot.
- Private location call parking: Calls that are identified as sensitive can be parked in a private parking location. Here, only those permitted or given access can see and retrieve the calls.
Benefits of Call Parking
Call parking is beneficial to an organization or business on different levels. In this section are some of the benefits that come with using a phone system that is call parking enabled:
Flexibility
Once a call is parked, it can be picked from anywhere in the business which helps save time. For large buildings, it saves the agents the need to travel from one end of the office to another just to switch receivers.
VOIP Service Enabled
Any phone that is connected to a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service can have access to a parked call. There is a code that can be imputed by any user and then used to continue the call from anywhere as well.
Non-Obstructive Feature
When a call is held ordinarily, it would tie up the line and prevent other calls from coming in. However, the call parking allows you to receive or make other calls while a call is being parked. This ensures that all callers are attended to and no one is left thinking your organization is unavailable.
Return-Call Feature
When a call is held and left, the call parking allows it to return to the extension that parked the call. So, when the agent the call is being transferred to is not available to pick up the call, the original receiver gets the call to ensure the caller is not neglected.
The call is expected to remain on hold for approximately five minutes and after then, it would begin ringing the extensions involved.
Allows Promotional Content
While a call is pending or parked, the agent can choose to play on-hold music or a recorded voice message for the caller. These messages can be used to provide the caller information about other offers at the organization and up to date on your services. So, instead of regular ambient noise, it can be used to cut the cost of placing promotional messages elsewhere.
What’s the Difference Between Call Parking and Holding a Call?
Both the call parking and hold features are similar as they are used to pause an ongoing call for any reason. However, they are different as the call parking allows any other agent connected to the phone system to continue the call. When a call is placed on hold, the call can only be picked up by the same person that was initially attending to the caller.
Call Parking Best Practices
To optimize the features and benefits of call parking, some practices need to be adopted. Here are some of the practices for when opting for call parking:
When to Use Call Parking?
There are instances where it is necessary to use the call parking feature and here are some of those instances:
- When there is a need to go between different devices.
- In case there is a need to obtain more information before the call is continued.
- If you need time to gather yourself before returning to a call.
- When you are not readily available and intend to give the call to another genet as an opportunity to answer the call.
- If the set agent’s extension is occupied and you want to provide them time to conclude an already active call.
When Not to Use Call Parking?
Call parking is also not suitable for every situation or call. Here are some of the times you shouldn’t park a call:
- If you intend on continuing the call and want to ensure that no other genet gets to pick up the call.
- When you don’t want the call to be picked up by an unqualified agent or department in your organization because your provider doesn’t have the permission-based settings.
- If there are already so many calls parked at the same time and not getting answered.
How Long Should a Call Stay Parked?
Once a call has been parked, it should stay for just five minutes and then should be reconnected. After five minutes, the parked call would start a new ring by forwarding to another extension. Sometimes, it could automatically connect to the original phone till someone attends to the phone call.
However, check your provider to make sure it has adjustable parking rules that can be set to your preferences. Some can stay parked for less than five minutes or even longer, depending on your chosen parking time.
In Summary
Call parking provides your business an opportunity to stay prepared when answering an already connected call. The process is easy and the benefits show how reliable they can be in improving the experience of your callers.
So, thinking of trying out the feature? You can engage some of the phone system providers that have this feature. They could be a cloud phone system like ULATEL or whichever fits your business.
