BASIC CONCEPTS IN TELEMARKETING

Call centre – centre for processing of inbound and outbound calls

 

Agent – operator, worker processing inbound and outbound calls
Passive telemarketing – processing of inbound calls
Active telemarketing – processing of outbound calls
Colour lines – lines for clients that are free of charge (in case of green line) or charged by a different tariff (white line, blue line and others)
ACD – Automatic Call Distribution - enables efficient processing of inbound calls, prevention of queues etc.
B2B databases – Business to business databases
B2C databases – Business to consumer databases
Service level – determines the percentage ratio of inbound calls during given period of time
365/24, eventually 24/7 – means the operation of call centre is 365 days a year, 24 hours a day
Mute button – interruption of the audio connection for a certain period of time when the client does not hear the operator (it serves for example for verification of information)
Time after call – period of time necessary for processing the agenda of the previous call before accepting / dialling the next telephone call.
Success rate – expresses the ratio between orders and another monitored factor (e.g. the number of connected calls, dialled numbers, received calls, etc.)
Response time – time necessary for answering customer’s enquiry (e.g. by e-mail, fax...)
Skill-based routing – routing of inbound calls on the basis of knowledge of operators, etc.
IVR – opening report, distribution scheme…
Auto Dialler – automatic dialling when the system dials the telephone number of the next client
CTI – interconnection of communication and computing technology. It enables faster managing of calls and in case of a client calling from a certain number opening his card on operator’s monitor.
GSM gate – mobile interface for distribution of outbound calls
Black list – usually used for blocking numbers of clients who use the line to annoy operators or misuse it in other ways
White list – list of telephone numbers that should be processed preferentially
Public source – data collected for example from a telephone directory, Internet, register of companies etc.
Sensitive data – confidential information about the client governed by respective legislation. This does not include the home address of a client
Generated number – number randomly chosen by a computer on the basis of entered three digits (other numbers are assigned at random)
Mischievous call – misused call, usually on a toll-free line