Hanging Up on Call Centre Abuse with ChorusCX’ Call Handling Solutions

choruscx on August 16, 2023


For many call centre and customer support workers, verbal abuse and threats are a regular occurrence.

According to the Institute of Customer Service, 60% of call handlers have experienced hostility over the phone. Nearly half of those who faced abuse said callers were becoming more aggressive because of staff shortages…

With the current recruitment crisis and backlogged services, call queues are becoming even longer and patience is wearing thin — and customer support workers bear the brunt of these frustrations.

Harassment has become a growing concern for call centres and customer support desks, and this issue is particularly prevalent for female staff.

In fact, 39% of call handlers say sexual harassment from callers is a big issue. But it isn’t part of the job — and shouldn’t be tolerated. So, how can employers protect their teams?

Rerouting caller harassment

Some companies are acknowledging ongoing abuse and stepping in with new terms for their staff.

Lloyds Bank, for example, issues warnings to aggressive customers; if those warnings are ignored, the call is ended and a recorded message lets customers know their accounts could be closed.

But what more can be done in the stages leading up to harassment over the phone?

Record calls

Alerting customers that calls are recorded for monitoring can immediately deter them from abusive behaviour.

Recording calls also enables managers to find out exactly what was said and find an appropriate solution to issues that have taken place with their agents and customers. It’s also handy for training purposes and improving call-handling practices if necessary.

Play a pre-recorded message

There’s no excuse for threats and harassment — but having a pre-recorded message that keeps customers in the loop when staff are inundated with calls can minimise aggressive behaviour.

Adding a simple message explaining that staff are working as hard as they can to help customers may help to reduce frustration — or give callers the option to ring back another time.

Enhance self-service options 

Self-serve is an emerging contact centre trend that can be incredibly helpful in managing seasonal customer service demand. Essentially, it’s about allowing customers to answer their own questions.

By enhancing the frequently asked questions, resource library and user-friendliness of a business’ website, customers can easily find the answers to their questions online, and they’ll be less likely to call.

Self-serve options can help reduce call volume and free agents to field more critical calls, increasing service levels and avoiding frustrations over long hold times.

Use call analytics to spot busy times and issues

Call analytics is an excellent tool for improving customer service and relieving the pressures of call centre staff.

Using this tool to spot key issues, including busy periods and recurring customer issues, helps employers determine working schedules and ensure enough staff work during peak times.

Taking these proactive measures is a step in the right direction. But what more can be done to protect employees from aggressive spam calls — or even stop them in their tracks?

We have a solution.

Calling for backup

 

ChorusCX is passionate about improving call security nationwide — and has created several tools to bolster the safety and quality of call centre operations…

Built into our best-selling Number Manager platform, ChorusCX Call Shield identifies fraudulent or spam calls based on their location, call source, number presentation and the volume of concurrent calls.

We can extract and analyse the metadata of every single phone call, profiling it and establishing whether it has all the typical characteristics of a spam call — before employees have time to pick up the phone.

Think aggressive callers can slip through the net? Think again.

Number Manager’s handy caller exceptions feature allows our customers to upload specific nuisance numbers in order to block or flag them — enabling you to define a workflow around handling spam calls and ensuring you have proper call security processes in place.

And it’s only getting better. ChorusCX is working on a savvy new feature that lets agents intercept malicious calls whilst they’re happening — barring the caller from getting in touch again (even if they hide their number) and protecting staff from malicious callers.

All in a day’s work…

ChorusCX is on a mission to protect our customers from abuse and harassment. Looking for an intelligent solution to keep aggressive callers at bay — and your staff safe? Contact us at 0161 444 3333 to learn more about ChorusCX Call Shield’s features.

Why (and How) You Should Choose a Managed Services Provider

choruscx on February 15, 2023


Do you find yourself regularly inundated with customer service calls without the resources to handle them properly? You’re not alone. Many companies lack the staff and technical expertise to manage ever-growing lists of requests efficiently, causing equal frustration for employees and customers. Sometimes, all your business requires is an extra pair of hands to help things along — particularly when it comes to managing business communications.   Enlisting the support of a managed services provider (MSP) could be just the professional telco solution you’ve been looking for. From improving productivity with white-labelled services to minimising expenses with hands-on maintenance, an MSP can help you stay flexible and competitive — especially in the current economic landscape.   So, what exactly is a managed services provider — and how can you find the right one for your business? 

Taking telco services to the next level

An MSP is an outsourced third party that assumes responsibility and control of the day-to-day operations of a business, assisting with 24/7 support to help companies cut the cost of providing these services themselves.  Managed telco services can include help desk and product support, technology consulting and remote local support, minimising downtime of business-critical services and freeing up resources for other functions. Sound too good to be true? We know — but we promise it’s not! Take a look at the (many) benefits of choosing to work with an MSP… 

Keeping up with demand 

These days, we expect things to work instantly. With automated customer service features like AI-powered chatbots, we’ve become accustomed to connecting with agents (or AI agents) whenever we want. And we expect a reply in minutes — if not seconds.  As demand for different products and services across all industries grows, the pressure is well and truly on for support desks everywhere — especially during busy periods like Christmas and the summer holidays.  So, it’s no wonder businesses rely on managed services providers to lighten the workload and relieve their staff of these pressures, providing seamless communications all year round.  

Cutting down on costs 

It’s no secret that there’s been a lot of uncertainty in the air as we experience the most significant cost-of-living hike in more than four decades and employees begin looking elsewhere. High staff turnover is expensive; training costs, recruitment fees and loss in output all add up. Not to mention budgets are getting lower as the demand for outstanding customer service is getting higher and higher.  Telcos can no longer ignore rising costs. But it’s not all doom and gloom… Without adding a single person to your payroll, MSPs can help fill any technical skills, knowledge or headcount gaps to ensure your business runs as smoothly as possible, with no added hiring costs. 

Focusing on your business 

Here’s one we know you’ll like: managed telco services make it easier to do your job.  You can trust an MSP to provide the knowledge and expertise necessary to boost customer satisfaction and increase sales whilst also focusing on your core business efforts and goals.  Already have in-house professionals? An experienced MSP can assist with day-to-day tasks and step into your team’s shoes when necessary to ensure every customer receives the service they deserve. 

Scaling to your needs

The price tag associated with hiring, training and maintaining staff is a big one, which is why communications teams are often left understaffed, overworked and unable to get everything done.  For businesses looking to survive — let alone excel — there’s no longevity in this structure.  Using a managed service provider can help you expand your offering without onboarding employees you won’t need later down the line — and you’ll never have to worry about your experts jumping ship! Plus, we all know the telco industry is fast-paced and constantly evolving. An MSP helps your business, whether it’s small or medium-sized, stay flexible to accommodate ongoing market changes. 

Considerations to keep in mind

When choosing your managed service provider, there are a few questions you need to ask… Does it offer a 24/7 telecom support service, so end-users are never left in the dark? Round-the-clock support allows you to extend your business’ opening hours and drive-up customer satisfaction effortlessly. Is a solid business continuity plan provided with its services? This contingency can help keep customer dissatisfaction at bay should a problem arise, giving your team confidence and security and reducing recovery timescales. Can it actively tackle potential caller fraud and identify the tell-tale signs of fraud? Safeguarding your businesses from number spoofing scams and other cyber attacks is more important than ever. Last year saw several large-scale data breaches affecting millions of users, and we don’t see fraudulent calls going away anytime soon. Boosting your business sometimes means all hands on deck — and with the support of a managed service provider that proactively proposes, implements and maintains the most effective solutions, your business is set to reap the rewards. With ChorusCX Pro Services, you can outsource dozens of telco functions to our friendly and experienced team — and benefit from 24/7 support. Call 0161 444 3333 to learn more or book a demo of our services today. 

ChorusCX and Cybersecurity: Protecting Our Network

choruscx on May 16, 2022


It’s no secret that cyber attacks have become a regular occurrence for businesses around the world.

With such swathes of existing data and more created each day, hackers are spoilt for choice when it comes to deciding who their next victim will be. And, now that a vast chunk of the world’s workforce is working remotely and relying on cloud-based systems, the risk of an attack or a breach is higher than ever.

In response, many organisations have developed sophisticated systems and software to protect their networks. But are they enough? What should we really be looking out for?

The perfect storm

In 2022, 39% of UK businesses have already identified a cyber attack on their company — the same figure as the whole of 2021. However, enhanced cyber security measures lead to increased identification of attacks, meaning organisations with less mature security infrastructure may be underreporting.

If a cyber attack is successful, it can result in a detrimental data breach. Cyber attacks often result in a substantial financial loss, and companies tend to incur significant costs repairing affected systems, devices and networks. However, there are also legal and reputational consequences of a cyber breach that are much more difficult to rectify.

In the modern age, cyber attacks are a common accompaniment to warfare, and they’re used not only to infiltrate government systems but also to disperse propaganda and spread fear. The devastating conflict between Russia and Ukraine has had a global impact, displacing millions of Ukrainians from their lives and causing rifts in industries worldwide. We’ve already seen a spike in cyber attacks due to the Ukrainian war. Whilst these have mostly taken place within Ukraine, there have been warnings of overspill into other countries.

As such, businesses everywhere are on high alert.

A social engineering enterprise

The increasing threat to every company in the digital age makes cybersecurity awareness more important than ever. Did you know that roughly 85% of all email traffic in the world is spam? Spam emails typically take two forms: marketing or malware. And whilst most spam filters catch and prevent these emails from reaching our inboxes, many of them still slip through the net.

So, although the risks of a business’ systems getting hacked in real-time by breaching security software and firewalls are still prevalent, the real danger usually comes from within. Did you know that 95% of cybersecurity breaches are a result of human error? And of these, 90% are usually totally avoidable — if you know how to avoid them.

Ensuring your staff are all alive to the signs of a cyber attack is one of the best forms of cybersecurity. No matter how many high-tech security systems or impenetrable firewalls you have in place, they won’t stop a colleague from falling victim to a convincing email or text containing catastrophic malware.

Accessing a business’ sensitive information can also happen over the phone. It’s not totally new, but phone fraudsters are tapping in to technology that lets them present a different number to the one they’re calling from, a technique known as ‘spoofing’. Often, these kinds of criminals take advantage of a company’s IVR menu, trying every series of digits possible to pass the next security level.

But it doesn’t stop there. Cyber criminals take advantage of social media accounts, as well as act as a business’ CEO to win the trust of employees. There are myriad avenues for hackers to take — all of which come down to individuals’ cybersecurity awareness.

Anyone can be a target

No business or individual is safe from a cyber attack. Even ChorusCX receives probing at all hours to our systems’ entry points as criminals and automated systems, from all over the world try to identify weaknesses. And as a downstream provider, we always feel the impact of cyber attacks on large-scale telephony outfits.

To ensure we never miss a trick, we run automated test calls into every end-point of our platforms that will identify if something isn’t right. If a test picks up on any inconsistencies, we’ll receive an SMS alert to say the testing has failed — allowing us to pinpoint the location of the failure and address it as a team.

Implementing geo-blockers as a preventative measure against cyber attacks is advisable, keeping users outside of our known client locations from ever being able to access our systems. However, whilst this kind of automated blocking can successfully safeguard systems against hackers, you always run the risk of blocking legitimate traffic. So, what more is ChorusCX doing to protect our network?

Risk management is everyone’s business

Basic cybersecurity really is everyone’s business. Many professionals think they’re too smart to be caught by an email containing malware. But often, hackers follow refined, sophisticated processes that often align in a series of coincidences to stage the perfect scam.

Of course, ChorusCX has several firewalls, multi-factor authentication and VPN measures active to prevent basic attacks on our internal systems and our customers’ data.

However, we run cybersecurity awareness training sessions to educate our staff on the telltale signs of a scam. Whether it takes place via email, text, phone call or social media, we’ve prepared our team to not only know what to look for but also how to minimise the initial risk and deal with the consequences if something goes wrong. Our cybersecurity training encompasses everything from how to choose a strong password to the benefits of cloud sharing. We believe that thorough and regular training is essential in this ever-evolving landscape of digitisation and cybersecurity.

And, whilst we’ve mentioned that there’s no single system that’ll safeguard your business, ChorusCX’ new Call Shield product provides the perfect blend of artificial intelligence (AI) with human intervention to prevent caller fraud. Call Shield uses AI to flag a call as potentially fraudulent or spam, allowing our customer to configure the settings and pass the call onto a team of real people to establish the best course of action.

Ultimately, it’s up to us to make sensible and informed decisions, and that all starts with our staff.

Want to know more about ChorusCX’ cybersecurity measures or are keen to learn about our new Call Shield solution? Get in touch today to book a demo, or simply give us a call at +44 (0)161 444 3333 if you have any questions.

A Deep Dive Into ChorusCX Call Shield

choruscx on January 31, 2022


The year ahead has a whole lot in store for ChorusCX as we prepare to launch several new products — along with our new website!

Back in December 2021, we spoke broadly about caller fraud and how fraudsters can gain and use individuals’ or business’ information illicitly.

We also briefly touched on the upcoming arrival of our brand-new caller fraud product, ChorusCX Call Shield: a one-of-a-kind firewall that detects fraudulent phone activity and prevents criminals from obtaining sensitive personal information or valuable business details. As the official launch date for this all-new solution is on the horizon, we’d like to share a bit more with you.

Whilst we’re not about to spill the beans on exactly how our new fraud solution works, we’re keen to offer more insight on the machine learning aspect of the product to enable our customers to understand how the cogs turn behind the scenes.

Unrivalled data analysis

Each call is made up of ‘metadata’, which are the call’s specific features. And every call’s metadata is unique, acting as its fingerprint or DNA.

ChorusCX’ Call Shield is able to extract and analyse the metadata of every single phone call, profiling it and establishing whether it has all the typical features of a fraudulent call or not. The features are then profiled to establish whether it meets the criteria for a suspicious call. So, what kind of metadata are so telling?

Location

Are we dealing with an international caller? Is the call coming from somewhere local or overseas? Or, is it being routed via a different country — pretending to be local?

Number presentation

We can see whether the number presented to the call recipient is coming from the same number. If not, the number is being ‘spoofed’, and it’s likely there’s something suspicious going on.

Fraudsters commonly use public telephone boxes to protect their identity when committing caller fraud. However, we’ve got a list of all the public phone-box numbers across the UK, meaning we can immediately spot this kind of unusual activity.

What’s more, did you know there’s an exhaustive list of non-allocated numbers that nobody’s allowed to use? If a call is received from one of these numbers, we’ve got cause to believe it’s not legitimate.

Call source

The metadata allows us to see if a call is coming from a mobile, landline or a virtual source (such as Microsoft Teams). The source presented is compared against the call’s true origin and, if they don’t align, there’s reason to suspect fraud.

Volume of calls

If a single phone number appears to be making simultaneous calls, we know something isn’t right. Without electronic intervention, a standard mobile number can’t have more than one call active at the same time.

Taking advantage of AI

Over the years, ChorusCX has processed millions of call minutes for our clients. So, we’ve incorporated artificial intelligence and machine learning into the Call Shield solution so that it draws on its knowledge of thousands of past calls to learn and build an algorithm that identifies patterns. Now, the product can immediately identify the features of a fraudulent call and ensure it gets flagged.

We also have an extensive database of known telephone numbers associated with fraud. Thanks to our exclusive partnerships with industry bodies, this database is one of the most comprehensive available and is updated in real-time to ensure we’re working off the most up-to-date information. ChorusCX Call Shield is linked to this database and will automatically alert you that the call is likely to be fraudulent.

If a call is detected to be fraudulent, we can route the call to an agent, flag it or drop it. We’ll work with you to define a workflow around handling fraudulent calls and ensure you have proper processes in place.

Pushing the boundaries 

We’re constantly feeding our fraud product with as much call information as possible, applying machine learning to billions of data points with the analysis happening in near real-time. The ChorusCX Call Shield understands the DNA of a non-fraudulent call and knows what constitutes suspicious caller behaviour, and it’s been trained to automatically compare the features of calls it knows to be normal against all inbound calls.

The machine learning aspect of ChorusCX Call Shield is second to none — particularly as we also incorporate our customers’ feedback in what’s known as ‘supervised learning’. If our customer has received an illicit call, we’ll feed that call’s data to the product so that it can learn based on the patterns it automatically identifies, as well as from real people. The ChorusCX fraud solution draws on multiple sources, making it an incredibly intelligent and powerful piece of software.

While several caller fraud firewall solutions are available elsewhere, none comes close to ChorusCX Call Shield.

Built into our best-selling Number Manager platform, the product can be switched on at the click of a button. The software’s ease of integration and set-up speed mean it’s cost-effective and simple to get it up and running.

Keep an eye out for the official launch of the all-new ChorusCX Call Shield solution. In the meantime, you can get in touch with us at sales@invosys.com or give us a call at +44 (0)161 444 3333 if you have any questions.