Getting your wires crossed

An attempted cable theft left telephone customers in Finchampstead at cross purposes in more ways than one recently. Not only did the theft leave around 250 properties without telephone or broadband for up to four days, when BT reconnected the cables they managed to cross the wires, leaving a variety of businesses and homes receiving each other’s calls.

As business customers counted the cost of their time without telephone contact, examples cited included loss of orders, the need to purchase 3G temporary replacement services and loss of answer phone and caller display on redirected lines. However, it is the crossed lines on reconnection which seem to have caused most problems.

Of course, it is not just crossed wires which cause problems when trying to contact a business. How many times do you telephone a business and by the time you have been passed from one person to another and on to another you are starting to loose patience. What started out as a mild question has now escalated into an angry complaint and that company is on the verge of loosing your business. There are a few simple steps which you can take to avoid the same happening in your organisation.

Firstly, never underestimate the importance of a good induction and regular staff briefings. Whilst your employees don’t need to know other’s jobs in depth, a basic understanding of who does what can greatly simplify the calltransfer process. This understanding can be backed up by a simple on-line list of names, duties and contacts.

Secondly, whilst many people are unhappy about being passed through “press 1 for x” exchanges, the use of intelligent switchboards will cut down on misrouted calls. The important thing to remember is that a virtual switchboard is only as good as it is programmed to be. For this reason it is important to think carefully about callresponse groups, call forwarding and call transfer. Whilst the more complex virtual switchboards can recognise caller numbers or key words and transfer calls appropriately, even the simplest virtual switchboard can help to direct calls to the correct recipient. Building this into your business continuity plan means that your virtual switchboard will be able to redirect calls, even in the event of a cable theft and lost line.

Finally, make sure that your employees understand telephone etiquette. Set a company policy for the speed of return calls and promised actions. Clients don’t like being left in the dark so a call advising that the problem is still being investigated is better than no call at all. Then even if you do lose your main line, sticking to company call return policy and with the virtual switchboard having redirected calls you shouldn’t finish up losing business.