Glossary: A - C
ACD Automatic Call Distribution
This is a function of a telephone system that distributes incoming calls according to the dialled number and the rules defined in the assigned database. Features: call hold, various agent groups, and administration data.
ASP Application Service Provider
A service provider that offers an application or a service over a public or private network and that is responsible for all operative and administrative tasks for maintaining the offer. In many cases ASP solutions allow users to receive services that before needed expensive software or infrastructures.
Audiotex
Computer based, automated telephone services that are connected to the telephone network and that record and play back speech. These include both passive answering and interactive services (e.g. reservation services or prizewinning competitions). Interactivity can be obtained e.g. with DTMF signals or speech recognition.
Auto Attendant
This is part of an IVR system (Interactive Voice Response) that replaces the telephone agent and forwards callers to the relevant DDI or speech mailbox (automated call centre).
BPO Business Process Outsourcing
This is a special form of outsourcing applied to entire business processes. This has a low operative drain on the outsourcing company that can then concentrate on its core business. BPO service providers on the other hand can save costs following the standardisation of processes.
Caller qualification
A preselection process filters calls automatically according to certain criteria (e.g. request, language, charge rate, hold time) that can then pass through automated processes or be forwarded e.g. to a telephone agent.
Call Center
These are companies or divisions of companies that establish contacts on the market by telephone. These contacts can take the form of active calls made by the call centre (outbound) and passive calls made to the call centre (inbound). When other communication channels (like e.g. email or letters) are included we speak mostly of a customer care or customer support centre.
Call-In
This designates an option provided by a radio station that allows users to call in. This may involve an (advisory) talk between the listener/viewer and the show host or participation in a quiz / prizewinning competition when the caller has to say the solution by telephone.
Carrier
On the telecommunications sector this term is understood to mean the telephone companies, but other common uses are for network or telecommunication service providers. In most cases these companies specialise in either landline or mobile telephony and provide data transmission services or connections to the internet in addition to speech services. Owing to the convergence of access networks there are a growing number of internet service providers, cable companies, and VoIP providers now offering these services.
Carrier Management
Also known as provider management this is the organisation, inspection, and regulation of the relations between service providers for telecommunication infrastructures and services on the one side and the companies receiving these services on the other. Besides measuring and inspecting the quality and provision of services carrier management is also responsible as a rule for negotiating prices.
CRM Customer Relationship Management
This is the documentation, administration, and fostering of customer relations as part of relationship marketing. Besides implementing standardised communication processes CRM also deals with the statistical capture, analysis, and optimisation of the existing CRM processes.
CTI Computer Telephony Integration
This is the integration of telephone functions and telephony features in computer applications. With the aid of CTI, telephone calls can be initiated from a computer program or the caller ID is used to retrieve the matching customer record from the customer database that is then transferred to the handling agent's screen.