CRM Integration with Phone Systems

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are vital to any business. Keeping track of customer information and managing that data is a critical business function. CRM systems must be accurate in real-time, flexible, and extensible. Phone systems are important extensions of any CRM system. The features and benefits of business phone systems when CRM integration can augment and improve the effectiveness of CRM integration in any organization.

VoIP CRM integration is the connectivity between your company’s VoIP phone system solution and CRM software. These two innovations combined to create a cohesive customer service experience. VoIP and CRM integration ensures that the information data between the two systems is synchronized to give your call center agents more information about your customers. 

With VoIP CRM integration, your call center customer service gets recorded in both systems ensuring that your call center agents don’t have to manually input data into your CRM system. With the knowledge from CRM integration, your call center customers will have a complete caller history allowing them to handle customers more intelligently and overall, provide better service in your call center via CRM integration. 

One example of a phone system and CRM integration is Interactive Voice Response (IVR). IVR uses voice and keypad options to direct incoming or outgoing phone calls. IVR capabilities have expanded with decreases in the cost of voice recognition software. For businesses considering an upgrade to their CRM system, advancements in CRM integration communication capabilities can make upgrades pay off in increased customer conversion and retention.

Phone and CRM integration can also increase communication through email, social media, and websites. For example, a customer can enter an inquiry by email, through social media, or on a website, and using a callback phone number, a representative can call and enter the customer’s full information in CRM. This CRM integration makes constant communication with the customer possible, without initiating duplicate requests to update their information.

Screen-pop capability via CRM integration increases productivity and helps improve customer service. When a customer calls, an IVR dialog captures the customer’s basic information, such as phone number or account number. Using a query to the CRM integration database, the customer service representative sees a screen with the customer’s account information displayed.

CRM integration has embraced distributed computing and adopted the “cloud” computing model. Instead of interacting through separate desktop, notebook, and mobile software systems, CRM maintains one database and connects through a single Web-based interface. This improves data currency and makes software maintenance and upgrades uniform.

Eliminating the synchronization process is another benefit of cloud computing. No longer are CRM users required to upload their changes or synchronize their client computers to a server database. Users can interact directly with the CRM integration system, which eliminates the need for synchronization. This also improves the currency of phone system data. Keeping track of customers' CRM integration and updating the phone system in real-time makes both systems more reliable.

As CRM integration systems have become more streamlined and cost-effective, these benefits have influenced other key functions, including business phone systems.

Updating CRM integration capabilities can drive improvements and greater efficiency across the enterprise.

Some of the advantages of VoIP and CRM integration include: 

• Data collection

When your call center agents have all the relevant information about the caller and their interaction history thanks to the CRM integration with your phone system, the call agent can select the correct approach for that customer.

The automatic synchronization of data between the two systems helps agents understand previous grievances of the customer to provide them with more expert help if needed.

• Make calls directly from CRM integration

If your call agents have to look up numbers and customer records from old-fashioned sources like a Rolodex or yellow pages, this will create a huge lag in your outgoing call center campaigns. Instead, with CRM integration, your call center agents will be able to hit ‘call’ directly to approach clients. Thus, speeding up the performance of your outgoing call campaigns. 

• Low cost

VoIP CRM integration can become a 2-in-1 solution for your call center and hence, you don’t have to invest in 2 software solutions. 

With the productivity features of a VoIP system, your employees can manage their work hours better. Thus, reducing overall call center expenditure.

• Streamline post-call actions

VoIP and CRM integration allows your call agents to automatically feed customer data after wrapping up a call. Call record functions of VoIP systems allow agents to take notes, enabling them to input more accurate data to the CRM component.

• Analytics

VoIP and CRM integration gives you access to call analytics records. This knowledge of all the metrics and KPIs about your company’s call center can help you keep a keen eye on your call center performance and troubleshoot as problems come up instead of waiting till it's too late. 

What is the best CRM for call center?

The following are some of the best VoIP and CRM integration out there that you should consider if your company is in the market for a solution: 

• Nextiva

Nextiva offers Unified Communications that include Cloud-based VoIP services, allowing for flexible mobility in day-to-day operations. Obtain all the products and services you need to run a highly communicative company while keeping upgrades and maintenance in the provider’s capable hands. 

You can also take advantage of Nextiva VoIP app features with CRM integration that provides instant messaging services, voice calling, video collaboration technologies, chat rooms, directories, call controls, and cloud syncing services. No matter what your communication needs are, they can be met with Nextiva’s optional package plans.

• Salesforce Sales Cloud

Salesforce CRM integration is the leading cloud-based CRM integration software solution in the market. It is scalable, highly secure, mobile, and promotes collaboration between employees of the organization.

Salesforce CRM integration keeps all customer-related information and past interaction history in one place, making it easy to have a real 360 view of customers and facilitating the closing of more deals. Productivity of individual sales reps, as well as entire departments, is enhanced thanks to CRM integration and greater automation.

Finally, analytics helps to make better-informed decisions using real-time insights. 

• Zendesk Talk

Zendesk Voice is the cloud-based contact center software solution that can be seamlessly integrated with the Zendesk solution. Using Zendesk Voice and CRM integration, call center operations can improve their efficiency and reduce their costs of operations.

It comes along with Zendesk analytics which provides valuable insights into the call center operations, KPIs, metrics, agent performance, etc. Combined with CRM integration and Zendesk Voice together with Zendesk help desk, it becomes a powerful solution to monitor call center operations.

To learn more about how to select the right VoIP and CRM integration pairing for your business, refer to our CRM buyer’s guide. You may also compare different VoIP and CRM integration vendors to help you select the best solution out there.