What is Call Pop, How It Works, and Why is It Important?

Consumers have incredibly high expectations of the brands they buy from, especially when it comes to customer service. In the modern era, where everything feels instantaneous (finding information or having a package arrive the same day you order it), people want fast and efficient resolution when they call customer support.

The issue is that high call volumes leading to long hold times, customers will often have to reiterate the same information over and over again. This frustrates customers and can easily turn them off of your business.

To lower the strain on representatives, improve average handle time (AHT)), and ultimately enhance customer satisfaction, consider using call pop. By automatically locating and displaying the incoming callers relevant information through call pop, representatives can solve customer problems and close tickets more efficiently and effectively.

This simple function, which eliminates the need for the customer to constantly repeat the same information, and the need for representatives to search for it (and additional data), transforms customer interactions for the better.

Understanding call pop technology, it’s benefits, and how to most efficiently integrate it into your customer care process is essential to improving customer experience and your bottom line.

What is call pop?

Call pop is customer service technology used in call centers to help representatives resolve tickets more quickly and effectively. Call pop accomplishes this by automatically locating and displaying (data dipping) all relevant information about the caller. This way, representatives don’t have to waste time asking customers for their basic information and can jump right into solving the problem.

Also known as screen pop, call pop technology works by integrating with your current IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system, CRM (Customer Relationship Management platform), or DNIS (Dialed Number Identification Service).

The call pop function (usually a feature included with your telephony system) takes the information entered into the IVR (and stored in your CRM) and displays all relevant caller information, such as: name, payment information, call log, account notes by other representatives, purchase history, or even their employer in some cases.

When call pop is effectively integrated, it drastically improves first call resolution—saving time and resources while improving your relationships with customers.

How does call pop work?

Call pop is an interactive function that synchronizes with a call center’s database (like IVR, CRMs, and/or DNIS) to display any information (previously logged in the CRM) associated with the incoming call number.

Here’s a step-by-step process illustrating call pop in action, so you can understand how it works:

Step 1: Customers contact support, and the company’s phone system identifies the caller based on their phone number and the information they enter into the IVR.

Step 2: Once all necessary information enters the IVR, the system then locates the customer’s details from the database (usually a CRM).

Step 3: That information is then transmitted to the call pop (a process often referred to as data dipping), automatically displaying it for the support representative once they answer the corresponding call.

What information does call pop display?

Call pop is especially helpful in the healthcare industry (like a chiropractor, for example), since long hold times and comprehensive information are commonplace in healthcare calls. The different functionalities and data points offered by call pop systems may include, but aren’t limited to:

Personal Information

The most basic information retrieved and displayed by call pop is data on the customer’s personal details, including their name, account status, and birthdate. This data is helpful because it allows the representative to offer more personalized experiences by addressing the customer by name, without the caller saying (or repeating) it.

Customer History

Call pop shows all transactions and activity associated with the ANI (automatic number identification), which helps identify the types of issues, and when they started arising. Access to their customer history makes it easier to debug and troubleshoot. It can also provide details based on the relevant industry.

Purchase Records

When it comes to ecommerce, call pop can provide the caller’s purchase history, so the representative knows exactly what products they’ve been using and the timeline of their purchase. This can be helpful when it comes to issuing refunds and cancellations, for example.

Open Tickets

Call pop can display the caller’s currently open support tickets, giving the representative a clear picture of the customer’s issues, the status of resolution, and invaluable notes from fellow representatives involved with those tickets.

How to Integrate Call Pop Into Your Customer Service Process

When it comes to incorporating call pop technology into your call center’s customer service process, follow these steps to make sure your customer (and your team) have the best experience possible:

1. The first and most important step is looking for a telephone system that includes a call pop feature.
2. Then, ensure that your current (or prospective) system can integrate with your CRM software.
3. Once you’ve confirmed compatibility, integrate your phone system and your CRM.
4. Navigate to the call pop feature and ensure the function is enabled.
5. Customize the call pop functionality based on your call center’s needs, and then thoroughly test that all features are working as intended. The last thing you want is to introduce a tool that’s supposed to make the process more productive, only for it to cause more inefficiencies because it’s not working properly.
6. Once everything is operational, help your support team transition effectively with ample training on the new system. You can also create knowledge bases and resources they can refer to when they have questions.

5 Benefits of Call Pop

Call pop technology continues to improve both customer and employee experiences. From the resources and time saved to improved morale and revenue generation, the following list shares some of the invaluable benefits of call pop in the modern, demanding world of customer support.

Reduced Average Handle Time (AHT)

Because call pop eliminates the need for customer support to ask callers for their names and information, they can immediately start solving issues–which greatly reduces AHT (average handle time).

Enhanced Customer Service & Satisfaction

According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, the average CSAT (customer satisfaction score) in the USA is 73%. But in a recent HubSpot survey, 33% of respondents said that one of the most frustrating aspects of having problems with a product or service is repeating information to multiple customer service representatives.

Since call pop automatically displays all information entered into the IVR and CRM, customers no longer have to repeat themselves. This personalization lowers frustration and the time it takes to solve the issue, ultimately improving customer satisfaction.

Increased Agent Productivity

The faster the AHT rate, the more tickets get resolved; thus, more customers are effectively helped per day. Additionally, working with customers who aren’t irritated by reiterating their name, account numbers, and issues helps improve interactions and lower the risk of employee burnout, so your support team has the energy and motivation to provide ultimate customer experiences.

Lowered Abandoned Calls Rate

Due to factors like high call volume, call abandonment rates are a crucial KPI because they directly correlate to your CSAT score. According to HubSpot, 90% of customers reported that getting a fast (immediate) answer from customer support is crucial to their experience.

Additionally, insight from Forrester found that 73% of people think businesses must show that they value their customer’s time as part of offering great customer service experiences.

Needless to say, if your customers abandon calls before reps can help them, they definitely don’t feel their time is valued. Call pop reduces call abandonment rates because call centers can resolve problems more quickly, which means they can answer more calls, faster.

Improved Sales & Revenue

When the average cost per customer service call fluctuates between $2 and nearly $6, every moment of a call impacts your revenue generation. The efficiency introduced by call pop in a call center doesn’t just save time and money; it can actually lead to higher customer satisfaction and revenue. A Forbes article shared that nearly 60% of US consumers would pay a business more for providing better CX (customer experience).

Increase Your Call Center’s Efficiency & Boost Revenue with Podium

One excellent way to support your call pop system is with AI. Podium’s VoIP and phone systems seamlessly integrate into your customer support stack, supplying you with a centralized platform for all incoming customer correspondences. Our new AI Employee automatically responds to leads faster, managing calls, messages, and texts simultaneously.

This platform is a great alternative or companion to call deflection systems, as it offers the customer immediate access to a helpful representative who is extremely knowledgeable and feels incredibly human-like. That way, your customers don’t have to deal with frustratingly long hold times, and you can increase your chances of solidifying more sales and keeping current customers happier.

Check out Small Business VoIP Phone Service for more details, or watch a demo to learn more.