Even with the rise of texting and conversations over social media, 71% of customer conversations still occur over the phone. Email, webchat, and text have grown in recent years, but phone calls are still a crucial part of doing business.
But not every business has the bandwidth to answer every call right away. What do you do in this situation? Phone trees can be incredibly helpful if you struggle to connect callers with the right employee.
In this article, you’ll learn what a phone tree is, how they improve the customer experience, and more.
What Is a Phone Tree and How Does It Work?
Modern phone trees are automated systems that guide callers to the right number. Phone trees use menus and have callers press buttons on the phone or speak short words and phrases. Based on the caller’s responses, the automated system directs their call to the appropriate person or number.
It is common to reach a phone tree when you call a company, especially larger ones. For example, when you call your bank, it gives you options such as checking your balance, reporting a stolen or missing card, and talking to an agent. Each is a different “branch” on your bank’s phone tree.
Most modern phone trees rely on interactive voice response (IVR) technology. It is this technology that speaks the menu options and interprets the responses.
Traditional Phone Trees
A traditional phone tree had a slightly different purpose but still had the goal of efficiently spreading information. A traditional phone tree would have each person call a few other people. Then, each of those people would call a few other people. It was especially popular for things like announcing school cancellations before automation. With modern smartphones, traditional phone trees have become mostly non-existent, and the term is instead reserved for automated trees using IVR. Additionally, the rise of automation means mass communication is simple, even without a manual phone tree.
Benefits of Phone Trees
Most companies will want to use phone trees or IVR technology because of the many benefits it offers. The following are just some of the most important benefits.
1. They Are Easy to Set Up
Phone trees are easy to set up, especially with the right phone system in place. Nearly all modern business phone systems will offer IVR and phone trees. At the longest, it may take you a day to set up most phone trees. This minimizes disruptions to your workflow.
2. There are Options for Routing Calls
Most phone tree systems give you plenty of versatility in routing calls. You can choose how many “branches” your tree will have, what to label each option on the menu, and how callers input their responses.
Additionally, you can route calls to a landline or a mobile phone, adding more versatility. The ability to route to mobile phones means you can even have an emergency or after-hours option in your phone menu.
3. They Increase Your Efficiency
From a business standpoint, phone trees are an excellent way to improve efficiency. To start, your team can spend less time answering calls, as they will only receive the calls for their department.
Additionally, the IVR system will automatically redirect and transfer callers to the appropriate department. This saves time compared to doing so manually.
This improved efficiency is especially important if your business is scaling up.
