What is a call park?

Call centers need to manage a high volume of calls during busy days. One way they achieve this is through a process called call parking.

This process helps smoothen the flow of customer calls and puts less stress on the agents, ultimately resulting in improved customer satisfaction.

Learn more about what a call park is and how it can benefit your business.

Definition of a call park

A call park or call parking is when a caller is put on hold in a “parking lot” that is accessible to multiple receivers. 

Think of each customer in line as a car in a parking lot. Each car can be accessed by a parking lot attendant or multiple attendants to cater to their needs. A call center works the same way.

Even if one call is put on hold, the call center agent can attend to another call, while a different agent can attend to the first parked call. This way, every call can be attended to, and agents can effectively manage heavy call volume.

How does a call park work?

Call parking takes place in a virtual network where multiple authorized agents can park and attend to calls.

An agent can park the call directly after picking it up or park an incoming one while they are on the line with another one. This process ensures that the customer making the call receives someone on the other line.

Without call parking, a customer may be sent to voicemail, or they will hear a busy signal and drop the call because no one is picking up, which you do not want. 

The agent may also drop their current call to attend to the new one, which is not a good idea either.

Benefits of a call park

Call parking is a very convenient tool that call centers everywhere can take full advantage of. Here are some ways it can benefit yours:

No waiting time

If there is one thing that customers hate, it is waiting for someone to pick up their call. Thanks to call parking, call center agents can readily attend to any call, even at a high volume.

The caller does not have to wait for a response because even if one agent is busy and must park a call, another agent is available to pick up that parked call.

Decreased voicemails

It can be frustrating for a caller to make a call only to be answered by an automated voice leading them to voicemail for the receiver to respond to later.

Call parking is essential for handling high call volumes, so even if there are many callers in line, agents can respond to all of them personally without storing them in voicemail.

Attend to special callers

If a customer has a specific issue that requires a specialist or professional, call parking allows that caller to be placed on hold until a more prepared or specialized agent attends to their call.

This way, agents can cater to every single caller regardless of what the issue is. Inexperienced agents eliminate below-average service and ensure that callers receive assistance from the most qualified people.

Manageable workload for agents

Call center agents can only handle so many calls at a time, which is why call parking is a great way to help them manage all their calls simultaneously.

If one call is taking longer to complete, which holds up the call queue, the agent can simply park those calls for another agent to handle. That way, the agent can focus solely on their current call without worrying about the ones after that being unattended.

Easy to use

Call parking does not require any complicated technology, as this feature is already integrated into your agent’s dashboard interface.

It only takes a few clicks to park a call, which other agents will already have access to, so there is no need to worry about cold transfers.

Furthermore, agents may add notes or additional information about the caller to help the agent handle the call more easily.

How to use a call park

Every call center has VoIP technology that allows them to park a call in a specific location. Simply select the Park Call option and the parking spot number where you want to park that call.

Other agents will be able to see the call and who parked it, along with any notes or information. They can also see how long the caller has been on hold to keep them from waiting and attend to them accordingly.

If an agent wishes to receive a parked call, they can simply click the Answer or Pick Up button on the interface.

If you are manually parking calls on a desk phone, simply press the built-in Park Call key. Agents can receive the call by dialing the extension number where it is parked.

When to use a call park

Call parking is mostly used when there is a high volume of callers or if an agent needs additional time to cater to one call

Additionally, it is best suited for situations where a customer may require a specialist to handle their concern. An agent may park the call and leave it for a more experienced agent to attend to.