Call handling

Call handling is part of call management. The function can centrally log, record and organise incoming and outgoing calls or make them available. The call information collected and made available to various employee groups helps to organise the processes within the company much more efficiently. Particularly, the modern Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) offers a wide range of functions and options for comprehensive call handling. Cloud-based IP telephone systems also generally have highly versatile call handling.

Logged calls are collected in a central database and call information is made available via the company network. Users can retrieve, view and manage or process the information. Depending on the usage, different user rights and user groups can be created, which are provided with specific access rights to the information.

Call handling functions

The first main function of call handling is automatic logging of all incoming and outgoing calls, including the call time and the telephone number of the caller. Calls are then automatically or manually assigned to specific categories. They are first categorised as incoming, outgoing or unanswered calls. In the next step, the various calls are arranged as per department or project and allocated to specific persons. If required, call handling can completely exclude private calls from further processing. Employees can record the information regarding the conversations directly in call handling either during or after the call. This information could include, e.g., notes, summary of the conversation, attached documents or automatic reminders for tasks to be performed. If call handling has access to the contact and customer management system of the company, it links the call handling information directly to the customer contacts either automatically via the telephone number of the caller or by manual allocation. 
Other functions of call handling include direct dialling of a telephone number by mouse click, allocation of calls to particular projects, automatic generation of tickets or orders, or billing and imputed inclusion of the working hours spent in calling.