Cloud Call Center solution overview

With PortaOne’s solutions, you can deliver the cloud call center service to your customers, equipping them with the necessary tools for efficient call center operations.

As a platform for service management and delivery, PortaSwitch incorporates the essential call center functionality such as call queue, call supervision, call recording, post-call "wrap-up" timer, agent logging in/out, and more. Based on PortaSwitch, you can build a cloud call center solution for small to medium-sized business customers.

Your customers can manage their call center through the Cloud PBX Self-Care Portal: add new agents, configure Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) to ensure that calls are queued and properly distributed between departments and agents, activate additional features like call recording, etc. The portal also includes wallboards where call center managers can monitor active calls, get insights into performance metrics, and more.

Additionally, you can provide your customers with the PortaPhone dialer, offering an alternative to desk phones or any other third-party apps. It enables call center agents to handle calls via their web browser page (with no installation steps required) or via the dedicated mobile app. PortaPhone supports seamless auto-provisioning and automated updates, ensuring a quick and hassle-free call center launch.

If your call center customers require integration with their CRM system to enable end users to make calls directly from the CRM and link incoming calls with contacts, PortaOne partners with PressOne to provide a web dialer compatible with CRM systems. Currently, PortaPhoneCRM – HubSpot and PortaPhoneCRM – Zoho are available.

For call center customers utilizing several communication channels – such as Whatsapp, email, phone line, and website web forms – you can offer an omnichannel customer experience (CX) platform HELIOS (powered by CloudFon). This platform supports white labeling and offers no-code API integration with popular CRMs like HubSpot, SalesForce, and Zoho. HELIOS uses WebRTC and connects to the PortaPhone backend for handling voice calls.

So, your cloud call center solution may consist of the following components:

• PortaSwitch (default option that includes the required minimum)
• PortaSwitch + Cloud PBX Self-Care Portal (basic cloud call center solution)
• PortaSwitch + Cloud PBX Self-Care Portal + PortaPhone (complete “turn-key” solution)
• PortaSwitch + Cloud PBX Self-Care Portal +  PortaPhone + HELIOS (powered by CloudFon)/PortaPhoneCRM – Zoho/PortaPhoneCRM – HubSpot (alternative “turn-key” solution with in-depth CRM integration)

PortaSwitch provides a range of essential call center features:

• Auto-attendant – answers incoming calls automatically and provides callers with a menu of options to direct their call to the appropriate department or extension. For example, when a caller dials the company number, they might hear a recorded voice like "Press 1 for sales, press 2 for technical support." You can set a preferred IVR language for auto attendants, extensions, and SIP trunks.
• Call queue – allows holding incoming calls in a queue until an agent becomes available to handle them. Call queues help to manage high call volumes and ensure that no calls are missed or ignored.
  • Post-call "wrap-up" period – call center owners can set a specific period, like 5 minutes, for their agents to focus on after-call tasks before moving to the next call. The agents can use this dedicated time to document call details, schedule follow-up actions, update the client info, etc. For instance, once an agent ends a call, an automatic 5-minute timer starts, making the agent temporarily unavailable for new incoming calls via the hunt group (referred to as "ring group" on the portal). This undistracted period allows agents to fully focus on wrapping up the previous call.
  • Pause receiving calls – agents can pause receiving calls from a call queue, e.g., during breaks, by simply logging out of a corresponding hunt group (referred to as "ring group" on the portal).
  • Call queue exit options – provides callers with alternative options when they are waiting in a call queue, e.g., leave a voicemail.
• Voicemail – enables the callers to leave a voicemail message instead of waiting in the queue until an agent becomes available.
• Call supervision – enables call center supervisors to discreetly monitor agents' performance. They can listen to active calls, guide agents without being heard by clients, or barge in on a call if necessary.
• Call recording – allows recording calls for service quality assurance, training, and compliance purposes.
• Call screening – allows creating rules for handling incoming calls differently within business hours and non-working hours.
• Call parking with automatic retrieval – allows to automatically return a parked call to the agent who parked it if the call is not retrieved within the specified time (by default, 2 minutes).
• Control how call-queue calls are dispatched to busy agents – allows sending incoming calls from the queue to agents even when they are on the phone. This feature can be useful for small businesses with only a few agents to ensure they do not miss calls from prospects.
• Transcription of call recordings – allows to transcribe call recordings via an AI-driven service available through the Add-On Mart and make them available for download.

Your call center customers, as well as your administrators acting on behalf of the customers, can access and modify the call center features supported by PortaSwitch through the self-service portal.

This portal is referred to as Cloud PBX Self-Care Portal in Add-on Mart. To start using this portal as a part of your cloud call center solution:

1. Activate a free trial/paid subscription for the corresponding module in the Add-on Mart
2. Deploy your branded CloudPBX Self-Care Portal

Additionally, you can refer to the dedicated portal documentation.

Within this portal, administrators can effortlessly

• Add new phone lines (extensions) and auto-attendants Admins can import extensions from a CSV file to the portal or download the existing list of extensions.
• Configure ring groups, and call queues

You can offer additional features such as call recording as add-on products, which allows customers to tailor their call center to suit their specific needs and creates extra revenue for you as a service provider.

If you deliver services to business customers over SIP trunk, you can also configure your portal to create active or inactive SIP trunks.

In addition to the features offered by PortaSwitch, the portal provides your customers with essential call center management and monitoring tools:

• Call console – enables call center supervisors to monitor and manage calls in real time. For example, if a supervisor notices that a call has been waiting in the “Sales” queue for 15 minutes, they may choose to handle it themselves instead of waiting for an available agent. Additionally, supervisors have the option to join an active call, providing essential support to a new agent and ensuring that the customer's needs are met properly.
• Customizable wallboard – allows adding a range of widgets to display agent availability (e.g., “idle” or “on call”) and performance metrics such as call volumes, to estimate demand and identify potential bottlenecks. The wallboard also allows the embedding of content from other websites or web applications, such as call scripts, the number, or unresolved issues from the ticketing system.

On the left-side of the portal menu, you can add customized links to external apps, e.g., to the web dialer from which the agents can handle calls.

PortaPhone is a dialer that consists of two applications – the PortaPhone web and the PortaPhone mobile app. PortaPhone supports audio/video calls, push notifications, call features such as call hold and transfer, auto-provisioning and automated updates, and two-factor authentication for secure access.

To offer your branded PortaPhone dialer to your customers as a part of your cloud call center solution:

1. Activate a free trial/paid subscription for the corresponding module in the Add-on Mart
2. Deploy your branded PortaPhone

PortaOne has partnered with HELIOS to offer service providers an omnichannel customer experience (CX) platform seamlessly integrated with PortaSwitch.  Designed for small and medium-sized businesses, this platform offers both desktop and mobile apps, enabling agents to interact with customers across various channels – including voice calls, email, SMS, and messengers like WhatsApp – from a single interface. For handling voice calls, HELIOS uses WebRTC and connects to the PortaPhone backend. This all-in-one solution eliminates the need for multiple tools, simplifies tracking customer interactions, and reduces response times.

HELIOS also offers:

• CRM system integrations – the platform is already compatible with CRMs such as Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zoho, with additional CRM options available via the API.
• Built-in automation tools:
  • Easy-to-use templates that enable admins to design automated communication flows. For example, they can create a FAQ chatbot that handles routine inquiries without needing any agent involvement.
  • AI assistants, powered by platforms like OpenAI, can help agents craft quick responses to customers to reduce wait times and improve customer service.
• Click-to-dial – enables call center agents to call a CRM contact with one click.

Learn more in PortaOne’s website article: HELIOS & PortaOne join together to allow cloud PBX providers to offer a seamless omnichannel CX platform.

To offer the HELIOS platform to your customers, activate a free trial/paid subscription for the corresponding module in the Add-on Mart.