Consumers today know what they want, and they want it NOW. Likewise, credit union members today know what they want from their credit unions, and they are not shy about voicing their opinions. High level decisions are not made blindly in today’s market where consumers have limitless knowledge at their fingertips. Before making purchase decisions or deciding who to trust with important assets, members research and shop around to ensure the best choice. With member expectations at an all-time high, credit unions must exceed their customer’s and member’s expectation to avoid shedding of customers to the competition. Exceptional service through communications sets an entity apart from the other and offers clear distinction and differentiation. Here are 6 benefits your credit union phone system should be providing for improved member services:

1. High Availability: 9-5 doesn’t fit into every member’s lifestyle like it may have been in the past. Members want access to their credit union and banking information at anytime and from anywhere.. Offer members high availability so they feel connected to you, and that you fit into their world instead of the other way around. If your call center is closed, be sure your auto attendant offers useful information, and is set appropriately so members aren’t waiting on hold for a help desk rep who has already left for the day. Optimization is key.
2. Reliability: Reliability goes hand in hand with reputation. Members expect you to have stable communications so they don’t experience voice quality issues, dropped or mishandled calls when calling into your CU. When members detect fraud, or need immediate loan assistance, for example, they instinctively call in first thing in a panic, and rely on your phone system to intelligently route their call to the right agent and resolve their concerns.
3. Functionality: Everything today is streamlined and catered towards the busy consumer. Your phone system is no exception. It should function well for members calling in from anywhere, on mobile as well as landlines, and cater to the needs of members that you serve. Read further about how functionality improves member experience here.
4. Security: Members choose credit unions they can trust and expect them to protect their important assets. Security is a top priority for every member. Members wish to be reassured that their money and data will be safe at any time. If your employees are utilizing a unified communications platform, such as Hosted Skype for Business, and exchanging member sensitive data across instant messaging or other channels of communication, it is imperative you are ensuring security measures are in place to protect those conversations.
5. Integration: If your credit union’s communication solution operates in silos, you may be disappointing your members. A well-structured UC (Unified Communications) platform will ensure that members are quickly and accurately put in touch with the department or rep they we’re intending to contact, and that employee is armed with the communication channels to get the answers they need quickly and accurately across your organization. An integrated communication solution is the most efficient way to provide members with the information they need to feel satisfied, and give employees what they need to get their job done.
6. Disaster Recovery: Members understand that disasters and outages can occur, but also expect their CU to recover quickly and be prepared for such events. Just like your credit union has other back up plans in place, you should be sure to implement a disaster recovery plan for your phone system. A SIP trunking solution is low cost and allows you to have a separate Voice over IP Solution that can be used in case of a line outage. A complete transition to SIP trunking for your main line can move your business off of expensive PSTN, T1, or PRI calling plans, using them only in the case of failover, taking advantage of VoIP prices but also having a system failover in place. There are plenty of scenarios and things that can go wrong if your phone system goes down… but don’t let member experience be one of them.

Members expect a lot… don’t be the credit union to fall behind by not providing them with the best of breed communication wise, both internally and externally. Provide an exceptional member experience with the help of Altigen. Built from the ground up to integrate with Microsoft Office 365 and Skype for Business, supported 24/7, Altigen is the same software that many banks and credit unions have come to depend on for the ultimate in high availability, reliability, functionality, security, integration and disaster recovery.  Attend one of our CU webinars to learn more.