Privacy breaches are obviously bad for business, but the hidden cost of a breach may be more than you realize. When a delivery or rideshare driver misuses a customer’s personal information, it’s not only dangerous but damaging to your brand’s reputation. Such incidents can expose the business to legal and regulatory challenges, as well as increase customer churn and result in a revenue loss. 

Number masking is the simplest way to mitigate the risk of a privacy breach and build your end users' trust. Plivo's Number Masking feature enables businesses to mask their customers' and partners' real phone numbers, thereby shielding their actual contact details. Continue reading to discover how number masking works and how to get started.

How does number masking work?

Number masking enables anonymous interactions to safeguard user data during everyday transactions—be it food delivery, hailing a ride, or accepting a package.

Let's consider a real-world application of number masking through the experience of Rahul, who orders groceries online. Concerned about privacy, Rahul wishes to avoid sharing his personal phone number directly with the delivery service.

• Upon placing the order through a grocery delivery app, the app employs Plivo's Number Masking feature to assign a temporary phone number specifically for communication related to this order.
• Rahul, wishing to share some additional delivery instructions with the delivery agent, calls the temporary number provided by the app.
• Plivo's system seamlessly routes the call from Rahul to the delivery agent, utilizing the temporary number. Throughout this process, the actual phone numbers of both Rahul and the delivery agent remain hidden from each other.
• If the delivery agent needs to clarify the delivery instructions or communicate any updates related to the order, he can also use the temporary number to reach Rahul.

Here’s what this process looks like in practice.

Ultimately, Plivo’s Number Masking feature acts as a bridge between customers and businesses, allowing them to communicate effectively without compromising personal phone numbers.

Benefits of Plivo’s Number Masking API

Unfortunately, many number masking solutions on the market require businesses to develop their solution from the ground up, a process that can be both time-consuming and labor-intensive. For many companies, the complexity of implementing number masking presents too high a barrier. 

Plivo's off-the-shelf Number Masking API is designed to eliminate this complexity, making implementation straightforward in mere two simple steps.

Get started with Plivo's Number Masking API

With Plivo, your business can bypass nearly 80% of the time and effort required to develop a number-masking solution from scratch. Just a few steps are all it takes to get up and running:

1. Register with Plivo.
2. Purchase preferred numbers to serve as virtual numbers through the Plivo console, or procure a phone number using the API.
3. Create a number masking session using the API by providing the first_party and second_party numbers, along with other required parameters tailored to your specific use case.
4. Plivo will automatically handle the assignment of the virtual number to the session.

Congratulations! You've now successfully set up a number masking session. Test the session by initiating a call to the virtual number, which will be correctly routed to the intended recipient.

{{cta-stayle-1}}

What else is possible with Plivo’s Number Masking API?

Beyond providing number masking at an affordable cost, Plivo's API enhances security through PIN-based authentication, ensuring that calls from unregistered sources undergo verification before connection. Plivo's intelligent algorithm also manages the allocation of virtual numbers efficiently, ensuring their optimal use.

Call recordings is another feature available through Plivo’s Number Masking API. While keeping all user information private, Plivo can record calls for quality assurance. Recordings are stored on Plivo servers free of charge for 90 days. Encryption is available for even more security. 

Number masking is a transformative tool for businesses aiming to prioritize customer privacy and foster trust in their brand. With Plivo's comprehensive Number Masking API, deploying this security measure is more accessible than ever. For more details refer to our developer documentation.

‍

Gone are the days when price was the only differentiating factor when customers weighed different solutions. Customer experience (CX) is the new revenue driver, and repeated positive experiences will lead a customer to make repeat purchases or advocate for your business. 

The customer experience management market is expected to grow from $19.34 billion in 2024 to $70.20 billion by 2032, at a CAGR of 17.5%, according to Fortune Business Insights. This highlights the growing importance of CX in business strategies. Besides that,

• Gartner reports that 89% of businesses recognize CX as a key competitive battleground
• Statista reveals that 44.5% of organizations globally see CX as their main way to stand out
• Also, customers spend 140% more after great experiences compared to negative ones

However, to ensure an excellent and seamless service process, you must build robust and productive customer service workflows to ensure your agents and CX teams are always equipped to win and retain customers. In this article, we discuss how you can proceed. 

What Are Customer Service Workflows? 

Customer service workflows refer to processes that help you achieve your customer support goals through a sequence of steps. They act as a pre-defined blueprint of steps that easily integrate into and support your customer service operations. 

The process eliminates the need to create new action steps for every customer interaction, enabling agents to be more productive and deliver faster and more effective query resolution. 

Consider the scenario of creating a standardized, high-quality onboarding experience for every customer. Now, instead of mapping out a new onboarding plan each time, you’d want to follow a consistent approach that is rooted in proven techniques, like this one:

• Customer signs up for your product 
• The customer receives an automated welcome email/message
• Guided product tour with the onboarding team
• Schedule routine check-ins
• Celebrate customer-centric milestones 

Importance of Building Customer Service Workflows

Improves efficiency 

Automated workflows promote efficiency in customer service operations by streamlining processes, saving agents valuable time and energy otherwise spent on repetitive manual tasks.

According to Salesforce, workflow automation is a top priority for 95% of IT and engineering leaders. This is further iterated by the fact that 74% of IT leaders have saved 4 hours each week by implementing workflow automation.  

Builds accountability 

You can design the workflows to assign specific queries to specific agents automatically. This defines responsibility and ensures that every query gets an adequate resolution without requiring multiple follow-ups.     

A unified system with tighter integrations 

These workflows also streamline customer support operations by consolidating all your tools and solutions into a single unified platform. Seamless integrations across your tech stack allow agents to manage all customer interactions in one place. 

Agents can perform multiple tasks, such as making and receiving calls while accessing a complete history of the customer’s interactions with the support team—resulting in faster query resolution. 

Proactive response 

Customers always appreciate prompt and hassle-free solutions to their queries. A customer service workflow helps eliminate operational bottlenecks hindering smoother service delivery. 

Agents don’t need to spend hours trying to figure out what works best—they have ready-to-use, plug-and-play workflows that help them focus on delivering a high-quality response. 

Performance overview for agents and teams 

Dynamic reporting and analytics integrated into the workflows offer a comprehensive view of agent and team performance. This allows for assessing productivity levels, identifying areas where service quality can be enhanced, and implementing strategies for continuous improvement in customer service operations.

Types of Customer Service Workflows  

Here are some of the most commonly used customer service workflow examples that might be helpful for your business: 

Issue resolution workflows 

These are crucial for retaining customers and improving customer service operations. 

Here’s what a customer service workflow diagram for issue resolution looks like: 

• Issue resolution workflow starts with ticket generation when the customer raises a query 
• Sorting and delegating issues to relevant agents/teams 
• Solving issues and/or escalating to senior teams or other technical teams/experts 
• Deliver the solution or lay out the next steps for customers to follow
• Schedule follow-up or communicate a timeline for follow-up for less critical issues 
• Close the ticket on conclusion of the issue 
• Send feedback forms to customers to evaluate the quality of support 
  

Chatbot workflows

Chatbots are the ideal channel for round-the-clock support as they facilitate customer self-service experiences. 

Here’s what a customer support workflow diagram for chatbot operations looks like: 

• The customer types something or opens the chat window
• The chatbot greets the customer and sends a menu with predetermined options/questions  
• The customer picks an option from the menu to raise a query 
• The chatbot accesses the knowledge base to respond to customer queries 
• The customer makes a choice that triggers actions to resolve the issue 
• Feedback is gathered from the customer

Customer order workflows

Customer order workflows are integral to the customer experience, particularly for e-commerce businesses. This workflow is automated from the purchase of the product to the final delivery/receipt of the product to the customer.  

This is what a  customer service workflow diagram for customer order processes would look like: 

• The customer places an order 
• Order is initiated within the order management system 
• Order confirmation is sent via email/SMS 
• The warehouse team is notified about the order 
• The tracking number is initiated to be shared with the customer
• Product is delivered 
• Product feedback workflow is initiated

Product feedback workflows

It is essential to have a customer service workflow dedicated to product development and improvement. How is your product faring? Which features are in demand? Which features need an upgrade? Did the customer face any problems in using your product? 

Here’s a customer service workflow diagram illustrating how product feedback workflows are recorded: 

• A product feedback form is sent to the customer, acknowledging their effort
• Feedback is routed to relevant channels or segments
• Necessary modifications are implemented into the product 
• Final communication is sent to the customer about implementing the product feedback

How to Build a Customer Service Workflow: A Step-By-Step Guide

Here’s a step-wise strategy to create a customer service workflow for your customer-facing operations: 

Step 1: Create a simple diagram of your workflow 

Unlike the linear diagrams given above for common customer support workflow diagrams, most workflows are much more complex. Each step has multiple ‘if this, then that’ scenarios that need to be accounted for, and it involves the following steps: 

Review the current processes 

Get started by taking stock of your current workflows. Define each step and the conditions that should be met for the process to be complete. Spotting loopholes in your workflows early on helps retain customers and generate higher CSAT scores. 

Alternatively, poorly designed customer service processes are a recipe for disaster. They can result in long wait times, inadequate resolution, and even agent burnout—each of which points to customer churn.  

What are the decision points? 

Decision points refer to the locations within a workflow where a process branches out. We have already mapped out a few customer support workflows relevant to different scenarios. However, in practice, these workflows are more nuanced and dynamic, which is where decision points come in. 

Decision points are where the workflow branches out into if/then scenarios. Here, a ‘then’ action is automatically initiated depending on the 'if' condition.    

What are your constraints? 

Constraints within the customer service workflow processes refer to regulatory requirements and financial compliance based on service level agreements and time frames. 

Step 2: Determine who interacts with your workflow 

Multiple stakeholders are involved in completing every workflow. You must clearly define who will interact with queries at each step of the workflow. This typically involves customer-facing teams and front and back-office departments supporting customer service functions. 

When building your workflows, consider the following aspects: 

Clearly define stakeholders and their roles 

To go deeper, identify how each interacts with the customers. Whether the customer experience teams carry out onboarding calls or the tech team ensures quick turnaround on bugs and other tech issues, each individual is a vital workflow component. 

Without clearly identifying each contributor's role, your customer support machinery will become a directionless web of actions. 

The departments where process stakeholders work 

Cross-functional collaboration across departments is essential for smoother movement within a customer service workflow. Let other departments involved in the workflow know how to prioritize and enable the resolution of customer service requests. 

Step 3: Identify your data requirements 

Knowing what data will be required to drive these workflows is an equally important step. Within automated systems, the support team must know where all the essential data is stored and how it will be synchronized between different stakeholders and departments.

How will data be connected? 

Define how the data handoff between various stakeholders and departments will take place. Consider the scenario where an existing customer wants to add more features to their package. The process must ensure that all the necessary data reaches the product or other relevant departments.  

What does your tech stack look like? 

The software you choose must be compatible with the tech stack other teams use to ensure an automated and error-free flow of information between different systems and departments.      

Step 4: Use workflow automation tools 

Integrate your workflows using automation tools. These tools enable users to create and customize workflows without switching between tabs and/or windows. 

Plivo CX's drag-and-drop workflow builder allows you to effortlessly create tailored customer journeys across all communication channels in just a few clicks. With enterprise-grade security and integrations like Shopify and Salesforce, the platform streamlines communication and enhances customer experience.

Step 5: Test and refine 

Finally, the efficacy of every workflow is tested using real scenarios. At this stage, you must be able to answer the following questions: Has the customer support workflow truly advanced you toward your customer support objectives and/or improved your support team’s efficiency? 

Optimize customer service workflows by A/B testing multiple variants. Compare performance under identical scenarios and conditions to identify the most effective version, ensuring continuous improvement and the best possible customer experience.

Best Practices for Creating Customer Service Workflows 

Let’s take a look at some of the best practices you can implement to drive higher ROI with your customer service workflows:

Opt for the right tech stack 

Don’t rely on your CRM or voice software for customer support communications. Deploy an integrated customer support platform to your customer support workflow processes. Consolidating all your important tools into a single interface will simplify the creation of new workflows. 

Embrace continuous improvement in customer service processes

Given the ever-growing expectations of customers today, your customer support management should be able to stand the test of time. Conduct regular process audits and upgrade your customer service workflows to meet the needs of modern customers. 

Follow a customer-centric approach 

When building your customer support workflows, keep your customers front and center. Maintain a consistent, high-quality experience for them from the start and throughout their journey with your brand. 

Enhance Customer Service With Plivo CX’s Drag-And-Drop Workflows

The right solutions, such as building a customer service workflow, can be your gateway to establish more reliable customer service processes and boost customer satisfaction. 

Plivo CX's drag-and-drop workflow builder simplifies the creation of powerful automation workflows for customer journeys. Its intuitive interface allows users to connect components, configure them within the workflow, and even trigger workflows remotely using APIs. 

Also, features like easy handoffs to human agents and skill-based routing enhance efficiency. Plivo CX prioritizes enterprise-grade security and integrates with various platforms like Shopify, Zoho, and Salesforce. 

Whether you need solutions for e-commerce, automated flows, or proactive customer service, Plivo CX’s comprehensive resources and features empower businesses to streamline communication and improve the customer experience.

Book a demo now to learn more! 

"We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It's our job to make the customer experience a little bit better." – Jeff Bezos.

‍

Bezos is absolutely right. And to create that welcoming, engaging party atmosphere, brands are now leveraging a multitude of communication channels. They're connecting with customers through AI chatbots, WhatsApp, email, SMS, social media, and even personalized calls or meetings.

Despite the best intentions, there's always room to improve the customer experience, and many of us have encountered moments where it could be better.

In a 2024 study, Forbes indicates that 64% of customers admitted they would switch to another brand if they found poor customer service, even if they liked the product. To overcome this, businesses are now focusing on making data-driven decisions. 

They also seek to enhance their customer service with two distinct approaches: omnichannel customer service, which can retain 89% of customers year over year and multichannel customer service, which leads to an increase in both in-store and online sales.

Although omnichannel and multichannel customer service sounds similar, they are distinct approaches. Omnichannel customer service involves providing a seamless experience across channels, whereas multichannel customer service is more siloed, offering support on separate channels.

In this blog post, we’ll deconstruct what they are, how they work, and how to select the right one for your business growth.

Let’s begin!

What is Multichannel Customer Service?

Multichannel customer service offers support on multiple channels, such as email, phone, and social media. However, each interaction is handled separately. 

As a result, this approach can lead to significant drawbacks. For example:

• In a multichannel contact center, customer support teams often operate in silos, lacking access to a complete view of the customer's interactions across different channels. This results in disjointed conversations and vague responses, ultimately leaving customers frustrated and dissatisfied.

• Customers may have to start from the beginning for each new interaction until they receive satisfactory support, which can turn them away and result in lost sales.

Imagine a customer emailed a company about a problem with their recent order. However, this customer had previously called the company to discuss the same issue, but the email representative had no record of that call. So, the customer ends up having to repeat their entire story and explanation, causing frustration and a sense of being unheard.

This is a classic example of the disconnect that can happen in a multichannel contact center.

Such a lack of synergy in multichannel customer support highlights the priority of goods and services over customer satisfaction, which can potentially hamper future purchasing decisions.

What is Omnichannel Customer Service?

On the other hand, omnichannel customer service establishes a frictionless omnipresence of customer service. It provides interconnected, all-time-present, and consistent customer engagement across all communication platforms. 

As a result, regardless of the platform that customers choose, there is no room for a disrupted and annoying experience. Instead, customers receive highly tailored solutions based on their individual interactions and purchase history, fostering a sense of loyalty and understanding.

For example, consider PayPal Happy Returns to understand the omnichannel environment. To streamline PayPal's omnichannel return solution process, customers can initiate returns directly from the retailer's website instead of a separate website or app. They receive a QR code, visit a Return Bar location (partnered with Ulta Beauty), scan the code, and get a real-time refund without packaging or labels.

To be specific, an omnichannel contact center revolves exclusively around customers' requirements and priorities rather than products or services first.

Omnichannel vs Multichannel Customer Service: A Quick Comparison 

Benefits of Omnichannel Customer Service

According to Deloitte, with omnichannel relationship management, you can earn loyalty from up to 62% of customers. Let's explore how it can be accomplished:

✅ Unified customer context

First, your customer support teams need a cohesive context to win over your customers’ buying psychology. For this, they gather consolidated data through omnichannel communication, segregate it, and map a strategic customer journey to suit their needs.

Salesforce State of Service highlights that it’s nearly impossible to provide great customer service without full customer context. Therefore, focus on these aspects to build more context: 

• Have a sharp eye on your customers' queries, be it their problems or interests
• Distribute data across different channels with ease
• Help customers smoothly transition from one platform to another
• Create a clear feedback avenue for your team members as well as customers

✅ Lower resolution time

Naturally, customers tend to prefer effective assistance without waiting in a long queue or going through multiple follow-ups. With omnichannel support, you can reach them through a wide range of touchpoints while taking positive action with valuable knowledge.

Since 90% of customers consider an immediate response within 10 minutes a sign of a better experience, omnichannel support helps you go this extra mile by lowering average resolution time. Doing so increases the possibilities of making your customers happy and turning them into your brand’s loyal advocates.

‍

"Happy customers are your biggest advocates and can become your most successful sales team." — Lisa Masiello.

‍

✅ Higher NPS and CSAT

With omnichannel customer service, you can efficiently provide what your customers want and treat them with the same care and consideration you'd expect from trusted friends and family. This personalized approach fosters a sense of value and belonging, making them feel truly appreciated.

This way, increasing the “Customer Satisfaction Score” (CSAT) no longer remains an unbeatable challenge, and it positively impacts the “Net Promoter Score” (NPS). Your satisfied customers continually engage in word-of-mouth marketing, recommending your brand to their dearest ones without hesitation, even before you ask for a referral.

✅ Better quality of collected customer data

Insights from PWC show that American consumers value speed, convenience, and knowledgeable help. This underscores how these factors can bring customer loyalty, reduce customer attrition, and enhance customer lifetime value.

However, achieving this may not be possible without clean and in-depth data, and this is where omnichannel service plays a bigger role. Adopting it can lead to a flawless understanding of opportunities and challenges and crafting data-rich strategies. 

To make it more accountable, the following approaches can be helpful:

• Be thoughtful about which type of customer data you want to track
• Prioritize data quality over quantity to head in the right direction
• Remove redundant or bloated data from the system to stay updated at all times
• Ensure cross-checking of the accuracy of individual customer data before making offers

Omnichannel vs Multichannel Customer Service: Which Approach Can Be Better for Your Business? 

To put it simply, neither is “better” than the other—it solely depends on the business's needs. All you need to do is decide which is essential to reducing customer friction. 

Here’s how you can proceed with choosing the most suitable option for your customer service:

👉 Know your customer well

Prompt assistance, more convenience, personalized interaction, or a hike in valuable offerings—consider what your customers are looking for. Taking their choices and feedback into account can shape your strategy with the right choice of customer service. 

After all, if your customers come first, they will last.

👉 Evaluate existing resources and their capacity

Next, identify your budget range. Can you satisfy your target audience with your existing resources, or do you need more? 

Finding specific answers to these questions and jotting down a list of your backup options can help you choose the right operational method through top customer service channels and smoothly run them.

👉 Think about your long-term goals

Will you target an expanding customer base? Or do you want to launch more unique features to level up brand value and customer experience? If you decide to make your path more scalable and flexible, sticking with or switching to a synchronized service would be a great choice.

👉 Make a decision based on your current situation

As Salesforce data suggests, 76% of customers expect a unified experience across all departments of a brand. Therefore, incorporating flawless omnichannel support becomes an obvious choice. However, it requires skilled people, modern technology, and sufficient financial resources. 

Based on your current capabilities, either move forward with omnichannel service or continue with multichannel, upgrading it later if resources are limited now.

Offer a Superior Omnichannel Customer Service with Plivo CX

Both omnichannel and multichannel customer service strategies aim to enhance customer interactions, but omnichannel provides a more integrated and seamless experience. This improves customer satisfaction compared to multichannel's potentially fragmented approach.

If you want to leverage the power of a true omnichannel customer service platform, Plivo CX comes with a Unified Agent Desktop that brings channels such as AI-powered chatbot that works for all messaging channels like voice, SMS, email, and WhatsApp together in a single interface. Handle interactions seamlessly without switching between multiple tools.

With OpenAI-powered chatbots, IVR and voicebots, you can optimize customer service costs while quickly handing over complex issues to suitable agents. No-code workflow builder empowers businesses to create personalized customer journeys across all communication channels. 

Plivo CX can also help you quickly integrate with the existing tech stack and homegrown systems. You can also coach agents with comprehensive live metrics and historical reporting. 

On top of everything, it is powered by Plivo’s award-winning, reliable and high-quality carrier network. 

To see Plivo CX in action, schedule a demo today!

Introduction

The role of prompt, result-driven and empathetic customer service in shaping brand perception and building long-term relationships hardly needs an introduction. 

According to the Journal of Consumer Research, studies show that 90% of consumers expect immediate responses to their inquiries, and companies that meet these expectations see significant improvements in brand perception and customer satisfaction​. 

However, customer service leaders face unrelenting pressure to deliver more value to customers while reducing costs to the business. Here’s where getting the customer support calculation right and using strategies to optimize the cost becomes necessary. 

Reducing costs also requires a comprehensive understanding of a customer service unit's P&L. This equips leaders to understand the nuances of different cost verticals and helps them design their cost optimization strategy.

In this article, we go through the various costs associated with building a robust customer support system and highlight proven customer service cost optimization strategies.

Why is Calculating Customer Support Costs Important?

Here’s how calculating customer service costs helps you identify gaps and fix them early on:

1. Effectively align the resources needed

With costs at hand, business leaders can gauge their support human resources sufficiency better. This helps avoid overinvesting or underinvesting and guarantees that you do not have SLA breaches. 

This strategic approach minimizes expenses such as workforce and onboarding costs and improves the overall effectiveness of customer support operations.

2. Streamline the overall process and improve efficiency

Identifying areas suitable for automation or efficiency improvements through software or enhanced employee training is key to reducing customer service costs. This leads to happier customers due to faster response times and improved issue resolution, boosting your team's productivity. 

Ultimately, this translates to increased customer loyalty and repeat business, all while optimizing your operational budget.

3. Make faster decisions to identify investments

Knowing how much customer service costs early on, instead of being an afterthought, helps you make quick decisions about whether to invest in a particular technology or downsize the investment. 

For example, you’re spending way more on legacy software in terms of yearly renewal and maintenance costs, and the learning curve is so high that your agents are not using it to its full potential. Instead, you could move to new-age software with pay-as-you-go pricing to make it more viable and show the ROI to your stakeholders. 

How to Calculate Customer Service Costs?

The total customer service cost can be divided into three parts:

1. Workforce cost

This is defined as the cost of employees, their salaries, benefits, onboarding, IT and training, and any additional costs associated with your customer support team. 

For organizations with a well-established customer service department, workforce costs are higher than software and hardware costs. 

2. Operational cost

For your customer support employees to diligently resolve endless customer tickets, there has to be a robust infrastructure supporting them. Everything comes under operational costs, including rent, equipment costs, and software licenses. 

Some companies also offload these costs by hiring outsourcing partners. However, remember that outsourcing comes with the burden of limited accountability and limited process control.

3. Customer churn cost

Ineffective customer service can drive customers away, resulting in lost revenue and additional expenses to acquire new customers. These hidden costs can significantly impact your bottom line. Investing in quality customer support can not only retain valuable customers but also save you money in the long run.

It is often the case that some of the above costs are shared between different teams.

If you are in a dilemma of whether a cost head should be included, this LinkedIn post from the Senior Director of Sun Country Airlines guides you on how to approach this: 

Industry Customer Service Cost Benchmarks

Here are some customer service cost benchmarks across large (greater than $100M ARR), medium ($10M to $100M ARR) and small(less than $10M ARR) companies that you can use to compare your company costs. The segments are identified to normalize the economies of scale and the stage of the company.

• Large-sized companies: 39% of them have customer service team costs 5% or lower than their ARR.
• Medium-sized companies: 22% of them have customer service team costs in 5% to 10% range and 35% have them controlled under 5% of their ARR. 
• Small-sized companies: The percentage of companies are uniformly distributed across from >30% to <5% of ARR except having 25% companies lying in 15% to 10% ARR range.

As per a study in 2021, below is the average breakdown of the customer service desk costs worldwide in 2021. The study also highlighted that the breakdown remained relatively consistent from country to country and region to region

Important KPIs for optimizing customer service costs

Now that we know the different customer service cost functions, let’s look at the customer service examples and KPIs you can use to optimize costs:

Cost per support ticket

The cost per support ticket tells you how much you spend per customer query. This metric gives an overview of the complete support function and helps you gauge cost optimization results. 

To find the cost per support ticket, use this formula

Total customer support spending/ Number of tickets = Cost of support per ticket 

Total customer support spending includes all the costs like rent, maintenance, payroll, and software licensing fees.

For example, if you spent $3200 on 1000 tickets, your cost/ticket becomes $3.2. This can become your go-to metric to take product or hiring-related decisions with holistic understanding of the impact on margins. You can further deep dive into this metric by understanding if there are specific clients or geographies with high cost/ticket driving this.    

A study finds the below channel wise cost metrics for the North American market in 2021. It shows that the cost of self-help channel is on average 8X better than voice or chat based channels.

‍

Cost of support per order

Calculating customer service costs requires taking into account both acquisition and retention expenses. A portion of every dollar spent on acquiring new customers is necessary to retain them, emphasizing the importance of accounting for retention and support costs.

To calculate the cost of support per order, use this formula:

Total customer support spend/number of orders = cost of support per order

A high support cost per order can be a red flag, indicating potential inefficiencies in your support team’s workload. This situation requires an immediate review of your internal processes to streamline operations.

Cost per revenue

Calculating customer support costs relative to revenue helps determine whether support costs are justified and sustainable for your company.

To calculate the cost per revenue, use this formula: 

Net sales/ Total Number Of Tickets = Cost Per Revenue

Strategies to Reduce Customer Service Costs

Customer self-service options

Chatbots are one of the most reliable ways to meet customers’ needs 24/7. Without heavily investing in a team to be always available, you can leverage an AI-driven chatbot and enable customers to self-service as required. 

Chatbots automate customer resolutions enhancing your capability to cater to a large ticketing volume with a small team size, resulting in lower overall customer support costs.

Plivo CX offers an intuitive chatbot developed in partnership with OpenAI. It ensures your customer support remains state-of-the-art. With no coding required, you can build your AI chatbot in minutes and train it using only the selected content, ensuring accuracy and relevance. 

Besides, you can also enhance your customer service efficiency with our fully customizable voice IVR. Allow callers to self-select options for quicker routing, reducing wait times. Personalize the customer experience by using customer data in greetings and voice prompts.

Omnichannel customer support

Let your customers contact your support team via their preferred channels. An omnichannel customer support platform like Plivo CX provides a unified agent desktop with real-time support across channels, including AI-powered live chat, voice, SMS, email, and WhatsApp. 

This eliminates the need to switch between different applications. Service agents can quickly get all the context-building customer information in a single window. 

Agent training

Plivo CX’s metrics and reporting feature has live agent dashboards to reskill your customer service team and historical reports for in-depth insight and agent coaching. Some of the standout coaching features that help you reduce customer service costs are call recording, call barge and whisper, and CSAT collection. 

Customizable workflows

With drag-and-drop workflows, you can simplify your processes and boost efficiency. Customer service teams can quickly configure and automate complex customer journeys, drastically reducing the time and effort required for setup and management. The workflows can also be integrated with homegrown systems.

How Do You Calculate the ROI of Customer Support?

Customer support linked upsells and cross-sells

Find out how many upsells and cross-sells have happened after a customer support touchpoint within a desired timeframe to gauge the revenue generated from this activity. 

However, you might need a well-integrated backend system to accurately monitor upsell and cross-sell data. 

Once you have the data, apply this formula:

ROI = (Revenue from upsells and cross-sells - Customer support costs) / Customer support costs * 100

This formula gives you a percentage representing your customer support’s ROI. It shows if your investment in customer support is worth it.

Retention

Another way to estimate ROI is to find how the customer support team influenced an existing customer's decision to renew the service. Retention is a long-term metric that varies from company to company. 

Once you have your retention metric defined, apply this formula:

ROI = (Revenue from renewals - Customer support costs) / Customer support costs * 100

A higher ROI indicates lower churn rates, which directly reflect the impact of your actions on customer loyalty. It shows how your customer service efforts contribute to customer retention and revenue growth.

Indirect returns

While the above two methods discuss direct ways of measuring ROI estimates, the customer support team also brings some benefits that are hard to quantify. 

For product and marketing teams, customer support teams serve as the first point of contact to understand customer pain points. This feedback is essential for continuous product development and impacts the overall customer experience.

Here are some questions to help measure these indirect benefits:

• How many bugs did customers report?
• How many customer-suggested features were added?
• How many sales leads from support interactions were converted?

Though these numbers are challenging to track, they are vital for understanding the ROI of customer support.

Enhancing the Overall Value of Business Through Customer Support

Undoubtedly, it is challenging for leaders to balance exceptional customer service and cost optimization. However, understanding cost structures and reviewing KPIs and ROI of support functions can hedge cost components and secure business growth.

As a proper omnichannel customer service solution, Plivo CX can help you reduce your customer service costs while maximizing customer experience as you can drive a seamless experience across channels, create several touchpoints with customers, and empathetically interact with them 24/7. 

It also leverages Plivo’s award-winning carrier network so that you can deliver top-notch services across the globe, on the channels your customers prefer. 

To learn more, book a demo. 

A McKinsey report suggests that 60% of global consumers consider convenience a key factor when choosing where to shop. Thus, businesses that fail to offer convenience risk losing customers to competitors who do. 

But what happens when your customer support inquiries outgrow your support team’s capacity? Or when customers reach out for help on holidays or outside office hours? 

Providing consistent, top-notch customer support becomes more challenging as your business grows. Customer dissatisfaction skyrockets by 262% when wait times exceed what customers anticipate​. 

In this scenario, customer service automation comes to the rescue. 

If you’re looking to discover its potential and implement automated customer service for maximum client satisfaction, this detailed guide is for you.

What is Customer Service Automation?

Customer service automation involves integrating an assortment of automation technologies, including self-service chatbots, IVRs, automated notifications, and more, into your customer support operations. The goal is to elevate the customer experience, offering a level of service that surpasses what human agents alone can provide.

A McKinsey report points out that one of the remarkable shifts in post-COVID consumer behavior is shifting notions of brand loyalty. With more options open and available than ever before, customers aren’t shying away from trying out (or switching) to a competitor. 

Therefore, working proactively to build brand loyalty is crucial. And what’s one of the essential ingredients for building brand loyalty? 

An enhanced, empathetic and prompt customer service. 

Automated customer service lets you achieve this. It blends with traditional support methods, such as one-on-one customer calls, to handle large customer queries without running out of resources. 

Some other notable benefits of customer service automation are as follows:

• 24/7 availability
• Quick redressal of common queries and FAQs
• Intelligent ticket routing
• Improved overall customer satisfaction

The difference between traditional customer support and automated customer support

Traditional and automated customer support are not opposing forces but complementary elements in modern customer service. The optimal strategy blends the strengths of human interaction with the efficiency of automation to create the best possible customer experience.

Here are some fundamental differences between traditional and automated customer service:

How Do You Implement Automated Customer Support? 

Customer service automation takes place through various software channels, such as:

1. Self-service AI chatbots

Powered by the latest generative AI technology, AI chatbots quickly respond to customers’ queries, direct them to knowledge bases, and create tickets. Advanced chatbots even hold a full-fledged conversation with your customers and completely resolve their queries. When unable to assist, they hand off queries to the right support agent.

Ideal for: Resolving repetitive customer issues and queries. AI-powered chatbots can be trained to tackle complex problems using your product’s knowledge base and take action on connected business systems like order management, CRM, payment systems, and helpdesks to resolve requests. Chatbots can also transfer conversations to a human representative for more complex or sensitive issues that require a personal touch.

2. Automated ticketing systems

Automated ticketing systems classify and route complex customer queries to the most appropriate POCs. They collect the relevant customer data, such as images, issue descriptions, and other details, before transferring it to the right touchpoints. 

For instance, a transaction issue would be automatically directed to the finance team, while a product quality concern would involve the most suitable point of contact. This streamlined process ensures that each query receives prompt attention from the most qualified personnel.

Advanced ticketing systems also: 

• Nudge agents to take action when tickets are open too long
• Keep customers informed about their ticket status
• Assign tickets based on agent workload and availability
• Suggest self-help resources 

Ideal for: Handling transaction-related or product-quality issues that require human intervention but are not urgent. These systems streamline the process, addressing customer concerns promptly while freeing up your support team.

3. Knowledge base

A knowledge base includes product guides, FAQs, video resources, and glossaries that help users with the most common concerns.

A lot goes into creating a worthwhile knowledge base—looking at your support ticket data, analyzing your products, services, or policies, reviewing specific use cases, compiling inputs from cross-functional teams, and organizing it all neatly in a format customers can engage with.

An effective knowledge base fosters self-help and integrates well with your AI chatbot. Once your customer faces an issue you covered in your knowledge base, chatbots redirect your customer there for detailed step-by-step assistance.

For instance, take a look at the omnichannel customer service platform Plivo CX’s knowledge base:

In addition to video guides, this knowledge base provides articles and resources to help users fully understand and utilize the platform's many features.

Ideal for: Covering product demos and tutorials, use cases, or informing customers about your product’s return or refund policies.

4. Canned responses

Canned responses are pre-written text messages that your customer service agents can use to chat with customers quickly. They help improve agent response times and reduce agent fatigue. They also help incorporate brand voice and tone in customer communication across channels.

For instance, an agent named John can have a canned response that says, “Hi, I am John. I will assist you with your issue today.”

Ideal for: If your website doesn’t have a live chat feature or your customers prefer reaching out to you over email, implement canned responses for FAQs related to products, services, returns and exchanges, and pricing to decrease the response time. 

5. Voicebots  

Leveraging the advanced capabilities of conversational AI, natural language processing (NLP), and speech recognition technologies, interactive voice-based assistants add a layer of superior and personalized customer service to your business while lowering operational costs. They understand customer sentiments and optimize call routing by sending high-priority issues to the right team. Moreover, AI-driven bots can provide round-the-clock service to customers in the language of their choice.

Ideal for: Handling tier-1 support queries and routine inquiries. In healthcare, voice bots can schedule appointments and provide information on treatment options. In banking, a voice bot can verify a customer’s identity and perform tasks like checking the account balance and blocking a stolen card.

The Advantages of Automated Customer Support 

1. Allows for seamless scalability 

Your mid-sized business may be managing customer support with a small team today, but as your business grows and customer inquiries increase, your team will soon reach its limit.

Customer service automation handles thousands of customer interactions simultaneously. Plivo CX integrates with your existing tech stack as you grow—ticketing, order management, CRMs, and more. 

Additionally, you get to build customizable no-code workflows that are automatically triggered with any inbound call or text. For example, you can set a workflow to route high-priority and usual customers to different queues. 

2. Provides 24/7 support availability

24/7 availability simply means allowing customers to reach out for support anytime. You also risk customer churn if you are slow to respond or hang up on them. Plus, hiring night shifts is not just expensive, but night-time workers are also at a higher risk of anxiety and mental health concerns. 

To avoid this, AI-powered chatbots ensure customer queries are answered round the clock, whether your support team is online or not. To elevate the customer experience further, Plivo CX partners with OpenAI to offer intelligent chatbots you can easily train and connect with your existing knowledge base.

Also, the platform’s drag-and-drop workflow builder allows businesses to create custom customer journeys across all their communication channels. Not only that, the platform seamlessly integrates with various systems, including homegrown solutions.

3. Improves agent efficiency 

Apart from handling customer concerns, your customer service automation tool empowers agents to focus on value-driven activities such as attending to complicated questions, upskilling, analyzing and improving performance. 

For this, Plivo CX offers a Unified Agent Desktop that offers a clutter-free agent interface. On the left pane, agents can toggle seamlessly between incoming customer calls or messages. 

They can also use and switch between every channel—voice, chat, text/SMS, and WhatsApp—all in one place. Furthermore, agents have real-time access to complete customer information, ensuring contextually relevant and personalized interactions.

4. Enables omnichannel communication 

Omnichannel communication involves addressing customer issues and communicating with them on the channel of their choice, be it voice, email, WhatsApp, call, or SMS. This is slightly different from multichannel customer communication and can deliver a seamless customer experience more effectively.  

As an omnichannel customer service platform, Plivo CX lets you seamlessly switch between voice, OpenAI-powered live chat, SMS, MMS, email and WhatsApp, or use multiple channels simultaneously from one screen. 

It also offers out-of-the-box integrations with Salesforce, Zendesk, and Shopify to centralize your customer information in a single source of truth. Moreover, you can configure omnichannel customer journeys that help with better CSAT via intelligent routing and better problem resolution.

5. Helps you gain valuable customer insights 

The right customer service automation tools help you monitor what’s going on at your call center up close. They come with features like live dashboards that help you see agent productivity in real time, along with powerful reports to make your call center processes better. 

‍

The Service module of Plivo CX offers access to powerful live metrics with features like Call Barge or Whisper to let supervisors take over when agents feel stuck while talking to customers. 

Top Customer Support Automation Tools 

1. Plivo CX 

Plivo CX is web-based customer service automation software that enhances agent productivity and elevates customer satisfaction. The platform supports multiple communication channels, enabling businesses to engage with customers via AI bots on messaging channels, voice, SMS, email, and WhatsApp to offer a seamless experience for both customers and agents. 

It also leverages Plivo’s award-winning global messaging and calling network to provide customers with fast, faultless communication. So, there is no dependence on third-party services. 

Plivo CX is a perfect fit for midmarket B2C and eCommerce businesses because it seamlessly integrates with CRM systems, help desk software, marketing automation platforms, homegrown systems, and so on. 

Key features

• Leverage OpenAI-powered chatbots, IVRs, and knowledge base integration to automate a large portion of your inbound customer queries
• No-code drag-and-drop workflow builder lets you decide how you exactly interact with customers across channels
• Make contextual and historical customer data available in a Unified Agent Desktop from your CRM or other systems so that your agents can seamlessly switch between voice, chat, text/SMS and WhatsApp
• Measure your agents’ performance using historical reports and live dashboards, along with comprehensive support for coaching

Limitations

• It is not ideal for transactional ticket-based support
• Lacks quality assurance and workforce management features
• No mobile version for support agents

2. Aircall

Aircall empowers customer service with features like intelligent call routing, missed call tracking, call context and analytics, the ability to blocklist numbers, and more.

It also supports collaboration via shared contacts, enabling your team to follow customer conversations. Aircall’s customer service automation software offers analytics to gain granular details of your customer service center performance. 

Key features

• Get customer context on every inbound call with Insight Cards
• Smartflows Call Routing lets you build inbound call flows to redirect calls to the right agents
• Get insights into analytics like total inbound or unanswered calls or talk-to-listen ratios

Limitations

• Rudimentary workflow designer lacks flexibility for custom journeys needed by larger businesses (Source)  
• Offers only voice-based customer support, lacks helpdesk and knowledge base features
• Has robust features for voice support but does not support other channels

3. Zendesk

Zendesk is an all-in-one customer service automation tool that supports omnichannel communication. It offers services such as call support, chatbots, ticketing, and knowledge base creation and integrates with 1,200+ pre-built apps and business sources. 

Key features

• Zendesk works predominantly on a ticket-based approach where complex customer queries are routed as tickets
• Its AI-powered chatbots, called AI agents, offer personalized support and provide human agents with necessary context when needed
• Integrates well with most of the popular software and apps in your tech stack, including CRM systems, and offers immense potential for customization

Limitations

• Live monitoring and coaching capabilities are missing (Source) 
• Has limited calling capabilities (Source)
• Lacks customizable workflows
• Relies on a transactional ticket-based system for all interactions
  

4. Talkdesk

As an AI-powered contact center solution, Talkdesk offers self-service AI, omnichannel support, and a customizable customer journey builder. It also offers support for training, coaching, and managing your customer service agents and analytics to measure customer satisfaction.

Key features

• Provides a user-friendly interface that allows easy navigation for agents to access customer information and handle calls efficiently
• ACD intelligently routes incoming calls to the most appropriate agent based on skill set, availability, or customer history
• Supervisors can monitor live calls or review recordings to provide feedback and improve agent performance

Limitations

• Offers a voice-only base pack, which is pretty expensive
• Requires separate helpdesk software for comprehensive interaction management
• Relies on a third-party service for voice calling functionality
• Lacks native omnichannel capabilities, limiting seamless customer interaction

How Plivo CX Helps With Customer Service Automation

Deliver exceptional customer service anytime and anywhere with Plivo CX’s tailored solutions. Proactively meet your customers' needs on all fronts and exceed their expectations. 

As a cloud-based omnichannel platform, Plivo CX empowers businesses to automate customer service through AI-powered chatbots that provide instant support, intelligent ticket routing to ensure inquiries are handed over to the right agent and a Unified Agent Desktop for seamless access to customer information. 

Additionally, the platform offers self-service options like knowledge bases and FAQs, reducing agent workload and empowering customers to find answers on their own. 

This comprehensive automation streamlines customer service operations, improves efficiency, and enhances customer satisfaction.

To learn more, book a demo today! 

SMS verification codes can significantly enhance your security measures, providing a quick and effective way to verify a user’s identity. Integrating text message verification codes into your authentication process can save time, streamline workflows, and strengthen user trust.

Plivo’s Verify API makes it easy to start sending one-time passcodes (OTPs) in one second or less. In this guide, we’ll explain why SMS verification is so effective and show you how to set it up in just 5 minutes. Our API allows you to send your first OTP in 90% less implementation time than a legacy verification solution. We'll also provide step-by-step instructions to ensure you can quickly and easily incorporate one-time passcodes (OTPs) into your applications.

Why should I use SMS verification codes?

While SMS verification isn't foolproof, it's a widely used and convenient security measure. One-time passcodes delivered via SMS or voice add an extra layer of security to online accounts, making them more difficult to break into. Accounts with one-time passcodes enabled as part of two-factor or multi-factor authentication make it much harder for hackers to break in, even if they steal your password. 

Financial institutions, e-commerce sites, streaming platforms, and delivery apps. For instance, SMS verification can confirm that the person logging into a peer-to-peer payment platform is the account owner. This can help prevent unauthorized purchases or account takeovers. 

Prerequisites to send one-time passcodes

Before we dive in, make sure you complete the following requirements:

1. Plivo account: Sign up for a Plivo account if you still need to do so.
2. API key and token: Obtain your Plivo API key and token from the Plivo console.
3. Phone numbers: Ensure you can access the phone numbers to which you intend to send verification codes.
4. Programming environment: Set up your programming environment with the necessary libraries to interact with the Plivo API. Install the Plivo SDK for your programming language: Plivo supports Python, JavaScript, Ruby, and many more languages.

In summary, make sure you have a Plivo account with an application created. While creating the application, define the right session expiry, attempt, OTP length, etc. You will also need to get a library/module/SDK for making HTTP requests to Plivo's API (this is available in various programming languages) or directing HTTP requests to Plivo’s API.

With these prerequisites in place, here’s how to start sending OTPs. 

Create a session

Plivo’s Verify API can be used with Python, Ruby, Node, GO, PHP, .Net, Java. This article will focus on Python.

Step 1: Install Plivo SDK

First, you need to install the Plivo SDK for your programming language. For Python, you can use pip:

pip install plivo

Step 2: Configure Plivo Client

Initialize the Plivo client using your Auth ID and Auth Token:

import plivo

auth_id = 'YOUR_AUTH_ID'
auth_token = 'YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN'

client = plivo.RestClient(auth_id, auth_token)

Step 3: Send the OTP

Create a Verify session for sending OTP:

response = client.verify_session.create(
    app_uuid='xxxxx-1215-422e-222-xxxx',
    recipient='+xxxxxxxxxxx',  # dst number
    otp=code,
    channel='sms',
    method='POST',
    locale='pt_BR'
)
print(response)

Arguments:

• recipient (string): The phone number to which the message is to be delivered. It's a mandatory parameter.
• app_uuid (string): The UUID of the application you want to use for this session. Defaults to the UUID of the default application for your account.
• otp: You can specify the OTP in the request if you want to send a custom one instead of a system-generated one.
• channel (string): The channel you want to send the code. Allowed values: sms, voice. Defaults to sms.
• locale: The locale parameter allows you to customize the language of the OTP message. This is useful if your users are in different regions and prefer different languages.
• url: To receive a callback on the final state of OTP delivery.
• method: The HTTP method to be used when calling the URL defined above.

If you created multiple applications, you can send the app_uuid in the request parameter:

response = client.verify_session.create(
    app_uuid='xxxxx-1215-4qq2e-222-xxxx',
    recipient='+xxxxxxxxxxx'  # dst number
)
print(response)

If you are sending a custom OTP:

response = client.verify_session.create(
    recipient='+xxxxxxxxxxx',  # dst number
    otp=code,
)
print(response)

If you want to send the locale parameter:

response = client.verify_session.create(
    app_uuid='sss-1c15-4ww3e-ssss-ssss',
    recipient='+xxxxxxxxxxx',  # dst number
    otp=code,
    channel='sms',
    method='POST',
    url='https://www.requestbin.com',
    locale='pt_BR'
)
print(response)

Validate the session

Once the user receives the OTP, they must provide it to your application. You can then verify the OTP using the validate request:

response = client.verify_session.validate(
    session_uuid='sss-1c15-4d3e-ssss-ssss',
    otp=code
)
print(response)

You can request the Plivo support team to configure the hashmap so that the OTP will be automatically read from the message, eliminating the need to enter the received OTP on the handset.

Arguments:

• otp (string): The OTP that you want to validate against a particular session.
• session_uuid: The session UUID of the Verify session request.

Get and list Verify sessions

You can retrieve details of a specific Verify session or list all Verify sessions. This can be useful for auditing and tracking purposes.

response = client.verify_session.get(
    session_uuid='sss-1c15-4d3e-ssss-ssss'
)
print(response)```



```
response = client.verify_session.list()
print(response)

Start sending SMS verification codes with Plivo

While there are plenty of ways to improve the security of your application and protect customers from fraud, a lot depends on your service provider.

If you’re looking for a reliable and trusted partner, Plivo is the right solution for you. We send messages to audiences in 220+ countries and offer a full suite of products including SMS API, Verify API, WhatsApp Business API, Voice API, and more. 

Interested in reading more about how Plivo can help you strengthen your application’s security? Check out some of our top picks: 

• How to Add Two-Factor Authentication to a Python Flask Application with Plivo: A step-by-step guide for Python developers.
• Adding Two-Factor Authentication to a .NET Application: Learn how to integrate OTP verification in .NET.
• Implementing Two-Factor Authentication in Ruby: Ruby developers can follow this detailed tutorial.
• Verify API Reference Documentation: Comprehensive documentation for developers looking to dive deep into Plivo's Verify API.

Preventing SMS Fraud with Plivo: Learn how Plivo’s Verify API protects against SMS fraud.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can easily integrate Plivo’s Verify API into your application to manage OTPs for user verification. This process ensures a higher level of security and helps authenticate users effectively.

That’s it! You should be ready to start sending OTPs for account verification. For full details regarding setting up OTPs with Verify, check our developer resources.

The Global Fraud Loss Survey 2023 found that robocall scams in North America now account for more than 50% of global losses. Yet, many businesses are unprepared to deal with robocall scams and their implications for customers. 

As businesses increasingly rely on automated systems and digital communication, the opportunities for fraudsters to exploit vulnerabilities also rise. 

Toll fraud not only affects customer trust but can lead to significant financial losses and damage to a company's reputation. It is crucial for businesses to understand the mechanisms of such frauds and implement robust prevention strategies to safeguard their operations and maintain customer confidence.

In this guide, we’ll dive deeper into toll fraud and explain how to take steps to protect your business.

What is toll fraud?

Toll fraud, otherwise called international revenue sharing fraud (IRSF), occurs when an unauthorized individual gains control of a company’s phone system to transfer long-distance, international, or even premium-rate calls at the owner's expense. 

Usually, fraudsters gain access to voice mail systems or private branch exchanges (PBXs) that are not adequately secured. They use this access to make call-through calls, which rack up expenses by using unreasonable foreign or premium services. 

How does toll fraud work?

Toll fraud affects landline and mobile numbers in more than 200 countries. The profitable nature of toll fraud is reflected in the emergence and re-selling of the number range, as many as 10,000 new IRSF-related areas are promoted weekly.

Here’s a step-by-step example of how toll fraud works to the detriment of a business. 

Finding weaknesses: Fraudsters scour telecommunication systems for vulnerabilities. These weaknesses could involve poorly secured account registration processes or weak security settings.

1. Fake account factory: Once a weakness is identified, the fraudster creates many fake accounts using automated bots or scripts. These fake accounts can appear quite legitimate at first glance.
2. Premium number power: Fraudsters leverage premium-rate or premium-service numbers provided by telecom carriers. These numbers charge significantly higher rates per call or text message compared to regular numbers.
3. Exploiting the system: Fraudsters use the fake accounts and premium numbers to steal money using two different methods:
   
   • The 2FA trap: If a service uses SMS or voice verification codes for two-factor authentication (2FA), fraudsters can exploit this. They trigger a massive number of verification code requests to be sent to their fake accounts, all routed to the premium numbers. This results in a surge of expensive texts or calls being billed.
   • Account activity abuse: Services with free trials or account creation are vulnerable. Fraudsters exploit weak registration processes to create a multitude of fake accounts. These accounts might then be used to trigger actions that generate SMS or voice traffic to premium numbers, racking up charges for the service provider.
4. Profit sharing scheme: In some cases, the fraudsters might collude with a complicit telecom carrier. The carrier might share a portion of the inflated revenue generated from the premium number usage.

By generating a massive amount of fake traffic to premium numbers, fraudsters steal money, often leaving the service provider or unsuspecting user with a hefty bill.

Who is at risk of toll fraud?

Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) users, firms using premium rate numbers, and people dealing with international communications are most vulnerable to the threat of toll fraud.

Industries and businesses at risk

1. VoIP Users

Volume: High

Fraudsters frequently target VoIP users. Because of its digital nature, VoIP software is more prone to manipulation than other telecommunication methods.

2. Users of premium-rate numbers

Volume: Very high

Businesses using premium-rate phone numbers are vulnerable to toll fraud. Fake helpline numbers are designed to charge callers more than they would pay if they directly called any other number. Fraudsters redirect callers to these helplines and collect the revenue.

Examples: adult chat lines, tech support lines, interactive voting systems

3. Companies with international call facilities

Volume: Medium to high

Remote or international businesses, as well as those who are in the habit of making calls overseas, fall under the high-risk category as well. Fraudsters divert these calls to the high-cost destinations of their choice to pocket a maximum of the bogus billing payments.

For example, a U.S. tech company discovers that its phone system has been hacked, with all calls being redirected to premium-rate numbers in Latvia and the Maldives. Overnight, the sudden surge in international calls reveals significant financial misuse. This anomaly allowed the breach to be detected quickly.

4. High-risk geographic locations

Volume: High

Fraudsters direct calls mainly to countries that are known for their comparatively expensive rates. Cuba, Estonia, Lithuania, Somalia, and Zimbabwe are a few popular options for toll fraud.

How to prevent toll fraud

Plivo offers robust fraud control through Verify API for businesses to shield their operations. With built-in Fraud Shield, Plivo’s tools for limiting the risk of toll fraud can significantly help your business at no additional cost. Here’s how Fraud Shield works. 

Usage triggers

Statistically, large volumes of calls or SMS messages are strong indicators of fraudulent activity. Tracking these usage triggers is the first step to detecting and preventing toll fraud.

Plivo’s console has tools for users to review voice and SMS usage, react to unusual patterns, and initiate investigations.

Best Practices:

• Define usage allocations based on your business needs. For instance, if your application sends a one-time password (OTP) to a user account for two-factor authentication, you might limit the number of OTPs to one within a specific period (such as one OTP per user per 15 minutes).
• Track outgoing and incoming calls and text messaging activities for any sudden or unusual increases or changes in patterns.

Geographic Permissions

Toll fraud can be reduced by restricting call destinations. Through the Plivo console, geographic permissions can be managed and users can specify the countries that can process their outgoing calls. 

Best Practices:

• To manage location permissions, click on Voice > Geo Permissions from the Plivo console. Find the countries you’re looking for on this list. You can narrow the list of options by checking certain geo-spatial regions or countries as needed.
• Clarify permissions that align with your business and limit direct calls to risky countries unless only when necessary. 

Custom Prefix Blacklist

A blacklist of prefixes related to high percentages and fraud helps detect attempts at unrecognized use. Plivo follows an evolving list of risky prefixes that include the rate of calls, trends detected by third-party entities, and more. These characteristics can be used to make your phone system more secure.

Best Practices:

• From the Plivo high-risk screen (pictured below), follow the prompts to export the latest risky prefix list. 
• Include these prefixes in the system’s blacklist feature to automatically stop the number of calls when it reaches a certain threshold. 

High-Risk Permissions

By tweaking permissions in the Plivo console, you can limit access to phone calls and messages that pose a high risk. These controls include banning outbound calls to numbers for revenue sharing.

Best Practices:

• Publish and regularly update a list of high-risk areas from Plivo's Voice > Geo Permissions > High-Risk Permissions screen. The SIP filter blacklist provided by Plivo details more than a thousand of these expensive rates and higher-risk prefixes.
• Formulate rate limits to check the volume of outgoing calls and messages and avoid traffic from formidable amounts to high-risk destinations.
• Create voice verification functions and two-factor authentication to better identify real customers and block undue service use.

Prevent toll fraud with Plivo’s Fraud Shield

Plivo's Fraud Shield protects businesses against the negative impacts of toll fraud. Multiple security layers and continuous monitoring reduce the chances of unintended use of communication services that cause losses.

Key features of Plivo's Fraud Shield

• Real-time traffic monitoring: Plivo sends notifications in real time, allowing the detection of anomalous patterns that could indicate fraud. This feature is a decisive parameter for detecting and handling possible threats.

• Customizable thresholds: Call management systems allow businesses to set definite durations, intervals, and destinations for calls. Users can specify the parameters of normal activity for their particular operations. If all of the thresholds are exceeded, Plivo sends an alert.

• Geographic and prefix restrictions: Users can restrict calls to high-risk countries or with high-cost prefixes and edit them individually from the Plivo console.

• Automated blocks and alerts: Plivo can generate real-time alerts on suspicious activities and automatically take appropriate action to block an identified threat. This method effectively blocks unauthorized use while preventing overall losses.

• Detailed reporting: Plivo generates rich reports for businesses to study call patterns and examine whether the existing strategies to curb fraudulent activity are effective. With this detailed analysis, it may be possible to adjust settings and develop more robust security measures for the future.

Begin your free trial today to experience how our range of tools can safeguard your business from toll fraud.

Data storage in the context of SMS/MMS/WhatsApp involves recording and storing messaging data, including recipient information and message content. Companies often use SMS/MMS/WhatsApp data storage to track communication with clients or for internal monitoring purposes.

However, data storage is subject to privacy regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA. So organizations processing third-party personal data are required to implement privacy controls, such as message content storage redaction.

Plivo's Enhanced Data Storage Options

To address this we're thrilled to introduce new comprehensive data storage options for SMS, MMS and WhatsApp messaging. This empowers Plivo customers to fine-tune their data storage preferences, aligning with regulatory requirements and their unique business needs.

Customizable Data Storage Preferences for Messaging

Outbound Messages

Plivo now offers four custom data storage preferences, enabling customers to personalize the handling of their outbound messaging data in alignment with global data protection standards and business needs.

The preference for data logging of outbound messages is set as a parameter in the Send Message endpoint and is applied at the message level. The four available settings for modifying content storage preferences include:

‍

Illustrative Example of Data Storage Options

Consider a message with the destination number '+12025550123' and content: 'Hello, your appointment is confirmed for tomorrow at 3 PM.' processed under each storage setting:

Important Note: Message content redaction prevents Plivo from troubleshooting or retrieving messages in case of issues. The default setting is to store both the number and message content, ensuring outbound messages are fully retained unless the log parameter is explicitly set to ‘false’.

Inbound Messages

Similarly, for inbound messages, customers can specify their storage preferences, which are configured at the application level. The available settings for inbound messages are:

Important Note: If inbound messages are redacted, Plivo cannot debug or recover message content if there are any issues with the callback URL.

Default Settings for Outbound and Inbound Messages

Standard policy ensures the accessibility of outbound message content for 7 days and destination numbers for 90 days. After this period, both message content and numbers are stored in compliance with GDPR. This policy similarly applies to inbound messages, facilitating content and number access under the same terms.

These features depend on the selected storage settings and are available unless message data has been redacted. Users can explore this data via the Messaging Logs section of the console — with options to review a specific timeframe or search a UUID to retrieve message details.

Discover more about our message log redaction processes in our developer documentation.

Plivo’s WhatsApp Business API makes sending and receiving WhatsApp messages easy. Getting started is simple — even for non-technical users. Here’s how to onboard your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA), register your number, and send messages in seconds.

Meet the prerequisites

There are several prerequisites you must meet to begin using our API. Before you can send your first message, check these steps off your list.

• Sign up for a Plivo account if you haven’t already done so. We’ll give you some credits to use when you’re first starting out. Once you’ve used them, set up your payment details to ensure your account always has funds. 
• Log in to the Facebook account with access to your company’s Meta Business Manager. To add a WABA with Plivo, the Facebook account should have the “Full Control” access level of the company’s Meta Business Manager. 
• Make sure you have a phone number that can receive a one-time passcode (OTP) either via SMS or voice call without an IVR

Step 1: Connect your WhatsApp Business Account with Plivo

Next, create a new WABA or link an existing WABA via the WhatsApp landing page on the Plivo console. This will open Meta’s embedded signup flow that will take you through the following steps to connect your WABA with Plivo.

• Log in to Facebook and select Continue
• Select your business
• Select an existing WABA or create a new one. Note that if you select an existing WABA, it will be delinked from any previously connected business service provider (BSP).‍
• Name your WABA account. The name you use will not be visible to your messaging audience. It should match or closely align with your registered business name with regional identifier (if any). Avoid using special characters and abbreviations.
• Set the WhatsApp Business Display Name. This name is visible to your messaging audience. Therefore, it should match your company’s name as closely as possible and adhere to the WhatsApp Business Display Name Guidelines. 
• Select the business category
• Enter a phone number and verify with an OTP
• Click Continue, and you’re ready to go. Select Finish.

Step 2: Verify that Meta onboarding was successful 

Once you’ve completed the first step, the WABA will be shown in your Plivo console. Verify that onboarding was successful by visiting the Business Settings of your Meta Business Account, and clicking on WhatsApp Accounts. Go to the Partners tab. You should see Plivo included on your partners list.

Step 3: Create a WhatsApp Template for approval

Meta requires you to use approved templates to initiate WhatsApp messages to your audience. Go to the WhatsApp Template Management page on Meta and create a template. Choose the best fit from Meta's list of templates according to your business needs. 

Note that the message template determines your conversation type, which also determines how you will be charged. Meta charges different fees for different types of conversations. Expect Meta to take up to 24 hours to approve new templates.

Once the template you’ve created is approved by Meta, use the “Sync Templates from WhatsApp” function in your Plivo console to fetch the template details.

‍To successfully configure WhatsApp Channel in Plivo Verify, you will need at least one approved “Authentication Template” in your WhatsApp Manager. 

Step 4: Send your first WhatsApp message! 

When your template is approved, you’re all set to use our API to send your first message. Create a file called send_whatsapp.js and paste into it this code.

var plivo = require('plivo');

var client = new plivo.Client("""", """");

const template = {
          ""name"": ""sample_purchase_feedback"",
          ""language"": ""en_US"",
          ""components"": [
            {
              ""type"": ""header"",
              ""parameters"": [
                {
                  ""type"": ""media"",
                  ""media"": ""https:'//'plivo.com/s3/img1.jpg""
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              ""type"": ""body"",
              ""parameters"": [
                {
                  ""type"": ""text"",
                  ""text"": ""ABM Water Purifier""
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        }
client.messages.create(
    {
       src:"""",
       dst:"""",
       type:""whatsapp"",
       template:template,
       url: ""https:'//'.com/sms_status/""
     }
     ).then(function (response) {
       console.log(response);
      });

Customize the code with the following changes:

• Replace the auth placeholders (such as <auth_id>) with your authentication credentials that can be found on the Plivo console. 
• Replace the phone number placeholders with your phone number in E.164 format (for example, +12025551234). 
• src should be the phone number registered for your WhatsApp Business Account.
  
• dst should be the recipient's WhatsApp number.

Note that WhatsApp templates support four components: header, body, footer, and buttons. When you send messages, the template object you see in the code acts as a way to pass the dynamic parameters. header can accommodate text or media (images, videos, documents) content. body can accommodate text content. footer cannot have any dynamic variables.

That’s it - you’re all set to start using Plivo’s WhatsApp API. To learn more about Plivo’s WhatsApp API, please refer to our developer resources or reach out to our support team. 

‍