analytics vendors should be asked 37 questions during the demo

It is easy to see why Call Analytics Platforms are an indispensable tool in martech. These platforms allow marketers to collect, analyze, and take action on the increasing volume of data that is being collected from inbound calls to companies.

Once you have decided if your company requires one it is time to choose a vendor and set up demos. To make comparisons, it’s important that they are scheduled as close as possible. Make sure that all internal users are present at the demo call. Also, pay attention to these:

• How simple is it to use the platform?
• Is the vendor able to explain our business and our marketing requirements?
• Are they showing us the “must-haves”?

These are the questions you should ask vendors when you demo the software to determine if it is right for you.

Phone numbers

• Are you able to offer both local and toll-free phone numbers? Are you able to provide international coverage?
• You can support mobile callers with local numbers and extensions that dynamically generate based on the location of site visitors.
• How can you clean your numbers How long do you keep your numbers in quarantine before you can reissue them?
• Are phone numbers portable? Do we have the phone numbers?

Onboarding

• What is it that makes this platform so different from other platforms?
• How easy is it to set up and implement a platform? How long does it take to get the system up and running?
• How intuitive is the platform’s user interface? How simple is it for business users or machine learning-based models to be customized?
• What is your guarantee of service reliability? Which telecom carriers are you working with?
• Are you a manager of telephony infrastructure proprietary or white-labeled
• How scaleable is the platform? What number of calls can it handle What number of calls were successfully processed?

Call tracking

• Is the platform able to record calls? What length of call recordings are available?
• Does the platform keep track of data at the keyword- and session level for search ads? Is it able to track data at the ad level for Facebook or display ads?
• How can the platform enable multichannel attribution?
• What does the platform do to measure and report call results? Are the outcomes customizable to meet our business needs?
• What call fraud prevention and detection tools do you use? These tools are included in the pricing? Is there an additional spam control fee?

Speech analytics

• What machine learning algorithms or AI is used by the platform to analyze chats and phone conversations?
• Is the platform using natural language processing?
• What does the platform’s speech analysis do to help us score calls, and feed call data into our CRM or ESP?

Call data privacy

• What data privacy regulations does the platform adhere to? Does it comply with HIPAA and CCPA?
• Are transcripts and recordings automatically removed from PII?
• Are you GDPR ready to serve our European Union customers and calls?

Agent training and marketing automation

• Is the platform able to use machine learning-based call routing and scoring to route inbound calls based upon caller location, business hours, and/or staffing?
• Do you have the option to use whisper messages on the platform to inform agents about caller sources and other useful information before they accept the call?
• Can call scores automatically be incorporated into rep performance assessments
• Is the platform capable of generating automated online display and email nurturing campaigns?
• Are you able to integrate natively with third-party systems like search, web analytics, CRM, or marketing automation platforms? If yes, which ones?
• Are APIs available? Access is included in the price?

Support

• What are the pricing principles? What features are included in the price? What additional fees are there (consulting, add on features, APIs and quotas),
• How long is the minimum contract? What is the minimum contract length? Is there an exit clause or a short-term agreement?
• Is there a pilot or trial program that is free?
• Is the platform white-labeled so that agencies and multi-location marketers can use it?
• Who will be our daily contact?
• Who is responsible if the system/team makes a mistake?
• Is there any customer service available? What kind of customer support is available?

Product roadmap and strategy

• Are there any other clients in my industry?
• What is the company’s approach to product modification requests?
• What are your plans for new features on the platform? What is the long-term plan and launch dates for the platform?

Download our latest report Enterprise call analytics: A marketer’s guide.

MarTech first published the post 37 Questions to Ask Call Analytics Vendors During The Demo.