The data collected from call accounting software no longer has to be reserved for tracking a lawyer's billable hours.

Call accounting software has come into its own as a rich source of data that can be an excellent predictor of seasonal business trends, and marketing research.

Seasonal trends:

For those businesses that have seasonal swings - a few examples that come to mind include warm weather industries like painters, construction outfits, and lawn and garden e-tail and catalog commerce, or consumer retail outfits that rely heavily on holiday sales - the ability to anticipate inbound sales calls, the number of staff members needed to man the influx, or the prevention of overstaffing in slower seasons, can be quite the challenge for the business owner.

Call accounting software over the course of a year can easily predict the spikes in sales calls with clear figures on dropped calls due to insufficient staffing, as well as how many agents sat idle during slower seasons, resulting in costly overstaffing.

Market Research:

As a research tool, call accounting software can help market researchers manage call detail records along with source data to better evaluate which marketing campaigns are yielding results, and which ones need to be adjusted immediately to salvage a return on investment.

By placing several targeted campaigns on various media outlets with a dedicated phone number per campaign, a business can then clearly track the inbound calls, from what source, and the cradle to grave handling. By adding a simple yet brief questionnaire, respondents can easily be polled for additional data.

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About the Author

Author, Karen Ritz, VP Business Development for TelSoft Solutions, writes on the business benefits of call accounting and call detail record technology. More information can be found at http://www.telsoft-solutions.com.