CRM communication management overview

Raising a CRM communication is the method by which a new customer interaction is recorded on the system, and the starting point for all subsequent activities required to progress and ultimately resolve the call. Civica Cx Housing is designed in such a way that the 'start' and 'end' points for the communication correspond to the live customer interaction. Hence, when a new call is received, the communication clock is started; only when all information has been gathered and the call ended is the communication clock then stopped. That way, operators can deal comprehensively with each call in chronological order, ensuring that all required information is collected on initial contact and therefore avoiding unnecessary follow-up calls. CRM communications can be recorded in one of three ways:

Start Communication Button: Located on the home page, this action button enables the operator to launch a new communication as soon as the next call in the queue is allocated to them, and before ascertaining the caller identity.
Contact Details: Launching a new CRM communication through an individual contact record would be appropriate for recording inbound customer correspondence such as a letter or email, where the contact identity is already known and it is expected that the start time will be asynchronous to the date and time stamp of the original correspondence.
Appended to an existing case: During the progression of a typical CRM case, there could be numerous instances where the primary contact or other members of the contact group submit further correspondence or make subsequent calls in support of the original case. In such circumstances, it is possible to locate the case first and then raise a new communication against it, therefore preserving all related customer interactions in one place.

Once a new communication is linked to a contact or contact group, the method of communication is selected, appropriate to the customer interaction e.g. Letter, Email, Telephone, Home Visit, etc. For end users who perform a specific function, particularly within a call centre or housing surgery, it is possible to assign a default communication method to their system account, such that it is automatically selected on launching the communication, although this choice can be changed to suit the specific circumstances.

A CRM communication can exist in its own right - with no associated cases and tasks - for customer interactions that would be classified as 'general enquiries' or 'advice only'. Such communications would be relevant in circumstances where the operator either knows the answer instantly or is able to elicit the information during the live call e.g. a query concerning opening times for the housing surgery.

Separate help articles have been created for each key aspect of CRM communication management, including: