What are CC Routes?

CC Routes, also known as Call Center routes, are a specialized type of high-volume, automated inbound call traffic designed specifically for delivering large volumes of brief voice messages rapidly.

CC routes, also known as Call Center routes, allow call centers to manage high volumes of short, bursty calls. This guide will explore everything call centers need to know to optimize CC routes, from understanding pricing models to implementing best practices for handling thousands of calls per second. We’ll provide actionable insights to help call centers to maximize the benefits of CC routes while minimizing risks.

CC routes consist of brief, high-volume calls typically sold by specialized providers. These routes pack a massive number of calls per second (CPS) but the calls themselves last only a few seconds on average.

CC routes serve defined purposes like voice broadcasts, notifications, or verification messages. They bypass normal call distribution to agent teams and instead deliver bursts of thousands of calls directly to endpoints.

Handled effectively, CC routes provide many benefits:

• Meet sudden spikes in call volumes during peak periods
• Enable time-sensitive communications like reminders or alerts
• Optimize utilization during known periods of very low call volume
• Deliver important mass notifications quickly
• Provide sufficient capacity for voice blasts or recordings
• Increase revenue potential for high-volume traffic

However, reaping these benefits requires careful management due to the unique challenges of CC routes.

What Makes CC Routes Different from Standard Call Center Traffic?

Standard call center traffic comes from customers contacting support, sales, or service lines. Call distribution systems evenly spread this normal traffic across available agents.

CC routes differ in several key ways:

• Purpose – They deliver defined, high-priority communications like alerts rather than handling varied customer inquiries.
• Volume – CC routes cram thousands of calls per second into brief bursts, drastically exceeding normal volumes.
• Duration – The calls are very short, often just 5-10 seconds instead of minutes.
• Handling – They bypass agent teams and go directly to endpoints like automated message lines.
• Originator – CC traffic comes from partners sending voice blasts, not customers with support needs.

These characteristics make CC routes very distinct from standard call center traffic. Their specialized nature requires different management approaches.

Pricing Models and Cost Considerations for CC Routes

CC routes involve unique pricing models that call centers must factor into routing decisions and cost management. The pricing models primarily depend on:

• Per Minute vs. Per Second Billing Since CC calls are short, billing increments make a big difference. Per-minute billing rounds up and overcharges. Per second billing is the most precise.
• Time of Day & Date  International CC rates fluctuate based on peak/off-peak times. Weekends are often cheaper.
• Country-Specific Termination Fees  Each country has different mobile and landline termination costs, ranging from $0.01 to $0.40+ per minute.
• Taxes, Surcharges & Government Fees Some countries add taxes for international calls and other fees that increase costs.
• Minimum Volume Commitments  CC partners may require minimum monthly volume commitments with penalties for unmet thresholds.
• Premium Rates for Short Notice & Peak Hours Last-minute CC demands or peak period usage often have premium pricing.
• Custom Routing & Number Provisioning Routing calls and assigning inbound numbers cost extra.

The combination of per-second billing, termination fees, taxes and peak-hour rates can make CC routes expensive. Call centers should analyze these costs before utilizing CC routes Management.

Capabilities that Enable Effective CC Route Management

Sophisticated call routing systems provide advanced capabilities purpose-built for optimizing CC traffic:

• • API Integration – Enables direct connecting with CC partners to access routes programmatically.
  • Dynamic Traffic Distribution – Distributes calls across endpoints based on real-time conditions and priority levels.
  • Geo-Routing – Routes calls to optimal geographic endpoints based on user location.
  • Number Provisioning – On-demand inbound number assignment and management.
  • Post-Call Webhooks – Trigger actions based on call outcomes via web callbacks.
  • Custom Routing Rules – Configure specialized inbound and outbound routing logic.
  • Traffic Segmentation – Separate CC from other traffic on dedicated channels.
  • Usage Tracking & Reporting – Provides insights into traffic volumes, costs and performance.
  • Service Assurance – Monitors key metrics like answer rate, connection quality and latency.
  • Self-Service Controls – Enables real-time traffic shaping and capacity scaling.
  • Alerting – Get notifications when defined usage or performance thresholds are exceeded.

The more capabilities a platform offers, the more optimization potential for CC routes. Seek systems purpose-built for programmable, high-volume traffic.

Top Challenges of Managing CC Routes

The massive volumes of CC routes pose inherent management challenges including:

• Maintaining Voice Quality Thousands of simultaneous calls can strain networks. Prioritize quality by avoiding over-compression.
• Preventing Call Failures Watch for choke points failing calls. Monitor systems in real-time and scale capacity dynamically.
• Balancing CC & Non-CC Traffic Don’t let CC spikes disrupt standard calls. Segregate traffic.
• Vetting CC Partners Many resellers overcommit and underdeliver. Validate technical expertise, infrastructure, and reputation.
• Optimizing Agent Staffing Have standby teams to handle unexpected peaks and troughs in CC volumes.
• Meeting Compliance Requirements Some countries prohibit ID spoofing, cross-border calls and other practices.
• Forecasting Usage Unpredictable CC traffic makes staffing & capacity planning difficult. Maintain buffers.
• Managing Costs The combination of per-second billing, termination fees and peak pricing drives costs. Monitor closely.

Effectively navigating these challenges takes experience and adaptive platform capabilities. Prioritize flexibility and scalability.

Best Practices for Optimizing CC Routes

Follow these best practices to ensure your call center handles CC routes effectively:

• Require Dedicated CC Capacity Provision voice capacity solely for CC traffic instead of mixing with standard calls. This protects quality and reliability for both traffic types.
• Implement Usage Thresholds Automatically throttle CC volumes if defined limits are exceeded to avoid overloading networks.
• Isolate & Prioritize Traffic Use separate voice VLANs for CC vs. non-CC calls. Make real customer calls the top priority if bandwidth is constrained.
• Continuously Monitor Usage & Performance Watch for spikes, dips, or anomalies in real time. Rapidly scale capacity up or down as needed.
• Frequently Review Pricing & Fees Check for peak period overages, excess taxes, and new partner charges each month.
• Vet Partners Thoroughly Go beyond promises and sales pitches. Verify technical expertise, infrastructure, reputation, and culture fit.
• Start with Limited Volumes When onboarding new partners, run small-scale tests first before ramping up. Monitor closely for issues.
• Enforce Contract Terms Rigidly Define technical requirements, quality thresholds and traffic allowances contractually. Hold partners accountable.
• Maintain Usage Forecasts Even unpredictable CC traffic should have monthly and annual estimates. Build in capacity buffers for forecast error.
• Have Emergency Plans Document procedures for responding to CC disruptions, partner issues and critical outages. Conduct mock drills.
• Continuously Optimize Look for ways to improve call distribution, cost management, partner integration and other processes.

Key Characteristics of CC Routes

Following structured best practices minimizes the headaches of CC routes and maximizes the benefits.

• High call volumes – CC routes can cram thousands of calls per second (CPS) into short bursts to reach massive audiences quickly. Peak CPS can exceed 5,000+ on CC routes.
• Very short call duration – The average CC route call length is just 5-10 seconds, compared to 2-5+ minutes for regular call center calls.
• Automated voice blasts/recordings – CC route calls are prerecorded automated messages rather than natural conversations. This enables hyper-efficiency.
• Bursty traffic patterns – CC routes concentrate large volumes of automated voice calls into tight time windows for rapid delivery.

Types of Messages Carried on CC Routes

CC routes are optimized for delivering high-priority, time-sensitive notifications to large groups rapidly. Example use cases include:

• Appointment reminders – Remind customers of upcoming appointments with automated reminder calls.
• Account notifications – Send balance due, payment confirmation, or account activity notifications.
• Verification codes – Deliver 2FA verification codes for secure account access.
• Flight updates – Notify travelers of gate changes, delays or cancellations via voice alerts.
• Emergency alerts – Quickly distribute critical public safety messages like severe weather warnings.
• Political & charity messages – Voice broadcasts for campaigns or donation appeals.

Managing High Volumes of Short, Bursty Calls with CC Routes

CC routes are a vital capability for call centers handling massive volumes of brief, automated voice blasts. Optimizing these specialized routes requires rigorous management.

CC routes, also called Call Center routes, enable delivering automated voice messages to huge audiences quickly. They have unique characteristics:

• Extremely high call volumes – CC routes pack thousands of calls per second (CPS) into tight bursts to reach massive scales. Peaks can hit 5,000+ CPS.
• Ultra-short call duration – CC calls last just 5-10 seconds on average compared to 2-5+ minutes for regular calls.
• Automated voice recordings – CC calls are prerecorded messages rather than live conversations. This allows hyper-efficiency.
• Time-concentrated traffic – Large CC call volumes are crunched into short-duration windows for rapid voice blasts.
• Predefined routing logic – CC calls bypass standard distribution and follow programmed rules to endpoints.
• Specialized call types – CC routes focus on high-priority alerts like reminders, notifications, or emergency broadcasts.

These attributes make CC routes unique compared to normal call center traffic. They enable crucial rapid, large-scale voice messaging capabilities.

Capabilities Needed for CC Route Optimization

Managing CC routes requires advanced capabilities purpose-built for high volumes of ultra-short automated calls:

• Precision call routing – To ensure calls reach the optimal endpoints based on advanced rules and real-time conditions.
• Usage throttling – For automatically controlling CC spikes that could overload networks and endpoints.
• Traffic segmentation – To isolate CC and non-CC calls onto separate infrastructure when needed.
• Real-time monitoring – Enables analyzing volumes, performance, voice quality and other metrics in real-time.
• Rapid scaling – For programmatically adding and removing capacity based on monitoring and predefined triggers.
• Toll-quality voice – Maintaining high-fidelity voice quality even at huge scales is critical.
• Fraud prevention – Detecting and blocking illegal spoofing and scam CC traffic before it hits endpoints.
• Automated self-service – Empowers making routing adjustments on the fly as needed without human intervention.

Investing in a platform robust enough to deliver these capabilities is key for call centers handling CC routes.

Comparing CC and Standard Traffic

CC routes differ significantly from regular call center traffic:

• Volume – CC peaks can hit 5,000+ CPS versus 50-100 CPS for normal traffic.
• Duration – CC calls last 5-10 seconds versus 2-5+ minutes for typical calls.
• Infrastructure – CC needs a high-capacity voice with dynamic scaling versus traditional call routing systems.
• Traffic Purpose – CC for pre-defined voice blasts; standard for varied customer inquiries.
• Origination – CC from partners; standard directly from end-user customers.

These differences mean call centers can’t treat CC routes the same as regular calls. Customized management is imperative.

Best Practices for Managing CC Routes

To master CC routes, call centers should follow these best practices:

• Require dedicated CC infrastructure – Don’t comingle CC and standard voice traffic.
• Enforce usage thresholds – Automatically throttle CC if the volume or performance metrics exceed defined boundaries.
• Isolate traffic – Use separate voice VLANs for CC and standard calls in case prioritization is needed.
• Monitor in real-time – Watch for anomalies indicating chokepoints or degrading voice quality.
• Scale dynamically – Programmatically adjust capacity based on monitoring instead of statically overprovisioning.
• Review costs frequently – Verify pricing model adherence and check for unexpected fees.
• Vet partners thoroughly – Scrutinize technical expertise, infrastructure, experience and business practices.
• Test extensively – Run rigorous pilots before fully onboarding partners.
• Maintain control – Craft partner contracts that protect your interests and define technical requirements.
• Continuously optimize – Regularly improve CC operations, integrations, reporting and analytics.

Combining purpose-built technology with rigorous management best practices allows call centers to maximize the value of high-volume CC routes.