Last week Yandex, the Russian search giant, launched a virtual automated customer communications system for small and medium-sized businesses. Christened ‘Yandex.Telephony,’ the service helps companies to manage all of their customer communications, including telephone calls, messages or inquiries coming via feedback forms on their websites or through social network accounts.
Developed in partnership with the Seattle-based MightyCall company, Yandex.Telephony “combines all the key features of a virtual automated call handling service” — including a system to process a business’s digital communications, as well as a statistics and task management solution.
The service allows companies to automatically transfer calls to specific extensions, direct calls to a relevant person or department, or ask the caller to wait or leave a voice message. All missed calls, voice messages, tweets, social network comments or other digital communications are automatically logged in a simple user interface and can be tasked to specific managers.
“A telephone call is still a preferred method of contacting your bank or gym, despite the popularity of messengers and social network websites,” said Elizaveta Alekseenko, Yandex.Telephony’s senior manager. “Our study of 7,200 local companies in Moscow and St Petersburg, however, showed that in a quarter of the cases the average waiting time was more than 20 seconds, or there was no answer at all. We understand the value of each customer. To help companies, regardless of their size, to never miss a single client, we’re now offering them a simple, easy-to-use service to manage all of their customer communications.”
The service’s basic functions are free, with the full package available for 999 rubles a month (approximately $15 at the current exchange rate). Telecommunications services used through Yandex.Telephony are provided by SunSim and are billed separately, on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Yandex.Telephony has been made available to companies in Moscow and St Petersburg. “We may extend the service to additional cities after we analyze the first results,” Yandex.Telephony representative Ekaterina Lebedeva told East-West Digital News. “Competition in high in this market, but the better part of existing offers target large and mid-sized companies,” Lebedeva said. “What’s more, 90% of small businesses don’t use any automated solution to manage these communications. Our offer targets these small companies, allowing them to use such a service at an accessible cost to avoid loosing clients.”
