This won't hold: the 10 best call center practices.

• Position: Marketing News - Brief Article

A list of the 10 best call center practices has been compiled by Customer-Centric, a bimonthly e-magazine (www.ccStandards.com), a publication of Alorica Professional Service Group of Chino, Calif.

The e-magazine recommends that all companies implement these procedures to reduce customer frustration over the phone:

1. Answer all calls with a live person in less than a minute.

2. Whenever possible, solve the customer's problem on the first call.

3. Do not rush call center representatives to get the customer off the phone.

4. If placing a customer on hold is required, do not allow holds of longer than five minutes.

5. If possible, follow-up calls should be made by the company, not the customer, in less than 24 hours.

6. Ensure that complete customer data, including contact information, purchase history and call history, is available to all representatives immediately. Don't ask the customer to remember whom they spoke with on a previous call.

7. If a company must utilize an automated service, limit the number of...