Does a good call tracking software need custom fields?

Custom fields can help to answer tough questions you want to know about your data

The usefulness of nearly any software can grow in leaps and bounds along with that software’s ability to be customized. Call tracking software is no different; it simply cannot be a one-size-fits-all application.

Businesses use call tracking software for distinct reasons, and in various industries, so an individual company being about to customize specific components of the software can make all the difference. The CallTrackingMetrics platform is an advanced software, and its feature set continues to grow each week, but it also offers users ways to customize that can fine-tune the software to fit its needs.

For this latest edition of ask an expert, we consulted with Account Executive Jonathan Morgia to get some intel about one of our features that brings the most flexibility to our platform — custom fields.

Do you consider custom fields to be an important part of a call tracking software? Why or why not?

Definitely, because they allow our software to be truly customizable. Our clients come from a wide spectrum of industries, and they each use our software for a different — sometimes wildly different — reason. Allowing our users to create custom fields is one way we empower them to completely tailor their experience in CTM to fit their needs.

Would you recommend that all customers use custom fields, or that customers only use custom fields in specific instances?

Well, to be honest, getting into the more complex features like custom fields can be intimidating for some. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to someone fresh to our software, or someone with a really simple use case who just doesn’t need to get into it. But, as a new user gains comfort in our platform, testing our custom fields can help take our software to the next level.
For clients that run their businesses around capturing and analyzing data, setting up and using custom fields can be such a time saver. For example, clients can create and report on fields specific to their industry or needs, like “missed appointment count” and “annual spend.”

Can you recall any particularly interesting or unique uses of custom fields that you’ve encountered in your work assisting our customers?

Yeah! I once spoke to a fence-building company that uses custom fields to assign call-in leads to specific designers. And, they use even more custom fields to define, track and report on other parameters, such as materials, estimated cost, and appointment booked. Getting breakouts like that really helps them understand the data in a way that benefits their business.