3rd Party Remote Call Monitoring Featured Article

There are very few—if any, really—cases in which it's a good idea not to get the most out of a system. Call monitoring systems are no different, and using these tools to the fullest allows for the best potential benefit. How does anyone get the most out of a call monitoring system? There are a few simple points to consider that, when used effectively, can be a big help.

First, be consistent. The more a call monitoring system is used, the more value it can generate because it covers a larger portion of the calls involved. The calls that aren't monitored become new potential failure points, and the fewer possibilities for failure in a system, the better.  Consider the use of a dedicated call monitoring team to help ensure that call monitoring doesn't just fall by the wayside because someone has “more important” things to do.

Second, consider what's being monitored. What goes into a “quality” call? It's different almost everywhere, but knowing what the best example looks like allows users to better shape each call to look more like the best example. Sure, most will consider first contact resolution or decreased average handling time to be important, but are these the most pressing problems? A closer look may reveal bigger issues afoot, so knowing what goes into that “quality” call will be the best point to start.

Third, get the agents involved. These are the people who are on the ground every day, and know what's going on in the call center. These people know if you're about to demand a new metric that will be impossible to reach—thus giving the call center that added taste of despair that will keep turnover extra high as agents leave to keep their sanity even at the cost of a job—or that will be useless long-term. Be sure to deliver rewards for achieving quality results.

This is really just a start; it's one thing to know how to get the most out of a call monitoring operation, but sometimes putting it into actual practice can be even harder than just knowing what to look for. Still, there's a value here in doing so; with phone calls still proving a valuable and popular point of customer contact, even as other methods become popular, having the best in phone experiences allows a company to best reach the largest number of incoming callers, at least for the time being.

With these points in mind, it's safe to say that a company will have the best chance of providing the best in customer contact. It's the kind of thing that never really achieves its fullest capability, though, and requires regular monitoring and updating to keep the chances high.