If you’ve had cause over the past years to call the customer service 1-800 number for any of the banks you deal with or manufacturers of products you have purchased or service providers you use, you’ve almost certainly been connected to an agent in India, the Philippines, or other call center haven. It’s no secret that a vast number of businesses have outsourced their call center operations to those regions, largely looking for cost savings.

 

More recently, however, that trend has started to reverse itself, as a growing number of businesses have realized that, while the labor might be cheaper, that cost benefit is outweighed by the inability of those agents to provide truly effective customer service — they simply are not familiar enough with their customers’ lives and experiences to be able to interact with them.

 

This has created a new growth in the call center industry in North America, including in the Austin, Texas area. In fact, RCCSP’s CEO Nina Kowalek says she recently heard accounts that the Austin contact center industry accounts for 25 percent of the jobs in Austin now.

 

And why not? Austin has over the past year received numerous accolades from “Most Digital Savvy City (Scarborough Research, 5/13/2008) to third on the list of “Most Recession Proof” cities (Forbes, 5/7/2008) to 6^th “best City to Live, Work, and Play” (Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, 7/2008). In fact, Austin boasts a rich communications infrastructure, including multiple fiber backbone providers protected by SONET rings and an expansive Ethernet architecture, ensuring centers have can leverage the latest in advanced communications technologies. It all adds up to a healthy contact center industry.

 

RCCSP (The Research Center for Customer Service Professionals) has recognized the growth of Austin’s contact center industry, and has made every effort to support further development in the area, most recently by sponsoring the Austin Contact Center Alliance (ACCA) Fall Symposium, called “Contact Centers Coming of Age,” last month at the University of Texas’ Pickle Research Center. The event drew 150 contact center managers from area businesses.

 

The Symposium focused on three key areas of contact center operations, which align with the goals of RCCSP’s own array of course offerings: Metrics and Performance Management, HR and Talent Management, and Tools and Technology.

 

RCCSP’s own courses, offered throughout the year in locations from coast to coast, provide the training and tools call center managers need to ensure their center operate at maximum efficiency and achieve the highest levels of customer satisfaction.

 

Through its RCCSP Professional Education Alliance, the organization provides a one-stop shop for call center, help desk, support center, ITIL, telecom, and customer service management training courses and certification. The RCCSP Professional Education Alliance unites many of the world’s most proven call center certification and training companies, each of which brings to the table its own reputation for providing quality content and instruction. Importantly, they are all accessible through a single source — RCCSP.

 

In addition to sponsoring the ACCA Fall Symposium, RCCSP has also added Austin to its 2008 nationwide tour of its newly enhanced Call Center Manager Certification Training program. In fact, two lucky participants, from IAS and Austin 3-1-1, at the Symposium won registrations to the October course.

 

Recognizing the potential of the Austin call center industry — and the growing need for more effective management in those centers, RCCSP is not only offering its Call Center Manager Certification course, but is, in fact, bringing an entire series of valuable call center certification courses to the city the week of October 27.

 

The scheduled events include:

 

 

Collectively, this series of courses will provide call center professionals in the Austin area with the knowledge, experience, and tools to get maximum return on their investments in both agents and technology.

 

With hands-on coursework, professionals at all levels — from C-level executives to managers, supervisors, and team leaders — will have at their disposal experienced educators trained in the latest techniques and technology.

 

Even though Austin’s position as a desirable locale, it is nevertheless incumbent upon contact center managers to drive success. From hiring and training to coaching and feedback, from budgeting and scheduling to technology selection, from understanding the relationship between efficiency and quality to overall operational design, participants of these courses will return to their respective call centers equipped with tools they can put to use immediately, and which are designed to result in quick return.