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When imagining the physical call center, most of us think in terms of multiple workstations with computers, chairs and telephones. While much thought might have gone into the functionality each element provided for the call center agent, the aesthetics of it were more than likely, not considered.

While the facilities management may view the furniture of the call center to be something of little importance and that little funds should be budgeted for that purpose, the opposite is actually true.

Believe it or not, the aesthetics of the call center are extremely important. The most obvious reason for this would be in the event of a visit from an existing or potential client. The call center that is not well planned in its design, function and aesthetics will give the appearance of being disorganized and unprofessional.

Such an environment also gives the wrong message to the employee. It can easily be perceived as the company not caring about professionalism or the performance of the call center--- If the organization or management doesn’t care, why should the call center employee?

Consider the call center that has employed a disabled individual. In one such call center, instead of acquiring an adjustable workstation for the individual, the maintenance staff built an eyesore of a workstation to accommodate a wheelchair. As a result, that particular workstation could never be used by anyone else as the surface proved too high for anyone in a standard chair. The end cost of building the modification and the fact that it could be wasted space later, ends up costing the call center more than the investment of an adjustable work station.

These situations are the result of an organization trying to reduce all upfront costs and build the call center as 'cheaply' as possible. The increasing costs of call center technology is contributing to this crunch on budgets and those making the decisions on the call center are likely to not be involved with the center, and therefore do not understand its needs.

What often happens in the design of the call center is that the organization emphasizes packing as many stations as possible into a given space, hoping to drive revenue and/or performance by number of agents/stations instead of quality of the customer interactions. What’s more, when privacy and confidentiality must be protected, the call center cannot be constructed in such a way that some parts of conversations can “spill over” from one station to another.

Choosing the proper call center furniture is not as much about aesthetics as it is about functionality. You must be able to determine the specific needs of your agents and how they will be conducting their activities in order to select the best design.

The overall aesthetics contribute greatly to overall productivity. When the designs selected are done so because of the specific needs of the agents, they will be able to work more efficiently and will be more productive. In addition, the pleasing environment will contribute greatly to employee satisfaction. And, when employees are more satisfied, they not only produce better quality work for the company, they also tend to stay with that company, helping to reduce turnover.

There is much to consider when selecting proper call center furniture, as it can have far reaching implications. Much research should be conducted before beginning this process and the help of a professional is always a good idea.

Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMC (News - Alert) and has also written for eastbiz.com. To see more of her articles, please visit Susan J. Campbell’s columnist page.