The work at home agent – it’s a strategy that a number of organizations would like to put in place, but may require the flexibility of the call center on demand to make it work. The technology and applications put in place with the virtual environment tackle the pain points associated with managing an agent base located far from the home base.

A recent Call Centre Helper blog highlighted this very phenomenon, stressing the role of the call center on demand in the growth of the at-home agent. The key point – it allows management to ensure they are getting the most bang for their buck out of the remote agent, regardless of location. Management can put solutions in place that control routing, call delivery, agent location and call performance.

Let’s take a look at a few key elements enabled through the call center on demand that ensure the success of the home-based agent strategy.

Technology – as already stated, there are a number of different solutions that allow call center management to monitor the activities of the at-home agent. They can take advantage of presence and state management to monitor what the agent is doing while on the clock. These elements also allow the manager to measure performance on the calls.

Call Monitoring – this piece takes technology on step further as management not only knows what the agent is doing on the call, they can actually monitor the call itself. This is important for training and quality assurance purposes, but a spot check every now and again ensures agents are putting their best foot forward in interactions with customers.

Security – even with a solid remote management plan in place, some call center leaders were concerned about allowing remote agents access to the corporate network, applications and other resources. As more employees are going mobile and needing similar access, the technologies necessary to support this move are readily available, ensuring agents have the secure access they need to get the job done.

Business continuity – this time of year, it’s especially evident just how vulnerable a company can be when in the path of a storm. Customers may not be aware that a tornado just went down your street, knocked out resources and prevented employees from getting to work. If you have a distributed workforce on a virtual platform, they aren’t located in the same place and business can continue as usual.

The productivity gains measured by call centers already using the at-home agent strategy are too strong to ignore. With improved technology, call monitoring and security measures readily in place and the promise of business continuity, it’s time to explore how you can benefit from this strategy blended with the call center on demand.