The U.S. Contact Center Industry is Growing, and with It the Need for a Multichannel, Multi-Skilled Platform

While job creation in other industries may still be suffering from a stop-start-stop pattern, the contact center industry in the U.S. has continued to grow at a strong pace. While outsourcing customer care to foreign companies remains a popular choice, many companies are keeping their customer service in the U.S. (or bringing it back from foreign shores) for a number of reasons: rising costs in India and the Philippines, customer complaints about accents and lost U.S. jobs, or technologies that enable companies to keep costs under control, such as cloud contact center solutions that allow organizations to use home-based agents.

Jobs4america, which keeps track of hiring trends in the call center industry, recently released its report for the first quarter of 2015. The group recorded 13,669 new contact center positions created in the U.S.  After accounting for 5,704 lost jobs due to call center and closures, the report stated that this still represents a net gain of 7,965 new call center jobs.

As the contact center industry grows, so too to the technological and management demands of the industry. Small contact centers that are largely still run by old-fashioned manual methods, are ripe for the efficiencies that modern contact center solutions can offer. Skills-based routing, once relegated to the largest of contact centers, is now a viable option for small and medium-sized (SMB) contact centers. Multichannel customer support is now more critical than ever as customers used to interacting with larger, well-funded companies (think banks) expect multichannel experiences from smaller businesses, as well.

This may change hiring demands for many contact centers. Agents who have spent most of their time taking phone calls may need to broaden their horizons, according to a recent blog post by Monet Software. Those whose phone skills aren’t A+ may find themselves with more to do.

“Those will the ability to adapt to different communication channels will be more in demand,” according to Monet. “Also, those with outstanding written skills, but who are not as comfortable with interaction via telephone, now have an opportunity to work successfully in this environment.”

Monet recommends that for the modern multichannel and skills-based contact center of today, hiring managers look for the following qualities: courtesy and professionalism in all communication; attendance and punctuality; outstanding verbal skills and/or written skills; the ability to multitask; a responsible team player; the ability to adhere to a strict schedule; the confidence to work independently and problem-solve without assistance; the ability to stay calm in a fast-paced work atmosphere; familiarity with the technology found in contact centers; and the ability to listen to and respond to coaching.

Modern contact centers can use today’s advanced scheduling and workforce management solutions to ensure that agents with the necessary skills are available at all times. These solutions, which can be implemented from the cloud for home-based or remote agents, can play a key role in helping agents to achieve optimal performance, by giving them the information they need to succeed.

Edited by Stefania Viscusi