With the social media revolution and the ever-changing profile of today’s customer, contact centers have gone above and beyond to keep service levels in line with growing customer service expectations. In Egypt, contact centers are realizing the importance of the agent in the service delivery chain, and are beginning to evolve their systems accordingly.

Customer service agents represent a contact center’s most significant expense, accounting for between 65 and 75 percent of monthly expenditure. In spite of this, according to a recent bikyasmasr.com article, staff retention rates in Egypt’s contact center industry have historically been relatively low. Training and recruitment initiatives can be costly and companies are now looking at ways to tailor their systems to promote job satisfaction among employees.

According to Shaheen Haque, territory manager, Middle East and Turkey at Interactive Intelligence (News - Alert) said that a high staff turnover rate represents an unnecessary expense for contact centers as well as has an adverse effect on customer service. As a result, contact centers are starting to take advantage of the technology available to them in order to optimize the working environment.

Agents armed with insufficient information to deal with irate customers can become frustrated, which has sparked a move towards the implementation of knowledge databases. Knowledge databases are created through extrapolating information from customer interactions and putting information into a centrally located knowledge center. This helps empower agents by establishing a more holistic overview of their customer profile, and alleviates the chances of facing questions they cannot answer.

By centralizing information regarding customer interactions, managers are able to analyze customer trends, and revise the structure of the contact center where necessary. For instance, if a service request or complaint be lodged at regular intervals, it may be more effective to incorporate information into an IVR or self-service environment, alleviating pressure on the contact center and allowing staff to focus on other important issues.

The rise of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), as well as the reduced cost of local broadband, is now allowing contact centers to move into a remote space, enabling agents to select a working environment best suited to their needs. Available real-time monitoring systems have made this possible as it allows contact center supervisors to oversee proceedings no matter where the agent is. This software has reduced the need for agents to be based on premises. By employing the remote or home-based agent model, contact centers can save on real-estate and utility cost while ensuring that agents enjoy flexibility and job satisfaction.

Speech Analytics software is also changing the ways in which contact center supervisors interact with customers and agents. This software allows supervisors to analyze conversations in real-time, with pre-assigned key words set to trigger alerts. The software help to improve customer satisfaction and first call resolution rate as well as aids decreases the pressure placed on contact center staff.

Contact center agents are an expensive resource for any company, and automated processes are becoming a preferred means to manage workload, thus minimizing expenditure on human resources. So, Business Process Automation (BPA) systems are helping contact centers to alleviate pressure placed on staff, by connecting front and back office staff and systems via a set of pre-defined parameters. Incoming communications using this software can be directed to the most relevant person within the company. BPA systems allow contact center staff to focus on core strengths, ensuring that more advanced queries are automatically directed to knowledgeable staff members.

Such systems can simplify contact center operations, freeing up agent time and reducing administrative hurdles to query resolution. Contact centers are moving towards more efficient and cost-effective systems, so it will be those that focus on the wellbeing of their front line staff able to achieve true excellence in the customer service field.

By taking the needs of the contact center staff into account, companies in Egypt can save money while ensuring that their customers receive the best possible level of service.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2012, taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO click here.

Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO. Follow us on Twitter.