New York City is the center this spring for one of the most comprehensive and intensive set of contact center training and certification courses being offered in 2011. The RCCSP Professional Education Alliance is holding 14 classes from March 28 through April 1 at the Sheraton LaGuardia. The subjects cover range from call center director training to workforce management.

The dates and venue therefore provide “one-stop-shopping” for contact center training and certification that generates maximum ROI for the travel dollar and time away from the call floors. The Sheraton LaGuardia is reachable by air (from LaGuardia Airport and a little farther away, JFK Airport) and Amtrak via connecting Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) commuter trains from Penn Station to Flushing Main Street on the Port Washington Branch.

Here are the classes:

--Understanding Contact Center Fundamentals
--IVR Design Training: Streamlining the Customer Experience
--Contact Center Metrics: Tactical Uses That Drive Performance
--Call Center Director Training and Certification
--Call Center Metrics, Data Analytics and Reporting
--Call Center Management Certification Boot Camp
--Call Center Engineering Boot Camp
--Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Research
--Supervisory and Leadership Skills for Contact Center Supervisors
--Fundamentals of Call Center Workforce Management
--Call Center Manager Training and Certification
--Fundamentals of Telecom Expense Management (TEM)
--Workforce Management Hands-on Certification Boot Camp
--Designing Six Sigma Contact Centers

Of particular interest are the Fundamentals of Call Center Workforce Management and the Workforce Management Hands-on Certification Boot Camp. Employees represent the largest and the most critical contact center expense. And as customers demand better service that requires agents who are highly skilled in ever-more specialized areas such as product or service expertise; top account types i.e. Gold, Platinum; in language; e-mail and SMS; and social media response. To ensure that these agents are available at the right times requires expert contact center training in workforce management, and certification to demonstrate proven skills.

And for after-hours the lights and yes the shopping of Manhattan are a cab, LIRR or for the money-savvy, MTA New York City Transit No.7 train ride away. The No.7 is the best bet inbound as it offers spectacular views of the skyline before it ducks under the East River by the United Nations. Going back from Manhattan at night you can take the No.7 back or a taxi to Penn Station and ride the LIRR (savvy residents take the E or the F expresses and change to the 7 at 74th/Roosevelt: I used to live in New York City). Here is a link to the subway map. Flushing itself has become a vibrant Asian community, with excellent shopping and busy at all hours.

For information you may want to call the MTA New York City Transit and the LIRR to get an ear on how some of the hardest-working IVR systems and live agents in North America handle customer service. And take those insights back to your contact centers to round out your RCCSP Professional Education Alliance contact center training in New York City.