The "Uncentered" Call Center
June 27, 2011
By Tracey E. Schelmetic, TMCnet Contributor
It shouldn't be news to you at this point that the call center isn't really a place anymore: it's more of a concept. Once upon a time, call center agents worked in “boiler-room” style facilities, tethered to telephones with cords. Even if they had more advanced computer-based capabilities like computer-based scripting and screen pop, technology limited them to staying in one place. Many contact centers were forced to run three shifts in order to keep a contact center staffed 24 hours per day.
Contactual's (News - Alert) Meghdutt Brahmachari recently blogged about the “bad old days,” noting that, “Traditionally, companies anchored their call center to buildings located far away from their headquarters and their customers. They had no choice. That was the safest place to put all the expensive hardware and software they just bought, and it was the easiest way to monitor their agents' performance.”
But it wasn't just about equipment being essentially “tied to the walls.” It was also about labor pools and the high agent turnover that can be endemic in the call center industry.
“[Call centers] needed a location with access to inexpensive labor that could keep up with high agent attrition rates. They also didn't have the Internet and they didn't have VoIP or the latest in cutting-edge call center technology,” said Brahmachari, who then notes, “But you do.”
Of course you do.
Today's hosted, virtual call center solutions like Contactual's are a revelation to anyone who remembers the way call centers used to operate. Today's contact centers can now tap into resources without being constrained by geography. Agents can be located anywhere – remote offices or working from their homes – yet they function seamlessly in the new virtual call center environment. Best of all, state-of-the-art contact center solutions can be deployed in days, not months, and can be scaled up or down as the call center's needs fluctuate.
Companies can integrate all their customer channels – voice, e-mail and chat – onto a single platform, largely eliminating the need for investment in call center hardware and software. They can also benefit from a number of virtual call center functionalities, including skill-based routing, call monitoring and recording and interactive voice response (IVR), all within the same virtual solution.
As Brahmachari writes, “Traditions are nice for holiday gatherings, not businesses facing stiff competition and an even stiffer economy. If a call center, or a call center upgrade, is in your future, don't get mired in the past.”
Read the full blog post at http://blog.contactual.com/Blog/bid/23970/It-s-Time-to-Take-the-Center-out-of-Call-Centers
Tracey Schelmetic is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Tracey's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Chris DiMarco