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The Evolution of the Call Center May Bring it Home

There’s a disturbing trend taking place in call centers this month: they’re closing. Just in the last month Teleperformance USA announced the closure of its center in Ann Arbor, MI, resulting in layoffs for 430 employees; Convergys (News - Alert) call center in Moore, OK is closing in March and laying off 375; 21st Century Insurance is laying off 55 as it completes the closure of its center in Vestal, NY; Roanoke, VA will lose 140 jobs in the closing of the BB&T call center; and Citigroup is closing its Greensboro, NC, facility, though moving all 300 of its employees to work-from-home jobs.

The reasons are varied, from the loss of Convergys’ building lease in Moore to Teleperformance (News - Alert) non-renewal of their client contract to cost-saving measures for Citigroup. All in all, any option that allows representatives and managers to keep working is preferred though employees do have some protections during layoffs under the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Companies of more than 100 employees are required to give at least sixty days advance notice of impending layoffs and many companies try to offer relocation and alternate employment opportunities within the company.

The call center of the future may be spread out across a city or state, with agents working at their own home office rather than sharing impersonal cubicles. Though the contact center isn’t usually a company’s most expensive part of operations, with labor costs comprising anywhere from fifty to eighty percent of the contact center’s budget, it is one of the easiest places to begin making cost adjustments. Advances like software in the cloud and portable extensions are now giving companies more options to save money than just shuttering the call center, like Citigroup’s plan to move agents to home-based positions. This change will save on fixed costs like building rent, utilities, maintenance, fixed management positions and property taxes. Contact centers have had to undergo rapid changes in recent years thanks to increasing self-service account options online and widespread dissatisfaction with corporate customer service. This move to a smaller group of more specialized, home-based agent may just be the next natural evolutionary step.


Edited by Rory J. Thompson