A generation ago, working from home meant that you set up an office in your basement and sought out clients who didn’t mind walking the steps to the backdoor. For moms, it could have meant watching the neighbors kids or taking in typing for the business down the street. Creativity was often needed, but for those on the industrious side, they were able to make it happen.

Fortunately, technology has widened the possibilities when it comes to working from home. Professionals no longer have to be tethered to the physical office and moms who want the perfect balance between career and family life can have it – with a bit of prioritizing around the house. One industry that tends to be paving the way is that of the hosted contact center.

The hosted contact center is the perfect environment to incorporate the work-at-home model. The technology needed to support agents from afar is ready available, company leaders can incorporate the means to monitor activity to ensure agents are as productive as possible, the same metrics that apply in the physical call center are captured remotely and call recording measures the outcome of the call.

What many a hosted contact center leader has discovered is that the autonomy and freedom afforded the self-disciplined agent has led to better customer service, improved productivity and an increased focus on completing tasks in a shorter amount of time. This means the contact center can handle more customer interactions in less time, reducing the overall cost of customer care.

At the same time, these agents tend to be happier in their role, which means they are delivering better quality service to customers on the phone. Happier customers tend to spend more money with a company and happier agents don’t look for other opportunities. It’s the best of both worlds, enabled only in the hosted contact center environment where effective agents are given the freedom and the tools do to their jobs effectively.

According to a recent Five9 (News - Alert) blog, there are significant benefits to the at-home agent program, when managed effectively and according to the tools at hand. These benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Significant cost savings
• Greater flexibility
• Larger pool of agents to hire from
• Reduced staff churn
• Enhanced customer satisfaction
• Reduced absenteeism
• Greater productivity

Given the normal challenges in the typical contact center environment, these benefits speak directly to the pain points contact center managers face on a daily basis. If even half of these benefits can become reality, the investment in the hosted contact center is worth consideration.