Virtual Call Center

You’ve heard it a million times before, virtual call centers mark a significant opportunity for customer service operations to remain flexible as they expand and save significant sums of money in the process. But the benefits of savings don’t need to stop at the management level. Contactual (News - Alert) has helped hundreds of customers increase revenues and save costs with its SaaS based OnDemand contact center solution.

According to Contactual, “Many organizations are working to figure out ways to cut overhead expenses and one very attractive way to do that with Contactual is virtual / work at home agents. You have a lot of expense tied up in workstations, floor space, heating and air conditioning, and other facility overhead not to mention the wear and tear on your staff commuting to and from the center. “

An obvious answer to these issues of facility maintenance is of course, remove the facility. While this was unthinkable only a few short years ago, advancements in secure connection and hosted access are allowing exactly this. A geographically disperse workforce is no longer a hindrance, and when you factor in the reduction of costs that would typically go to running an office the concept is in fact a boon for your business.

Then there are the obvious benefits to your workforce. As Contactual points out, “average daily commuting distance of 19mi one way amounts to 836 miles monthly. At $3 a gallon and 21 mpg that commute translates to $119 in monthly costs per agent. Who in your workforce wouldn’t be excited about a $1,400 raise along with the benefit of less wear and tear on their car? Contactual allows you to have virtual agents working from anywhere.”

 And last but certainly not least are the positive environmental impact a remote working strategy has. Let’s say you have 40 agents working from home that would have been making the same commute as the ones in the example above. That factors out to about 401,280 miles a year, taking those vehicles of the road results in reduction of 375,617 lbs/year in Co2 emissions.  

The hosted option works within the office in offering startups and stalwarts alike a reduction in cost and the flexibility to expand. That same software can be applied to the creation of a telecommute workforce and in doing so pass on benefits to your workers and the environment.

Chris DiMarco is a Web Editor for TMCnet. He holds a master's degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University. Prior to joining TMC (News - Alert) Chris worked with e-commerce provider Suresource as a contact center representative and development analyst. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Rich Steeves