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Virtual Call Center Featured Article January 25, 2008
Seven Tips for the Successful Virtual Call Center By Mae KowalkeThe successful creation of a virtual call center requires careful considerations relating to home-based agents. A number of factors should be considered, including how agent metrics are collected and how adept each agent is at working with the virtual call center application being used.
Despite complexity of the task, achieving success with home-based agents can be broken down into seven basic steps. Each of these seven tips, outlined below, should be considered criteria that must be met as part of any virtual call center deployment plan.
Simplicity – With all aspects of setting up a virtual call center, simplicity should be the byword. This means simple integration, simple applications and simple business processes. User interface for at-home agents should also be simple; ensuring this will result in less support costs and higher agent efficiency.
Basics – At-home agents need only access to the basics; they don’t need access to everything, and in fact providing too much functionality can be confusing and therefore counterproductive. The applications should, as outlined in point number one, be simple to understand and use.
Metrics/monitoring – Quite simply, if ROI is to be realized and recorded from the virtual call center, transparent monitoring and metrics must be in place to measure the performance of at-home agents.
Network Design – Pre-testing of all applications that will run on the home-agents’ equipment and Internet connection service pays off in the long run. Whenever possible, home network service type should be standardized so that both agent performance and support requirements are consistent and predictable.
Thin Client Architecture – For home-based environments, thin client architectures work best. Web-based dashboards, for example, eliminate a variety of potential issues including security and device configuration challenges.
Training – Just as in a brick-and-morter call center, home-based agents in a virtual call center require robust training to operate efficiently. Because home-based agents by their very nature are not on-site, training must be adapted accordingly to be conducted remotely.
Telephony – Finally, the best way to maximize use of home-based agents is to ensure that the virtual call center applications integrate seamlessly with the agents’ home office telephony setup.
Once a virtual call center is up and running, success breeds success. Virtual call centers are all about flexibility, achieved by picking the best technology and systems for a streamlined system that’s adaptable.
To learn more about the tips discussed in this article, please visit the Virtual Call Center channel on TMCnet.com, brought to you by Contactual (News - Alert).
Mae Kowalke is an associate editor for TMCnet, covering VoIP  , CRM, call center and wireless technologies. To read more of Mae’s articles, please visit her columnist page. She also blogs for TMCnet here.Download FREE White Paper Call Center Solutions |
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