By , Call Center Management Contributing Editor

Call monitoring has proven to be an effective tool in the call center in order to help ensure proper processes are followed, that the agent receives effective and targeted training and can also be useful when a problem needs to be resolved. As beneficial as call recording can be to the call center, it can also be a very time-consuming task. As a result, many call centers opt to outsource the service to a third party.

 

According to a survey completed by the Society of Workforce Planning Professionals, 83 percent of call center have a quality monitoring system in place. The favorite feature of these systems was the ability to capture both screen and voice while monitoring calls coming into the center.

 

However, the ICMI Call Center Monitoring Study III: Final Report revealed that of the 97.7 percent of centers monitoring calls, 33.8 percent of them monitor only four and five calls per month per agent. Considering the number of calls the typical agent handles in a day, this monitoring is barely enough to make an impact.

 

These numbers are not surprising in an environment such as a call center, whose main focus is to address customer interactions and try to achieve performance standards. While most contact center managers understand the benefits that quality monitoring provides, many do not have the time to properly execute the monitoring or interpret the results.

 

This is where a third party contract can enable the contact center to get the maximum benefit out of call monitoring. When a third party steps in to take over the monitoring of the activities of the call center, the center stands to benefit from implementation as the third party can offer a solution that is best suited to that particular center. The third party also has the time and ability to take the captured data and put it into reports that can be useful to the contact center managers.  

 

To gain so much capability from an in-house monitoring solution, most centers would spend top dollar to be able to capture the percentage of calls that they need and put the information into the proper reports in order to interpret the data. Considering the budget pressures already placed on the call center, gaining approval for better monitoring solutions may be an insurmountable task.

 

There are many companies to choose from that offer third party call monitoring. BPA International offers services that range from analyzing calls that have already been recorded on the client’s recording system to recording calls remotely in a research center. The results then can be accessed through the Web.

 

There is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution when it comes to call recording and monitoring as every call center has different needs and goals. It is best to outline what your center hopes to gain from a monitoring solution before setting out on a search to find the right solution.

 

 

 

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