Call Center Management Featured Article
Preparation Key for Call Centers During Hurricane Dorian
Hurricane Dorian has been menacing the Bahamas and East Coast of the U.S. for close to a week, taxing the limits of emergency personnel and 911 call center resources. The massive amount of call volume in Florida and the Carolinas illustrates how important call center management, scheduling, and planning and preparation are in the face of any natural disaster or crisis.
In Clay County, FL, the Emergency Operations Center prepared for the worst earlier this week, ahead of the storm. The County had declared a Level 2 alert last week, allocating resources and 100 people to handle anticipated emergencies and call volume. By Tuesday the Center had moved to a full Level 1 status and had doubled the number of personnel on hand.
Another important planning and management measure for Clay County included keeping the command center open 24 hours a day until the storm was well out of range. Workers were prepared and ready to handle surging call volumes as well as a number of other emergency issues including law enforcement, supplies, transportation and of course, health and medical issues.
“It’s been a real challenge not to burn out the staff,” said John Ward, EMC (News - Alert) Incident Commander. “We’ve been here for days. The model (of the storm’s anticipated path) kept changing and it’s really been difficult. Although we’ve had three variations, we still have to be ready.”
While Dorian didn’t impact Osceola, FL, the Kissimmee Utility Authority used the storm as a training exercise for future incidents, bringing in tree trimming and lineworker crews from other states. The organization also restructured its call center to improve its outage reporting system. A majority of the call center is based in its employee homes, and is designed to improve response times while also keeping employees safe from traveling during a storm or natural disaster. The Authority also made use of social media to communicate with customers during the storm.
For security company ADT, Dorian prompted call center management to beef up coverage in their Wichita, KS call center. The company asked agents to collectively work an additional 1,700 hours this week to handle anticipated call volume. The decision was largely due to ADT having another call center in Jacksonville, FL, directly in the path of hurricane.
“We also are protecting those customers who have had to evacuate or they’ve left their homes to take shelter,” said Shari Wilson, director of customer service and monitoring for ADT. “We want to make sure that their homes and the things they care about are protected even though they’re not home.”
Edited by Maurice Nagle