Over the last few years, call center operations have been slowly following the lead of sales, marketing and other front-office applications that have made the move to on-demand infrastructure.

Nevertheless, while there are still a good number of call center operations that remain on the fence about transitioning to the on-demand model now may finally be the time for them to take the plunge, especially as their investments in on-premise call center technologies have exceeded their payback during this period and they can now learn from the experience of earlier adopters.

For call center operations that find themselves in this position, Beagle Research Group produced an executive white paper, sponsored by Knowlagent that covers all of the bases when it comes to why the on-demand model is prudent and what to expect when making the transition to an on-demand call center environment.

One of those bases is learning to manage off-site agents. With the on-demand model, it makes great financial and logistical sense to have agents work–off-site; however, as the paper points out, “on-demand infrastructure makes it easier to hire and employ remote agents, but the separation also adds complexity to the hiring process.” There are, however, three “interlocking business processes” that will enable call center managers to leverage the Internet so they have better control, and experience less risk, when call center operations are dispersed—this include: hiring and initial training, continuing training and communications, and coaching and performance management.

When it comes to initial training, call center managers might want to consider ditching traditional on-site interviewing processes and instead turn to the Internet to administer assessment tests for agents. By doing this, the white paper says call center operations can “determine the candidate’s fit with the business and…may enable the candidate to test out of some parts of initial training.” In addition, it says, “This can actually shorten training time overall, leading to earlier productivity and lower costs. In some cases, Internet-based management systems claim a 20 percent reduction in initial training time.”

The Internet can again be valuable if the dispersed call center operation uses systems “to simulate actual conditions and drive system adoption, as well as to perform post-training evaluation before agents begin work.”

Just as important as initial training, ongoing training and communication should not be neglected. However, when call center operations adopt the on-demand model and allow agents to work off-site, agents no longer have the benefit of watching others in a “center” environment, where observation often fosters learning. Not only that, but managers will need to adopt new methods of presenting ongoing training when some or all of the agents are working remotely.

Call center managers that have been operating in this mode for some time have learned that one strategy to overcome this challenge is to automatically deliver to each agent’s desktop a best-practices tip of the day. Beagle Research Group shared that others “distribute best practice information in the form of a quiz no longer than a few questions.” In addition, it said some contact center operations even use these quizzes to test for retention of the knowledge they’ve distributed.

Coaching, like ongoing training, can be more challenging for distributed call center operations. The white paper suggests distributed call center operations should use management automation for coaching to first identify areas where agents need to improve their knowledge and techniques, and then prescribe individualized resolutions. These systems can also be used to track improvements in performance and show whether or not the solution—and the coach—are effective.

 Finally, the white paper emphasizes that “a good agent management system will continually monitor activity and identify errors or deficiencies in agent practice, regardless of whether the agent is local or remote.”

The Beagle Research Group made an interesting analogy when it comes to monitoring what is happening in a distributed call center operation. Call center operations, it said, “can be successfully compared to a modern manufacturing operation which carefully manages inputs and outputs to maintain quality. In manufacturing, whether one is dealing with the supply chain or with final assembly, the emphasis is on reducing variation so that the manufacturer can produce uniformly high quality products that can compete on a world-class footing. The same is true in the call center.” The firm goes on to explain that manufacturers used to inspect products at the end of the manufacturing process and simply discard or rework those products that didn’t meet inspection. However, it points out that, “Manufacturers learned the hard way that maintaining high standards requires building quality into products at every step in the manufacturing process.” Likewise, it says, companies that have call center operations are learning that “traditional tools that have their impacts after the call have become analogous to final inspection in manufacturing processes. However, because the call center’s product is a service delivered in time with no opportunity for rework, the service must be correct at the moment of delivery.” The point is that call center operations should not rely on applications that analyze call data after the fact. Instead, managers that work in a distributed environment made possible by on-demand infrastructure need to adopt new automated hiring strategies and provide timely feedback to their agents, regardless of where they are located, or risk breaking the quality chain.