Contact Center Leaders Struggle with Future of Work Post-Pandemic

Post-pandemic strategies are all the buzz across business right now, even as COVID-19 cases are seeing an increase across the nation. Many companies, despite the many benefits realized during shutdowns with remote work, are now ready to bring their staff back in-house. This is true even in the Contact Center where a tipping point has been reached for many organizations. Even those leaders who said they were seriously considering fully remote work for the future are now wanting in-house teams to ramp up again.

According to the results of a report by cloud customer service solutions provider LiveVox (News - Alert), many managers are pushing to bring operations back in house even with new advanced technologies proving beneficial during lockdowns.

The report, "The Remote Tipping Point,” found that new innovative technologies such as AI can work well to allow remote agents to be productive while working from home. Many contact centers- especially those that were already using technology to get their work done before COVID-19, found much success during these times.

Thirty-six percent of the survey participants said working remotely had improved speed to answer for agents.

Still, there is a very obvious gap between work from home benefits and the impact seen on performance. That reality is creating this struggle for contact center leaders as they make plans for what work will look like post pandemic.

"The global shutdown showed us that a remote workforce is a viable option for many industries and, in the case of contact centers, can improve the employee experience. However, a 100 percent remote future isn’t a viable option for every organization," said LiveVox CEO Louis Summe (News - Alert). "Technology, however, is the answer to ensure the positives we’ve seen from work from home continue in the future. Our report showed us that the organizations who embraced technology and were prepared with a cloud infrastructure performed better during the shutdown."

LiveVox seamlessly integrates omnichannel communications, CRM, AI, and WFO capabilities to deliver an exceptional agent and customer experience while reducing compliance risks.

Beyond the flexibility that agents get out of the work from home option, these leaders are still not convinced of real business benefits remote working can provide.

For contact center leaders still apprehensive about remote work, focusing on adding more reporting, coaching and monitoring tools into the mix can help ease concerns about remote agent productivity and possibilities for success.

“eLearning and Speech Analytics proved to be key pieces to reducing agent monitoring issues – a central challenge for managers," continued Summe. "The right investments in remote coaching and monitoring provide contact centers with flexibility, opening the door to new opportunities for satisfying workforces and improving customer service."

Edited by Luke Bellos