Virtual Contact Centre Technology
Off-site Contact Centre Agents
With the increasing use of virtual call centre technology the concept of a call centre being a collection of agents in a single room is being widened to include agents and staff located in numerous locations such as home workers and staff in the field. The virtual technology connects the caller to the agents wherever they may be located and in any number of sites. The caller remains unaware of the nature of the call centre and the number of sites traversed during any transfers within the call.
Companies concerned with expenses, but wishing to maintain customer satisfaction, are increasingly using home-based agents and staff to take calls. With the public disquiet about outsourcing call centres overseas, given the occasional communication problems plus the sense that the companies concerned don't really care about customer service, the use of virtual call centre technology is an attractive alternative.
Real Life Benefits
There are many reasons to consider a virtual contact center. Companies using home-based agents can generally attract better qualified and more experienced agents and subsequently enjoy higher employee retention. Also highly capable agents tend to perform even better when working in a home-based environment.
Using home-based agents provides greater flexibility when accommodating variable shifts and agent needs, plus companies can recruit from a wider geographical area.
Cost Savings
A virtual contact center is an obviously less costly method of handling inbound and outbound call traffic, especially when using a hosted call centre provider where the setup costs can be minimal, with a monthly fee being the only cost depending on the phone number used. The use of a hosted call centre facility negates the need to purchase any hardware and the associated maintenance costs.
Additionally, not having travel costs, home-based agents require 5% to 15% less remuneration than in-house agents.
Virtual Contact Centre Management
Supervision of multi-site agents requires greater care on the part of call centre management. Supervisors of virtual contact centres have access to the same kind of monitoring and reports available to the single site call centre manager, but the lack of immediate interaction means the agents need to be self motivated and the supervisors must be able to communicate the company's needs remotely.
The supervisor needs to maintain a constant monitoring/feedback role with each off-site agent as the home-based agent is not in a position to gather tips and hints from fellow agents and will rely more on the supervisor and online documentation.
Virtual Technology
Virtual contact centre applications integrated with data networks and interconnects with telephone networks can replicate any aspect of the call centre environment. ACD and call management, caller greetings and IVR menu options, call recording and voicemail, agent screen population and call blending, extensive agent monitoring and reporting, plus an large array of call centre features and aids are available in the virtual environment.
The PhonePresence Virtual Call Centre offering is an example of a hosted package which has the functionality to provide a reliable and comprehensive call centre package incorporating home-based agents.
