How To Select a Call Center
There are many call centers, but before finding the answer to the query about how to select the best one, let us find out what a call center is. Basically, it is the central point from which, via the telephone, innumerable calls are received and sent.
The computer age has globalized the planet into one world. For paying less, you get the same work done from another part of the globe at no extra cost or time. High on the list of priorities are the countries like India or Phillipines where there is a large English speaking population. Weigh the options. Choose the call center in a country where the quality of English is up to the standard. The person behind the telephone must not only speak the language, but also understand the client's accent and be conversant with the need. The staff must be educated as well as skilled. However, if the country is politically unstable, then halfway through, the work might stop with collapse of the communication network and other allied problems.
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Another reason for carefully selecting a call center is that this new facility has practically done away with the hassles of maintaining a cumbersome office. It is no longer necessary to hire and fire recalcitrant workers or monitor their work proficeincy through a network of spies and files. All you have to do is carefully choose the proper call center to take on your workload. Feed in your requirements, and you will get the feedback quickly. You will be freed from the shackles of being chained to a top heavy organization and yet get the work done. At this point, however, pause and weigh the options. See that the call center you are going to select is capable of doing your specific type of work, keeping in mind quality, speed, and service charges.
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Who is going to select the call center? The individual or the group? The marvel of this age - the call center - caters to the needs of both. Just pick up the phone and call the center. Speed and efficiency are the buzz words. The call centers are quality driven and efficiency driven - that is known as QED. With the innovation of a new type of work culture, a new parlance or new set of words and phrases swinging to the mood of the age has developed. For instance, before making the decision, check if the center is fitted with the latest technology - computer telephony integrated or CTI. If it is, then the center will be able to cope with any kind of work catering to the needs of either the individual or the group.
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Before going into the nitty gritty of how to select a call center, let us get the total picture. Know the apple before buying it. A call center is also known as a contact center. It is a centralized office which handles volumes of telecommunications. Each member of the staff is equipped with a computer and or a telephone/head set. This is plugged onto a telecom switch connected to one or more supervisor stations. The center may be working independently or operated through a network of additional centers. The ideal working space should be open, giving the staff enough elbow room. Quality work cannot be maintained in cramped conditions; it only leads to short term gains. So, before choosing, locate the locale of your center.
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Carefully weigh the pros and cons before you select a call center. What does a call center do? It provides information regarding products for inquiring customers. On the outgoing side, it deals in telemarketing, arranges clients for products, and even goes in for debt collection. It collectively handles letters, operates faxes, and e-mails. Then, there are help-desks and service-support. Call centers interact with customers and are indispensible to mail order firms and companies dealing with computers (both software and hardware). Make detailed inquiries about the call center you have in mind. Remember it is human nature to blow one's own trumpet. Talk with others and find out about the operational capability of a particular call center you have in mind. Ultimately, it is the human factor that will give the certificate.
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Before finalizing your selection of a call center, look at the issue from all angles. Give that issue due attention, because after that you just sit back and let the ball roll. From an operational point of view, a call center is basically a queueing network. In the simplest type of call center, there is only a single type of customer and on the other side, there are the same type of servers. This is known as the single queue. The proficiency of the call center is mathematically evaluated. For instance, find out if 80% of the callers are being answered in 20 seconds. No more than 3% of the customers should impatiently hang up. Generally, large call centers are better in responding to calls than several distributed smaller call centers. Thus, cross-selling is beneficial.
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The object is to select the best call center. Mathematics is applied to evaluate the performance of these call centers. But what is the overall objective? It is to get the maximum output out of minimum input. Multiskilled agents should be dealing with an endless variety of customers. Operational research will be able to forecast calls and thus help in the work of determining the structure of work shifts. Centralization of call management will improve the management of the company to be better able to deal with the impatience of customers. The objective is to run a good number of workers in spacious surroundings by a small number of managers. Computers will make the task of monitoring the performance of the workers fairly easy. All this information should be in the open for the client to make the vital choice.
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On what is the focus? Before going in to select the call center, ask yourself - what do you want? Will this particular center focus on that? Call centers focus on workforce management, queue management, quality management, quality monitoring, and reporting. Reporting can again be divided into real time reporting and reporting on the past. The various types of information taken from groups are categorized. Agents are logged in ready to take on calls, wrap up mode, make note of the average call duration, longest duration of call in queue, number of calls in queue, number of abandoned calls, average speed of answer, percentage of calls that have been answered, and the level of service. There is special software that uses past information to project the future need. The focus is to have properly skilled staff to assist callers.
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There are always two sides to the coin - the good and the bad. Call centers have taken the world by storm. Look at the issue from a broader perspective. The question looming over society is that of outsourcing. It is raising a hue and cry. On the one side local unemployment and on the other exploitation of cheap labour. But, the river must follow its own path. High salaries are compelling people to go for outsourcing. But, as a client, there are two things to look into. Check and see that quality is not being compromised for a few coins here and there. Secondly, make inquiries and see that the working conditions in call centers meet international norms. If not - in the long run quality is bound to suffer.
Nobody is above society - so pause and think before selecting a call center.
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