Keys To Call Center Efficiency - Business

On the surface, contact center seems easy. You put some people on the phones and go. The reality is, of course, a bit more complicated. Over time phone centers get bogged down for any of a number of reasons, and it can be difficult for managers to figure out how to get things running well again. Short-term fixes are like using duct tape to fix a leaky boat--it may help now, but when the tape pops off you are in a world of trouble. Call center analysis is a long-term, in-depth, and ongoing process.

Use Call Center Performance Metrics

Modern contact centers are too complicated to evaluate just by eyeballing the agents at work. Although observation, agent interviews and client evaluations are all important, metric measurement software is an essential call center analysis tool for finding the roadblocks in the process.

Metrics, particularly real-time metrics, allow managers to follow the ebb and flow of call traffic and see how it changes over the course of the day, week, month and year. Once you see when things slow down, you can start to see why things slow down and figure out what to do about it. Call queues might build up during shift changes and then take many hours to recover. There could be significant spikes in traffic on certain days of the week or month, or after a new story relevant to your business.

Document Processes

Before you can really understand what the metrics mean, you need to take time to illustrate the workflow in the department. What happens from the moment a customer dials your phone number until the moment the customer hangs up the phone? How does the customer interact with automated voice menus? How are calls evaluated and transferred, either by the voice menus or by the agents?

You may think you already know how the system works, but writing it down forces you to think about it in a different, more analytical way. Once you start noting the details, you might be surprised at how much about the process you don't know. Also consider that you may understand it, but you won't be around forever. Documenting the process makes it easier for those who follow you, or managers starting new call centers in the company, to understand the system.

Manage What You Measure

The biggest mistake made in call center analysis is to analyze the problem and then do nothing about it. Finding the slowdowns is just the first step. You need to decide what needs to be fixed, and then follow the metrics to ensure the fixes are doing what you want them to. Once you solve the major problems, you need to figure out new ways to make the department run even better than before. Call center analysis never ends. Technology changes. Customers change. Agents change. Industries change. If you can't stay ahead of these changes, you will quickly fall behind your competitors.