'Security is Key Issue in Implementing Work-at-home Agent Model'

The article was first published in Global Services

Q. The concept of work-at-home agents is gaining a lot of interest across contact centers globally? What are the key drivers?

One of the key drivers of the increase of the remote call center agent is the flexibility that this model creates for employees. Agents enjoy the greater work-life balance that this model provides while call center vendors enjoy the decrease in attrition rates and absenteeism that this model results in. From a cost perspective, the call center ends up cutting costs from not having to provide the desktop materials that an agents in the center would need. In turn, the agent enjoys the decrease in their travel expenses that their commute to work would be deducting from their pay check. It's a win-win for both parties

Q. How is this trend impacting agent productivity and business profitability?

Research has shown that agents who utilize work-from-home have the same productivity levels as their counterparts in the call center. This is once again due in part to the flexibility that this work model provides. Agents have the ability to log in their work time when they are able to be most productive rather than trying to multitask by feeding their children, taking care of their disabled spouse and trying to provide quality customer service day in and day out. In terms of business profitability, customer satisfaction rates continue to remain extremely high while costs to equip these remote agents remain low. It is also expected that the number of work-at-home agents in the United States could accelerate as much as 10 percent in the foreseeable future, which would result is more productivity and profitability for the call center provider overall.

Q. What considerations and technology changes are required to successfully implement the concept of work-from-home agents?

The foundation of any successful customer care program is giving quality training to your agents. Through technologies such as Virtual Operation Check Point (OCP) agents are paired with management expertise and allows for those agents to have role based resource development models.
Once the training aspect of the work-at-home agent has been fulfilled, the next most important aspect is the security of your work-at-home technologies. Security remains the number one issue for companies seeking to implement a work-at-home agent model, so having the right technologies in place is essential. Offerings should also be able to address the unique security needs of different market verticals. For example, banking security needs are going to need different types of security than an apparel store would need. Functions such as credit card and dial tone distortion for example are technologies that need to be in place if you are implementing the work-at-home model. These enhanced security solutions also allow for companies to offer the same capabilities that are supported in the traditional contact centers, such as technical support, customer care, plus Web chat, SMS, email and voice from the comfort of the agents own home. When vendors have these technologies in place, they are in a much better position to achieve success.