Contact Centres are usually bustling workplaces, with a high volume of staff members often working part-time or in casual shifts. With staff working in close proximity to each other and the sharing of resources such as computers and headsets, COVID has caused Contact Centre leaders to strongly reconsider how they manage operations.
When it comes to running a Contact Centre, following the COVID-safe guidelines are essential, but further precautions are also necessary to ensure employees have a safe working environment while maintaining business continuity, costs and operations. Here are 4 considerations for creating a COVID-safe Contact Centre:
1. Provide remote working options for employees
Having technology that requires staff to be physically in the office is no longer an option. Businesses need to have contact centre technology that facilitates remote working options so employees who need to self-isolate can do so. Having a full-feature cloud contact centre platform that is accessible anywhere ensures employees have flexible working options, while protecting business operations from being impacted by COVID. Similarly, agents can use Cloud Contact Centre solution from any device with internet access and a headset, removing the need for specific infrastructure.
2. Achieve cost predictability for the business while offering remote working options
With more agents working from home, connectivity considerations are vital to ensure call quality is maintained. Cloud Contact Centre solution provides numerous solutions for remote working connectivity for the contact centre, such as direct routing to unified communication options for the wider business.
3. Ensure performance can be managed remotely
Contact centre managers want to ensure performance is not impacted when members need to work remotely. Technology needs to enable the performance of team members to be monitored in a consistent manner whether employees are at home or in the office. Having centralised dashboards and reports, helps team members gain visibility of their performance and the team’s goals to ensure targets are met.
4. Offer flexibility for your agents through multi-channel communication tools
Due to personal circumstances, it may not be viable for some agents to take calls while working from home. Having multichannel capabilities improves customer experience by offering diverse channels such as a webchat, email and even can be integrated with CRM, social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, Line and WhatsApp Business Verified). The capability will facilitate flexibility for those agents who may not be able to take calls due to noise or share-house living conditions.
Telkomtelstra Cloud Contact Centre powered by ipSCAPE technology is a flexible and scalable solution that has helped numerous businesses navigate challenges brought on by the COVID pandemic. From our remote working options, to our suite of live reports and dashboard, we can help you create a high performing contact centre that is flexible, scalable and provides optimal customer experiences. Our team can help you with the technology you need to implement COVID-safe practices in your contact centre while maintaining quality and service for your customers.*This blog taken and adjusted from our partner, ipSCAPE material