Kunnect Nation,

With gas prices continuing to skyrocket, and commute times only getting longer, the ability to work remotely from home is a welcome practice enjoyed by call center agents around the world. That being said, I have noticed a significant rise in the number of call centers in the U.S. that have been adding “remote” personnel to thier workforce.

There are obvious savings to be had (i.e. overhead costs, etc…), but it does come with a few challenges as well. Here is a short list of those I find most pertinent:

1. Training: This can be difficult with remote at-home agents. I have seen some companies deploy web based training videos or webinar sessions with their remote staff.

2. Monitoring Performance: Conversely to walking the ailes of your call center to make sure your agents are producing, you need to leverage good reporting software for your call center solution. You need to know the benchmarks and baselines for what to compare your agents to.

3. Technology: Not every call center can just roll out an at-home workforce. You will need the right, flexible techonology to do so. A cloud based solution, like Kunnect’s XVP, certainly helps make that possible.

If you want to share any insights on the remote at-home agent market, feel free to let me know your thoughts.

Fred Cote