Call Center Operation

1.2 Analyzing call center requirements 5

Chapter 1

A call center’s services can be essential for the smooth running of a busi-

ness. Once a call center is in place, it integrates technology from customer

databases, order-entry systems, fulfillment, and knowledge databases, en-

abling call center CSRs to respond with current information when commu-

nicating with customers. Technology provides many features to assist in the

communication process, including providing quick access to customer

information for the CSR and call management (transfer, voice response,

messaging, etc.)

1.2 Analyzing call center requirements

There are many aspects to designing and developing a call center operation,

including selecting the location, telephone equipment, networking equip-

ment, and software. This combination of technologies and the complexity

of integrating all elements effectively and economically present a challenge

to the call center development team.

Building a call center internally may be feasible only for very large

enterprises—smaller companies should consider outsourcing their call cen-

ters to organizations that specialize in providing these services and already

have the latest technologies installed and operating, with trained staff.

These organizations can often provide excellent customer-oriented services,

relieving smaller organizations of the financial, managerial, and human

resources issues involved in an internal, corporate call center. Calculating

the overall budget for the project will determine whether to build and man-

age a call center internally or to outsource some or all of the operations to

keep costs down and focus on customer retention. Building a call center

can run to several million dollars in capital equipment alone, not to men-

tion the cost of hiring staff and managing the day-to-day operations.

With the Internet and potentially rapid response opportunities, new

ways for customers to reach companies—e-mail, Web chat, and voice over

Internet Protocol (VoIP)—have been added to the traditional forms of

communication. To prepare for these multiple communications media and

to efficiently serve customers, companies need to capture information from

across the enterprise and consolidate customer-related data into a central

database. In most cases, customer data resides in many systems, such as

order history, fulfillment, shipping, and billing. The number of sources of

data can reduce the ability of CSRs to handle requests and can also contribute

to errors and duplication. For corporations to handle these multiple cus-

tomer contact channels effectively, integrating the varied systems is essen-

tial. Its call center facility requires carefully selected technology tools.

6 1.2 Analyzing call center requirements

A complete analysis of the technology and human relations components

of a call center reveals a number of planning and selection challenges for the

project team charged with development, management, and maintenance of

the call center operation. It also highlights the major issues to be addressed

for the start-up and on-going management of the center. This analysis will

involve the following major activities:



Location and size



Technologies



Staffing and training

 Communication channels



Monitoring and measuring performance



Call management and handling



Integrated call centers

Location and size

A first step in implementing a call center is to decide on the location of the

facility. Whether it is a small department in a local facility or a large, enter-

prisewide center, this step is important to corporate growth and the bottom

line, so it must be planned carefully. The high cost of real estate in popu-

lous areas is driving many call center operations to locate in rural areas.

This is especially true throughout North America, where call centers are

concentrated in several regions of the United States, as well as in Canada.

With the communication and computer technology available today, it is

very easy to locate call centers in any area where high-speed, high-quality

communication resources are available, and many organizations have made

this choice.

The size of the call center refers not only to square footage but also to

the number of CSRs required, telephony and LAN equipment, client desk-

tops, and other switching and computer hardware. Because call centers usu-

ally grow in size, it is a sound planning practice to choose a site with room

for expansion.

Technologies

As noted previously in this chapter, there is a wide range of technologies

available to the call center development team, as well as many sources of

excellent advice—consultants, vendors, and users with experience in call