Call Centers India Challenges HR Professionals

8/14/2019 Call Centers India Challenges HR Professionals

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Call Centers in India- Challenges for HR Professionals!!!


Introduction

The term incoming call center is being doggedly challenged by many just as it is

becoming a household term. What is it? A center that handles telephone calls?Hardly. Telephone calls are just one type of transaction. Further, the word center

doesn't accurately depict the many multi-site environments, nor the growing numberof organizations that have telecommuting programs.

Various individuals and organizations have tried to define call center but like

definitions of leadership "or" customer service many miss the mark or are created toserve a specific purpose. So, let's go at this from a different angle. Characteristics of

a call center generally include:

• Calls go to a group of people, not a specific person. In other words, agents

are cross-trained to handle a variety of transactions.

• Generally, a special telecommunications system called an automatic call

distributor (ACD) is used to distribute calls among agents, and put calls in

queue when all agents are occupied. They also play messages: "All of ourcustomer service representatives are currently assisting other callers.

However, your call is very important to us..." Most call centers also make use

of advanced network services (e.g., 800 and 888 services) and voiceprocessing capabilities ("press one for this, two for that," or "please enter

your account number...").

• Agents have quick access to current information, via specialized database

programs. This means that any agent has access to the current status of youraccount, products, services and other information.

Call centers represent a unique management challenge. Forecasting calls, calculatingstaffing requirements, organizing sensible schedules, managing the environment in

real-time, and, in general, getting the right people in the right places at the righttimes.

Call Centers in India

One the paradoxes of the call-center industry in India is that it requires English-

speaking university graduates to answer questions from US customers but offers

little in the way of advancement and intellectual stimulation. High turn-over ratesare inevitable if the economy keeps expanding and thus offers more compelling

employment options for well-educated Indians. Moreover, the rapid expansion of the

call sector may soon create a shortage of these qualified English-speaking college

graduates in India, pushing wages up and reducing India's competitiveness as one of

the premier destinations for company call-centers. This may not bode well for India's

economy, because outsourcing has become a significant engine of Indian rapid

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From The Desk of Sanjeev Sharma(Mobile Number: +91-9890788259)

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economic growth. In the immediate future, however, it appears unlikely that the

India will lose its dominance over the call-center industry. – YaleGlobal

Having a call center in India is the norm for several global companies today. In order

to meet the growing international demand for cost-effective, customer-oriented call

centers, many organizations worldwide are outsourcing these services by setting upcall centers in India. But what makes call centers in India such an attractive option?

The country has intrinsic strengths which make it a major success as an outsource

destination for call center work:

A. A booming IT industry, with IT strengths recognized all over the world

B. The largest English-speaking population after the USA

C. A vast workforce of educated, English-speaking, tech-savvy personnel: A

boon in a high-growth industry faced with a shortage of skilled workers

D. Cost-effective manpower: In a call center operation, manpower typically

accounts for 55 to 60 percent of the total cost. In India, manpower is

available at a fraction of the cost overseas. However, some people get

deterred by the fact that cost savings are not seen immediately. Initial

investment in infrastructure and training can be expensive and make one

believe that the promise of cost reduction is false. However, there will be

savings and the fact that several global giants continue to set up call centers

in India is proof of this.

E. The Government of India has recognized the potential of IT-enabled services

and has taken positive steps by providing numerous incentives.

F. The presence of most international technology vendors and solutions would

enable creation of most advanced set-ups in this technology- intensive

segment.

One company in India proposes to harness the high-quality technical supportavailable here by hiring 300 Ph.D.'s to provide very high-end consulting through

videoconferencing/telephone. Given these advantages, India could build a $17 billion

industry by 2008 according to the NASSCOM McKinsey Report.

How large is the call center industry in India?

India's call center industry accounts for a quarter of all software and services exports

from the country, according to industry association Nasscom, and Indian call centers

employ 160,000 professionals. Daimler-Chrysler, British Telecom, Barclays Bank,

HSBC, Honeywell, Aventis, and several others have come to India while the old

timers of GE, British Airways, Citigroup, Amex, and others have been around for a

decade.

Various types of Call Centers

The 24/7 call centers totally concentrate on using the tactical skills and effective

processes during the inbound/outbound call process. Their success depends on

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expertise, technological solutions, quality assurance programs and commitment to

customer service excellence. The different types of call centers are:

Inbound Call CenterAn inbound center is one that handles calls coming in from outside, most often

through toll free numbers. These calls are primarily service and support calls, and

inbound sales.

The Working

The services of inbound call centers are designed to handle catalog orders, help desk

queries, dealer locations and more. They offer customized services that are

designed to meet the requirements of all kinds of businesses. The inbound call center

professionals process calls and integrate Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and/or

Internet services to sell additional products and offer services in a dedicated

environment.

They also integrate customer care services, predict customer behavior and take

action, while the customers are still on the line. The inbound call centers employ a

dedicated team of live operators, account representatives and program

managers. Offering 24/7 operator availability for the customers, these call centers

provide round-the-clock account management. The teams of qualified and

trained operators understands the business, products and services and perform to

deliver their best. Using advanced telephone service technology and

programming, these call centers lay great emphasis on attention to detail in

messaging and reporting of all inbound calls.

Inbound call centers offer communication services specifically designed to maximize

the efficiency of direct marketing efforts or to be a part of the technical support

team of the clients. They work together with you as a partner building a strong,

successful long-lasting relationship with customers.

Inbound call centers offer

• Skilled, professional, customer support and technical service representatives

• Improved market coverage

• Faster ramp-up, launch, and roll-out of new campaigns

• Experience with programs similar to yours

• Rapid response to market conditions

• Account management expertise

• Enhanced reporting capabilities

• Market testing capabilities

The 24/7 services of Inbound Call Centre comprise of:

• Order Processing

• Catalog Orders

• Consumer Response

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• Customer Service

• Dealer Locators

• Toll Free Response

• Help Desk

• Direct Mail Response

• Direct TV Response

• Print Media Response

• Website Response

• Seminar Registration

• Answering Service

• Inquiry Handling

• Email Management

• Product Technical Information

• Interactive Voice Response

• Sales Lead Qualification

• Technical Support

• Trade Show Registration

Outbound Call Center

The success of the Outbound Call Centers depends on the extensive experience,

technological solutions, quality assurance programs and commitment to customer

service excellence that further ensures maximum results from the direct marketing

efforts.

The Approach

The integrated call management systems in the outbound call center facilities use,

systematic calls to consumers and transfer successful connections to a

designated marketing representative (MR) who is dedicated and has been trained forthe specific client application. As a call is presented to the MR, the consumer's name,

address, and other available information are simultaneously presented on the MR's

workstation along with a client's customized script.

The outbound clients benefit from the rigorous adherence to highly cost-effective,

results-based production and management processes. The key to success is the

thorough understanding of the business. Having understood the differences between

business-to-consumer and business-to-business telemarketing, the outbound call

centers use experienced management to focus on the unique requirements of

each client and their targeted market - from recruiting to hiring, training and

production.

The qualified personnel employed in the outbound call centers excel in highly

attentive outbound call center service environment. The well developed and

thorough procedures ensure that the individuals on are prepared and accountable

for the success of programs.

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Services of Outbound Call Centers:

• Market Intelligence

• Database Selling

• Direct Mail Follow-up

• Lead Generation \ Qualification \ Management

• Seminar Population

• Product Promotion

• Debt Collection

• Information and Literature Fulfillment

• Appointment Scheduling

• Decision Maker Contacts

• Up Sell/Cross Sell Campaigns

• Surveys

• Customer Satisfaction

Web Enabled Call center

The Introduction

The market for Web-enabled call centers is burgeoning. For the past decade,

computer-telephony integration (CTI) has been one of the hottest topics to hit the

call center, promising reduced call volumes and handle times, as well as a higher

level of customized service. The global emphasis on electronic commerce and the

use of the Internet as a delivery channel has sparked the development of new CTI

applications that offer tremendous opportunities to call centers.

The Internet provides for a more complete alternative by supporting a full range of

transactions, almost regardless of their complexity. As its popularity continues to

increase, its impact as a delivery channel will improve dramatically and may

finally begin to stem the tide of demand for live agents. To ensure that the needs of

all users are met, websites must be integrated with the call center, giving customers

a full range of options without completely eliminating the valuable personal touch.

A web enabled call center improves the e-commerce initiatives by offering high

quality customer service. Various features offered by Web enabled call center are:

• Web Pop that automatically provides CSRs with a pop-up screen of client'swebsite, intranet or web script.

• Web Callback that helps the visitors of the client's website request a callback

from the CSRs by simply clicking and entering their name, telephone

information and time for call.

• Web Chat that assists visitors engaged in a live, two-way text chat directly

from client's site to a trained agent. They can obtain answers to questions or

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resolve customer service issues without having to disconnect from the

Internet or use a phone.

• Web Push allows CSRs to assist client's website visitor to find out

information through guided "browsing."

• Email Management - This manages high-volume email inquiries directed to

client's mailbox or produced via a Website. The incoming messages are

tracked and provided an appropriate auto reply message to the customersletting them know that their email has been received.

CRM Call Center

CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, is a worthwhile endeavor to ensure

good returns on investment. In a CRM call center, customers communicate in

multiple ways that include phone, e-mail, Web chat, personal sales representative,

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and a host of others.

The Working

The CRM software integrates all the forms of customer contact into a central

history database where they can be retrieved or viewed together. Using CRM

software, a customer issue can be tracked from the original point of contact

through to resolution.

CRM call centers help companies realign their entire organization around

customers. And thus, is a strategic business initiative. Sales, Marketing and

Service as well as other groups are connected and coordinated through the CRM

applications. Before a call is made to the customer, all recent activity for that

customer should be reviewed to be informed of recent events. Then a sales

strategy needs to planned based upon observed opportunities. The use of CRM

software in the call center allows the assignment of a value to each customer if

the culture supports that philosophy. With that feature, one can choose how to

interact with that customer.

CRM helps the company identify most valuable customers and understanding their

lifetime values. Using CRM, the call centers design the organization systems and

service to best meet the needs of customers and maximize their value. CRM is

intended for long-term relationship building. Besides capturing the different forms

of customer interaction, CRM allows you to capture and store all available

customer information in the central history database. This allows agents the

ability to pull up a customer's entire history while the two interact. Communication

and service are more effective and efficient. Most CRM products also track trends in

purchasing and customer feedback.

Telemarketing Call Center

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Telemarketing call centers specialize in developing and implementing professional

inbound/outbound B2B and B2C telemarketing lead generation, appointment setting,

telesales and market research programs.

The Understanding

Telemarketing refers to the business or practice of marketing goods or services bytelephone. It is the act of selling, promoting or soliciting a product over the

telephone. Reliable telemarketing is an essential part of the organization's working

to enhance sales and increase profits. Combining the best of personnel,

processes and progressive technologies, the telemarketing call centers serve as

highly reliable specialist resource for organizations seeking outstanding

performance and results.

The telemarketing call centers provide customized telephone services that reveal

the valued techniques used by successful telephone sales and support

professionals. The fully automated, state-of-the-art call center equipments and

custom software enables the call centers to field thousands of calls daily for eachclient with a high degree of professionalism and customization. The clients

receive superior quality, experience and courteous service, coupled with the

advanced technical capabilities. The call centers are staffed 24x7 and 365 days

and they totally concentrate on using the tactical skills and effective processes

during inbound/outbound call process.

Phone Call Center

The phone call centers offer flexible call routing, superior IVR capacity and predictive

dialing systems.

The Concept

Utilizing advanced telephony and Internet technology, the Customer Service

Representatives (CSRs) in the phone call centers provide accurate and timely

information for the most complex inbound or outbound programs. The phone call

centers offer personalized call management by a team of professional operators

who know about the client and his business.

The phone call centers provide 24/7 answering and business services that help

keep the customers satisfied. This is essential as the call centers could be loosing

customers because of not answering the phone when they called and also as they

expect answers to questions immediately. The customers expect the call centers to

work around their busy schedules. The call centers are equipped with top-of-the-

line communications technology.

The phone call centers focus on building trust and understanding with every

interaction between the company and its customers. They thoroughly understand the

fundamentals, as well as the subtleties of the client's business. The go beyond

mere data gathering to give the customers, timely information that supports rapid

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decision-making. The friendly, courteous and professional operators offer excellent

service. They are trained to convey the rightful impression of the company.

Challenges for HR Professionals in Call Centers

I) Staff Turnover

Strategies For Combating Staff Turnover

Across the call center industry, there have been 12 typical causes of call center

turnover, including (in no specific order):

• Pace of effort required

• Sense of powerlessness or lack of control

• Frustration of not being allowed to do a good job

• Repetition

• Daily physical confinement (tied to their desk)

• Over-regimentation

• The feeling of being spied on

• The feeling of not being appreciated by others in the organization

• Handling complaints and problems all day

• Odd work hours

• Pay

• Better opportunities elsewhere

Of course, not all will apply in each case, but one or two are likely to be the biggest

culprits. In this case, I'd start by asking what changed in the internal and externalenvironments from the period of no turnover to the current situation of 30 +percent

turnover? Which of these 12 factors stand out?

Pay could be a problem if you're not keeping pace with the market. As the call centerenvironment becomes more complex, I think a lot of organizations are going to have

to do some soul-searching on the importance and commensurate remunerationassociated with these jobs. Many managers are quick to point out that pay is just

one factor, and often not the most important; true, but there's a point at which thisargument gets carried too far. Reality is, there are lots of opportunity out there for

competent, personable people who have both technical and communication skills.That said, if you truly are paying market rates, there should be relatively small,

incremental differences between what you and others are offering. The following

have been proven time and again to have a direct, positive bearing on turnover andmorale:

• Broaden and extend the training your agents receive and the responsibilities

they have.

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• Involve them in managing the call center -- quality improvement, forecasting,

and collaboration with other teams and departments, establishing schedules,

etc.

• Ensure they have an understanding of (and involvement in) the direction and

values of the organization.

• Ensure that your call center is accessible (maintain good service levels) so

that you're not burying agents in customers frustrated from the start.

II) Career Path for staff involved in Operations

Creating Career Paths

You may need to get creative with job titles and compensation practices within thecall center. If you only have 10 agents in the call center and little or no room for

advancement out of the call center within your company, develop different "micro"

job tiers for which agents can strive. Use such titles as "contact specialist,""advanced contact specialist," "expert contact specialist," and "lead contact

specialist/supervisor. But don't insult agents' intelligence by creating only new job

titles - be sure to tie in formal skill sets and knowledge requirements needed toachieve each "contact specialist" level, and, most importantly, implement a skills-based pay program that rewards agents financially for continual development. To

help fend-off/reduce agent burnout in a small environment, tap the talent andcreativity of each agent when working on off-phone projects. Empowering agents

and creating job diversity is essential to retaining staff in a small call center for aslong as possible.

III) Key performance measurements for individuals

Want to start a lively discussion among call center managers? Float the issue of

performance measurements for reps. Since performance measurements are usuallytied to expectations and standards, that will raise issues about fairness, what reps

can and can't control, why people have different capabilities and drives, and theprocesses they are working within. Few subjects elicit such strong and varied

opinion.

Consequently, there are about as many different sets of performance measurementsand standards as there are call centers. Here, we will look three types of

performance measurements -- calls per hour, adherence and qualitativemeasurements -- commonly used in assessing individual performance. We'll also

discuss why calls per hour are fading, while the other two types of measurementscontinue to gain acceptance.

Calls Per Hour Is Fading Traditionally, calls per hour have been an almost universal productivity

measurement. In fact, many call center managers have viewed calls per hour asvirtually synonymous with "productivity." Sure, there have always been concerns

about sacrificing quality for quantity. But, in practice, calls per hour has been the

preferred benchmark for establishing productivity standards, comparing performanceamong reps and groups, and assessing the impact of changes and improvements to

the call center.

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However, as a measure of performance, calls per hour is (and always has been)problematic. Many of the variables that impact calls per hour are out of the rep's

control: call arrival rate, type of calls, knowledge of callers, communication ability of callers, accuracy of the forecast and schedule, adherence to schedule (of others in

the group) and absenteeism, to name a few.

There are also mathematical realities at work that are not within the control of anindividual. For example, smaller groups are less efficient (have lower occupancy)

than larger groups, at a given service level. Since the number of calls is changingthroughout the day, so does average calls per hour for a group or an individual in the

group.

And, as is often pointed out, if calls per hour are over-emphasized, quality can suffer.Reps may even "trick" the system to increase their call count and achieve a

standard. (Many call center managers get a sheepish smile when this point comes upin discussion. One could surmise that more than a few, once upon a time, have

"accidentally" clicked off or erroneously transferred a call or two).

Some call center managers convert raw calls per hour into an adjusted measurement

that is more fair and meaningful. For example, occupancy, which is not within thecontrol of an individual, can be "neutralized" by dividing call handled by percentoccupancy. Others go a step further, and develop statistical control charts to

determine whether the process is in control, what it's producing, and which reps, if any, are outside of "statistical control."

But even with further analysis, calls per hour begins to lose meaning as technologies

such as CTI, skills based routing, and web integration, which enable increasinglysophisticated and varied call handling routines, proliferate. For many who have

depended on calls per hour, this has left a vacuum: How can we measureproductivity in an increasingly varied and complex environment? Enter adherence

and qualitative measurements, which continue to gain acceptance.

Adherence MeasurementsAdherence factor, or signed-on time, is a measurement of how much time an

individual is available to handle calls versus the time he or she was scheduled tohandle calls. If adherence factor is 85%, a rep would be expected to be in adherence

.85 x 60 minutes, or 51 minutes on average per hour. Adherence consists of allplugged-in time, including talk time, after call work (wrap-up) time, waiting for the

next call, and necessary outgoing calls. Lunch, breaks, training, etc., are not countedas time assigned to handle calls. Adherence factor should be established at a level

that is reasonable and that reflects the many things that legitimately keep reps fromthe phones. It should also flexible (adjustable downward) when call volumes are low.

Some have developed adherence factor into a more refined measurement that also

incorporates timing -- when was a person available to take calls, in addition to how

much time they were available. The idea is to ensure that people are plugged in mid-morning when calls are barreling in, and saving special projects for Thursday and

Friday afternoon when calls slow down. ACD and forecasting/staffing software hasimproved adherence reporting significantly in recent years.

The advantage of adherence factor is that it is reasonably objective. Reps cannot

control variables such as the number of staff scheduled to answer calls, the number

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of calls coming in, the distribution of long and short calls or the distribution of easyand difficult calls. But they can generally control how available they are to take calls.

Qualitative Measurements

In most call centers, qualitative criteria, which focus on knowledge of products andservices, customer service and call handling skills, and the policies of the

organization, continue to become more refined and specific. Most use some form of monitoring (silent, with a beep tone, side by side, or record and review) to evaluate

individual performance and identify training and coaching needs.

An important and developing aspect of quality is that reps take the necessary time todo the job right -- no more, no less. This means not rushing calls, but also not

spending excess time on calls over and above what is necessary to satisfy callers andhandle them completely and correctly. If qualitative measurements are refined

enough to insure that reps are spending the appropriate amount of time handlingcalls, then adherence and qualitative measurements make a powerful pair. In fact,

measuring calls per hour is unnecessary.

This is easier said than done in environments where qualitative measurements are

vague and indeterminate. And, many managers still believe that tracking productionoutputs, such as calls per hour or average handling time, is necessary. But the trendis clear: well-defined qualitative measurements are beginning to erode reliance on

measurements that are after-the-fact outputs.

ConclusionCalls per hour, which used to be an almost ubiquitous productivity measurement, is

fading. It is increasingly being replaced by focused and specific qualitative andadherence measurements. Reps can concentrate on being available, and on handling

each transaction according to its individual needs. If implemented well, qualitativeand adherence measurements can cultivate a better working environment, better

quality -- and higher productivity.

Research in Call Center Industry

1) When asked what measures comprise the key performance indicators in their call

centers, respondents to the Prosci study cited, in rank order, the following:

• Service level and/or average speed of answer

• Service quality and customer satisfaction (monitoring results and customer

surveys)

• Abandonment rate

• Call volume

• Handle time

• Revenue, sales and cost data

http://www.call-center.net/ccstudy-practices.htm

2) A study conducted by supportindustry.com featured the following findings

regarding call center metrics:

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• 16% of respondents handle 80% or more of their support incidents on first

contact, while 23% have a first-call resolution rate of 65%-80%.

• 22% of respondents enjoy an average abandonment rate of less that 1%,

while another 41% have a rate of from 1% to 5%.

• 7% of respondents answer a call in less than five seconds, while another 25% do

so in 6-15 seconds. On the high end, nearly 20% take more than a minute to

answer calls. www.supportindustry.com

3) Call centers participating in Purdue Research Foundation's benchmarking study

reported that their agent's attendance averages 86.81%, their average adherence toschedule is 85.09%, and the average occupancy rate is 74.54%. Purdue Research

Foundation Benchmark Performance Report

4) Purdue Research Foundation's benchmarking study found that participating callcenters answered calls on average after 35.1 seconds, abandoned 5.85% of calls,

kept customers in queue an average of 45.6 seconds, and resolved 71.96% of callerinquiries on the first call. Purdue Research Foundation Benchmark Performance

Report

5) Leading call centers perform staffing forecasts more frequently and better thanaverage call centers, according to a study by Hackett Benchmarking & Research.

More than half of the first-quartile centers are forecasting staff requirements weeklyor better, 57% vs. 30% at average centers. Top performers are achieving the

industry's standard for staffing forecast accuracy, 71% of the time vs. 62% accuracyat the average contact center. Hackett Benchmarking & Research

6) Datamonitor, Inc. found that companies often do not know the effect on their

return on investment (ROI) from their Customer Relationship Management (CRM)programs. Of 500 companies surveyed, only 15% reported a positive effect, while

15% said ROI remained the same, 5% said it decreased ROI, and fully 65% couldnot quantify the impact. Datamonitor, Inc.

Strategic Decisions for a Call Center

Improving Forecast

Matching up call center resources with the demands of the workload is a critical partof call center planning. This responsibility goes to the heart of Incoming Calls

Management Institute's definition of call center management: Incoming call centermanagement is the art of having the right number of people and supporting

resources in place at the right times to handle an accurately forecasted workload atservice level, and with quality.

Accurately predicting the workload presents one of the most important, and oftenmost challenging steps in this effort. Without a good workload forecast, the rest of call center planning is an "uphill battle" at best. And, when predictions are off the

mark, there is a tendency to look to those who do the forecasts for explanations.However, the person (or group) who does the forecasting may be highly trained,

equipped with the latest in forecasting software, and armed with every conceivable

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http://www.supportindustry.com/

http://www.supportindustry.com/




ACD and database report and still be unable to produce good forecasts if they aren'tmade aware of what marketing is up to or if reps are handling calls inconsistently.

Twelve ways to improve the predictability of the workload are summarized below.Each is outside the realm of what is usually thought to be the forecasting process.

Yet, each is essential to an accurate forecast.

1) Use ACD modes consistently. Each rep has an impact on the components of handling time (talk time and after call work) and, therefore, on the data that will be

used in forecasting and planning for future callloads. When the queue is building, itcan be tempting to postpone some after call work (wrap-up) that should be done at

the time of the call. This skews reports, causes planning problems and may lead toincreased errors. An important and ongoing training issue is to define ahead of time

which types of work should follow calls and which types of work can wait.

2) Emphasize quality. Supervisors and reps can feel that the pressure of a backed-up queue forces them to make tough tradeoffs between seemingly competing

objectives, such as service level and quality. However, although service level and

quality seem to be at odds in the short term, poor quality will negatively impactservice level over time by contributing to repeat calls and other forms of waste and

rework. This will contribute to workload volatility and inconsistencies. The emphasisshould be on handling each call correctly, regardless of how backed up the queue is.

3) Avoid callbacks. Many call centers have discovered the hard way that givingcallers the option to leave a message when the queue gets backed up often

backfires. For example, you may call back only to get perpetual busies, ring-no-answers, voice mail or somebody else in the person's work area ("sorry, she stepped

away for a moment"). And in the meantime, the caller may call the call center again.A minority of call centers do have success with a callback strategy, particularly when

reps have to do some amount of preparation in order to handle the calls, or when thecenter is flooded with calls because of a once-in-awhile occurrence. Still, most call

centers find that, in the end, it makes more sense to handle the inbound calls when

they arrive.

4) Anticipate and manage growth. Do an analysis of the likely impact of growth

on your call center. This often takes the form of a chart or document that illustratesthe projected costs and time-frames of growing the call center in increments, such as

ten percent growth in call load, twenty percent growth, thirty percent growth, and soon. The document should illustrate required lead-times and key decision points

associated with things like additional workstations, new or upgraded equipment, or anew facility

5) Develop better ties with other departments. This should be an ongoing effort

in any call center. Most of what happens in a call center is caused by something

going on outside the center. The forecast is doomed if strong ties with other

departments don't exist. There's no substitute for knowing well in advance whenmarketing is running the next campaign, when manufacturing is releasing the new

products and when finance is redesigning the terms and conditions.

6) Make forecasting a collaborative process. Involve supervisors and lead repsin the forecasting process, on a rotating basis. This yield two positive results: 1) they

will better understand the pulse of the call-load and what's behind the schedules

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(and will often adhere to them better as a result), and 2) because they arecontinually dealing with callers, they have their "ear to the ground" and can help

anticipate caller reactions to changes and developments in the marketplace and theorganization's services.

7) Track absenteeism. If you are part of a network of call centers or if you have

overflow routines established between call center groups, absenteeism in one areahas a direct impact on the workload in another. It is important to anticipate

absenteeism in advance and, contrary to conventional wisdom, it is reasonablypredictable. For example, in work groups with typical Monday through Friday

schedules, unscheduled absenteeism tends to be higher on Monday and Friday thanthe other days of the week. Have someone track absenteeism, and look for patterns.

8) Anticipate the factors affecting caller tolerance. The seven factors of caller

tolerance include motivation, availability of substitutes, competition's service level,level of expectations, time available, who's paying for the call and human behavior.

Putting some thought into these factors goes a long ways towards anticipating caller

behavior.

9) Track and manage non-phone activities. Forecasting non-phone activitiessuch as research and correspondence is a challenge. Many call center managers,used to having detailed information on the call-load, long for similar reports on non-

phone activities. Fortunately, as with inbound calls, these activities often occur inpredictable patterns, and usually have a strong correlation to other forecasts, such

as the inbound call-load, units of sales or number of customers (and they are usuallya lot less time-sensitive than incoming calls). Investigate the tracking capabilities in

your ACD, forecasting/staffing software and computer database. As a last resort,track these activities manually, as they occur.

10) Better educate callers. The inbound call-load tends to be less erratic when

callers are aware of other service alternatives (e.g. services via faxback, voice

response units or the World Wide Web). Billing inserts, focused advertisements,newsletter articles, and customer support sections in user manuals are all examplesof ways to better educate callers on the service alternatives available.

11) Minimize transferred and escalated calls. An excessive number of

transferred and escalated calls will wreck havoc on the workload forecast. Utilizequality improvement tools, such as flow charts and cause and effect diagrams (see

Service Level Newsletter, Notes column, May 1995) to address root causes. Commonproblems include insufficient training, insufficient authority, incomplete or missing

database information and poor call routing design (e.g. calls often end up in thewrong place to begin with).

12) Accomplish as much as possible during talk time. When tasks related to

inbound calls can be completed with the caller still on the line, errors are usuallyreduced. Further, the time reps would otherwise spend in more discretionary (and

less predictable) work modes, such as after call work or auxiliary modes, isminimized.

Conclusion

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Call centers with good forecasts do not necessarily have inherently stableenvironments. Rather, they have established good ties with other departments,

pulled in the data required, and established a forecasting process they arecontinually working to improve. They recognize that the responsibility for producing a

good workload forecast cannot rest solely on the person or group who "does" theforecasting. Instead, they view forecasting as a call center-wide process and work on

all contributing factors.

Key performance measurements (KPIs) in a call center

A significant amount of information is required to effectively manage a call center.

We need, for example, data on caller needs and expectations, the queue and callertolerance, the load on the system, agent activities and performance, call patterns,

cost components, the activities of other parts of the organization and conditions inthe external environment. But we must also be able climb above the detail and

assess overall performance, without the need to review dozens of reports. Thequestion is, what measures can adequately summarize the numerous activities of a

call center? While any measure by itself has the potential to mislead, the ten reportssummarized below generally give a good synopsis of the call center's performance

when they are interpreted together.

Average Call Value (Sales and Reservations Only)This measure is generally calculated by dividing total revenue generated by number

of calls. This has historically been, and continues to be, a top priority in sales and

reservations environments.

Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is, without doubt, a top priority. Most call centers conductsurveys via either outbound calls or mail to randomly selected callers. Some call

centers contract with outside firms to conduct surveys and prepare the results, while

others do the surveys themselves. And a growing number of call centers areautomating some surveys; callers are transferred into a VRU that guides themthrough a series of questions and allows them to respond via touch tone.

Service Level

Service level takes the form of X percent answer in Y seconds (such as 80 percent of calls answered in 20 seconds), and is a high level measure of how fast callers get

through to reps. The best managed call centers take service level seriously, andstrive to meet it as consistently as possible. An appropriately selected service level

objective should mean that answering calls less quickly (or a lot more quickly) wouldactually cost money, not save it.

Percent AbandonedAbandonment is a an ongoing concern in incoming call centers. If callers hang upbefore we get a chance to talk to them, we are missing the opportunity to make

them happy, sell to them and solve their customer service problems. However,abandonment is difficult to accurately forecast (and, therefore, staff around) and is

often a misleading indication of the queue callers experienced. In the final analysis,we can control how accessible we are -- how many trunks we have, how many skilled

reps are plugged in. But we can't control how callers will react or the myriad of

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circumstances that influence their behavior. Accordingly, be sure to viewabandonment in light of the other measures, and in consideration of the callers'

circumstances.

Cost Per CallThere are various ways to calculate cost per call (i.e. what factors to include in staff

costs, how to allocate equipment, how to value the building) but the basic formula isto divide total costs by total calls received for a given period of time (usually a

month). The potential in following cost per call is to identify the variables that aredriving it upwards or downwards, and the impact they have.

A climbing cost per call can be a good sign, depending on the variables driving it up.

For example, process improvements may result in fewer calls than would otherwisebe necessary (e.g. eliminating the need for customer callbacks, improving the VRU

and coordinating with other departments to eliminate problems that generate calls).As a result, the fixed costs (in the numerator) get spread over fewer calls (in the

denominator), driving cost per call up. But, of course, total costs will go down over

time, because the elimination of waste and rework will drive down variable costs.(Similarly, cost per call usually goes down during the busy times of the year, and up

during the slower times of year).

Errors and Rework

A major theme of the quality movement is that good service pays for itself becauseof the elimination of things that come with a lack of quality: doing work over,

correcting mistakes, handling complaints, increased public relations costs, canceledorders or subscriptions, costs of closing accounts, costs of inspection, and others.

Errors and rework are often part of a cycle. For example, errors and rework consumevaluable staff time, which can lead to insufficient staffing to handle the incoming

workload; insufficient staffing tends to lead to high occupancy, unhappy callers andincreased stress on the staff -- which contributes to errors and rework. So, reducing

errors and rework has a positive impact on service level, morale, customer

satisfaction and costs. A variation on errors and rework is a measure of the percentof calls completed on the first attempt, which has become an increasingly importantmeasure in many call centers.

Errors and rework can be measured in a number of ways. For example, the database

may allow you to track repeat calls, unresolved issues and errors in data entry.Monitoring or side-by-side coaching should detect and track specific problems that

are occurring during call handling. Call coding in the ACD (where reps use codes totrack specific types of calls and issues) can trace problems. And transferred calls,

escalated calls, customer complaints and correspondence (both to and fromcustomers) can be additional sources of information.

Forecast Call-load to Actual

Underestimating calling demand will mask and defeat all other efforts to providegood service, and overestimating demand results in waste. Good forecasting comes

from constantly tracking results and making improvements to the forecastingprocess. Common practice is to blend quantitative "time series" forecasting

(projecting out existing call patterns) with judgmental forecasting (for example, whatis marketing about to do? new terms and procedures? process changes? interest

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rates? the weather?). If the forecast is off by much, we need to identify whichvariables caused the problems, and factor them in (or out) in the future.

Scheduled Staff to Actual

This measure is independent of whether we actually have the staff necessary toacheive a targeted service level. How well do the staff we have adhere to schedule?

If this is a problem, why?

Adherence To ScheduleAdherence factor is a measure of how much time an individual is on the phone,

available to take calls, and generally consists of all plugged-in time, including talktime, wrap-up time, waiting to receive calls, and necessary outgoing calls. Generally,

when adherence factor improves (goes up), service level goes up and occupancygoes down. Adherence factor is not just an issue of how much, but also an issue of

when -- when during the course of the day, are reps are plugged in and available totake calls?

Conclusion In conclusion, there are a few things to keep in mind. One, as Gordon MacPherson

pointed out in The Great Call Center Brain Teaser, is that these are high-level outputmeasurements, and focusing on them won't inherently improve them. To makeimprovements, we have to improve the factors that cause them to be where they

are. Second, as with any measure, we must ensure that they are as accurate,complete and unbiased as possible. Finally, they should be interpreted in light of how

they relate to each other; by themselves, any can lead to erroneous conclusions, buttogether they paint a fairly complete, high-level picture of call center performance.

Concluding Remarks

BPO industry, as a whole can be divided into two-voice based and non-voice based.HR policies and strategies required to succeed in each segment are different. This

report is an overview of voice based BPO industry.

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