Final-call Center by Shiplu

8/8/2019 Final-call Center by Shiplu

1/215

Objective

We can gain knowledge about the Call center. As following aspects of Call center we can learn from this study:

1. To obtain the idea about the Call center.

2. To get the knowledge about the technologies of Call Center.

3. To get the idea about the setup of Call Center.

4. To get the idea about the Call Center Operations.

Reference


2/215

1. Call center of Grameen Phone ( Nikunjo, Dhaka )

2. Call Center of Bangla link ( Gulsan-1 , Dhaka )

3. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC)

4. Web:

www. .com

www. .com


3/215

Methodology

Basically there are two types of methodology. One is Primary sources and

another is secondary sources.

Primary source:

Primary source are those type of source that we collect information or survey

directly from the organization.

Secondary source:

Secondary source are those type of source that we collect information from

online or any reference books.

To make this overall assignment we followed both Primary and Secondary

sources like, online, reference book, and journal as well as collected

information or survey directly from the organization.


4/215

Introduction:

A call centre or call center is a centralized office used for the purpose of

receiving and transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone .

A call centre is operated by a company to administer incoming product

support or information inquiries from consumers. Outgoing calls fortelemarketing , clientele, and debt collection are also made. In addition to a

call centre, collective handling of letters , faxes , and e-mails at one location is

known as a contact centre .

A call centre is often operated through an extensive open workspace for call

centre agents , with work stations that include a computer for each agent, a

telephone set / headset connected to a telecom switch , and one or more

supervisor stations. It can be independently operated or networked with

additional centers, often linked to a corporate computer network , including

mainframes , microcomputers and LANs . Increasingly, the voice and data

pathways into the centre are linked through a set of new technologies called

computer telephony integration (CTI).

Most major businesses use call centers to interact with their customers.

Examples include utility companies, mail order catalogue firms, and

customer support for computer hardware and software. Some businesses

even service internal functions through call centers. Examples of this include

help desks and sales support.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telemarketinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lettershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mailshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_representativehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_representativehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headphoneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecom_switchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_networkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainframe_computerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcomputerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_area_networkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_telephony_integrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telemarketinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lettershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mailshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_representativehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_representativehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headphoneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecom_switchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_networkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainframe_computerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcomputerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_area_networkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_telephony_integration


5/215

Varieties of Call Centers:

Some variations of call centre models are listed below: Remote Agents An alternative to housing all agents in a central

facility is to use remote agents. These agents work from home and use

internet technologies to connect. Temporary Agents Temporary agents who are called upon if

demand increases more rapidly than planned. Virtual Call centers Virtual Call centers are created using many

smaller centers in different locations and connecting them to one

another. There are two methods used to route traffic around callcenters: pre-delivery and post-delivery. Pre-delivery involves using an

external switch to route the calls to the appropriate centre and post-

delivery enables call centers to route a call they've received to another

call centre. Contact centers Deal with more media than telephony alone

including Email , Web Callback and internet Chat .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Routing_in_the_PSTNhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephonyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emailhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Callbackhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Routing_in_the_PSTNhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephonyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emailhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Callbackhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chat


6/215

Mathematical theory of call centers:

A call centre can be seen from an operational point of view as a queueing

network. The simplest call centre, consisting of a single type of customers

and statistically-identical servers, can be viewed as a single-queue.

Queueing theory is a branch of mathematics in which models of such

queueing systems have been developed. These models, in turn, are used to

support work force planning and management, for example by helping

answer the following common staffing-question: given a service-level, as

determined by management, what is the least number of telephone agents

that is required to achieve it. (Prevalent examples of service levels are: at

least 80% of the callers are answered within 20 seconds; or, no more than

3% of the customers hang-up due to impatience, before being served.)

Queueing models also provide qualitative insight, for example identifying the

circumstances under which economies of scale prevail, namely that a single

large call centre is more effective at answering calls than several(distributed) smaller ones; or that cross-selling is beneficial; or that a call

centre should be quality-driven or efficiency-driven or, most likely, both

Q uality and Efficiency D riven (abbreviated to QED). Recently, queueing

models have also been used for planning and operating skills-based-routing

of calls within a call centre, which entails the analysis of systems with multi-

type customers and multi-skilled agents.

Call centre operations have been supported by mathematical models beyond

queuing, with operations research , which considers a wide range of

optimization problems , being very relevant. For example, for forecasting of

calls, for determining shift-structures, and even for analyzing customers'

impatience while waiting to be served by an agent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queueing_theoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queueing_modelshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-sellinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skills_based_routinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_researchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimization_(mathematics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queueing_theoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queueing_modelshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-sellinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skills_based_routinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_researchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimization_(mathematics)


7/215

Administration of call centers:

The centralization of call management aims to improve a company's

operations and reduce costs, while providing a standardized, streamlined,

uniform service for consumers. To accommodate large customer bases, large

warehouses are often converted to office space to host all call centre

operations under one roof.

Call centre staff can be monitored for quality control , level of proficiency, and

customer service by computer technology that manages, measures and

monitors the performance and activities of the workers. Typical contact

centre operations focus on the discipline areas of workforce management ,

queue management, quality monitoring, and reporting. Reporting in a call

centre can be further broken down into real time reporting and historical

reporting. The types of information collected for a group of call centre agents

can include: agents logged in, agents ready to take calls, agents available to

take calls, agents in wrap up mode, average call duration, average call

duration including wrap-up time, longest duration agent available, longest

duration call in queue, number of calls in queue, number of calls offered,

number of calls abandoned, average speed to answer, average speed to

abandoned and service level, calculated by the percentage of calls answered

in under a certain time period.

Many Call centers use workforce management software, which is softwarethat uses historical information coupled with projected need to generate

automated schedules to meet anticipated staffing level needs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_controlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workforce_managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workforce_managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_controlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workforce_managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workforce_management


8/215

Technology of call centers:

Call centers use a wide variety of different technologies to allow them to

manage large volumes of work. These technologies facilitate queueing and

processing of calls, maintaining consistent work flow for agents and creating

other business cost savings.

These include:

ACW (After call work - Sometimes called "wrap" or "wrap-up") ACD ( automatic call distribution ) Agent performance analytics AHT (Average Handle Time) ANI ( automatic number identification ) Automated surveys BTTC (best time to call)/ Outbound call optimization Call Recording ( call recording software ) CIM (customer interaction management) solutions Chat and Web Collaboration CTI ( computer telephony integration )

CRM ( customer relationship management ) Desktop Scripting Solutions Electronic performance support systems Email Management Enterprise Campaign Management Issue tracking system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_call_distributionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number_identificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_surveyshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_recording_softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_telephony_integrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_relationship_managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_performance_support_systemshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_Campaign_Managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issue_tracking_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_call_distributionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number_identificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_surveyshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_recording_softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_telephony_integrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_relationship_managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_performance_support_systemshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_Campaign_Managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issue_tracking_system


9/215

IVR ( interactive voice response ) Knowledge Management System Outbound predictive dialer PDS (Predictive Dialing System) Outsourcing Quality Monitoring ( call recording software ) Speech Analytics Third party verification TTS ( text to speech ) Virtual queuing Voice analysis Voicemail VoIP Voice recognition WFM ( workforce management ).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_voice_responsehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_Management_Systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predictive_dialerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourcinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_recording_softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_Analyticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_party_verificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_to_speechhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_queuinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_analysishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voicemailhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_over_IPhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_recognitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workforce_managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_voice_responsehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_Management_Systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predictive_dialerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourcinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_recording_softwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_Analyticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_party_verificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_to_speechhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_queuinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_analysishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voicemailhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_over_IPhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_recognitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workforce_management


10/215

Call centre setup:


11/215

Criticism of call centres:

Criticisms of call centres generally follow a number of common themes:

From Callers: Operators working from a script. Non-expert operators (call screening). Incompetent or untrained operators incapable of processing customers'

requests effectively. Overseas location, with language and accent problems. Automated queuing systems. This sometimes results in excessively long

hold times Complaints that departments of companies do not engage in

communication with one another. deceit over location of call centre (such as allocating overseas workers

false English names)

From Staff: Close scrutiny by management (e.g. frequent random call monitoring). Low compensation (pay and bonuses). Restrictive working practices (some operators are required to follow a pre-

written script). High stress: a common problem associated with front-end jobs where

employees deal directly with customers. Repetitive job task. Poor working conditions (e.g. poor facilities, poor maintenance and

cleaning, management interference, lack of privacy and noisy). impaired vision and hearing problems

The net-net of these concerns is that call centers as a business process exhibit

stratospheric levels of variability. The experience a customer gets and the


12/215

results a company achieves on a given call are almost totally dependent on the

quality of the agent answering that call. [3] Call Centers are beginning to address

this by using technology to standardize the process all agents use.

Call Center Organogram:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_center#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_center#cite_note-2


13/215

Call Center Operations:

It all begins with the operations manager , sometimes also known as a call

center manager. They are responsible for all departments within the call

center, as well as relations with all outside contacts such as maintenance,

vending, payroll, human resources, or any other company the call center

works with.

There is usually someone else responsible for a particular department,

however it is the operations managers responsibility to work with them and

ensure the department is run efficiently and effectively.

The operations manager will usually decide how much time is spent to train

customer service agents and management teams which will set the tone for

the quality of customer service offered to customers.

The shift supervisor is the person that communicates between the

operations manager and the team managers, ensuring everyone is on thesame page. They will produce reports that are needed and make sure all

team managers report directly to them in regards to problems with things

such as attendance, call times, and customer satisfaction rates.

A shift supervisor will also oversee the adherence to policies and procedures

set in place. They may also deal with clients and take the role of the

operations manager when needed. Of course, a shift supervisor should never

be to busy to take customer calls when escalated for both positive andnegative reasons.

Team managers spend their time on the call floor, coaching the customer

service agents in a positive manner when it comes to attendance, quality,

policy adherence, and following procedure. Customer service agents would


14/215

report directly to the team manager in all aspects of their work including

calling them when they will miss a day, or coming to them when they have

an issue they cannot correct or handle on their own.

Team managers will also ensure that agents are comfortable and in apositive frame of mind while at work. Essentially, a big part of a team

managers job is to be a cheerleader of sorts. As a shift supervisor completes

reports for a shift, a team manager will complete reports for their team on a

daily basis to be sent to the shift supervisor.

This position is one that you will have to stand out as a positive role model,

knowing that what is said and done by a team manager is what sets the tone

for everyone else.

Training is an important aspect of running a quality call center, as customer

service agents will not appropriately represent a company without it. Within

a training department, there is usually a training manager that oversees

trainers on a daily basis and reports daily achievements and problems to the

operations manager.

Trainers will participate in training new hires on how the job is done, thepolicies and procedures, expectations of the company, and how to

successfully provide excellent customer service. A trainer has a very

important role to play because they are the first interaction a newly hired

customer service agent will have with the company.

Their style of training and the way they interact with people will determine

how agents feel about the job in itself. Trainers will also be responsible for

ongoing training when procedures or products change, and also ensure thateveryone is up to date on things they may have forgotten.

Quality assurance is monitored within a call center, to ensure customers

are receiving the best possible experience when calling in. Quality teams will

consist of a manager within the department who reports to the shift


15/215

supervisor, and a team of agents who listen to customer calls and score

them on a number of things.

The quality department is there to make sure customers are receiving the

correct information, and treated with respect. Quality reports are used to helpcoach a customer service agent on issues they may be having when taking

phone calls, and will help determine the overall proficiency of the entire call

center.

One of the most important things a quality department does to keep themselves

on the same page is to calibrate calls with each other. Meeting once a week or

so, they will listen to the same call together and score it to ensure they are all

scoring at the same rate and for the same reasons.

Without an IT team , the call center simply cannot run. They are the ones to

keep the equipment including phones and computers running smoothly so calls

can be answered in a timely fashion. The IT department will usually report to the

operations manager, but all departments will report to the IT team with

problems that need to be addressed.

IT teams are housed within the call center so things can be fixed pretty quickly,so this team has a lot on their shoulders. The size of an IT department is subject

to the equipment used by a call center, but will usually consist of at least 2

people.

Last but certainly not least is the bread and butter of the call center. A

customer service agent is what makes a company. Without them, there is

nothing to operate, as they are the ones whom are relied on to represent the

company and take care of any customer contacting the company.

There is a lot of responsibility for an agent to deal with on a daily basis as far as

keeping within policy and procedure guidelines while sometimes dealing with

irate customers and still keeping a smile on their face.


16/215

In all honesty, of all different aspects of a call center, customer service agents

are known to have the highest turnover for many different reasons. To lessen

the turnover in a company all departments must operate effectively with each

other to provide the agent with essential needs such as support and ongoing

training.

Without it, the agent simply cannot deliver great service to the

customer!

Call centre in Bangladesh:

The country's telecom watchdog, Bangladesh Telecommunication RegulatoryCommission (BTRC), has formally invited applications from eligible

entrepreneurs for licence to establish call centers. According to the BTRC,

any eligible person or company can get call centre license with a nominal

payment.

A call centre is a place used for the purpose of receiving and transmitting a

large volume of requests by telephone. Nowadays many centers have

implemented CTI (Computer Telephone Integration) technology to handlecalls.

Large companies generally operate call centers to provide customer service

for their clients. For instance, US-based PC manufacturer Dell has housed its

call centre in India. If any client of this company calls for customer support,

their call will be automatically routed to India for the relevant solution.

Besides, some companies also use call centers for their internal purposes

such as help desk service and sales support.

Call centre is an emerging revenue opportunity for Bangladesh. The global

market of call centre industry was US$ 382.5 billion in 2004 and is expected

to reach US$ 641.2 billion by 2009. This is an enormous opportunity for


17/215

Bangladesh: at the moment all ingredients are available in the country to

seize a significant chunk of the global market.

The BTRC downsized call centre license fees from Tk 50,000 to Tk 5,000 in

order to help flourish this service across the country. Call centers are beingconsidered as a booming industry. Dhaka- and Chittagong-based call centre

operators will enjoy tax holiday up to three years while other operators will

enjoy this incentive for five years. Furthermore, the BTRC proposed 0.5

percent revenue sharing when the holiday period is over.

For connectivity, the BTRC recommends call centre operators to use IPLC

(International Private Leased Circuit) and in this regard the Bangladesh

Telephone and Telegraph Board has already offered 25 percent discount on

bandwidth charge for IPLC.

Call centers can be divided into various categories based on their strategy of

function and nature of service. But there are mainly two types of call centres

such as inbound call centre and outbound call centre.

In an inbound call centre, customers generally place their queries about

product information and report any technical glitches. In an outbound callcentre, agents initiate a call to a customer mostly to sell a product or a

service. Other types of call centre include CRM call centre, interactive call

centre, phone call centre, telemarketing call centre, virtual call centre, web-

enabled call centre, etc.

Call centers can create huge employment opportunity for students in

Bangladesh. Every year many university graduates in our country remain

unemployed. Call centre business can open a new horizon for them.

According to World Call Centre Report 2007, 70 percent call centers in India

hired college graduates to conduct their operation. This could be equally true

for Bangladesh if we properly use the talents of our youngsters.


18/215

Arnfinn Groven, customer service director of Grameenphone (GP), told

StarTech, "Grameenphone was the first company in Bangladesh to set up a

24-hour call centre in 1999 and today it has the largest call centre in the

country."

GP call centre has both automated and human-agent interactions with its

customers for 24 hours round the year. Call centre hotline 121 is running

through Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) and Interactive Voice

Response (IVR) system.

"We have a flexible call centre model doing both inbound and outbound calls

serving our different customers according to their needs," he added.

"Currently there are around 600 customer managers in our call centre and it

is currently handling around 2,00,000 calls every day. From the

Grameenphone perspective, our call centre is a very effective and customer

friendly way to give over 18 million Grameenphone customers a professional

after-sales service. In addition, we are informing customers about our

products and services in order to enable them to take the right purchase

decisions", he added.

Fahim Mashroor, former director of Bangladesh Software and Information

Services (BASIS), told StarTech, "We're glad to see that the BTRC has

simplified the call centre licensing process which will have a profound impact

on our country very soon. But we should bear in mind that call centre

establishment is not the ultimate thing. We must act proactively to bring

overseas work and in this regard we need to start international marketing

immediately."

"Nowadays many unwanted activities in the society may give wrong signals

to new entrepreneurs. It is hard for a newcomer to unilaterally deploy a

successful call centre," he added mentioning that they require network to

attract global players. Obviously non-resident Bangladeshis can play an


19/215

important role in investing in this sector and luring foreign investment as

well.

"I personally believe if we pave the way for multinational companies to

establish their call centers in Bangladesh, it will be more beneficial for theindustry," he said.

India has shown its successes in call centre business. Pragmatic government

approach was key to creating a huge outsourcing flow to the neighbouring

country. The Indian government gives tax exemption on the export of ITES

(Information technology Enabled Services) and provides other assistances for

Indians in building software technology parks. Time factor also drives global

companies to choose India as an outsourcing destination.

India's twelve-hour time difference enables global organisations to provide

their customers with 24x7x365 days services. By taking advantage of India's

time difference, companies in the US have been able to ensure that their

customers receive round-the-clock customer support.

Remarkable IT-enabled services in India are helpdesk services, accounting

services, transaction processing services, remote network management andend-to-end processing etc. Call centers in India can offer expert product

specific solutions, such as risk modelling, data mining, actuarial services and

underwriting variation analysis.

China's continuing economic growth holds a bright future for the call centre

industry. Revenue of call-centre technology vendors grew by 34 percent in

2005 and by 40 percent in 2006, according to marketresearch.com.

Call centre industry in the Philippines also shows dynamic growth. A research

forecasts that more than one million Filipinos would be employed in the call

centre industry and the market will reach US$ 12 billion by 2010.


20/215

Call centers offer a wide range of services which are given below :

Customer acquisition: It is one of the effective services offered by

call centers. The aim of this scheme is not only to generate customers

but also to allow consumers to contact a representative to make a

purchase. Basically, a business nominates a call centre to conduct

marketing services on behalf of them.

Customer care: Customer care is one of the common services offered

by the call centre. When a customer buys any product or service from

a particular company, they are advised to contact the customer care

division of the call centre. Many companies in the western world

outsource their customer support facility. This in effect reduces the

operations cost of hiring new workforce.

Direct response: It is one of the important services offered by the call

centre to the business. During product advertisement, companies

mention a phone number for the customers. When any call is initiated


21/21

to this number, the call centre provides adequate information to make

an informed purchase decision.

Business to business: It is a potential call centre solution for any

company to generate business-to-business sales. The role of the callcentres in this regard is to reduce cost and provide resources for a

business to beef up its revenue.

No doubt call centre operation is a big opportunity for Bangladesh. But most

importantly, expert human resources are vital in order to ensure the

development of the call centre industry. In this regard, private companies

should come forward to train people and the government must ensure the

quality issues so that the entire system works smoothly and perfectly.

Conclusion:

Finally Bangladesh Government has taken step to set up call centers in the

country. Congratulations to the care taker government to take the decision

which the political government couldn't. Also thanks to the BTRC authority.

I hope our country will compete with India and earn good amount of foreigncurrency using the call centers.

Documents

Final-call Center by Shiplu