How Has COVID-19 Impacted The Call Center Strategy And Technology?

Almost everyone expects a “return to normality”. But for many, that may not mean returning to an office, including call center agents and supervisors, jobs that were traditionally considered on-site positions.

The rise of COVID-19 has prompted many customer service centers to adopt remote work due to concerns about the health and safety of employees. In fact, the pandemic is being, among many things, a massive teleworking experiment, as the outbreak accelerates a trend toward a remote, possibly long-term, workforce. But that’s not the only thing that call center leaders think.

Committed to learning from today’s challenges and applying those lessons to emerge stronger from the crisis, leaders are rethinking many aspects of call center operations in addition to agent location. This ranges from business continuity and strategy plans to channels and technology.

How Has COVID-19 Impacted The Call Center Strategy And Technology?

1) Telecommuting Is Consolidating

Since companies and regions will likely continue to operate prudently for an extended period. Particularly in a contact center, where employees are close to each other, the regulations for opening offices can be difficult to implement.

According to a recent survey, focused on the impact of COVID-19 on call centers, 70% of them worldwide expect them to continue to have agents telecommuting from home.

In addition to the aforementioned attitudes regarding long-term remote work for contact centers, two other key themes emerged from the survey:

• The strong increase in user interactions due to COVID-19.
• Businesses of all sizes are accelerating the migration from their contact center to the cloud.

With telecommuting here to stay in the future, how can a call center improve agent performance and customer satisfaction? Consider the changes that contact centers have experienced since the pandemic began.

2) Interactions Are Increased

The study found that 92% of respondents experienced a higher volume of interactions through traditional and digital channels. In contrast, only 11% reported a decrease in interaction volume.

By interaction category, 62% reported an increase in digital interactions, 57% an increase in phone calls, and 46% saw an increase in self-service. Respondents from business-to-consumer (B2C) call centers, specifically, reported an increase in digital engagement and a decrease in phone interactions.

To continue serving customers in this dynamic environment, call center software must have two key capabilities: scalability and support for rapid changes in contact flows, interactive voice response (IVR) dialogs, and other operational processes. All of this is available in the cloud, and if they haven’t already, many contact centers are quickly moving to adopt it.

3) Call Centers Move To The Cloud

The survey showed that 66% of respondents whose companies are not using the cloud today plan to speed up their move to the cloud environment as a result of the pandemic.

Upon closer analysis, respondents who already have their cloud technology are more likely to expect agents to continue working at home.

4) Investments In Technology Are Increasingly Important

After making immediate decisions about staffing and effective customer service during the crisis, call center executives need ways to improve operations and long-term customer service.

Given that business agility and business continuity issues are a priority for business leaders, many are well aware of the importance of implementing digital solutions to achieve the organization’s goals and provide ongoing customer support during market disruptions.

5) Increase In The Implementation Of Technological Solutions

Technology can limit business continuity plans if it lacks functionality and flexibility. Local solutions have limitations of flexibility and scalability on demand, which are necessary to resolve business continuity in many circumstances.

The tools available from cloud solutions to facilitate remote work should be the same as those available to agents in the office, including quality and compliance management, performance management, analytics, and automation.

Cloud solutions allow agents, supervisors, and administrators to access tools from anywhere with just an Internet connection and an electronic device, making it the winning choice for a robust call center platform.

6) Establishment Of Best Business Continuity Practices

According to experts, in 2022, after a decade of concerted efforts in digital transformation, half of organizations will not have established business continuity as an investment priority and will not be prepared to operate in a future pandemic or crisis, resulting in which will lead to increased operational risks.

Recovery from unforeseen situations and business continuity plans are only successful if the contact center’s routing and call management technology is available if the organization is ready and prepared for adaptation as needed.

What are some of the best common practices of companies that have successful strategies?

•  If a call center is part of your business, it is wise to partner with a cloud communications provider.
• Train agents and supervisors in contingency recovery processes and systems as part of the onboarding process and provide frequent updates.
• Provide written instructions on recovery procedures for unforeseen situations. Documentation is often overlooked, but there must be a central reference resource. A recommended practice is to keep physical and digital copies of these procedures.
• Get monthly custom system health checks for your solution to ensure everything is working as specified.
• Test the internal recovery plan for unforeseen situations 1 or 2 times a year (meeting, internal communication, external communication, etc.).

A Lasting Impact

COVID-19, and all the disruption it has caused, will have a lasting influence on the future of work and organizational leaders have learned what has and has not worked and have been forced to close the gaps to be better prepared for possible new crises.

Given that the “new normal” seems to be trending towards the modernization of the call center, determining the way forward for 2020 and the next few years requires an effective strategy for the customer service center. Therefore, it is important to ensure that you are using the right agent management technology that can provide an effective customer experience, effectively manage increased interactions, and foster long-term, sustainable relationships.