Work-at-Home Solutions Are Transforming Call Center Operations

take a call, and more.

Of course, it is much easier to monitor employee behavior when the company provides the agent with the computer needed for the work. Furthermore, with company-provided equipment, a business can better control which software is installed and what the employee can do with it, Waite says. "If [a computer is] employee-owned, the company does not have as much of an ability to lock out what the employee does with it."

But regardless of who owns the equipment, the company can run regular scans "to see what the employee does during her work hours," she adds.

Appropriate workspaces

Though some organizations permit the home-based agent's workspace to be in a shared area, ideally, a home-based agent should have a dedicated workspace that can be closed off from the rest of the home to minimize distractions and security lapses.

Working with London-based vPod Solutions, Xerox can help in that regard. The two companies have been testing the vPod Cube prefabricated enclosure concept since mid-2012, and were hoping to have 50 vPods in production by now.

The vPod Cube, which is comparable in size to a closet, uses telephony and videoconferencing services from Cisco Systems. Other features include louvered double doors; integrated LED ceiling lighting; power and data sockets; docks for laptops, tablets, and phones; desk lamp; cup holder; vase; wastepaper bin; pen tray; air purifier; and ergonomic, adjustable-height work desk.

The vPod is insulated to be soundproof and can even be equipped with sensors that actively monitor and make sure the doors are shut tight when the agent is handling calls that could involve sensitive customer information.

A few vPods have been tested at Xerox call centers. R.G. Conlee, senior vice president and chief innovation officer of Xerox Service, said in a statement that Xerox has already received a lot of input that it will use to improve the interiors.

On a much smaller scale, LiveOps, Twilio, and Google have partnered to offer a contact center in a box that sells for $90 per month per agent. When businesses subscribe to the service, a fully equipped box arrives at agents' doors, and they can have a contact center up and running in a matter of minutes. The package includes either an Acer C270 Chromebook or Asus Chromebox computer, a Plantronics headset, 7,500 Twilio VoIP minutes per month, and a Chrome management console and support plan from Google.

LiveOps pairs the package with its LiveOps Engage and LiveOps Voice Advantage for Salesforce products for call centers. In addition to voice, LiveOps enables its customers to mix and match five other channels, including chat, email, text message, Facebook, and Twitter. With Twilio CX for Chromebooks and LiveOps contact center applications, agents can provide service on all six channels starting at $280 per month or $3,360 per year. Licensing fees for similar on-premises products would cost about $12,000 per year, per agent, according to Ruckstuhl.

For all the technology available—and there certainly is plenty of it today—experts are quick to point out that technology alone does not guarantee the success of a work-at-home program. "You need to trust the people you have working for you," Waite says. "You need to have people who are mature enough to handle that type of work environment."

---

News Editor Leonard Klie can be reached at lklie@infotoday.com.

---

 

Related Articles

5 Ways Outsourced Customer Service Is a Growth Strategy

Companies can save money and focus efforts by handing off administrative tasks.

3CLogic and IntelaCloud Partner on Contact Center and PBX Solution

Partnership offers cloud-based solution to address both PBX and contact center needs from a single source.

inContact Releases Cloud-Based WFO for SMBs

The company's Discover WFO suite in the cloud is unified with its contact center platform just four months after the acquisition of Uptivity

The At-Home Agent Advantage

Maximize contact center results with seven best practices.