Johannesburg, 09 Jul 2014
The success of your call centre is two-fold - great customer service delivered by great call centre agents! And so to avoid the old adage, 'you're only as good as your equipment' of becoming your call centres clich'e, here are our five top tips of selecting the 'right' headset.
Headset quality - Invest in the best you can afford. Low cost devices are low cost for a reason. They may be fine for occasional use but not for call centre agents. Always consider durability, quality and comfort, and invest in the best headsets that you can afford. When properly looked after, this upfront investment will ultimately reduce cost-per-wear and limit downtime caused by faulty headsets.
Headset certification - Ensure that your headsets are certified for call centre use. Such certification should include features such as built-in electro-static shock protection and acoustic shock protection (ASP). These are base considerations and of great importance in workplace-safety features for voice calls.
Headset comfort factor - Ensuring that your agents headsets have been specifically designed for all-day wear is imperative to sustaining good occupational health and staff happiness, which leads to gains in productivity and efficiency.
Key features to look out for when exploring the comfort factor of headsets:
* Soft ear cushions for comfort (and hygiene)
* Lightweight headset frame
* Option of wearing styles
* A choice of mono or duo speaker variants to suit the working environment and individual users
Headset training - Yes, the use of a headset seems self-explanatory but providing proper headset training will allow agents to gain the maximum benefit from their headsets. Feature explanation, proper care, cleaning and storage of headset will increase equipment lifespan and decrease replacements.
Headset sound quality - This benchmark is crucial for all sizes and types of call centre. Noise-cancelling headsets can help ensure that customers do not hear ambient background noise, have no repetition issues and are provided with the feeling of confidentiality. They also support call wrap-up to help facilitate successful completion of more calls per day.
* According to a recent study by Frost & Sullivan, 65% of contact centre managers interviewed said that noise cancellation was the top quality they look for in headsets.
Allocating the appropriate attention to researching and selecting the best suited headset for your call centre agents will be worth the investment in the long-term with returns in productivity, efficiency and overall job satisfaction among your team.
Sources: callcentrehelper.com, discoveruc.com.
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