Johannesburg, 09 Sep 2002
Running a call centre that answers all the needs of a business is not a simple process of putting a "black-box" solution in place.
Call centres have come a long way from the early days of telephones and agents acting as the only link between the customer and the information on the desktop screen. The integration of telephony and computer networks has enabled better facilities for the customer - such as self-help and effective call routing - as well as a better level of service, by making the right information available to agents.
The trend is to move the automated functions - the 'intelligence' of the system - away from the front-end switches and onto the software platform that integrates the front- and back-office systems. This involves careful consideration of three elements to achieve the greatest benefit for the business: infrastructure, applications and management.
Spescom has extensive experience in providing sophisticated technology for a variety of businesses, as well as offering the consulting skills which are an integral part of call centre deployments.
In terms of infrastructure, interoperability is an essential requirement. This is exemplified by the latest equipment which our company supplies. Our Definity systems are a reliable and well-established way to handle customers' needs which are based on proprietary Unix software. The new generation systems we have recently introduced are the MultiVantage range, based on Linux open standards to facilitate integration.
This is important in a multimedia environment where switches have become media gateways - far more complex than in earlier systems. More intelligence is needed at the processor level to achieve the right results.
Another factor is the demand for distributed systems and redundancy. It is a common situation that the most cost-effective solution for national organisations is to centralise the call centre function with smaller local centres connected on a dedicated data service. In the case of running a disaster recovery site away from the main centre, such distributed networks are essential. The main limitation is the load on the communications infrastructure - connectivity and bandwidth are still relatively expensive.
However, with the right choice of integrated architecture, the advantages of flexibility can be achieved with a secure system that still saves costs through centralisation. The dominant trend to packet-switched, IP telephony is an important part of this, although there are significant cost factors in migrating to a fully converged network that handles voice and data simultaneously.
Having the latest technology is a first requirement. The final success of the project involves other issues as well.
Depending on the nature of the business, a careful choice of applications needs to be made. Applications are what you do with the infrastructure to support the business process. The wide range of choices must be weighed against the needs of the operation.
Various intelligent routing systems contribute to productivity and a more efficient interface with callers. This can include extensive IVR to allow callers access to self-help functions as well as making sure that important calls are routed to the right people.
The trend is toward multimedia ability with systems capable of handling more than just voice, but it should be remembered that people need to talk. Real quality of service and retaining customers often depends on the personal touch. Technology enables, but success depends on people, attitudes and carefully planned processes.
This is why training, quality control and integration with the CRM applications is very much part of call centre operation. The final aspect to be considered is the overall management of agents. With strategic planning and deployment of appropriate software, the essential functions of quality assurance, scheduling, attendance and training can be managed effectively in the call centre environment.
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