Where do Your Call Center Agents Work From?

Recently it has become a trend for call centers to allow their agents to work from home. It’s cost effective for the agency and it is easier for the center to find employees who are willing to work shorter and more flexible hours. But is this the smart choice? There are several concerns that arise with call centers that employ home-based agents, and these challenges can end up costing your business valuable customers and impact your bottom line. It is imperative that when you hire a company to answer your phone calls, your customers do not know that they are not speaking to someone in your office. While home-based agents may be the trend for now, there are flaws to the system that you should be aware of.

What Do Your Customers Hear?

How are companies finding the right people to staff these work-at-home positions? Just because an employee is a hard-working, focused employee in the office does not mean that the same employee will be as effective working from home with daily distractions. Yes, a center can require that their home-based agents work from a home office without interruptions from children, pets or delivery people, but how is it truly enforced? You never know what your customers might hear in the background of a home-based agent’s home office. At AnswerNow! each of our team members are in a sound-proof cubicle, and there are never radios, televisions or employee chatter in the background. This also makes certain that each of your customers receives undivided attention.

Security, Training and Technical Difficulties

Another challenge that answering services may face when employing home-based agents is how to handle training. Suppose an agent receives a call that is out of their realm of capabilities? How long will it take them to reach a supervisor from home, putting your customer on hold for longer than AnswerNow’s “seconds” policy? Our team leaders are behind our agents at all times, and are ready to assist as soon as need be. There is also an issue of security. It is extremely difficult to constantly monitor what an agent is accessing on their home computer while during working hours. This could jeopardize customer information as well as your business information. Finally, in the case of technical difficulties, what happens to customer calls if a home-base agency loses power? At AnswerNow!, we have backup generators and phone lines to ensure that you never lose a call.