Call centre management and recording: navigating a sea of options
by Kevin Burns
Managing Director
OAISYS Ltd.
CONSISTENT monitoring, evaluation and management of call centre interactions can be one of the most effective means of improving customer service. However, there are many key factors you should consider when selecting a call management and recording solution to satisfy current and future call centre needs.
Return on investment (ROI) and total cost of ownership (TCO) are important considerations. The overall cost of, and projected return on, the investment should influence a call recording solution choice that addresses immediate business requirements, while also anticipating evolving organisational structure, workforce change and growth and the ability to maximize existing infrastructure technology.
One such solution, Tracer software from OAISYS, delivers advanced call recording, quality assurance, personnel development and reporting tools. It seamlessly integrates with leading business communications systems and most standards-based IP and legacy TDM systems.
When combined with dedicated customer service, support and training, continuous customer-driven product enhancements and an open standards philosophy, Tracer becomes an easily deployed and “future-proof” investment.
Robust functionality that transcends simple call recording capabilities, combined with these “value-adds,” is critical to any successful solution implementation.
Solution versatility is also essential. Management should be empowered to affect call centre interactions in real-time as well as after the fact. Tracer allows supervisors to monitor calls live or even automatically, coach agents via integrated instant messaging and add notes directly to calls to capture observations “on-the-fly.”
BMI Healthcare, a Tracer user, is the acute private hospital division of General Healthcare Group (GHG) and the largest independent private healthcare provider in the UK. BMI’s National Enquiry Centre (NEC), is the nucleus for national enquiries and initial contact to BMI’s hospitals across Britain.
BMI team leader Lorraine Morrison said: “Tracer allows us to easily provide coaching and training. The advisor agent can listen to the calls, enabling both the agent and supervisors to discuss what they hear by way of tone, intonation, etc., which is invaluable when giving feedback and coaching. The results are an ever-improving contact centre”.
Installation, setup, configuration, training and ease-of-use can ultimately affect TCO more than the initial price. BMI’s deployment of Tracer was quite simple, according to GHG senior voice engineer Russell Parr. He simply built the server, and then loaded the software and administration functionality to enable the various management functions and permissions.
Impact on workforce productivity and improved ability to respond to customer needs are key metrics for achieving the greatest possible returns. For instance, Tracer provides free, unlimited, permissions-based user access to record, search and play back recordings, even to those employees outside the call centre walls, extending the benefits of call recording throughout the enterprise.
Doing more with existing business applications can also maximize value. Tracer’s free, system-level and Web Services Application Programming Interface (API) enables integrations with various predictive diallers, ACD and other call centre applications along with other commonly used applications, such as Microsoft Outlook®, Salesforce.com and Microsoft® Dynamics®.