Contact centres are certainly nothing new. In fact for many companies they are tried, tested and valuable parts of their organisational infrastructure.
Having once simply been a few people in a room together answer calls, the contact centre is forever evolving. Now you're more likely to find whole networks of people across different geographies, both national and international, working across the same systems.
The technology used has also evolved, now customers are able to communicate with staff in a contact centre by phone, email, instant message and in some cases video conference. However, with many different methods and technologies out there, how does an organisation find which contact centre solutions are right for them?
When you first plan the development of your contact centre, you need to look at the requirements with the whole organisation in mind. The best way to do this is by identifying the objectives of the organisation. If growth is one of these objectives then you'll need to ensure that you contact centre has room to develop in order to accommodate the large volumes of calls which many come from the company's growth. Secondly, consider the geographical needs of the organisation. Is everyone that contacts you going to be from the same country? If not, shifts may be required to cover different time zones and localities.
If you are operating outside of the usual business hours, consider ensuring that someone is on hand to provide technical support if there is a problem with the hardware. Also take a look at your competitors and gauge what they are offering in terms of contact centre support. If the other companies in your market are offering 24 hour help lines then you will need to do the same. You may need to consider going one step further and looking at ways in which you can differentiate your support system from those of your competitors.
Having once simply been a few people in a room together answer calls, the contact centre is forever evolving. Now you're more likely to find whole networks of people across different geographies, both national and international, working across the same systems.
The technology used has also evolved, now customers are able to communicate with staff in a contact centre by phone, email, instant message and in some cases video conference. However, with many different methods and technologies out there, how does an organisation find which contact centre solutions are right for them?
When you first plan the development of your contact centre, you need to look at the requirements with the whole organisation in mind. The best way to do this is by identifying the objectives of the organisation. If growth is one of these objectives then you'll need to ensure that you contact centre has room to develop in order to accommodate the large volumes of calls which many come from the company's growth. Secondly, consider the geographical needs of the organisation. Is everyone that contacts you going to be from the same country? If not, shifts may be required to cover different time zones and localities.
If you are operating outside of the usual business hours, consider ensuring that someone is on hand to provide technical support if there is a problem with the hardware. Also take a look at your competitors and gauge what they are offering in terms of contact centre support. If the other companies in your market are offering 24 hour help lines then you will need to do the same. You may need to consider going one step further and looking at ways in which you can differentiate your support system from those of your competitors.
About the Author:
Emily Collins writes on behalf of Britannic Technologies. To discover more about the contact centre options for your company click here.
