Archives for April 2022

While many contact centres had the technical ability to work from home, only a small number encouraged staff to work from home on a semi-regular basis, and very few had permanent work-from-home staff.

There were still a large number of contact centres that did not have the technology that allowed work-from-home, which required a flurry of upgrade activity in the early stages of the pandemic.

Once staff were working from home the focus turned to how best to manage a remote workforce. This included supporting, training and motivating staff in a new working environment, adopting new technology (including the widespread use of video conferences) and so on.

Now management are wondering what the future looks like – are staff going to work in an office, at home or a mixture of both? What is the best way to achieve this? Is it going to be the same for everyone or will staff have a level of personal choice?

We would be interested in your thoughts.

What were the main challenges you experienced during the pandemic?

Has it been difficult to retain staff?

How is your contact centre likely to operate in the future – in the office, remotely or a hybrid?

For assistance or more information please give us a call on 1300 789 456 or check our web site.

The last two years have been rather reactive for the contact centre industry due to the pandemic.

With the focus on working from home and maintaining customer service, a lot of improvements and strategic planning have been deferred as higher priority tasks were attended to.

As the pandemic settles into the “new normal” contact centre managers are starting to think more strategically.

• If you replaced or upgraded technology, is the solution right for you? Is there functionality available that you are not using? Have you adapted your work practices to leverage the capabilities of the new technology?
• There is a lot of talk in the media about staff changing roles post-pandemic. How will you be able to retain staff?
• In some ways customers became more tolerant during the pandemic as we all experienced a situation that we had never been in before. Again, as we adapt to the “new normal” customer expectations are likely to rise again.
• Everyone is talking about artificial intelligence. There are lots of applications for AI from self-service to agent assistance but is it right for you and your customers?
• What are your customers actually thinking and saying? How are they behaving. Understanding customer sentiment and behaviour through analytics allows you to tailor your offerings to optimise the customer experience.
• Is your contact centre operating as efficiently as possible? Are there any capabilities available in your current technology that would allow you to increase efficiency and reduce cost?
• Have you moved all your technology to the cloud or are there still some components that need to be moved?
• Staff are working from home but are they working well? What is their environment like? Do they have the equipment they need? Is your data secure? Do they have access to all the information they require? How do you ensure your staff still feel like members of a team?
• Do your business continuity plan and disaster recovery plan accurately reflect the changes made during the pandemic or do they need updating? When was the last time they were tested?

Do you have a strategy for the next 5 years?

What is the most important change you will be making this year?

If you need any assistance to develop a strategic plan, or to assess your current operation, please give us a call on 1300 789 456 or check our web site – www.ccaction.com.au.