Call monitoring and workforce management processes improved through automation

Having just gone to the annual Northeast Contact Center Forum, which is a great conference jam-packed with valuable contact center-focused content for its' audience.

I did get a chance to talk to a percentage of attendees, and I observed one trend which I found eye-opening:

A handful of contact centers today are still running their key call monitoring and workforce management processes with Microsoft Excel! 

Organizations like the NECCF exist to help contact center professionals learn what is available to help them in their day-to-day contact center lives, and the industry consultants and analysts will likely be less surprised than I was about the amount of companies still using Excel.

In fact, using Excel must be better than using nothing. I am sure many managers have done many amazing things with Excel macros and pivot tables.

Still, the ROI and benefits of automating those processes seem extremely compelling:

- Time Savings: Not only will supervisors be freed up to do additioal tasks, they can also evaluate more recorded interactions, including screen recordings, web chats, email support and more. They will also be able to evaluate the most important interactions based on the data analytics streaming through their dashboards.

- Cost Savings: Under and Over staffing is a challenge which can be solved quickly with the right workforce management solution.

- Efficiency gains: Average Handle Time and First Call Resolution are two key metrics which can be improved with the help of a call monitoring system.

- Customer Service Improvement: Using an advanced call monitoring solution will allow your staff to ensure training focuses on the key needs for improvement.

- Improve Scheduling: With the help of an automated workforce management solution, schedulers can create forecasts & schedules based on multi-skilled agents with the click of a button. Another click will yield what-if scenarios.

- and the list goes on and on...

I suppose there still are reasons (cost may be one, but even the cost of a robust, scalable enterprise workforce optimization solution has been made more affordable in recent years) companies resist bringing in a modern, automated workforce optimization solution. I just can't think of any.

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5 important telecom checkoffs in a call monitoring project

Whether represented by a phone systems dealer, or from an internal role, the telecom professional is always a part of the conversation when an enterprise team is considering purchasing a new call monitoring system. 

While the call monitoring system itself has greater impact across the entire contact center operation, the actual selection and implementation of a call recording component is a heavy responsibility for the telecom team, so it is important to ensure that the selected solution provides:

* Vast phone system support. Telecom pros want to make sure their phone switch is supported. Most call recording solutions will support traditional PBX models from Avaya, Cisco, ShoreTel, Mitel, Aspect, Nortel, NEC, etc.. Most of these same telephony vendors also provide VoIP versions, cloud-based versions, SIP-based systems or hybrids, and active recording options, which allow the recording system to dip right into the switch API.

* Low cost of ownership. Telecom professionals appreciate when their cost of ownership is minimized. For example, when they're upgrading to a new version of their switch, or moving to an entirely new platform, they want to be confident they will not have to re-buy a more compatible version of the call monitoring system as well.

* Future-Ready scalability. Telecom buyers enjoy a scalable solution which doesn't handcuff them as they add recording channels, locations, departments, remote agents, etc., and especially when they're ready to upgrade their switch to the latest version.

* Best of breed options. Some phone system vendors work so hard to educate buyers on the advantages of having built-in recording (even going so far to claim it's included in the base price of the phone system) that they think it's the only selling strength they need. In contrast, securing best-of-breed components in a call monitoring system which integrates with the switch at a reasonable long-term cost is a winning option which is difficult to argue with. Remember, what you're buying may be built in or bundled, but it's never "free".

* People working with people. It's nice to know when call monitoring projects kick off, you're going to be working with a solid and reputable team of people who will work hard to ensure your project's success. At the onset of most implementations, a kickoff team is formed with a telecom professional, an IT representative, and a project manager from the call monitoring vendor.