VIRTUAL CONTACT CENTERS How can Home Based Agents reduce costs and improve the customer experience?

VIRTUAL CONTACT CENTERS

How can Home Based Agents reduce costs

and improve the customer experience?

Virtual Contact Centers – Could Home Based Agents

reduce costs and improve your customer experience?

Virtual Contact Center Solutions provide companies with sophisticated telecommunications

capabilities including Home Based Agents. As an alternative to offshore outsourcing, companies are incorporating Home Agents in the USA to increase sales, reduce costs and improve customer

satisfaction.

Join us as three experts give their take on Home Agents… Topic's include: • What is a Virtual Contact Center?

• How does a Home Agent Model work?

 Risks & Rewards  A look into the future  Panel discussion

Our Panel:

- Cynthia Williams, Area Manager Home Agents, Apple - Kimberly Odom, Sr. Director Marketing, Contactual

- Sharon Pettigrew, Principal, Call Center Group (moderator)

About:

Appleleads the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system, applications, digital media products - iPod, iTunes, iPhone and iPad.

VIRTUAL CONTACT CENTERS

How can Home Based Agents reduce costs

and improve the customer experience?

Sharon Pettigrew

Call Center Group

Panel Discussion

1.

Sharon Pettigrew – Call Center Group

Home Based Agent Overview & Trends

2.

Cynthia Williams – Apple Inc.

How Home Agents transformed Apple &

Marriott

3.

Kimberly Odom - Contactual

Virtual Contact Center

Definition – Agents and managers work from a variety of locations:

 Branches  Home offices

 3rd _{party outsourcer}

Key Technology

 Call Recording /Monitoring – Quality Assurance/Training

 VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol – reduced cost, global routing  Intelligent Routing – route to best available agent

 Workforce Management – schedule on call, training, other  Knowledgebase System – intelligent answer system

Why Virtual Contact Centers?

Virtual

Contact

Center

Why Home Agents?



Reduces costs (average annual savings of

$25,000/agent on office space, utilities, overhead)



Reduces investment in corporate infrastructure



Improved agent utilization



Attracts top talent and previously untapped talent



Disaster Recovery – Workforce Continuity (Storms,

etc)



Improves morale

 Rewards / retains top customer support reps

 Saves employees time and money (commute, etc.)  Enables more flexible work schedules for employees

Typical Motivation for Home Agents

If you are using or planning to use Home Agents, what is your primary motivation?

44%

32% 12%

9% 3%

Attract/Retain more highly qualified agents Save $$ by reducing or eliminating bricks & mortar

Provide Business Continuity Reduce environmental impact of commuting

Other

At Home Agent Solution

The real motivation for deploying and

managing the at-home agent is based on

one simple principle: improved agent

satisfaction leads to increased customer

satisfaction which results in improved

customer loyalty.

Business Drivers – Why now?



Disaster recovery & business continuity



Number of contact centers has increased due to

mergers & acquisitions



Rapid growth in contact centers reduces qualified

local agent pool



Rise in teleworking in US



Preference for US based operations



Improvements in IP telephony and networking deliver

Virtual Contact Center

Views on Home Working

Views/proportion of respondents

Strongly

disagree Disagree Neutral Agree

Strongly Agree

It would be difficult to manage home

working agents effectively. 17% 17% 4% 28% 33%

Home working would bring us flexibility to

add agents and be open longer hours. 10% 7% 12% 40% 31% The risks around home working are too

high. 17% 17% 32% 13% 21%

Home workers would not be as

productive as agents based in a central

location. 24% 16% 24% 31% 4%

Home Agent Facts

• Average age is 38, vs. on premises agent is 23. More than 80% college educated, vs. 35% of on premises agents.

Experience Matters

• 80%+ per year, vs. less than 25% for on premise agents. Avg. cost to hire/train new agent - $15k

Retention Increased

• Staff to peaks (expected contact volume, reduce abandoned calls, expand coverage hours).

Flexibility

• 40% more productive (Gartner)

Productivity

• Cost – Home Agent average $21 per hour, average on premises - $31 per hour vs. (IDC Survey)

Cost

• Average $12K/yr.

Real Estate Savings

• Industry average is $25K/yr.

Impact on Bottom Line

Reason Percent

Reduced office space/Operational expenses 55% Fewer work distractions 67% Attracting better employees 68% Retention of key employees 68% Having a continuity of operation plan 76% Increased productivity 78% Happier workforce/Agent Satisfaction 91%

How effective is each at home contribution

to improving the bottom line?

Positive Results of Home Agents

Effect Commercial Advantage

Larger Pool of Skills Available Better match via skills based routing. Improved 1st call resolution.

More balanced work across multiple contact centers.

Optimized routing overflows calls between contact centers, reducing queue times and abandoned calls.

Skills may be widely deployed.

Specialized agent skills and capabilities can be deployed with workforce management scheduling.

Forecast and schedule only once.

Centralized routing means only one schedule for multiple centers to fully utilize staffing.

Increase global coverage. Global coverage up to 24/7 with follow the sun routing.

Deploy applications in a standardized way.

Virtualization can mean improving and standardizing the functions available to agents. Each agent has same desktop.

Offer 24/7 availability using flexible scheduling.

Flexible schedules are the norm for home agents. Can incorporate new labor pools such as disabled, veterans or seniors. Pay for what you use.

Dynamic use of outsourcers.

Dynamically route to multiple outsourcers based on company priorities. Global routing across multiple virtual centers.

Why not Home Agents?

31.5%

23.9% 25.5%

19.0%

Personnel Management Issues Technology Constraints Productivity Other - Security/Compliance

Home Agent Options

Why it benefits you



Can complement your current model – blending

home and in office agents



Virtual Call Center Solutions reduce costs and

increase functionality of Contact Center Solution



Better Agents, Improved Customer Experience,

Flexible Workforce for Peaks/Valleys



Candidate Pool is much larger for home based

agents



Little initial investment – pilot for fit to your

business



Expand and contract based on products and

Success Stories!

Cure for Many Business Challenges

Issues & Solutions for Success

Issues:

Solutions:

Provide Virtual Desktop Revise IT Help Desk

Simplify Deployment of Software

Use PSTN

Establish Standardized Phone/Headset

Standardize Desktop Configuration Specify Approved Broadband Service Providers Define IP Standards Data Security Complexity Telecom Expertise Broadband Outage Agent Support IT Infrastructure

Thank you

Questions?

Sharon Pettigrew, Principal

Call Center Group

866.425.4992

Home-Based Agent Programs

HBA Experience

Marriott Experience

Piloted the first Marriott HBA program in early 2005 with direct hire group of 10

In 2006 hired first group of 40 in a completely remote environment

- Hired Remotely -Trained remotely

Grew to 150 HBA within 1 site by end of 2007

Moved to 250+ HBA across 4 sites by middle of 2008

Apple Experience

Hire to Apple to Oversee HBA program Work with first Direct Hire Group in Fall

2008

Expanded College Intern program Hired Remote Managers within the

model

Piloted remote Training in Spring 2009 Have moved from pilot of 70 in/out to

Agenda

• Determining Needs

– Will HBA meet these

Needs?

– Do I have resources to

actualize

• Project Goals

• Virtual Call Center Path

– Establish a viable pilot

– Tracking Overview

and Learning

– Analyze Risk

– Evaluate Learnings

– Scalability Evaluation

• Virtual

Culture &

Team

Building

• On boarding

& Training

• Integration

• Misc Lessons

Learned

– Questions

HBA Planning Path

• Determine Needs

• Research and pilot program

• Track to clearly defined business goals

• Expansion of Program

Determine Needs

Will the HBA Model Meet

Needs

• A way to add internal employees

and increase our ratio of internal

to vendor/contractor

• Needed a scalable solution to

support our growth at a lower

cost

• Costs falls between internal and

out-source vendor

• Reach knowledgeable labor pool

• Enhance Quality of Life for

employees

• Will Reduce Overhead

Are Available Resources

Adequate

• Changes in technology making

it feasible and cost effective

• Recruiting Team can penetrate

long distance markets

• Posses a Company Culture that

will tolerate virtual interaction

• Have identified a potential

training solution

• Necessary Equipment is

mobile

Pilot Goals

• Increased capacity and staffing

flexibility

• Improved attendance and

schedule adherence

• Increased

productivity/Decrease costs

• Increased morale and

employee satisfaction

• Improved customer

Pilot Overviews

Company A Primary Goal: Reach

New Labor Market to Allow for

Cost Effective Growth

• 3 month timeframe - phased

approach

• ~ 70 agents - phone, email,

fax/back-office admin (technical

and non-technical)

• Existing agents near an internal

site

• Set performance criteria for

participation

• Semi-remote model with

scheduled onsite visits

• Hotel cubes, onsite training,

onsite technical/equipment

Company M Primary Goal: Reduce

Brick and Mortar Space to Reduce

Costs

• 6 month pilot review

• All training done at

internal site

• 30 days on phones before

move to home

• Mixed teams

• On site visit for Team

Meetings, etc

• Hired for Educational

experience

• All equipment returned

and issued on site

Pilot Program Learnings

• Go big enough to demand focus/ small enough to address issues • Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

• Existing employees do not show the truest picture

• Assign a resource to review all ongoing communication and procedures for HBA compliance

• Make sure child care expectations are clearly defined • Test other Labor Markets

• Avoid Mixed Teams

• Weigh Technical savvy high in Manager selection

• Look for direct hires who have not been out of the workforce for an extended amount of time

Tracking and Measurement

Company A

• Tracked performance in several

areas of the business

• Measured success based on

Outlier Management

• Unable to measure scheduling

flexibility

• Developed separate “report card”

for HBA team

• Tracked HBA as separate entity

• Measured ramp up time

Company M

• Confined HBA to one area of

business

• Measured success based on

total team performance

• Measured scheduling flexibility

based on percentage of

Overtime and Downtime taken

in relation to in site

• Included HBA in total site

measurement, not singled out

• Measured ramp up time

Tracking and Measurement Learnings

• Tracking HBA against like in-site and

vendors is truest picture

• Make sure to consider tenure

• Consider all cost components – extra

travel, anticipated space savings, fully

burden cost/minute, occupancy,

schedule adherence, etc

• Measure source and demographic of

new hires - adjustments may need to

be made

• Compare management performance

among all HBA and previous to HBA

Risk Assessment

Company A

• Reevaluated Recruiting targets

• Looked to outside resources

prior to expansion

• Leveraged flex site staffing to

grow program

• Looked for Web Solution to

reduce travel

• Remote on boarding, training,

technical/equipment support

• Addressed Documentation

gaps

• Compared cost advantages

Company M

• Compared productivity measures

as it related to offline time

• Set up separate account to track

all related travel and shipping

• Reviewed timeline of termination

dates on existing leases

• Explored ability to “package”

program – Could it work for all

sites

• Wage Rate based on closest in

site location

• Reassessed Educational

requirements

Program Development

Company A

• Transitioned to remote model

only

• 3 Tracks - In/Out, Direct Hire,

College Program

• Agents in 8 metro areas,

Managers in 4 metro areas

(~800)

• Remote on boarding, training,

technical/equipment support

• Culture, team-building and

recognition done virtually

• Retail partnership and rotation

Company M

• Expanded to 3 sites

• All direct hire – no in/out

• Did open up HBA for all

positions, creating mixed

teams

• Expanded technical support

to include Corporate level

participation

• Identified one manager to

oversee all HBA frontline

management positions

Program Development

Continued

Company A

• No separation of HBA technology support

• Hired within Hub cities to facilitate direct contact meetings

• Mixture of in-site TMs and new hire TMs

• Cultural events developed separately for HBA

• Increased team size from 16 to 25 • Project Team assembled representing

the Business, HR, Recruiting, Technical laision, and strong PM • Strong support at all levels of the

Company M

• Individual site given autonomy to develop on own and then present • Expectation that there would no

direct contact once pilot was revised

• All cultural events created with HBA consideration

• Technical support stayed at Call Center level

• Increased team size from 30 to 50 • Management group all on site • Strong support at all levels of

Virtual Culture &

Team Building

• Use technology - videos/photos, chat rooms, blogs, web conference tools

• Culture web page and virtual water cooler

• Make a decision as a team regarding Rewards and recognition events. Are they done both virtually and in-person?

• Be very clear on in-person involvement up front

• Provide tools to create company environment in home office

• Encourage and promote communication (within program and across business models)

• Keep an eye out for isolation related issues - be inclusive • Avoid onsite to remote comparisons - HBA is its own site

• Train Managers on HBA communication tools – Benchmark against each other

• Be prepared for shipping issues

On boarding & Training

• In/Out - Specific HBA orientation (program

overview, HBA policies, set expectations)

• Direct Hire - 3 day orientation held locally (includes

new employee and HBA overview)

• Home environment requirements

• Conduct Information Sessions

• Distance learning tool - combination of leader led

and self-guided modules

• Re-developed content for remote learning

• 2 Trainers per class

Integration

• As group increases restructure might be

needed

• Include ALL areas of the business in

decision making from the start – Mail

room, Equipment Procurement,

Administration, Training, HR, etc

• In the large arena be careful not to single

out HBA (“We’re going to roll this out, but

don’t know how it will work for HBA”)

• Dedicate resources and training in HBA

Technology issues

• Have a designated manager responsible

to represent HBA in all meetings and

processes

Lessons Learned & Challenges

• Pilot - Weekly/monthly office visits too frequent

• Culture and pie-day phenomenon (in/outs to onsite

comparisons)

• VPN related issues (disconnects and remote desktop

monitoring)

• Telephony challenges (low-volume, headsets, phone

features, phone provider options)

• ISP relationship

• Mass communication for large events

• “Away from Desk” guidelines and expectations need to be

defined

Current State

Company A

• Continued expansion

forecasted

• Experimenting in staffing

flexibility options

• Overall HBA program

continually posts highest

metrics

• Dramatically reduced

Turnover

• Continued focus on

expanding virtual training

modules

Company M

• Closed 4 Brick and Mortar

Sites

• Run all HBA programs from

one main

• Maintained overall

statistical performance

• Decrease in Turnover

• Increased in Adherence for

HBA teams

Q & A

For more information contact:

Sharon Pettigrew, Call Center Group

Taking the “Center” Out of Call Center

Contactual at a Glance

Pioneered virtual contact center solutions in 2000

Award winning OnDemand Contact Center

Select Customers

Virtual Call Center Benefits

Cost

Savings

Flexible

Staffing

Gain

Agility

Virtual Call Center Benefits

Cost

Savings

Flexible

Staffing

Gain

Agility

Continued Pressure on Call Center Budgets

Pressure on spending continues

43% reported a decrease in op-ex

40% reported a decrease in cap-ex

Exceptions in smaller call centers

(less than 50 seats)

On-Premises Call Center Technology

Complex and burdensome to configure, deploy & integrate

Cost prohibitive - $700K to get started; $200K/year to support

Virtual Call Center Technology

Integrated call center functionality resides in “the cloud”

Pay as you grow subscription-based price model

Customer Spotlight – iPass

Business Needs

Integrate call centers from recent

acquisitions

U.S.

United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and India

Desire for single system across 4

remote sites + home-based agents

Consolidated reporting

Monitoring and call recording

Seamless integration with Salesforce

CRM

Virtual Call Center Benefits

Cost

Savings

Flexible

Staffing

Gain

Agility

Growth of the Home-Based Agent Model

Higher Agent Quality

Home-based agents are 25% more productive

75% have at least 2 years of college education

60% have earned additional certifications

Tap into new talent pools

Lower Attrition Rates

10% for home-based agents vs. 50% for in-house agents

Increased Customer

Satisfaction

Keys to Ensure Quality and Control

Web-based recording application

Remote monitoring Record, retrieve, replay Flexible recording options

Chat and broadcast tools

Facilitates interaction

Push critical information in real-time

Real-time monitoring

Performance dashboards Accessible to all

Customer Spotlight – Schneider Electric

Business Needs

Out-of-date on-premises solution was

failing

Dropped calls

Cost prohibitive to upgrade

Unable to expand beyond current

location

Moving to home-based agents

Lacked key functionality

Limited reporting and recording No remote monitoring capability

Virtual Call Center Benefits

Cost

Savings

Flexible

Staffing

Gain

Agility

Disaster Recovery Considerations

Traditional call center model vulnerable

to disasters and pandemics

44% of respondents had centralized call centers 50% of respondents don’t have viable disaster recovery plan

High cost to replicate and difficult to integrate

Virtual call center model includes

seamless business continuity

All intelligence is in the cloud Built-in redundancy

Rapid Response to Changes in Business

Seasonal business growth

Product launches & promotions

Economic cycles

Customer Spotlight – Boston Market

Business Needs

Difficult to scale current solution for

peak seasons (Catering call center)

Stranded investment in licenses and equipment

Reduce dependency on IT for changes

IT spending cuts and reduced staff

Catering business not as high priority as retail locations

Needed an easy to use system to drive

down training costs

Questions?

Kimberly Odom, Senior Director of Marketing

[email protected]