To some, ‘virtual’ means
the seamless linking of any number of geographically
disparate call centres
whereby incoming calls can be intelligently, and seamlessly
directed to the most appropriate agent. Also known
as networked call centres, these solutions were invariably
provided by the Tier 1 carriers via their Intelligent
Networks (IN) platforms but, more recently, the linking
of a number of different sites has been achieved by
taking in calls to one, or more, proprietary ACD platforms
and re-distributing the calls to other sites using
any number of different technologies – but most
recently VoIP.
There are a growing number of vendors addressing this
market – some supplying a distributed solution
via a carrier’s IN platform charging on a pence
per minute basis, some selling hardware and software
which is located in a selected carrier’s exchange
and others providing the more conventional linking
of traditional proprietary ACDs. All have their benefits,
and all have a different charging method, but these
types of networked/virtual call centres can be extremely
complex and may not be best suited for the smaller
telecoms reseller to become involved with.
To others, virtual call centres are just that - in
that they physically do not exist because everybody
works remotely, either in small satellite offices or
individually from the agent’s own home.
To many, ‘working from home’ in a call
centre environment still conjures up visions of people
answering calls in their pyjamas or with the baby in
one hand and the dog barking in the background! But
this could not be further from the truth.
Remote working, whether it be as a call centre agent
taking or making calls as a fully integrated member
of a much bigger centralised call centre, or simply
working more flexibly from home rather that commuting
every day to that place we all call ‘work’,
is now becoming established as an accepted alternative
way of working.
The remote workers’ philosophy is very simple.
“Work is a thing you do, not necessarily a place to go…so in the
21st Century why continue to drag the workforce to a centralized place of work
when, with technology available today, you can take the work to the workforce…no
matter where they are located.
So why not think in terms of access to a ‘global workforce’…with
everybody seamlessly linked together with voice and data communications… and
managed remotely as though they were in one central place of work.
Furthermore, there are so many competent people available for work, who simply
cannot go to a place of work yet could be gainfully employed using this technology.
The disabled, single parents, young mothers, the mature workers who have to care
for ageing parents could all become self sufficient wage earners – referred
to by the Government as “social inclusion”.
It is a fact that more and more SMEs, looking to upgrade their technology for
the first time following their last big spend for Y2K, are looking to take advantage
of new ways of working. Not only by adopting modern, cost effective and fully
scaleable technology, but also to reduce their conventional overheads such as
office rents, service charges, security, maintenance costs. Equally, employees
are becoming more disillusioned with the long commute to work; with the ‘work
life balance’ becoming the buzz word in HR departments.
In addition, more and more Telecoms Dealers are being asked for solutions to
deliver this level of functionality. The good news is there are an increasing
number of products and services now available. Solutions range from the truly
virtual technology comprising of third party software solutions which simply
carry a pence-per-minute charge for the use of the service; to solutions such
as GemaTech’s, which can be sited in a selected carrier’s exchange
to deliver true virtual ACD and/or location independent call routing, to the
more conventional ACDs and IP enabled PBXs, with an added capability of distributing
calls to employees working from any number of disparate locations.
To quote the old adage, successful salespeople “sell products that customers
want to buy – not products that they want to sell them”. Clearly
the market is telling us that SMEs want to buy technology that delivers more
flexible ways of working. Dealers will ignore this at their peril.
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