More and more companies are realizing the benefits of dispersing call center agents. Benefits include improved recruiting and retention, significant savings in overhead, lower operating costs and heightened productivity.
By having agents work from home, call centers can reduce per seat costs. Not only are costs low, but supervising remote agents is a snap. Reporting packages can measure call handle time, idle time, wrap-up time, revenue generated, average seconds to answer--even the length of a lunch break. If you put a few more tens of thousands of inches between the employee and the employer, it makes no difference.
There's a lot of flexibility in arranging for remote agents. A virtual call center may consist of a headquarters office connected to agents working from their homes nearby or it may involve people working from a satellite office in another city, state or country. Some companies forgo the headquarters entirely and have all agents work from their homes.
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