We are gradually moving towards the future of virtual call centers supported by distributed customer support teams. Working remotely and working from home have become the new normal.
Almost every industry that relies on virtual communication and collaboration has entered the trend of remote work. In fact, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of workers in remote areas of the United States increased by 115% between 2005 and 2015. At present, about 16% of the labor force in the United States works from home, equivalent to 26 million people.
Call centers are one of the areas where remote workers are quickly hired.
Traditionally, call centers consist of physical offices. These offices have a telephone infrastructure, and agents are used to handle inbound and outbound calls. The telephone infrastructure is mainly composed of desk phones, cables and many other telephone hardware. But all of this will change. The virtual call center heralds a new future, where physical phone hardware is not needed at all.
But is the virtual call center really the future of the enterprise?
These are some of the reasons why companies are starting to establish virtual teams for their call centers. From improving efficiency to reducing costs, the call center can cover all aspects. We will even mention some useful tools that can help companies get the most from the virtual call center.
Remote workers are more productive
A common misconception about remote work is that if you let employees work from home, they will slack off. But, actually, do remote workers waste time on social media and crazy watching videos? In fact, remote work statistics are just the opposite. 66% of teleworkers feel that productivity at home is better than at the office. According to research, 66% of remote workers feel that productivity at home is better than at the office. But this is only their opinion.
A nine-month study conducted by Stanford University showed that the productivity of remote workers is actually 13% higher than that of office workers. By allowing your employees to work remotely, you can actually improve their performance. Cloud-based software simplifies management. Over the past few years, it has been difficult for employees to manage while working from home. Especially for call centers, this poses a huge challenge.
Should employees interact with customers via their mobile phones or landlines? If this is a customer support center, how should I contact the customer? A virtual call center can help solve this problem. It enables sales and support teams to handle customer calls anytime, anywhere. In addition, they are also equipped with a call center manager who can manage dozens of remote employees through a management dashboard. Customer service teams can work in a centralized queue, and sales team metrics are easy to track. In addition to remote workforce management, virtual call centers have many advantages:
Bird’s eye view of call center indicators,
Intelligent agent performance monitoring,
Advanced call routing,
telephone conference
Call barring, etc.
Virtual call center saves office space
Depending on your industry and location, your business may spend 0.5% to 13.55% of revenue on office leasing. Some of these expenditures are inevitable. For example, if you want to ship physical goods, you need a warehouse to place them.A simple way to reduce real estate expenses is to operate a virtual call center.When your employees can work from home, why rent multiple floors of an office building?In the current period of economic pressure, any method of saving money may make a difference between success and failure.
You can form a virtual team. When you operate a physical facility, you are limited to employees in the local workforce. This poses two problems. First, there may not be enough qualified personnel in your area. Second, local wage costs may exceed your willingness to pay. However, with the help of a virtual call center, you can build a virtual team of talented professionals anywhere in the world.
In the past, these shortcomings were offset by other problems. For example, it is difficult to manage remote workers. But today, remote productivity tools make remote labor management as easy as managing on-site labor.Especially for call centers, home workers always sound unprofessional. Barking dogs or screaming babies may cause customers to think twice before continuing to work with your business. But modern noise reduction applications like Krisp can solve this problem. Employees can work from home, it sounds like working in a professional office.
Virtual call center provides greater flexibility
For enterprises, remote workers have more flexibility than office workers. This is especially true if you want to operate a 24-hour call center. In an office-based environment, you either need to operate multiple call centers in different time zones, or you need to work multiple shifts. This means either renting multiple office buildings or paying some employees the extra cost of night work.
By running a virtual call center, you can solve all these problems. You can hire employees from all over the world, or you can hire employees who are satisfied with the off-hours schedule. This flexibility can save companies a lot of money.
For employees, the same flexibility can bring many benefits. For example, suppose you are a night owl. In this case, going to work at 8 am every day may be cruel. These types of workers only need to sign in the afternoon or evening to go to work. Even if employees need to work at specific times, the home office environment is more suitable for a healthy and convenient way of working.According to statistics, the job satisfaction of remote workers is higher than that of workers with the same office work.
Virtual call center is good for the environment
In addition to helping businesses and workers, remote work also helps the environment. These are just a few ways that running a virtual call center can help you operate a more sustainable business. It greatly reduces the consumption of fossil fuels. According to research, the costs due to climate change. When people work from home, they don’t have to drive for an hour or more every day. This greatly reduces the consumption of fossil fuels and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.There are countless benefits of running a virtual call center. They give enterprises more flexibility in managing call centers.
You are no longer limited to a geographical area. Instead, you can hire the most qualified and compatible employees from all over the world. Companies can also save money on office space and reduce their carbon footprint. With modern technology, there are no obstacles to remote management.