How to use this document This paper is a general technical brief to help you understand call centre development for strategic evaluation. To the extent that your organization is looking at developing a call centre solution, it is a very good idea to know what call centers are on a technical level, but even more important is to understand and develop a strategic vision for your call centre solution. Since the SA government declared call centers to be a visionary business sector worthy of support in 2003, many promoters have jumped on the bandwagon without understating the business, the post setup operating costs and the difficulty involved in attracting clients. Here are a few simple questions that should be asked: What will your call centre do? The obvious government rationale for supporting this business is its high potential for employment, but call centre staff need to be highly skilled in order to operate efficiently. It is more than a matter of answering telephones or making outgoing calls. The basic choices are: Insourcing: where the call centre is set up to handle the business’s own needs. This function can only really work for operations with a very high volume of incoming or outgoing calls. The basic call centre technical functions will be the same as outlined in this document. Oursourcing: where the call centre is set up to handle calls for companies that are not part of its overall operations. In general, this means that the call centre itself is a business designed to service clients who refer their own calls (outgoing or incoming) to the call centre. The basic call centre technical functions will be the same as outlined in this document, but enhancements, staff training, marketing and sales are vital additional costs that must become part of the business strategy. Who can you turn to for help? No matter which option you intend to pursue, it is vital that you get professional help to develop your call centre solution. Fortunately, this is not as difficult as it appears because all vendors offer a great deal of support services and will often refer consultants that are able to guide you through the setup process. Many vendors offer free, pre-setup services, with the obvious intention of selling you their services. No organization should embark on a call centre solution without a clear strategy focus and without some professional guidance. 1 What do you actually need to operate a call centre? Once your group knows your strategic plans, your call centre will need to address some very basic requirements which will include: • • Centre size should be planned early in process to accommodate flexible growth. Agent space can range from 55-155 sq feet per agent, depending on the services rendered by the centre. • Specialized communications connectivity depending on the volume of traffic and services rendered from the centre. (E.g. A 200-seat call centre will usually invest in a 2 Mbps international private leased circuit for inbound services, comprising two half circuits- locally and the other in the US or UK through an international carrier). • Manpower deployed in a centre falls under two broad categories: operations or agents and support or management. The ratio between the two varies depending on different parameters based on organisation, services deployed and client requirements. • Technology needs: In terms of technical resources, a voice s(?)witch/EPABX, multiplexers (for data and voice transport), modems, routers and RISC/ CISC servers, headsets, desktops, E1/T1 circuits for the connectivity, IVR, CTI and ACD (Automatic Call Distributor) are needed. Set up costs and processes for a first tier call centre (outside SA): • • • • $5,000 per seat and agent, including hardware, software and training. The cost of maintenance of a seat will be in the range of $2000-$3000 per year. Usually most of the operator’s costs will be two-thirds of billings. A successful centre should not be a generalist but should have precise vertical focus. • Sales are fundamental for an outsourcing centre. It is essential to have a dedicated sales team who understand call centre processes and can communicate this to clients. • A core team of HR, Finance, Trainers, and Operators should be in place to support service deliverables. • The target Break-even point for a well-developed outsourcing centre should be at about 30 months. • High attrition is common and must be factored into staff turnover and training costs. 2 What is a Call centre (also “center”)? A call centre or call center is a centralszed office used for the purpose of receiving and transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone. It is operated by a company in order to administer incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers. It may also perform outgoing calls from the business to customers. Call centres, may also address collective handling of letters, faxes and e-mails at one location and are known as “contact centres”. Types of calls are often divided into outbound and inbound to distinguish the service performed by the operator (also called a CSR or “Customer Service Representative”). • Inbound calls are calls that are made by the consumer to obtain information, report a malfunction, or ask for help. • Outbound calls are calls that are made by agents to potential customers mostly with intentions of selling a service to the individual. (Also called “telemarketing”) • Other call centre “contact” functions may support email or IAVR (“Interactive Voice Response Systems) which do not actually require an agent to make calls but do interact, either inbound or outbound, with a user. Eg. Online helpdesks A call centre is often operated through an extensive open workspace, with work stations that include a computer, a telephone set/headset connected to a telecom switch, and one or more supervisor stations. It can be independently operated or networked with additional centres, often linked to a corporate computer network, including mainframes, microcomputers and LANs. Increasingly, the voice and data pathways into the centre are linked through a set of new technologies called Computer Telephony Integration (CTI). Most major businesses use call centres to interact with their customers. Examples include utility companies, mail-order catalogue firms and customer support for computer hardware and software. Some businesses even service internal functions through call centres. Examples of these include help desks and sales support. A very simple explanation of a fully functional call centre workstation is a “seat”. This is an industry term that describes the workstation, computers and technical peripherals, without the operator or CSR that will man the seat. 3 What is the technical basis for a call centre? Call centre operations have been supported by mathematical models including queue scheduling, operational research and a wide range of call optimization solutions. As an examples, these have been used in the forecasting of calls; determining the shiftstructures, and even for analyzing customers' impatience while waiting to be served by an agent. A call centre can be viewed, from an operational point of view, as a queuing network. The simplest call centre, consisting of a single type of customers and statisticallyidentical servers, can be viewed as a single-queue. Queuing theory is a branch of mathematics in which models of such queuing systems have been developed. These models, in turn, are used to support work force planning and management, for example by helping answer the following common staffing-question: given a servicelevel, as determined by management, what is the least number of telephone agents that is required to achieve it. (Prevalent examples of service levels are: at least 80% of the callers are answered within 20 seconds; or, no more that 3% of the customers hang-up, due to their impatience, before being served.) Queuing models also provide qualitative insight. For example, identifying the circumstances under which economies of scale prevail, namely that: a single large call centre is more effective at answering calls than several (distributed) smaller ones; or that cross-selling is beneficial; or that a call centre should be quality-driven or efficiency-driven or, most likely, both Quality and Efficiency Driven (abbreviated to QED). Recently, queuing models have also been used for planning and operating skills-basedrouting of calls within a call centre, which entails the analysis of systems with multi-type customers and multi-skilled agents. 4 Call centres use a wide variety of different technologies to allow them to manage the large volumes of work that need to be managed by the call centre. These technologies ensure that agents are kept as productive as possible, and that calls are queued and processed as quickly as possible, resulting in good levels of service. These technologies include: • • • • • • • • • • ACD (automatic call distribution) Agent performance analytics BTTC (best time to call)/ Outbound call optimization IVR (interactive voice response) Guided Speech IVR CTI (computer telephony integration) Enterprise Campaign Management Outbound predictive dialer CRM (customer relationship management) CIM (customer interaction management) solutions (Also known as 'Unified' solutions) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Email Management Chat and Web Collaboration Desktop Scripting Solutions Outsourcing Third Party Verification (Third party verification) TTS (text to speech) WFM (workforce management) Virtual queuing Voice analysis Voice recognition Voicemail Voice recording VoIP Speech Analytics 5 Refinements of call centres There are many refinements to the generic call centre model. Each refinement helps increase the efficiency of the call centre, thereby allowing management to make better decisions involving economy and service. The following list contains some examples of call centre refinements: 1. Predictive Dialing – Computer software attempts to predict the time taken for an agent to help a caller. The software begins dialing another caller before the agent has finished the previous call. This is done because not every call will be connected (think of busy or not answered calls) and also because of the time it takes to set up the call (usually around 20 seconds before someone answers). Frequently, predictive dialers will dial more callers than there are agents, counting on the fact that not every line will be answered. When the line is answered and no agent is available, it is held in a retention queue for a short while. When still no agent has become available, the call is hung up and classified as a nuisance call. The next time the client is called an agent will be reserved for the caller. 2. Multi-Skilled Staff – In any call centre there will be members of staff who will be more skilled in areas than others. An 'Interactive Voice Response' (IVR) Unit can be used to allow the caller to select the reason for his call. Management software, called an Automatic Call Distributor, must then be used to route calls to the appropriate agent. Alternatively, it has been found that a mix of general and specialist-trained agents creates a good balance. 3. Prioritization of Callers – Classification of callers according to priority is a very important refinement. Emergency calls or callers that are reattempting to contact a call centre are examples of callers that could be given a higher priority. 4. Automatic Number Identification – This allows agents to determine who is calling before they answer the call. Greeting a caller by name and obtaining his/her information in advance adds to the quality of service and helps decrease the conversation time. 6 Call management solutions Many call centres use workforce management software, which is software that uses historical information coupled with projected need to generate automated schedules. This aims to provide adequate staff who are skilled enough to assist callers. The centralization of call management aims to improve a company's operations and reduce costs, while providing a standardized, streamlined, uniform service for consumers, making this approach ideal for large companies with extensive customer support needs. To accommodate for such a large customer base, large warehouses are often converted to office space to host all call centre operations under one roof. Call centre staff are often organized into a multi-tier support system for more efficient handling of calls. The first tier in such a model consists of operators, who direct inquiries to the appropriate department and provide general directory information. If a caller requires more assistance, the call is forwarded to the second tier, where most issues can be resolved. In some cases, there may be three or more tiers of support staff. If a caller requires more assistance, the caller is forwarded to the third tier of support; typically the third tier of support is formed by product engineers/developers and/or highly-skilled technical support staff of the product. Centralized offices mean that large numbers of workers can be managed and controlled by a relatively small number of managers and support staff. They are often supported by computer technology that manages, measures and monitors the performance and activities of the workers. Call centre staff are closely monitored for quality control, levels of proficiency and customer service. Typical contact centre operations focus on the discipline areas of workforce management, queue management, quality monitoring and reporting. Reporting in a call centre can be further broken down into real-time reporting and historical reporting. Inadequate computer systems can mean staff take one or two seconds longer than necessary to process a transaction. This can often be quantified in staff cost terms. This is frequently used as a driving factor in any business case to justify a complete system upgrade or replacement. As a result of several factors, including the efficiency of the call centre, the level of computer and telecom support; one system may be adequate for staff in a typical branch office, whilst the same system may prove totally inadequate in a call centre. 7 Resource management No amount of technology has so far been able to replace the key resource for any call centre, which is its team of CSR staff. The management of call centres involves balancing the requirements of cost effectiveness and service. Callers do not wish to wait in exorbitantly long queues until they can be helped and so management must provide sufficient staff and inbound capacity to ensure that the quality of service is maintained. However, staff costs generally form more than half the cost of running a call centre, meaning management must minimize the number of staff present. To perform this balancing act, call centre managers make use of demand estimation, telecommunication forecasting and dimensioning techniques to determine the level of staff required at any time. Managers must take into account all personal time commitments, including breaks for restrooms, and must determine the number of agents required on duty at any one time. Forecasting results are vital in making management decisions in call centres. Forecasting methods rely on data acquired from various sources including historical data, trend data and so on. Forecasting methods must predict the traffic intensity within the call centre in quarter-hour increments and these results must be converted to staffing rosters. Special attention must be paid to the busy hour. Forecasting methods need to be used in order to pre-empt a situation where equipment needs to be upgraded, where traffic intensity has exceeded the maximum capacity of the call centre. 8 Performance standards There are many standard traffic measurements (performance metrics) that can be performed on a call centre to determine its performance levels. However, the most important performance measures are: • The average delay a caller may experience whilst waiting in a queue • • The mean conversation time, otherwise referred to as Average Talk Time (ATT) The mean dealing time, otherwise referred to as Average Handling Time (AHT equal to ATT plus wrap-up and/or hold time) • The percentage of calls answered within a determined time frame (referred to as a Service Level or SL%) • • The number of calls / inquiries per hour an agent handles (CPH or IPH). The amount of time spent while an agent processes customer requests while not speaking to a customer (referred to as Not Ready time/NR, or After Call Work/ACW, or Wrap-Up.) • The percentage of calls which completely resolve the customer's issue (if the customer does not call back about the same problem for a certain period of time, it is considered a successful resolution or FCR - First Call Resolution). • The percentage of calls where a customer hangs up or "abandons" the call is often referred to as Total Calls Abandoned or Percentage of calls abandoned. Calls are often abandoned due to long hold times when a call centre experiences a high call volume. • Percentage of time agents spend not ready to take calls, often referred to as Idle Time. • Quality Assurance monitored by a quality assurance (QA) team. 9 Call centre development worldwide Many call centres in the UK have been built in areas that are depressed economically. This means that the companies get cheap land and labor, and can often benefit from grants to encourage them to improve employment in a given area. There has also been a trend to move call centres to India, where there is a large pool of English-speaking people. However, there has been widespread dissatisfaction from consumers, who are unable to understand Indian call centre staff and vice versa, owing to differences between British and Indian English. This trend is on a decline as India rapidly absorbs most of the highly educated people who are qualified in the science and mathematics streams, and, like in other countries, call centre jobs are increasingly viewed as stop-gap jobs by well educated staff rather than as careers. The industry is prone to high turnover depending on the market. In the Philippines for example, a call centre CSR is considered a premium position. In India it is a transitional job. The Philippines has developed this industry, owing to its abundant English speakers who are college graduates and Americanized when it comes to English accent and cultural affinities. The Philippines was an American colony for almost 50 years. The Philippines is said to be the best outsourcing site outside North America since the accent of Filipinos is nearer to that of American consumers as compared to other ethnicities and Philippine CSR(s) have a closer cultural understanding of American callers and attitudes. For the Asia Pacific region, from India to Australia and New Zealand, Malaysia is emerging as one of the top locations for setting up call centres. The country has a history of ties with the English-speaking world and English-language education, as a former British colony. Canada is also a popular call centre site, with the relatively low Canadian dollar and low telecommunication rates. Around the world, there are a number of professional organizations forming to develop and promote call centre best-practice management and operation, with the aim to overcome the negative aspects of a call centre. Even South Africa has it own call centre institute. 10 Variations on the generic call centre model The various components in a call centre discussed so far are the generic form of a call centre. There are many variations on the model and the specific solution should address the long-term operational needs of the operator. It is important to keep in mind that a call centre facility needs to be dynamic to be successful. It must have the capacity to evolve so that it can shrink or grow as business cycles dictate. A few of the variations are listed below: 1. Remote Agents – An alternative to housing all agents in a central facility is to use remote agents. These agents work from home and use a Basic Rate ISDN access line to communicate with a central computing platform. Remote agents are more cost effective as they don’t have to travel to work, however the call centre must still cover the cost of the ISDN line. VOIP technology can also be used to remove the need for the ISDN, although the desktop application being used needs to be web-enabled unless VPN is used. 2. Temporary Agents – Temporary agents are useful as they can be called upon if demand increases more rapidly than planned. They are offered a certain number of quarter hours a month. They are paid for the amount they actually work, and the difference between the amount offered and the amount guaranteed is also paid. Managers must use forecasting methods to determine the number of hours offered so that the difference is minimized. 3. Virtual Call Centres – Virtual Call Centres are created using many smaller centres in different locations and connecting them to one another. The advantage of virtual call centres is that they improve service levels, provide emergency backup and enable extended operating hours over isolated call centres. There are two methods used to route traffic around call centres: pre-delivery and postdelivery. Pre-delivery involves using an external switch to route the calls to the appropriate centre and post-delivery enables call centres to route a call they’ve received to another call centre. 4. Interaction Centres – As call centres evolve and deal with more media than telephony alone, some have taken to the term, "interaction centre". Email, Web Callback and more are gradually being added to the role. 11 Common call centre issues Criticisms of call centres generally follow a number of common themes, which need to be anticipated during set up: From Callers: 1. Operators working from a script. 2. Non-expert operators (call screening). 3. Incompetent or untrained operators incapable of processing customers' requests effectively. 4. Overseas location, with language and accent problems. 5. Automated queuing systems do not always address consumer needs. From Staff: 1. Close scrutiny by management (e.g. frequent random eavesdropping on operator's calls). 2. Low pay. 3. Restrictive working practices (e.g. there isn't much space for personal creativity since many operators are required to follow a pre-written script). 4. High stress: a common problem associated with front-end jobs where employees deal directly with customers. 5. Poor working conditions (e.g. poor facilities, poor maintenance and cleaning, cramped working conditions, management interference) As detailed above, none of these are inherent in the call centre model, although many companies will experience some or all of the above while implementing a call centre approach. As the science suggests, done properly, a call centre can offer the quickest route to resolution of customer queries, capitalizing on the ready availability of highly skilled and intelligent people in some areas. 12 Personal View of The Coming Call Centre Boom in South Africa. By Niels Kjellerup, Editor & Publisher of The Call Centre Managers Forum. Dated 20th of February 2001. Here’s a new born country – rich in minerals but richer in its wonderful people. Yes, after two visits to South Africa I have returned home to Australia with a great future vision for its Call Centre Industry. Johannesburg and Cape Town are fighting it out to become the Call Centre Industries home. Every week new Call Centres are set up. Banks, Insurance Companies, Government have all embraced the alternative distribution concept of Call Centres. CRM implementations are underway to Internet enable Call Centres. Several international/local Outsource Companies already in place. My best guesstimate is that SA has 12-1500 call centres employing probably 20-30,000 people. Very similar to Australia before deregulation in 1996. I have a dream for South Africa – “ to become the preferred Call Centre Outsource Location for the European Time-zone “. The key here is the large unemployed black work force – most speak a very understandable English , and though some linguistic training would be necessary – the natural friendliness and empathy of these people would make customer service training a breeze. Both the German and Dutch language is well covered. The new technology is already in place – what is really lacking is the Telkom deregulation and obviously for the Government to examine the feasibility of creating probably 50-100.000 new jobs in the customer service industry by copying what the Irish Development Board did to create the Call Centre boom in Ireland in the mid 90’s or for that matter a study of how Australia created 150.000 new jobs in the customer service Industry from 1997-2000. All experience from other countries show that the SA Government must realise that by holding on to the Telkom monopoly, its stifling job creation for its own people and even worse by keeping the price of Bandwidth and International Call Rates outside competition stifling the uptake of eCommerce. Lack of competition in the Telecom-area is holding back development, no matter how its justified. Note that President Mbeki in his State of the Nation speech on 14/02/03 acknowledged the importance of the Call Centre Industry to South Africa. 13 South African call centre links Vendors Dimension Data www.didata.com Autrix Integration www.autrix.co.za Contact Centre Industry links Active Contact Solutions http://www.contactacs.com/index.html Call Centre City www.callcentrecity.com The Call Centre Institute of South Africa http://www.ccisa.co.za/index.htm Centre-ingservices www.centre-ingservices.com Dialogue Communications www.dialogue.co.za Global Telesales www.globaltelesales.co.za KZNonSource www.kznonsource.co.za Prime Consulting www.primeconsulting.co.za Commercial Websites supported by Contact Centres Absa Direct www.absa.co.za Standard Bank www.sbic.co.za Solus Telemarketing www.solus.co.za Spescom www.spescom.com 14