Adulated or decried, practiced with enthusiasm or reluctance, telecommuting has become a reality. New habits have emerged, and management methods have adapted. Some activities benefit more than others, and although it may seem surprising, or even counter-productive for some, contact center employees are in fact perfect candidates for working from home! Why not allow contact center agents to work remotely? Here are just a few advantages that illustrate the benefits of this way of working, both for employees and for contact center performance.

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Developing a talent pool

Offering agents the opportunity to work remotely means that they can be employed by people who don't necessarily live close to the call center premises, and thus offers the possibility of recruiting the best-qualified agents.

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Reduce staff turnover and improve customer service quality

Contact center agents often have to deal with unhappy customers, which increases their stress levels and leads to a relatively high resignation rate - commonly referred to as "turnover". With payroll generally accounting for around 70% of a call center's costs, lower staff turnover represents a significant saving for the HR budget. The residential environment eliminates some of the stress, and agents working remotely are often more satisfied with their work. In addition, unified communications tools integrated into contact centers enable agents to manage all interactions from a single interface. This work environment promotes concentration and increases customer satisfaction.

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Gain flexibility and save money

If a call center's peak working hours are, for example, in the morning from 10 a.m. to midday, then in the afternoon from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., it is necessary to fragment the agents' working hours. However, this fragmentation may not be compatible with some people's home-workplace commuting times. On the other hand, the telecommuting model may prove more attractive to home-based workers, particularly in view of their family commitments. What's more, cloud solutions enable capacity to be adjusted in real time according to the contact center's workload. What's more, working remotely reduces the number of square meters of office space required, and saves on real estate costs.

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Monitor productivity remotely

Maintaining productivity is a major concern. With today's management tools, agents no longer need to be physically present to measure how well they are achieving their objectives. The supervision and reporting tools currently on the market enable real-time monitoring of the number of calls taken by agents, average communication time, number of breaks, etc. What's more, to ensure that targets are met, they also enable precise adjustments to be made where necessary.