SCMS is a soon to be international call centre and we are currently working on developing and puting in place the various processes. Your views and ideas on what to do and what not to do in this setup process is what i'm looking for. If there are any bad/good experiences you have had please do let me know. I feel that learning from mistakes in the past is the best way for us to make a better future.

Since this is a field we are still new too all you ideas and help will be greatly appreciated.

Dear karan,

It is high time investors of call centers understand that investment alone does not ensure quality of service. If the call center has to be recognized as an international call center the business vision should be very clear. The people are the most crucial part of an y organization. In case you do not have right people at right place probably the organization will never take off.

Following are the ten commandments I can suggest:
1.Let your management commit itself on quality of service.let them breathe, eat,sleep and dream quality.
2.Let this obsession for quality of service be a part of each job description.
3.measure performance of employees by outcomes but not by what they claim are capable of. let them deliver and show it.
4.map the process of a call clearly. from the call origin to how the call is routed to agent .
5.Set up parameters in ACD which are required by you. Do not buy options what they offer. tell them what you need and let the vendors deliver. customization of ACD parameters and reports is the core.
6.Select people with the right attitude to customer service.
7.Select managers and supervisors who know what customer service is . Do not employ techies and bookish knowledge supervisors who turn your call center into a Galley Slave.
8.Time is money and money=profits. let your call center practice time management from day one. Not lip service but true action orientation.
9.Ask the right person when in difficulty . Assumption is the mother of screw up and dissatisfaction is its outcome.
10.Keep the processes simple.Do not complicate.
In case you need further help get in touch with me on email.

Regards,
Vedula Srinivas

Hi Karan

I read your posting (it feels familiar! I went through this a couple of years ago! if only I knew what I know now!)

The project I worked on was for a brand new Multimedia site, the key for us was making sure we had the right project team in place before we even started.

The Project team was split into distinct areas: Testing Team, Process Team, HR & Training Team, Technology Team, Customer Service Team

Probs we experienced were as we got closer to the crunch date, thank god we had an excellent project manager who had the drive and determination to push the team forwards. So the Project plan is another important one! everyone know exactly what is required of them and by when.

You talk about processes, this was an area of concern, as the processes were sent out to different business units for the stamp of approval, they never came back on time which impacted the design of the training and sometimes meant processes were missing from the training.

As far as training went, we had logistical problems surrounding; timetable, trainers, resources, location (but we got there in the end!), environments - ie we needed to have a training environment (technologically), which would not impact the Production systems, populating the systems with data and time travelling, rolling the system back and forth was very time consuming! And the coordination of a simulation exercise, which the agents said they found invaluable.

More importantly if someone had defined the project and set the scope at the start I'm sure we could have avoided the headaches we experienced!

Good Luck!

Adelle

Hi Karen,

Given that 60%-70% of your costs will be related to staff, WorkForce Management (WFM) is one of the major things you should consider for your operation. WFM systems will:

* Forecast the number of calls or items of work (e-mails, faxes etc) arriving at your contact centre
* Identify the number of people you need to meet a target % service level
* Schedule shifts and breaks
* Manage scheduled exceptions
* Produce management information in the form of KPI reports
* Allow you to produce What If? scenarios

Please find my top tips when identifying a WFM supplier:

1. Does the WFM solution fit your operation?

· Change should be gradual, planned and managed, not a big bang!
Youand your WFM supplier will need realistic expectations and claims.
· Will the system integrate easily with existing and future technology?
· Will it be easy to implement in the operations and IT departments?
· Can it be tailored to match yourunique style of rostering?
· You shouldn’t have to change the way you do business. WFM should compliment not change the world.
· System should be able to allow you to keep agents, managers, and customers happy, a win-win situation


2. Training

· Is it on your site or at another location?
· How many days are involved? Is this sufficient? (5 days – Q-Max)
· Will your trainer be an experienced Contact Centre professional or someone who has no experience of running contact centres?
· Will training be relevant to your business? Will it be tailored and using your data?
· Will training include the Principles & Practices of WFM?
· Will you get hands-on self-training tutorials to consolidate your knowledge?
· Did techie boffins or people who have actually done the job write the Help screens?
· You shouldn’t be alone when the training’s over! Will you have contact with your trainer after the event?


3. Experience and pedigree of WFM supplier

· Find out about the Contact Centre experience of WFM supplier and the people who work for them ie trainers and support staff
· WFM supplier needs a realistic approach – not “you will be able to change the world in ½ a day!”
· How many sites actually use the system? (Q-Max – 300) They can’t all be wrong – WFM supplier needs to have a proven track record.
· Ask for reference site visits these are your chance to ask what the supplier and the system are really like!
· Read customercase studies on web sites and in magazines.
· Do WFM supplier’s customer’s contact centres match yours in size and composition?
· Will there be a long-term commitment to making your investment a success?


4. Is the WFM right for an UK/European call centre?

· Can the system cope with Fixed, Rotating and Reserve Shifts?
· Does it support Rota working?
· Does it have full support for the Working Time Directive?
· Will it fit in well with UK/European culture?
· Remember you can buy an American Cadillac and it would get you from A to B in a certain amount of luxury. However, when you came to use it the steering wheel would be lots of gadgets that you would play with once and never touch again, servicing would be difficult and it would use far too much petrol. It is not just about getting to you destination, but how you get there!


5. Easy to use/saves management time

· WFM must save not use up more time? You need realistic, not pie-in-the sky, estimates. Question your WFM supplier’s logic.
· Does it have Email capability? If so this will save time & paper.
· Is there scope for “Thin client” capability? This will save time and let Agents do some of the work for you
· Is thereeasy Service Optimisation? For example, can you easily shuffle breaks, plan meetings, call work/non call work, overtime, today and for future weeks
· Will scheduling take days or minutes?


6. What If? Capability

· You will need accurate Long Range Forecasts – Trend & Event Driven.
· Financial cost predictions are important to senior managers.
· % PCA & Time To Answer (TTA) Service Level predictions will allow you to plan effectively and avoid poor customer service.
· Will the system show you how to do the best you can with the resource you have available?
· WFM should be able to provide you with shift scheduling scenarios. For example, full set of shifts or additional shifts (for recruitment) and reserve shifts.
· WFM should allow you to undertake effective recruitment planning campaigns.
· Absence planning capabilities will provide you with a decision support tool that puts you in control.


7. Multi-Channel capabilities

· Any WFMsystem should be able to schedule telephone calls (demand work) – multi routes
· E-Mails/Faxes/Admin (non-demand work)
· Combination of two - Skills blending
· Extra hidden cost? (with Q-Max there is none)
· Supports Skills Based Routing


8. Support/Maintenance package

· Clarify exactly what’s included and what’s not.
· Do you get a dedicated Account Manager?
· Is there telephone & e-mail support?
· Is there support from IT & experienced contact centre professionals?
· UK/European based support team
· Is there secure area on the Website – Peer to peer networking, Support Notes, Bulletin Board
· How often are user forums?
· How about software version upgrades (Q-Max recently updated from V5 to V6) how often do these happen and what help is available?

9. Management Information

· Management information should provide best practice KPI’s (key performance indicators) based on real contact centre knowledge.
· Management information should be useful information for managing the call centre.
· KPI’s should be developed and refined based on customer feedback
· You should be able to see KPI’s globally or by drilling down
· WFM needs to provide clear financial cost and % service level breakdowns

10. Price

· Is the price model all in one or modular?
· Is pricing up front?
· Are there any hidden extras? – No surprises please!
· Are upgrades included in the price or will you be charged through the nose at a later date? You must ask now!
· Will your WFM supplier penalise you for growth? Prices for new items/increase licences should be as if you bought it at the outset
· Can your WFM supplier show you clear evidence of Cost Justification?

11. Future Development of Software

· Customer power! The customer knows best!
· Will the WFM supplier listen to your suggestions for product development?
· Is the software developed and driven by boffins & marketers orby the customer?
· Will you be invited to regular user forums – customer feedback is vital to develop/improve software.
· More customers and users = best practice (Q-Max has over 300 user sites)
· Because of constant change expect a new version every 18 months.

12. A WFM that grows with your company

· WFM needs to be able to support single site & multi-site virtual set ups
· Do you get penalised on price for upgrading the size of licence?
· WFM supplier needs to be able to support your growing operation.

Best Regards,

Damian Moore
Customer Relations Manager
Q-Max Systems

T: 07946 739 544
E: damian@q-max.co.uk
W: www.q-max.co.uk

Karen,

Establishing a new operation is the most critical element in acheiving the future success of your Call Centre. It is at this point in the evolution of your Centre where you can create efficiency, sustainability, satisfaction and productivity. Or you can create hurdles to each of these aims.

After some 20 Call Centre development projects I have found sitting down and thinking out the "right" type of operational model helps to enable both a smooth implementation and suceesfull ongoing operation. To help me with my planning (thinking) I use a 9 step approach. This approach guides me to consider and scope all the key element of the operation and I beleive in the order they relate to each other. This approach is:

1. Identify and understand the organisational imperitives for your Call Centre (What is it that your operation will deliver back to the rest of your organisation - hence the reason for its existance).

2. Define the desired operational and supportive culture you believe will assist in meeting the organisational imperatives (and match the expecatations of all stakeholders including staff, customers and managment)

3. Define a set of clear objectives that will help you to meet the organisational imperatives (think of the organisational imperative as the point of destination and the objectives as set points in the journey to be achieved in order to progress closer to the altermate destination)

4. Define a set of measures (standards) which will clearly indicate when you have reached or met your objectives.

5. Define the required functions and capabilities your Call Centre will need to deliver in order to meet the objectives set.

6. Define the matching processes, procedures and policies that you will need to employ to deliver your functions and capabilities. These should be clearly mapped out.

7. Define now the type of staff (skill sets, resource levels and employment base) required to deliver the nominated functions andcapabilities.

8. Define now the level and configuration of technology required by skilled staff to deliver the defined functions and capabilities within the defined measures to meet the stated objectives.

9. The last step requires a level of strategic review and reconsideratiion to ensure all prior steps match and support the initial outcomes required of the primary aims. This step also ensures that your develop a continuous improvement loop by returning to step one and reassessing youraims at regular periods once in operation.

I hope this may be of assistance. If you would like some further information I can send you a copy of one of my guides to planning and setting up a Call Centre. Email me at WYATTJM@bigpond.com

Others have described the set-up process and there are obviously some expensive decisions in front of you.

My suggestion is that you think about the biggest problem many CCs have once they are in operation - *Retention*.

Do whatever youcan in your early planning to avoid or at least minimize retention problems.

(a) Customer Retention: I doubt many CCs have been set up because of overwhelming customer demand, so look at everything you do from the viewpoint of different customer segments, deliver the service they would want, communicate with them and manage expectations.

(b) Staff Retention: Recruit the sort of staff that are likely to stay with you, then build a culture to suit them.

Hi guys, i'm new to this site & find it real interesting. I noticed that quite
a few people have started topics on setting up call centres 7 as annoying as as may sound, can some-one pls e-mail that list on the requirements of setting
one up. I'm thinking it may be cheaper to rent one, any ideas.

I plan to operate a directory service & was thinking I could start off with 5 seats(help) :)

My e-mail address is T_ameika@yahoo.co.uk. Thanks a mill guys. Look forward to chat with you all.