Knowing Where The Agents Are

Do you also have space and workstations that are unoccupied, costing you money? Do you employ agents whom you've set up to work from their homes, but who only do so occasionally? If they were to work full-time from where they live, would you be able to reduce your facilities costs?

And in case of a disaster, if you have to shut down some sites, do you know if you'll have enough staff in the remaining centers? Can agents work from their homes if they can't get to your call centers?

John Vivadelli, founder and CEO of Richmond, VA-based AgilQuest, has devoted much time to these questions. He reveals that there is high underutilization of workstations in many buildings - from 15% to as high as 50% - because of vacations, sick days, training and travel.

Many workstations, he observes, go unoccupied, wasting property and furniture. To reduce that waste, Vivadelli recommends managing the workplace as a shared office environment.

He also suggests that agents be able to select available workspaces, in advance or on the day of their arrival. To accomplish this requires workspace management software, which tracks which workstations are available for a given day or shift, and then makes the assignment.

You can tie this software into your workforce management system to show supervisors who is coming in, and who isn't, so you know how many workstations are available.

There is another benefit to this approach: business continuity. By knowing where agents are, you can shift resources in case of disasters. If any centers go down, you can route calls to agents at other sites, including their homes.

"If call centers can increase their utilization rates, and buy and lease only the furniture and space they actually need, the cost savings may tip the scales against sending that work offshore," says Vivadelli.