Call Center

Since the advent of broadband technology, the internet has become a forum for almost anything practical.  Since employers and workers became able to establish communication via email and then through video conferencing, company communication methods have exploded.  Now, workers in most professions can work from the comfort of home if they have a broadband connection, a PC and a reliable phone connection.  Today, that and the necessary skills meet the requirements to become what is now known as the virtual employee, or remote worker.  No industry has been influenced more by this change in infrastructure than the call center industry. 

Many call centers tend to house hundreds of employees who are responsible for answering inbound calls or making outbound calls to company clients and customers.  The customer service role as a result has become the most ubiquitous entry-level job for anyone applying to a company.  The late 90s saw the explosion of call centers across Europe and America in a way that was deemed unprecedented.  Yet, the role of a call center agent has diversified even further by becoming part of a flexible working pattern.  This involves the agent working from the comfort of their own home rather than office-based as is generically accepted.  Herein is the creation of the virtual worker.  Where call centers are concerned, the employee is lavishly set up at home with a modern PC, internet connection, fax, phone and the necessary software.  This is usually all financed by the employer.  In some cases, the employee will be expected to pay for the internet connection and phone line.  Software capable of allowing the agent to virtually link to the employer premises from the home computer allows the employee to work virtually.  This sits on the back of what is called an IP network or Internet Protocol, which allows the transmission of data to employee home computers from the employer's located premises. 

There is a plethora of advantages in this new style of working for both the employee and the employer.  Call centers gain a vantage point by being a versatile and more flexible service, but mainly increased morale in the call center employees.  Working parents can flexibly structure their days more and spend more time with their families and other commitments.  For the employer, higher productivity as a result of a happier employee results in higher service levels recorded on the call center statistic reports.  For contracted services, this allows outsourcing companies to gain a reliable foothold on a service such as data entry, online booking, marker research, answering services and the very predominant technical support arena.  There are no issues with non-geographical number lines with software that utilises the web connection as the main source of communication for phone and mail.  It is not too difficult to teach the technologies involved such as web chat and most software seamlessly allows IVR systems in the call center environment to route the incoming calls to the employee's home.  Effectively, that creates a virtual office without the expense of renting office space, which can be very costly to many company tight budgets.  Therefore, a virtual solution that cuts down the driving costs of each day is an obvious choice. 

There is also no restriction on employee to employer location.  Virtual web solutions allow employers in one country to communicate effectively to an employee seated in a distant country.  Only the country telephony infrastructure may slam the brakes on here, but with broadband connections so prevalent, the virtual connection is inexpensive.  This cross-section that spans globally allows for a wider skills set.  Employers can offer their customers language skills by recruiting agents in many countries. 

There is the argument that this kind of working style promotes isolation and invisibility where the remote agents are concerned, though high costs of office space are turning employer heads to a changing world that is becoming more dependent on the internet every year.  It has already been proved in the call center environment.  The virtual employee is here to stay and one can only wonder how much influence this will inflict on organisations and employees.  Is the idea of driving to work becoming a thing of the past or will employers always promote team work in an office environment.  The answer is probably that there will always be balance but the benefits will certainly continue to influence human resource decision making.