How Does Automated Call Center Monitoring Work?

Automated call center monitoring saves time and boosts efficiency in a call center, particularly when compared to in-person evaluation agent evaluation. Let’s review a typical scenario in which automated call center monitoring can be applied to improving the performance of a call center agent.

1. Call recordings are captured
The automated system captures all recordings from an agent for their shift. These calls can then be organized by a number of different metrics, based on which metrics are most important to the supervisor – call waiting time, actual call time, first call resolution, etc. In addition, quality monitoring also incorporates screen capture, so supervisors have a visual as well as audio record of each customer engagement.

2. Call retrieval
The supervisor finds the calls he or she wishes to review. Sometimes a random sampling can provide insight into how that agent is performing. Or, if specific criteria are under review, these can be found quickly through the system’s search and retrieval functions.

3. Call scoring
For each call reviewed, the supervisor scores the agent’s performance based on adherence to the script, courtesy, call resolution and other factors.

4. Agent review
Scores are made available to the agent for self-evaluation, and can also be used as motivation for improving performance. Information collected through automated call center monitoring is also invaluable for training. By listening back to customer encounters, an agent may discover that he has drifted away from best practices. Sometimes, all it takes is a chance to review their courtesy, conversational style and use of scripted material for self-correction to occur.

While the same steps could be taken, in a more limited manner. through one-on-one evaluation, it is clear that automated call center monitoring is more efficient, more effective, and offers additional dividends beyond the measurement and improvement of agent performance.

For more about quality assurance, download our new white paper, Seven Strategies for More Effective Quality Assurance in Your Call Center.

Improve Call Center Staffing with Call Recording

Every call center wants superstar agents on its team. That process begins with hiring, but few agents perform at outstanding levels from day one. Each new hire becomes a project that will benefit from coaching, training, experience and the tools available to improve performance. Of these, none is more important to the call center staffing process than call recording software.

Through call recording, managers can review customer engagements and rank agents on performance. They can also identify specific areas in which an agent thrives, whether that is talking down an angry customer, completing calls more quickly, or up-selling on a customer order.

As it’s important to have specific skill sets represented on each call center shift, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each agent will play a key role in staffing and scheduling decisions.

As call centers focus more on quality assurance, call recording can also be combined with other data and metrics from workforce management systems to get more insights for improved training, coaching and staffing.

Once supervisors have a handle on the talents of their staff members, they might consider creating shifts based on dedicated agent pools. In this scenario, agents with certain skills are assigned to a dedicated group that focuses primarily on their best attributes.

However, many call centers still opt for a universal queue format, which routes inbound calls to agents based on order and availability. While this is a less specialized method, it forces agents to become adept at all of the skills necessary for working at a call center. Ultimately, this may result in greater scheduling flexibility, and the elimination of “weak links” in specific areas.

We invite you to watch a short video about call recording that demonstrates key capabilities and might give you some ideas on how you can improve staffing.

5 Ways to Improve Agent Performance in your Call Center

Call center agents are on the front line of your customer service and quality assurance efforts. Without the right people in place, all of your planning and establishment of best practices will not achieve the desired call center performance. Here are 5 tips for staffing a call center with superstar agents.

1. Hire Carefully
Review your call center’s screening process for new hires. Are the specified qualifications stringent enough to weed out agents likely to under-perform? Scripts can be memorized and specific skills can be taught during training – but a positive attitude, a willingness to work hard, and an even temperament are just as important when dealing with dozens of calls every day, some from angry customers.

2. Set the Right Expectations
The better prepared an agent is for the job he or she is about to begin, the more likely they’ll grasp the essentials quickly and fine-tune their performance within days, not weeks or months. Managers must be specific in what is expected of every agent, and how those expectations should be met.

3. Training
While some new hires will walk in with the right personality and temperament for telephone work, they still require training on company policies and procedures. Others may be great at following guidelines but will need to work on their communication with callers. Call recording software makes it  much easier to tailor training to a specific agent’s needs, improving both agent efficiency and the time it takes to produce a qualified employee.

4 Measure and Track Performance
An automated workforce management (WFM) solution can access, record and display dozens of the key metrics necessary to measure and track an agent’s performance. These include their average talk and handle time, their speed in answering calls, how many calls are lost, and how many are resolved.

5. Feedback and Support
Even agents that turn out to be outstanding hires may need constructive feedback to prevent mistakes, and positive support to keep them motivated as they adjust to a new position. By using the data collected by WFM, managers will know which areas to focus on. And by keeping the tone of those conversations encouraging, the agent will accept correction without being defensive or anxious about being fired.

In order to implement tips 4 and 5 it is helpful to use automation software such as call center performance management and call center quality monitoring. Both solutions automatically capture and track relevant data and free up managers' and supervisors' time to focus on training, coaching and feedback.

How to Choose A Call Recording Solution

Watch a call recording demo

There are a number of factors that must be considered when choosing a call recording solution.

These may vary from call center to call center, but almost every business regardless of size, type and location has certain goals in common – improved customer service, saving money, boosting profits and keeping in compliance with industry regulations. All of these objectives can be achieved with call recording software, if you ask the right questions in advance.

Cost – Does the system work within your company budget? Consider not just upfront costs but those related to installation, training, maintenance and upgrades. Don't forget internal costs for IT operation and infrastructure.

Ease of Use – How long will it take the staff and management to become acclimated to the system? How long will it take to set up? Can it be used across multiple sites and home agents?

Speed – Any system will record calls. How quickly can specific calls be retrieved based on different criteria? The system should carry out the call retrieval function based on any number of “tags” that can be affixed to a specific call. How easy is it to search for calls or groups of calls?

Scalability and Adaptability – If the call center adds staff or even a second or third office, the call recording system should be flexible enough to grow with the needs of the business. If downsizing is necessary, the system should adapt without forcing the call center to pay for capacity it no longer needs. If there’s a chance the center will change from digital to VoIP recording, find out if the software can handle this transition.

Security and Compliance – How are calls stored? Can the data be encrypted? How are accessibility restrictions set, and how secure is this data from a data breach, whether it comes from inside or outside the call center? Also, make sure that the call recording software complies with all PCI regulations, including the removal of credit card security codes from all recordings.

For more details about call recording capabilities and benefits, please follow the link to download our whitepaper.

Call Center Metrics in Real-Time

Call centers operate in real-time. Every moment of the workday there are calls starting, calls ending, complaints addressed, sales closed and agents engaged in various work-related functions. Analyzing call center data of previous days, weeks and months is an important task. But it’s also necessary to gain insight into what is happening in the call center as it actually happens. Only then you can make necessary adjustments that can have immediate impact on the call center performance. For example, if agents are out-of-adherence you get notified or see it on your dashboard you can act right away and avoid service level issues.
Find a workforce management solution that monitors operational data, displays key performance indicators and provides the actual status of key metrics for specific sites and skills.

Among the metrics that should be monitored in real-time either through a dashboard or an alert system are:

•    Average call handle time
•    Abandoned calls
•    Active calls
•    Waiting calls
•    Agent performance
•    First call resolution
•    Schedule adherence

We invite you to watch this short call center metrics video to see key performance indicators, alerts, agent analytics and real-time performance management in action.

Through real-time measurement of call center metrics, agents and managers gain the data visibility necessary to deliver the service that customers expect, and can react more quickly to issues and resolve them before they impact operations.

Call Recording Guidelines for Call Centers

Call centers preparing to introduce call recording software into their business should be aware of the laws and restrictions governing such recordings, and make certain the call center is compliant with all federal, state and industry regulations.
Before delving into the specific laws, it is helpful to create guidelines for the call center, which can be shaped by the following objectives:

• Specify why calls are recorded
• Specify how long recordings will be kept
• Specify who will have access to call recordings
• Specify the security measures that will protect the recordings from misuse
• Make sure customers are aware that their call may be recorded
• Make sure all agents and employees are aware of purpose of call recording

Federal law allows recording of phone calls and other electronic communications with the consent of at least one party to the call. State law varies, however, and should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia permit individuals to record conversations without informing the other parties they are doing so. Twelve states generally have laws that require the consent of both parties.

The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) requires call monitoring to be revealed prior to a recording device being used. Verbal or written consent must be given.

When a credit card transaction is conducted over the phone, call monitoring is subject to compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). The PCI DSS requires file encryption, secure storage and the deletion of certain information, such as the credit card security code. When evaluating systems for your call center, please make sure to select a PCI compliant call recording software.

When a call recorder system is used on international calls, there are other and restrictions that must be observed. Given the wide range of regulations, legal counsel should be part of all decisions regarding call recording policy.

Call Center Quality Management with Customer Questionnaires

What’s the best way to find out what a company’s customers think of its call center and service quality? Ask them!

Customer questionnaires play an important role in any quality management effort, and QM software should incorporate these questionnaires into its metrics.

While many questions will be standard regardless of the size and type of call center, there may be some specific to certain centers and product/service types that can be added by management as needed.

Typical QM customer questions include those that address:

• How effectively was the problem resolved?
• How long did it take to resolve the issue?
• How long did the customer have to wait before an agent answered?
• Was the agent’s manner courteous and professional?
• Did the agent have sufficient knowledge of the company and its products?
• How likely is the customer to order from the same company again?

Once data has been gathered from a sufficient number of questionnaires, managers can gain insight into the effectiveness of specific call center employees, satisfaction levels of customers (in total and divided by various demographics), and the call center’s ability to handle problems in a timely and sufficient manner.

As with other quality management metrics, customer questionnaires and surveys should be easy to set up, easy to integrate into your quality assurance solution technology, and easy to review. There should also be a means to capture additional customer feedback either during or after the survey.

Used correctly, customer questionnaires can identify and fix customer service issues, boost call center staff professionalism and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Why Live Call Monitoring is Important

Call recording software makes it possible to review agent performance by analyzing the call data. However, this practice does not eliminate the need for live call monitoring, or the benefits that can be derived from watching an agent “in action.”

There are several methods call centers employ for live call monitoring. A manager may walk through the call center, listening to the agents’ responses and evaluating their performance. He or she could also sit next to one agent and listen to how they handle a call or a series of calls, and provide immediate feedback.

Live observing can also be achieved through call monitoring software. Here, a manager simply selects a group or agent from a live observing link, and the software should display any relevant information about the agent and the caller. Saving the call and adding a tag for easy retrieval can be done with one click. The software often also offer ways to alert supervisors of calls that might benefit from call monitoring. For example, when a call takes too long (out-of-adherence), the supervisor could see that on a dashboard or could get an alert to "tune in".

The Benefits of Live Call Monitoring: 
Whatever method is selected, the benefits of live call monitoring are numerous:

• Better agent performance – attention to detail increases when an agent is aware he/she is being monitored.
• Improved efficiency – when agents perform better at their jobs, the number of bad calls is reduced, and customer satisfaction increases. 
• Cost savings – many call center efficiencies can be expensive; when they are reduced, money is saved. 
• Best practices improvement – call monitoring can lead to improvement of scripts and processes, by reviewing agent performance and customer response. 
• Training – Call monitoring is vital in improving agent performance and eliminating errors.

While there may be some level of discomfort with some agents when live monitoring is practiced, once everyone adjusts to the system it should result in more qualified agents, satisfied customers and an efficient workplace.