Call Centers in India - Challenges for HR Professionals

Introduction The term incoming call center is being doggedly challenged by many just as it is becoming a household term. What is it? A center that handles telephone calls? Hardly. Telephone calls are just one type of transaction. Further, the word center doesn't accurately depict the many multi-site environments, nor the growing number of organizations that have telecommuting programs. Various individuals and organizations have tried to define call center but like definitions of leadership "or" customer service many miss the mark or are created to serve a specific purpose. So, let's go at this from a different angle. Characteristics of a call center generally include: Calls go to a group of people, not a specific person. In other words, agents are crosstrained to handle a variety of transactions. Generally, a special telecommunications system called an automatic call distributor (ACD) is used to distribute calls among agents, and put calls in queue when all agents are occupied. They also play messages: "All of our customer service representatives are currently assisting other callers. However, your call is very important to us..." Most call centers also make use of advanced network services (e.g., 800 and 888 services) and voice processing capabilities ("press one for this, two for that," or "please enter your account number..."). Agents have quick access to current information, via specialized database programs. This means that any agent has access to the current status of your account, products, services and other information.

Call centers represent a unique management challenge. Forecasting calls, calculating staffing requirements, organizing sensible schedules, managing the environment in real-time, and, in general, getting the right people in the right places at the right times. Call Centers in India One the paradoxes of the call-center industry in India is that it requires English-speaking university graduates to answer questions from US customers but offers little in the way of advancement and intellectual stimulation. High turn-over rates are inevitable if the economy keeps expanding and thus offers more compelling employment options for well-educated Indians. Moreover, the rapid expansion of the call sector may soon create a shortage of these qualified English-speaking college graduates in India, pushing wages up and reducing India's competitiveness as one of the premier destinations for company call-centers. This may not bode well for India's economy, because outsourcing has become a significant engine of Indian rapid economic growth. In the immediate future, however, it appears unlikely that the India will lose its dominance over the call-center industry. - YaleGlobal Having a call center in India is the norm for several global companies today. In order to meet the growing international demand for cost-effective, customer-oriented call centers, many organizations worldwide are outsourcing these services by setting up call centers in India. But what makes call centers in India such an attractive option? The country has intrinsic strengths which make it a major success as an outsource destination for call center work: A. A booming IT industry, with IT strengths recognized all over the world B. The largest English-speaking population after the USA C. A vast workforce of educated, English-speaking, tech-savvy personnel: A boon in a highgrowth industry faced with a shortage of skilled workers D. Cost-effective manpower: In a call center operation, manpower typically accounts for 55

to 60 percent of the total cost. In India, manpower is available at a fraction of the cost overseas. However, some people get deterred by the fact that cost savings are not seen immediately. Initial investment in infrastructure and training can be expensive and make one believe that the promise of cost reduction is false. However, there will be savings and the fact that several global giants continue to set up call centers in India is proof of this. E. The Government of India has recognized the potential of IT-enabled services and has taken positive steps by providing numerous incentives. F. The presence of most international technology vendors and solutions would enable creation of most advanced set-ups in this technology- intensive segment. One company in India proposes to harness the high-quality technical support available here by hiring 300 Ph.D.'s to provide very high-end consulting through videoconferencing/telephone. Given these advantages, India could build a $17 billion industry by 2008 according to the NASSCOM McKinsey Report. How large is the call center industry in India? India's call center industry accounts for a quarter of all software and services exports from the country, according to industry association Nasscom, and Indian call centers employ 160,000 professionals. Daimler-Chrysler, British Telecom, Barclays Bank, HSBC, Honeywell, Aventis, and several others have come to India while the old timers of GE, British Airways, Citigroup, Amex, and others have been around for a decade. Various types of Call Centers The 24/7 call centers totally concentrate on using the tactical skills and effective processes during the inbound/outbound call process. Their success depends on expertise, technological solutions, quality assurance programs and commitment to customer service excellence. The different types of call centers are: Inbound Call Center An inbound center is one that handles calls coming in from outside, most often through toll free numbers. These calls are primarily service and support calls, and inbound sales. The Working The services of inbound call centers are designed to handle catalog orders, help desk queries, dealer locations and more. They offer customized services that are designed to meet the requirements of all kinds of businesses. The inbound call center professionals process calls and integrate Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and/or Internet services to sell additional products and offer services in a dedicated environment. They also integrate customer care services, predict customer behavior and take action, while the customers are still on the line. The inbound call centers employ a dedicated team of live operators, account representatives and program managers. Offering 24/7 operator availability for the customers, these call centers provide round-the-clock account management. The teams of qualified and trained operators understands the business, products and services and perform to deliver their best. Using advanced telephone service technology and programming, these call centers lay great emphasis on attention to detail in messaging and reporting of all inbound calls. Inbound call centers offer communication services specifically designed to maximize the efficiency of direct marketing efforts or to be a part of the technical support team of the clients. They work together with you as a partner building a strong, successful long-lasting relationship with customers. Inbound call centers offer

Skilled, professional, customer support and technical service representatives Improved market coverage Faster ramp-up, launch, and roll-out of new campaigns Experience with programs similar to yours Rapid response to market conditions Account management expertise Enhanced reporting capabilities Market testing capabilities

The 24/7 services of Inbound Call Centre comprise of: Order Processing Catalog Orders Consumer Response Customer Service Dealer Locators Toll Free Response Help Desk Direct Mail Response Direct TV Response Print Media Response Website Response Seminar Registration Answering Service Inquiry Handling Email Management Product Technical Information Interactive Voice Response Sales Lead Qualification Technical Support Trade Show Registration

Outbound Call Center The success of the Outbound Call Centers depends on the extensive experience, technological solutions, quality assurance programs and commitment to customer service excellence that further ensures maximum results from the direct marketing efforts. The Approach The integrated call management systems in the outbound call center facilities use, systematic calls to consumers and transfer successful connections to a designated marketing representative (MR) who is dedicated and has been trained for the specific client application. As a call is presented to the MR, the consumer's name, address, and other available information are simultaneously presented on the MR's workstation along with a client's customized script. The outbound clients benefit from the rigorous adherence to highly cost-effective, resultsbased production and management processes. The key to success is the thorough understanding of the business. Having understood the differences between business-toconsumer and business-to-business telemarketing, the outbound call centers use experienced management to focus on the unique requirements of each client and their targeted market from recruiting to hiring, training and production. The qualified personnel employed in the outbound call centers excel in highly attentive outbound call center service environment. The

well developed and thorough procedures ensure that the individuals on are prepared and accountable for the success of programs. Services of Outbound Call Centers: Market Intelligence Database Selling Direct Mail Follow-up Lead Generation \ Qualification \ Management Seminar Population Product Promotion Debt Collection Information and Literature Fulfillment Appointment Scheduling Decision Maker Contacts Up Sell/Cross Sell Campaigns Surveys Customer Satisfaction

Web Enabled Call center The Introduction The market for Web-enabled call centers is burgeoning. For the past decade, computer-telephony integration (CTI) has been one of the hottest topics to hit the call center, promising reduced call volumes and handle times, as well as a higher level of customized service. The global emphasis on electronic commerce and the use of the Internet as a delivery channel has sparked the development of new CTI applications that offer tremendous opportunities to call centers. The Internet provides for a more complete alternative by supporting a full range of transactions, almost regardless of their complexity. As its popularity continues to increase, its impact as a delivery channel will improve dramatically and may finally begin to stem the tide of demand for live agents. To ensure that the needs of all users are met, websites must be integrated with the call center, giving customers a full range of options without completely eliminating the valuable personal touch. A web enabled call center improves the e-commerce initiatives by offering high quality customer service. Various features offered by Web enabled call center are: Web Pop that automatically provides CSRs with a pop-up screen of client's website, intranet or web script. Web Callback that helps the visitors of the client's website request a callback from the CSRs by simply clicking and entering their name, telephone information and time for call. Web Chat that assists visitors engaged in a live, two-way text chat directly from client's site to a trained agent. They can obtain answers to questions or resolve customer service issues without having to disconnect from the Internet or use a phone. Web Push allows CSRs to assist client's website visitor to find out information through guided "browsing." Email Management - This manages high-volume email inquiries directed to client's mailbox or produced via a Website. The incoming messages are tracked and provided an appropriate auto reply message to the customers letting them know that their email has been received.

CRM Call Center

CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, is a worthwhile endeavor to ensure good returns on investment. In a CRM call center, customers communicate in multiple ways that include phone, e-mail, Web chat, personal sales representative, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and a host of others. The Working The CRM software integrates all the forms of customer contact into a central history database where they can be retrieved or viewed together. Using CRM software, a customer issue can be tracked from the original point of contact through to resolution. CRM call centers help companies realign their entire organization around customers. And thus, is a strategic business initiative. Sales, Marketing and Service as well as other groups are connected and coordinated through the CRM applications. Before a call is made to the customer, all recent activity for that customer should be reviewed to be informed of recent events. Then a sales strategy needs to planned based upon observed opportunities. The use of CRM software in the call center allows the assignment of a value to each customer if the culture supports that philosophy. With that feature, one can choose how to interact with that customer. CRM helps the company identify most valuable customers and understanding their lifetime values. Using CRM, the call centers design the organization systems and service to best meet the needs of customers and maximize their value. CRM is intended for long-term relationship building. Besides capturing the different forms of customer interaction, CRM allows you to capture and store all available customer information in the central history database. This allows agents the ability to pull up a customer's entire history while the two interact. Communication and service are more effective and efficient. Most CRM products also track trends in purchasing and customer feedback. Telemarketing Call Center Telemarketing call centers specialize in developing and implementing professional inbound/outbound B2B and B2C telemarketing lead generation, appointment setting, telesales and market research programs. The Understanding Telemarketing refers to the business or practice of marketing goods or services by telephone. It is the act of selling, promoting or soliciting a product over the telephone. Reliable telemarketing is an essential part of the organization's working to enhance sales and increase profits. Combining the best of personnel, processes and progressive technologies, the telemarketing call centers serve as highly reliable specialist resource for organizations seeking outstanding performance and results. The telemarketing call centers provide customized telephone services that reveal the valued techniques used by successful telephone sales and support professionals. The fully automated, state-of-the-art call center equipments and custom software enables the call centers to field thousands of calls daily for each client with a high degree of professionalism and customization. The clients receive superior quality, experience and courteous service, coupled with the advanced technical capabilities. The call centers are staffed 24x7 and 365 days and they totally concentrate on using the tactical skills and effective processes during inbound/outbound call process. Phone Call Center The phone call centers offer flexible call routing, superior IVR capacity and predictive dialing systems. The Concept

Utilizing advanced telephony and Internet technology, the Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) in the phone call centers provide accurate and timely information for the most complex inbound or outbound programs. The phone call centers offer personalized call management by a team of professional operators who know about the client and his business. The phone call centers provide 24/7 answering and business services that help keep the customers satisfied. This is essential as the call centers could be loosing customers because of not answering the phone when they called and also as they expect answers to questions immediately. The customers expect the call centers to work around their busy schedules. The call centers are equipped with top-of-the-line communications technology. The phone call centers focus on building trust and understanding with every interaction between the company and its customers. They thoroughly understand the fundamentals, as well as the subtleties of the client's business. The go beyond mere data gathering to give the customers, timely information that supports rapid decision-making. The friendly, courteous and professional operators offer excellent service. They are trained to convey the rightful impression of the company. Challenges for HR Professionals in Call Centers I) Staff Turnover Strategies For Combating Staff Turnover Across the call center industry, there have been 12 typical causes of call center turnover, including (in no specific order): Pace of effort required Sense of powerlessness or lack of control Frustration of not being allowed to do a good job Repetition Daily physical confinement (tied to their desk) Over-regimentation The feeling of being spied on The feeling of not being appreciated by others in the organization Handling complaints and problems all day Odd work hours Pay Better opportunities elsewhere

Of course, not all will apply in each case, but one or two are likely to be the biggest culprits. In this case, I'd start by asking what changed in the internal and external environments from the period of no turnover to the current situation of 30 +percent turnover? Which of these 12 factors stand out? Pay could be a problem if you're not keeping pace with the market. As the call center environment becomes more complex, I think a lot of organizations are going to have to do some soulsearching on the importance and commensurate remuneration associated with these jobs. Many managers are quick to point out that pay is just one factor, and often not the most important; true, but there's a point at which this argument gets carried too far. Reality is, there are lots of opportunity out there for competent, personable people who have both technical and communication skills. That said, if you truly are paying market rates, there should be relatively small, incremental differences between what you and others are offering. The following have been proven time and

again to have a direct, positive bearing on turnover and morale: Broaden and extend the training your agents receive and the responsibilities they have. Involve them in managing the call center -- quality improvement, forecasting, and collaboration with other teams and departments, establishing schedules, etc. Ensure they have an understanding of (and involvement in) the direction and values of the organization. Ensure that your call center is accessible (maintain good service levels) so that you're not burying agents in customers frustrated from the start.

II) Career Path for staff involved in Operations Creating Career Paths You may need to get creative with job titles and compensation practices within the call center. If you only have 10 agents in the call center and little or no room for advancement out of the call center within your company, develop different "micro" job tiers for which agents can strive. Use such titles as "contact specialist," "advanced contact specialist," "expert contact specialist," and "lead contact specialist/supervisor. But don't insult agents' intelligence by creating only new job titles - be sure to tie in formal skill sets and knowledge requirements needed to achieve each "contact specialist" level, and, most importantly, implement a skills-based pay program that rewards agents financially for continual development. To help fend-off/reduce agent burnout in a small environment, tap the talent and creativity of each agent when working on off-phone projects. Empowering agents and creating job diversity is essential to retaining staff in a small call center for as long as possible. III) Key performance measurements for individuals Want to start a lively discussion among call center managers? Float the issue of performance measurements for reps. Since performance measurements are usually tied to expectations and standards, that will raise issues about fairness, what reps can and can't control, why people have different capabilities and drives, and the processes they are working within. Few subjects elicit such strong and varied opinion. Consequently, there are about as many different sets of performance measurements and standards as there are call centers. Here, we will look three types of performance measurements -- calls per hour, adherence and qualitative measurements -- commonly used in assessing individual performance. We'll also discuss why calls per hour are fading, while the other two types of measurements continue to gain acceptance. Calls Per Hour Is Fading Traditionally, calls per hour have been an almost universal productivity measurement. In fact, many call center managers have viewed calls per hour as virtually synonymous with "productivity." Sure, there have always been concerns about sacrificing quality for quantity. But, in practice, calls per hour has been the preferred benchmark for establishing productivity standards, comparing performance among reps and groups, and assessing the impact of changes and improvements to the call center. However, as a measure of performance, calls per hour is (and always has been) problematic. Many of the variables that impact calls per hour are out of the rep's control: call arrival rate, type of calls, knowledge of callers, communication ability of callers, accuracy of the forecast and schedule, adherence to schedule (of others in the group) and absenteeism, to name a few. There are also mathematical realities at work that are not within the control of an individual. For example, smaller groups are less efficient (have lower occupancy) than larger groups, at a given service level. Since the number of calls is changing throughout the day, so does average calls per

hour for a group or an individual in the group. And, as is often pointed out, if calls per hour are over-emphasized, quality can suffer. Reps may even "trick" the system to increase their call count and achieve a standard. (Many call center managers get a sheepish smile when this point comes up in discussion. One could surmise that more than a few, once upon a time, have "accidentally" clicked off or erroneously transferred a call or two). Some call center managers convert raw calls per hour into an adjusted measurement that is more fair and meaningful. For example, occupancy, which is not within the control of an individual, can be "neutralized" by dividing call handled by percent occupancy. Others go a step further, and develop statistical control charts to determine whether the process is in control, what it's producing, and which reps, if any, are outside of "statistical control." But even with further analysis, calls per hour begins to lose meaning as technologies such as CTI, skills based routing, and web integration, which enable increasingly sophisticated and varied call handling routines, proliferate. For many who have depended on calls per hour, this has left a vacuum: How can we measure productivity in an increasingly varied and complex environment? Enter adherence and qualitative measurements, which continue to gain acceptance. Adherence Measurements Adherence factor, or signed-on time, is a measurement of how much time an individual is available to handle calls versus the time he or she was scheduled to handle calls. If adherence factor is 85%, a rep would be expected to be in adherence .85 x 60 minutes, or 51 minutes on average per hour. Adherence consists of all plugged-in time, including talk time, after call work (wrap-up) time, waiting for the next call, and necessary outgoing calls. Lunch, breaks, training, etc., are not counted as time assigned to handle calls. Adherence factor should be established at a level that is reasonable and that reflects the many things that legitimately keep reps from the phones. It should also flexible (adjustable downward) when call volumes are low. Some have developed adherence factor into a more refined measurement that also incorporates timing -when was a person available to take calls, in addition to how much time they were available. The idea is to ensure that people are plugged in mid-morning when calls are barreling in, and saving special projects for Thursday and Friday afternoon when calls slow down. ACD and forecasting/staffing software has improved adherence reporting significantly in recent years. The advantage of adherence factor is that it is reasonably objective. Reps cannot control variables such as the number of staff scheduled to answer calls, the number of calls coming in, the distribution of long and short calls or the distribution of easy and difficult calls. But they can generally control how available they are to take calls. Qualitative Measurements In most call centers, qualitative criteria, which focus on knowledge of products and services, customer service and call handling skills, and the policies of the organization, continue to become more refined and specific. Most use some form of monitoring (silent, with a beep tone, side by side, or record and review) to evaluate individual performance and identify training and coaching needs. An important and developing aspect of quality is that reps take the necessary time to do the job right -- no more, no less. This means not rushing calls, but also not spending excess time on calls over and above what is necessary to satisfy callers and handle them completely and correctly. If qualitative measurements are refined enough to insure that reps are spending the appropriate amount of time handling calls, then adherence and qualitative measurements make a powerful pair. In fact, measuring calls per hour is unnecessary. This is easier said than done in environments where qualitative measurements are vague and indeterminate. And, many managers still believe that tracking production outputs, such as calls

per hour or average handling time, is necessary. But the trend is clear: well-defined qualitative measurements are beginning to erode reliance on measurements that are after-the-fact outputs. Conclusion Calls per hour, which used to be an almost ubiquitous productivity measurement, is fading. It is increasingly being replaced by focused and specific qualitative and adherence measurements. Reps can concentrate on being available, and on handling each transaction according to its individual needs. If implemented well, qualitative and adherence measurements can cultivate a better working environment, better quality -- and higher productivity. Research in Call Center Industry 1) When asked what measures comprise the key performance indicators in their call centers, respondents to the Prosci study cited, in rank order, the following: Service level and/or average speed of answer Service quality and customer satisfaction (monitoring results and customer surveys) Abandonment rate Call volume Handle time Revenue, sales and cost data

http://www.call-center.net/ccstudy-practices.htm 2) A study conducted by supportindustry.com featured the following findings regarding call center metrics: 16% of respondents handle 80% or more of their support incidents on first contact, while 23% have a first-call resolution rate of 65%-80%. 22% of respondents enjoy an average abandonment rate of less that 1%, while another 41% have a rate of from 1% to 5%. 7% of respondents answer a call in less than five seconds, while another 25% do so in 615 seconds. On the high end, nearly 20% take more than a minute to answer calls. www.supportindustry.com

3) Call centers participating in Purdue Research Foundation's benchmarking study reported that their agent's attendance averages 86.81%, their average adherence to schedule is 85.09%, and the average occupancy rate is 74.54%. Purdue Research Foundation Benchmark Performance Report 4) Purdue Research Foundation's benchmarking study found that participating call centers answered calls on average after 35.1 seconds, abandoned 5.85% of calls, kept customers in queue an average of 45.6 seconds, and resolved 71.96% of caller inquiries on the first call. Purdue Research Foundation Benchmark Performance Report 5) Leading call centers perform staffing forecasts more frequently and better than average call centers, according to a study by Hackett Benchmarking & Research. More than half of the firstquartile centers are forecasting staff requirements weekly or better, 57% vs. 30% at average centers. Top performers are achieving the industry's standard for staffing forecast accuracy, 71% of the time vs. 62% accuracy at the average contact center. Hackett Benchmarking & Research 6) Datamonitor, Inc. found that companies often do not know the effect on their return on investment (ROI) from their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programs. Of 500 companies surveyed, only 15% reported a positive effect, while 15% said ROI remained the

same, 5% said it decreased ROI, and fully 65% could not quantify the impact. Datamonitor, Inc. Strategic Decisions for a Call Center Improving Forecast Matching up call center resources with the demands of the workload is a critical part of call center planning. This responsibility goes to the heart of Incoming Calls Management Institute's definition of call center management: Incoming call center management is the art of having the right number of people and supporting resources in place at the right times to handle an accurately forecasted workload at service level, and with quality. Accurately predicting the workload presents one of the most important, and often most challenging steps in this effort. Without a good workload forecast, the rest of call center planning is an "uphill battle" at best. And, when predictions are off the mark, there is a tendency to look to those who do the forecasts for explanations. However, the person (or group) who does the forecasting may be highly trained, equipped with the latest in forecasting software, and armed with every conceivable ACD and database report and still be unable to produce good forecasts if they aren't made aware of what marketing is up to or if reps are handling calls inconsistently. Twelve ways to improve the predictability of the workload are summarized below. Each is outside the realm of what is usually thought to be the forecasting process. Yet, each is essential to an accurate forecast. 1) Use ACD modes consistently. Each rep has an impact on the components of handling time (talk time and after call work) and, therefore, on the data that will be used in forecasting and planning for future callloads. When the queue is building, it can be tempting to postpone some after call work (wrap-up) that should be done at the time of the call. This skews reports, causes planning problems and may lead to increased errors. An important and ongoing training issue is to define ahead of time which types of work should follow calls and which types of work can wait. 2) Emphasize quality. Supervisors and reps can feel that the pressure of a backed-up queue forces them to make tough tradeoffs between seemingly competing objectives, such as service level and quality. However, although service level and quality seem to be at odds in the short term, poor quality will negatively impact service level over time by contributing to repeat calls and other forms of waste and rework. This will contribute to workload volatility and inconsistencies. The emphasis should be on handling each call correctly, regardless of how backed up the queue is. 3) Avoid callbacks. Many call centers have discovered the hard way that giving callers the option to leave a message when the queue gets backed up often backfires. For example, you may call back only to get perpetual busies, ring-no-answers, voice mail or somebody else in the person's work area ("sorry, she stepped away for a moment"). And in the meantime, the caller may call the call center again. A minority of call centers do have success with a callback strategy, particularly when reps have to do some amount of preparation in order to handle the calls, or when the center is flooded with calls because of a once-in-awhile occurrence. Still, most call centers find that, in the end, it makes more sense to handle the inbound calls when they arrive. 4) Anticipate and manage growth. Do an analysis of the likely impact of growth on your call center. This often takes the form of a chart or document that illustrates the projected costs and time-frames of growing the call center in increments, such as ten percent growth in call load, twenty percent growth, thirty percent growth, and so on. The document should illustrate required lead-times and key decision points associated with things like additional workstations, new or upgraded equipment, or a new facility 5) Develop better ties with other departments. This should be an ongoing effort in any call center. Most of what happens in a call center is caused by something going on outside the center.

The forecast is doomed if strong ties with other departments don't exist. There's no substitute for knowing well in advance when marketing is running the next campaign, when manufacturing is releasing the new products and when finance is redesigning the terms and conditions. 6) Make forecasting a collaborative process. Involve supervisors and lead reps in the forecasting process, on a rotating basis. This yield two positive results: 1) they will better understand the pulse of the call-load and what's behind the schedules (and will often adhere to them better as a result), and 2) because they are continually dealing with callers, they have their "ear to the ground" and can help anticipate caller reactions to changes and developments in the marketplace and the organization's services. 7) Track absenteeism. If you are part of a network of call centers or if you have overflow routines established between call center groups, absenteeism in one area has a direct impact on the workload in another. It is important to anticipate absenteeism in advance and, contrary to conventional wisdom, it is reasonably predictable. For example, in work groups with typical Monday through Friday schedules, unscheduled absenteeism tends to be higher on Monday and Friday than the other days of the week. Have someone track absenteeism, and look for patterns. 8) Anticipate the factors affecting caller tolerance. The seven factors of caller tolerance include motivation, availability of substitutes, competition's service level, level of expectations, time available, who's paying for the call and human behavior. Putting some thought into these factors goes a long ways towards anticipating caller behavior. 9) Track and manage non-phone activities. Forecasting non-phone activities such as research and correspondence is a challenge. Many call center managers, used to having detailed information on the call-load, long for similar reports on non-phone activities. Fortunately, as with inbound calls, these activities often occur in predictable patterns, and usually have a strong correlation to other forecasts, such as the inbound call-load, units of sales or number of customers (and they are usually a lot less time-sensitive than incoming calls). Investigate the tracking capabilities in your ACD, forecasting/staffing software and computer database. As a last resort, track these activities manually, as they occur. 10) Better educate callers. The inbound call-load tends to be less erratic when callers are aware of other service alternatives (e.g. services via faxback, voice response units or the World Wide Web). Billing inserts, focused advertisements, newsletter articles, and customer support sections in user manuals are all examples of ways to better educate callers on the service alternatives available. 11) Minimize transferred and escalated calls. An excessive number of transferred and escalated calls will wreck havoc on the workload forecast. Utilize quality improvement tools, such as flow charts and cause and effect diagrams (see Service Level Newsletter, Notes column, May 1995) to address root causes. Common problems include insufficient training, insufficient authority, incomplete or missing database information and poor call routing design (e.g. calls often end up in the wrong place to begin with). 12) Accomplish as much as possible during talk time. When tasks related to inbound calls can be completed with the caller still on the line, errors are usually reduced. Further, the time reps would otherwise spend in more discretionary (and less predictable) work modes, such as after call work or auxiliary modes, is minimized. Conclusion Call centers with good forecasts do not necessarily have inherently stable environments. Rather, they have established good ties with other departments, pulled in the data required, and established a forecasting process they are continually working to improve. They recognize that the responsibility for producing a good workload forecast cannot rest solely on the person or group who "does" the forecasting. Instead, they view forecasting as a call center-wide process

and work on all contributing factors. Key performance measurements (KPIs) in a call center A significant amount of information is required to effectively manage a call center. We need, for example, data on caller needs and expectations, the queue and caller tolerance, the load on the system, agent activities and performance, call patterns, cost components, the activities of other parts of the organization and conditions in the external environment. But we must also be able climb above the detail and assess overall performance, without the need to review dozens of reports. The question is, what measures can adequately summarize the numerous activities of a call center? While any measure by itself has the potential to mislead, the ten reports summarized below generally give a good synopsis of the call center's performance when they are interpreted together. Average Call Value (Sales and Reservations Only) This measure is generally calculated by dividing total revenue generated by number of calls. This has historically been, and continues to be, a top priority in sales and reservations environments. Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is, without doubt, a top priority. Most call centers conduct surveys via either outbound calls or mail to randomly selected callers. Some call centers contract with outside firms to conduct surveys and prepare the results, while others do the surveys themselves. And a growing number of call centers are automating some surveys; callers are transferred into a VRU that guides them through a series of questions and allows them to respond via touch tone. Service Level Service level takes the form of X percent answer in Y seconds (such as 80 percent of calls answered in 20 seconds), and is a high level measure of how fast callers get through to reps. The best managed call centers take service level seriously, and strive to meet it as consistently as possible. An appropriately selected service level objective should mean that answering calls less quickly (or a lot more quickly) would actually cost money, not save it. Percent Abandoned Abandonment is a an ongoing concern in incoming call centers. If callers hang up before we get a chance to talk to them, we are missing the opportunity to make them happy, sell to them and solve their customer service problems. However, abandonment is difficult to accurately forecast (and, therefore, staff around) and is often a misleading indication of the queue callers experienced. In the final analysis, we can control how accessible we are -- how many trunks we have, how many skilled reps are plugged in. But we can't control how callers will react or the myriad of circumstances that influence their behavior. Accordingly, be sure to view abandonment in light of the other measures, and in consideration of the callers' circumstances. Cost Per Call There are various ways to calculate cost per call (i.e. what factors to include in staff costs, how to allocate equipment, how to value the building) but the basic formula is to divide total costs by total calls received for a given period of time (usually a month). The potential in following cost per call is to identify the variables that are driving it upwards or downwards, and the impact they have. A climbing cost per call can be a good sign, depending on the variables driving it up. For example, process improvements may result in fewer calls than would otherwise be necessary (e.g. eliminating the need for customer callbacks, improving the VRU and coordinating with other departments to eliminate problems that generate calls). As a result, the fixed costs (in the numerator) get spread over fewer calls (in the denominator), driving cost per call up. But, of course, total costs will go down over time, because the elimination of waste and rework will drive down variable costs. (Similarly, cost per call usually goes down during the busy times of the year, and up during the slower times of year). Errors and Rework

A major theme of the quality movement is that good service pays for itself because of the elimination of things that come with a lack of quality: doing work over, correcting mistakes, handling complaints, increased public relations costs, canceled orders or subscriptions, costs of closing accounts, costs of inspection, and others. Errors and rework are often part of a cycle. For example, errors and rework consume valuable staff time, which can lead to insufficient staffing to handle the incoming workload; insufficient staffing tends to lead to high occupancy, unhappy callers and increased stress on the staff -- which contributes to errors and rework. So, reducing errors and rework has a positive impact on service level, morale, customer satisfaction and costs. A variation on errors and rework is a measure of the percent of calls completed on the first attempt, which has become an increasingly important measure in many call centers. Errors and rework can be measured in a number of ways. For example, the database may allow you to track repeat calls, unresolved issues and errors in data entry. Monitoring or side-by-side coaching should detect and track specific problems that are occurring during call handling. Call coding in the ACD (where reps use codes to track specific types of calls and issues) can trace problems. And transferred calls, escalated calls, customer complaints and correspondence (both to and from customers) can be additional sources of information. Forecast Call-load to Actual Underestimating calling demand will mask and defeat all other efforts to provide good service, and overestimating demand results in waste. Good forecasting comes from constantly tracking results and making improvements to the forecasting process. Common practice is to blend quantitative "time series" forecasting (projecting out existing call patterns) with judgmental forecasting (for example, what is marketing about to do? new terms and procedures? process changes? interest rates? the weather?). If the forecast is off by much, we need to identify which variables caused the problems, and factor them in (or out) in the future. Scheduled Staff to Actual This measure is independent of whether we actually have the staff necessary to acheive a targeted service level. How well do the staff we have adhere to schedule? If this is a problem, why? Adherence To Schedule Adherence factor is a measure of how much time an individual is on the phone, available to take calls, and generally consists of all plugged-in time, including talk time, wrap-up time, waiting to receive calls, and necessary outgoing calls. Generally, when adherence factor improves (goes up), service level goes up and occupancy goes down. Adherence factor is not just an issue of how much, but also an issue of when -- when during the course of the day, are reps are plugged in and available to take calls? Conclusion In conclusion, there are a few things to keep in mind. One, as Gordon MacPherson pointed out in The Great Call Center Brain Teaser, is that these are high-level output measurements, and focusing on them won't inherently improve them. To make improvements, we have to improve the factors that cause them to be where they are. Second, as with any measure, we must ensure that they are as accurate, complete and unbiased as possible. Finally, they should be interpreted in light of how they relate to each other; by themselves, any can lead to erroneous conclusions, but together they paint a fairly complete, high-level picture of call center performance. Concluding Remarks BPO industry, as a whole can be divided into two-voice based and non-voice based. HR policies and strategies required to succeed in each segment are different. This report is an overview of voice based BPO industry. Sanjeev Sharma

(+91-98852 00259) Secunderabad-India E-mail: ss_himachali@yahoo.com or Sanju_himachali@yahoo.co.in

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