Technology management in global call center operations

Role of Managing Technology in Call Centers Globally

Customer Relations Management

The role of managing technology in a call center is vital. This will ensure that the call center adopts the latest and best technology. Using these technologies the call center can improve its efficiency, and increase customer satisfaction, which will impact its overall performance. Managing technologies will also ensure that the call center does not maintain obsolete systems or technologies. This paper analyses call centers globally, and the role that technology management plays within a call center.

A call center is a centralized location or office that is mainly used for transmitting or receiving requests via telephone Sharp, 2003.

The location of the call center could be either within the organization, or an organization can outsource the services. There are many companies that offer call center services for corporate and medium sized organizations. There are two kinds of call centers outbound and inbound. Inbound call centers handle all incoming calls for an organization. The calls are usually made by customers making inquiries regarding company products, or reporting faults. Outbound call centers are used for marketing purposes. This is also referred to as telemarketing. Outbound call centers only deal with making calls, and they rarely receive any calls from customers.

Inbound call centers use an automatic call distributor for routing the calls within the call center to the agents. This system ensures that calls are routed evenly, and no agent is overworked. The system also checks to see the available agent to ensure that a customer is not kept on hold for too long. Outbound call centers employ predictive dialers, which dial calls based on a provided list. The predictive dialer will ensure that the call is answered before it is transferred to an agent. The system also searches for an available agent and routes the call to him/her. This way the system ensures the dialed number does not get dropped, and an agent handles the call. The inbound and outbound systems used for receiving and making calls also have the capabilities for logging all calls, recording the calls, and registering the agent who handled the call.

A call center needs a competent person who is able to analyze the system reports and determine how they can increase productivity. A call center manager should be experienced especially in technological advances, and they need to remain abreast with the latest technology. This will ensure that the call center is operating optimally, and challenges are mitigated early enough.

Technology is the key driving factor in the management and operation of call centers globally Butler, 2004.

Technology allows for calls to be routed from the organization's office to its call center without any delays. Companies that have outsourced their customer service to offshore companies require their customer requests to be handled promptly. Leveraging on technology a call center is able to provide this service and the customer will not be aware the agent is located in a different location. Having the latest technology in the call center will ensure that the systems are operating optimally and managing the call center will be easier.

Role of managing technology

The role of managing technology involves the management discipline, which allows an organization in managing its technological functions in order to gain some competitive advantage Loader & Biggs, 2002.

This will involve the technology strategy, technology forecasting, technology project portfolio, technology portfolio, and technology road mapping. The technology management function within a call center will be charged with understanding the value of various technologies. It will be required to continuously develop technologies that will add value to the call center, customers, and employees. Decisions regarding investing in technology are solely handled by this function. This function will determine and recommend the technologies the call center should invest in, and when to invest. This way a call center is able to reap the benefits and remain competitive. Obsolete technologies will need to be withdrawn from the call center as they might lead to losses. Decisions regarding when a technology has become obsolete will also be handled by the technology management function of the call center.

Call centers in the United States and overseas require the same technologies in order to operate efficiently and successfully. The technologies employed in any call center are geared towards improving efficiency, increasing productivity, servicing customer requests, and reducing the costs of operating the call center. Since the majority of call center are normally outsourcing their services for other companies, the call center that can reduce its operating costs and remain efficient in service delivery will surely have an advantage over its competitors.

Technology project portfolio

This analyses the projects that are currently under development. These are projects within the call center. The projects indicate the timeline for completion and how they will impact the call center. Technology project portfolio provides information to management regarding the status of projects within the call center, and also provides information regarding their scheduled completion. The projects will include software development, system development, and equipment installations.

Project portfolio is vital in managing technology, as call center managers are able to anticipate when the new project will be completed and their expected results. Using this information management is able to prepare corporate strategies that will ensure the successful completion of undergoing projects.

Technology portfolio

The technologies that are currently in use within the call center are provided for in the project portfolio. The portfolio allows management to understand the technologies been used and their impact in the call center Maizlish & Handler, 2010.

Having knowledge of the technologies in use allows manager to prepare their reports based on the likely outcome of the technologies.

Each technology is analyzed indicating its use in the call center, when it was installed, how the technology contributes to the call center's performance, and its reporting capabilities. This information is vital to employees and managers as they know what each technology does and how it should be used. Using these information employees will ensure that they employ the correct technology in the performance of their work. This will improve the performance of the call center as the technologies are provided for easing the workload and improving performance.

Technology road mapping

Technology road mapping is the process of mapping technologies to market and business needs. This is done by the use of a technology roadmap, which is a plan used for matching long-term and short-term goals with the technological solutions that will assist in meeting these goals. Mapping technologies ensures that all technologies in the call center are geared towards achieving a specific goal. Having identified the needs of the call center, mapping the required technologies ensures that mechanisms are in place to meet these needs.

Using technology road mapping, the call center is able to plan and coordinate any technological developments. This way any technology developments will have a specific purpose, and unnecessary developments can be avoided. This will save the call center revenue as only required technologies will be developed. Mapping technologies also assists in identifying technologies that have become obsolete. Obsolete technologies could be costing the call center in terms of profits as their maintenance and support does not contribute to the call center's performance. Obsolete technologies, or technologies that are not been used would then be removed, and only required and relevant technologies would be used within the call center.

Conclusion

Call centers all over the world require the same technological management. Technologies used within a call center are aimed at improving the call center's productivity and delivery of service. The technologies are also needed for improving the call center's proficiency. Managing these technologies is vital for any call center. This is because the call center requires the best available technologies in order for it to reduce its operational costs and boost profits. Technologies are changing quite fast, and there is need for a call center to monitor these changes. Technology management provides the call center with the opportunity to monitor its technologies, and future technologies.