Remote Listening Alert To Agents

[Carrigman]

Is it better all around for agents to hear an audible beep to signal they are being remotely monitored or not? We are about to embark on a structured remote listening programme as part of an overall quality performance package, and we have the choice as to whether we use the audible signal or not.

Thanks.

John/Ireland.

[manojkpatel]

Hi

I am Manoj Patel , Manager Technologies with Majestic Call Center. As per my experience the alert tone should be disabled , the reason being

1) The Agent becomes concious and the general statistics of the agents communication skills is hard to obtain for quality checks.

2) On alert tone agent tends to become concious and tries to imitate the clients tone this decreases the chance of possible sales on that call.

Thus I consider it to be more effective when the alert tone remains disabled.

[learner2002]

I agree with Manoj. From my experience, most agents would not perform as how they would normally once they are aware that they are being monitored. You could then either have "fake" performance or sub-standard performance due to anxiety.

[JoelDup]

I believe it really depends on your organization. If your call takers are in an environment that practices actual cooperation and a real sense of community with both customers, collegues and management then giving them a 'tone' won't effect their monitoring performance as much (this type of environment is rare).

Perhaps a mixed approach is better. Give them tone on some monitoring/recording and none on others and do comparisons.
This might give a better picture and create opportunities for effective coaching.

Your real concern is whether you trust your call takers or not. A mixed approach, if done properly might help you create trust and happier contributors.
Joel

[Jimmy Childs]

I would never even consider using the beep. The purpose of monitoring agents is to assess their actual performance. The beep MAY affect their performance in a positive way or a negative way. We want to monitor them as they normally perform. Turn off the beep.

[CBFECCA]

I have to agree with Joel. A mixture of the two is probably going to give you the best results. As a former phone agent now manager, I remember what it was like to be monitored. If you heard the beep you would automatically improve your phone call. If you never knew when you were going to be monitored most of the time you carried on as though you were not. The end result is, you have a relaxed everyday monitoring to compare to what the agent does when they know they are being monitored. This will let you know where the agent needs assistance (if any).
Good luck!