Call Monitoring

[CallCommando]

i have been researching the pros and cons of call monitoring. im mostly curious as to what other call centers out there are doing. do you "listen in" or do you record calls for possible review?

i can only find good reasons for recording calls, no cons as of yet. seems that the he said/she saids would be cut down to a minimum.

any thoughts?

[NBosch]

Hi,

If you are serious about call monitoring, you will have to make more choices than the ones you mention here.

First of all; Quality or Liability
If you want to monitor calls to increase the quality of the service provided (the most common reason), you will only need to store (or live monitor) a certain amount of contacts. You can than "pick" contacts that you want to listen to with designated software (for instance Wittness).
If you want to monitor calls for liability reasons (f.i. legal advice or sales), you will have to have a possibility to store every contact by each of your agents. Again, this is possible with the designated software, but will cost you more server capacity.

For argument sake, let's assume, that your reasons are strictly quality control and improvement.
Call monitoring is very effective, but also time consuming. Not only do you have to listen to a certain amount of contacts per agent, you will also have to have a system in place to judge the contact (compliance to scripts) and to mark the agent and most important, to provide coaching after a contact that is not as you expect it to be.

Another thing you must consider, is callibration. If you are not the only person to monitor the calls, you will have to meet regularly with the other assessors, to define a common standard. When do you mark up/down, and when is it only a matter of coaching.

If you want, I can assist you with a business case, to base your choices on. Just drop me an e-mail at: niek_bosch@yahoo.co.uk and I will be most happy to support.

[Boofish1]

Commando,

Are you still looking for input? We're a 120-agent 24/7 operation in California. We record all calls and keep them as permanent legal records; we are part of a utility company and safety/liability issues encourage us to keep a close eye on what is being said.

I have created some assessment tools for agents and supervisors, as well as for ongoing employee development. These have been helpful in a number of ways for us.

If you would like more information, feel free to email me at valerie.heimerich@amerigas.com or call at 916-630-4210.

Val

[RickRude]

Hi Valerie,

Would you be kind enough to send the assessment tools to me as well?

We have an existing utility program, this can generally create a positive impact in quality for better results in performance.

Kind Regards,

Rick
ricchie.eugenio@havenlinkcc.com

[Rebecca Cash]

Please send me a copy also to rebecca.cash@vfgi.net

Thanks!

[FourGW44]

Val,
Would you be able to send the assessment tools to me as well? My email is:
winfield.guye@gmail.com
Please let me know when you can.
Thank you,
GW

[netstar]

Most of our customers request call recording to be added. We have a separate server that captures all the calls and archives them to an off site facility.

The biggest reason for the recording calls (for our customers) is for customer satisfaction/support issues that they need to review. Our customers use them in relationship to calls that may not have completed their goals (if it's a sales call center). Management reviews these calls to see what they can do to improve the customer experience and help close more calls.

HTH.

[BrentW]

We monitor all calls for many reasons.
Here are the main three:

1: It protects our operators and our business.
2: It helps supervisors evaluate operators.
3: In case something was missed on a call, it can be listened to again.

[Collector]

I use call monitoring for both purposes, quality and liability.

For quality improvement I use live monitoring and review recorded calls. I like to do the live monitorings at the agents desk with them so I can provide instant feedback while the call is still fresh in their mind. Some agents get nervous with the one on one monitorings so I will also review call recordings imemdiatley after the call with the agent.

Most monitoring scorecards are broken down into the steps of the call, Introduction, Verification, Purpose, and Closing. Each of these categories also have sub facets.

It is important to remember that you want consistancy with the scorecard, but still retain the ability to keep them fliud to your changing business environment.

[billtick24]

I will suggest that you rent a dedicated hosted call center server from click4pbx

Call monitoring, recordings, call statistics and live panel are included!

The server may cost around $200/month + $15/agents.

You will be receiving voip sip incoming calls to your office.


http://click4pbx.com/hosted-call-center.html