How Are Call Centers Adapting to the Remote Work Environment Due to COVID-19?
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire globe and has shaken up nearly every industry. Restaurants have been forced to go take-out only, medical providers now wear more protective equipment than ever, and office & professional workers transitioned to working-from-home. Call centers were no exception.
Traditionally, call center outsourcing means that when your customers call for support, they are reaching a customer service rep in a physical call center with other customer service reps. We prefer to have our team members in one location so that they can learn from and support one another. Knowledge-sharing is a huge part of why we are so good at what we do. The same goes for email chat answering. With all of our reps in the same space, they can help to problem solve with each other in order to achieve first call resolutions. Building a great office culture is very important to us, but it isn’t as important as employee safety.
Once it became clear that large gatherings of people enabled the spread of COVID-19, we transitioned many of our team members to home or remote work. This way, they can maintain social distance and quarantine after exposure without losing their livelihoods, and our customers can continue to receive uninterrupted service. We have enabled our team members with top of the line technology and instructed them on how to create quiet, professional environments so that callers reaching reps at home can’t even tell that they are no longer in an office. We opened up chat channels for our support reps, so that knowledge sharing and learning can still happen.
Below is a summary of the guidance we provided to our team members:
● Work from home does not mean vacation. Our customers expect the very best from us and that does not change just because we are not in the same physical space anymore.
● A quiet environment is key for call center outsourcing. If you are able, set up your home office in a separate room with a locking door so that you will not be disturbed by family members or pets while talking to a client. If this is not possible in your home, always go on mute when the customer is talking in order to minimize background noise.
● First call resolutions are still our priority, so if you have a question reach out to your team via chat for support.
● Remember that your safety comes first. Wipe down communal surfaces after every use and if you are not feeling well, quarantine for two weeks and get a COVID-19 test.
This pandemic is very serious and we are doing our best to quell the spread of the disease among our dedicated and talented workforce. We do not anticipate our customers even noticing that our team is working remotely now, but we assure you that we are taking customer service and employee safety equally seriously. VCare tech is a conscientious call center outsourcing center in the USA.