{"id":8872,"date":"2020-03-24T13:38:54","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T13:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?p=8872"},"modified":"2023-01-16T12:26:23","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T12:26:23","slug":"remote-working-agents-good-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/remote-working-agents-good-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Remote-Working Contact Centre Agents Are a Good Idea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In theory, contact centre agents should be able to work from anywhere. With greater pressure than ever on businesses to be mobile and enable flexible working, it\u2019s time to make sure that\u2019s working wherever it needs to. It\u2019s definitely possible, given today\u2019s technology.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.2basetechnologies.com\/the-challenges-of-working-from-home\">challenges<\/a> in making the transition. It requires a different approach to management and accountability, but enabling remote working has the potential to bring multiple benefits to a contact centre. The growth of cloud-based contact centre solutions attests to this idea, as businesses enabling remote working have reaped the rewards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are four of those simple yet substantial benefits to make the argument in favour of you moving your call centre to a cloud-based platform.<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t<style>\r\n\t\t\t@media (min-width: 768px) {\r\n\t\t\t\t.bottom-cta .bottom-cta-img {\r\n\t\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\r\n\t\t\t\t\twidth: 50%;\r\n\t\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\r\n\t\t\t.bottom-cta .bottom-cta-img img {\r\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\r\n\t\t\t.bottom-cta {\r\n\t\t\t\tbackground: #001138;\r\n\t\t\t\tpadding: 30px;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\r\n\t\t\t.bottom-cta .bottom-cta-copy {\r\n\t\t\t\tpadding: 0 30px;\r\n\t\t\t\toverflow: hidden;\r\n\t\t\t\tcolor: #fff;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\r\n\t\t\t.bottom-cta .bottom-cta-copy .btn-primary {\r\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t<\/style>\r\n\t\t<div class=\"bottom-cta  CID-cta-2FdM5dTp IID-cta-69d0168235bcb\"\r\n\t\t\tdata-dl-custom-type=\"cta\">\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bottom-cta-img\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/vs-cc-rw-social-images-design-text-2.png\" alt=\"Call to action banner\">\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bottom-cta-copy\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<span style=\"font-size: 24px; line-height: 30px;\">All the latest contact centre industry know-how in one place \u2013 register for CC Expo: Virtually Together.<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"text-center\" style=\"display: block;\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"rc-cta-shortcode btn btn-primary btn-lg\" data-dl-element=\"button\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg\" style=\"margin-top: 16px; font-weight: bold;\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\ttitle=\"Register UC Summit CC Expo\" href=\"https:\/\/ucsummit.com\/ringcentral\/\" target=\"_blank\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\trel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-dl-additional-info=\"All the latest contact centre industry know-how in one place \u2013 register for CC Expo: Virtually Together.\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-dl-name=\"All the latest contact centre industry know-how in one place \u2013 register for CC Expo: Virtually Together. | Register\">Register<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\n<h2><b>1. It\u2019s easier to communicate from any location\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ve seen how global uncertainty has affected business and influenced behaviour. Who\u2019d have thought toilet paper and hand sanitiser would ever be so sought-after? Changes to services have brought confusion and a deluge of queries into contact centres, overwhelming agents and communications channels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The scalability of contact centre as a service (CCaaS) allows customer service departments to be responsive at a level that on-premises systems simply can\u2019t match. Real-time reporting delivers insights that can be acted on immediately, feeding into responsive scheduling. Remote access means agents can pick up shifts from anywhere and aren\u2019t restricted to staying close to the office in order to provide support when needed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just as we\u2019ve seen supermarkets respond to demand by increasing their workforce, contact centres need to increase their resources to cope with the stress put on customer service. It\u2019s quick and easy to add accounts to a cloud-based contact centre when increasing staff cover to meet demand, meaning an expanded workforce can be up and running in minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CCaaS enables businesses to set up region-specific contact centre teams, so <a href=\"https:\/\/www.furstperson.com\/blog\/3-home-run-benefits-you-get-from-work-at-home-agents\">remote agents<\/a> can provide location-specific information where needed and can easily collaborate with colleagues in different locations thanks to highly-functional team messaging. Communications run more smoothly, experts are easy to route queries to, and information can be shared instantly and specifically to keep departments better connected.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>2. Better Employee Experience &#8211; and Its Effects<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By now we should all be well aware that improving employee experience (EX) not only leads to better <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/definitive-guide-customer-experience\/\">customer experience<\/a> (CX) but also has an impact on share value as well as bottom line. There\u2019s an obvious connection there. A company that invests in empowering its employees to do their best work is a company setting itself up for continued success.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Empowering employees to succeed is one of the best ways to improve motivation. Giving employees the tools, along with the freedom, to do their job well, and providing them the flexibility to achieve a better work\/life balance, are tried and tested ways to boost morale, make employees feel valued, and empower them to create their own success.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Happier, more motivated employees are more likely to stick around. The EX-factor in remote working bears out in the contact centre statistics. According to Frost and Sullivan, the r<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">etention rate for at-home agents is 80% vs. 25% for in-house.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contrary to popular belief, employees can be more productive when working from home. Feeling empowered to operate their own self-discipline and time management, and find their own work\/life balance, puts motivation back into the hands of employees and helps them feel more engaged and more inclined to use their time productively.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>3. Reduce Costs<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The immediate cost savings involved in supporting a remote workforce are related to premises overheads. Rent, utilities and hardware are common outlays that can add up to large amounts for fully on-premises businesses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Running an on-premises contact centre also comes with the cost of installing hardware that requires specialist maintenance support to deliver the uptime you need. On-premises system management also means having to pay for dedicated staff to manage functionality such as adding lines to cope with seasonality or increasing on-site data storage capacity. Choosing a cloud-based system, you avoid all these additional costs as the subscription fee you pay covers the entire service.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s also the time factor to consider: Cloud systems allow you to track operational performance in real time to help you make improvements to efficiency according to demand. All the adjustments you make are done through the same interface &#8211; there\u2019s no need to wait for a specialist to come and operate on-site.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>4. Hire the Best Employees, Regardless of Location<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When spreading your recruitment net to cover remote contact centre agents who can contribute regardless of geographic location, your talent pool grows beyond the immediate surroundings of your office. By increasing your capacity to attract talent, you increase your chances of finding candidates who best fit the role and can bring great value to your business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Access to a wider talent pool allows you to be more discerning in your criteria for quality agents, helping to ensure you\u2019re choosing the right individuals for the job, not just the ones that are available. Securing experienced remote working agents gives you more chance of working with more responsible, more motivated and more productive employees. Hiring agents to work remotely can also give you access to specialist local knowledge around the globe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With your strong team, you stand a better chance of delivering higher productivity, providing better customer experiences and improving your brand. Your call centre employees can provide the best possible feedback and information to customers regardless of where they are located.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Besides the common benefits of enabling staff to work from home, it is now more important than ever to put measures in place that give you the best chance of business continuity while protecting your workforce from unnecessary exposure. If you\u2019re considering enabling your contact centre employees to work remotely, consider how it could actually help grow your business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Try our <\/span><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/remote-work-resources\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">remote working resources hub<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for more information on how to successfully implement remote working for your business, including further details about <\/span><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/cloud-contact-centre-help-remote-working\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the benefits of cloud contact centre on remote working<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"uc-expo-cta-2 text-center IId-bottom-banner-144903516 CId-bottom-banner-1098205596\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px; line-height: 30px;\">Learn more about how\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/contact-centre\/overview.html\">contact centre technology<\/a> can create a better experience for customers and agents<\/span><span class=\"text-center\" style=\"display: block;\" data-dtm-element=\"button\" data-dtm-context=\"bottom-cta\" data-dtm-additional-info=\"Learn more about contact centre tech\"><a class=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg\" style=\"margin-top: 16px; font-weight: bold;\" title=\"Learn more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/contact-centre\/overview.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-dtm-name=\"Bottom CTA\">Learn more<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In theory, contact centre agents should be able to work from anywhere. With greater pressure than ever on businesses to be mobile and enable flexible working, it\u2019s time to make &hellip; <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/remote-working-agents-good-idea\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Why Remote-Working Contact Centre Agents Are a Good Idea&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":244,"featured_media":8873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-content-hub.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[163],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why Remote-Working Contact Centre Agents Are a Good Idea | RingCentral UK Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The scalability of contact centre as a service (CCaaS) allows customer service departments to be responsive at a level that on-premises systems simply can\u2019t 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