There is a lot I miss about my office, my desk, office snacks, coworkers, and even my commute to work. Well, not the commute itself, but the ‘me’ time I have singing in the car or listening to a podcast. If we are being honest, I really miss the smiling Barista who serves me my morning latte. I wonder if she misses me too?
The point is, employees across the globe are finding themselves unable to conduct ‘business as usual’ from their homes. But not me!
Hi, my name is Amelia, and I am a Customer Service Representative at a reputable Contact Center. Before we get started, I would like to point out that yes, I have distractions. There are an unlimited amount of snacks in my kitchen, a fully stocked wine cellar, and I don’t even want to get started on the new Netflix releases I am dying to watch. Like many, I see the laundry that needs washing, the home projects I could start, and warm weather calling my name.
No, it is not easy nor ‘business as usual’, but it is business for now. Working from home is not all that bad. However, I would not be saying that if it wasn’t for gloCOM and the Contact Center features that comes with it.
gloCOM
gloCOM has been my savior while working from home! It is so easy to use, and coming from someone with minimal technical knowledge, this is important.
Within gloCOM there are many outlets I can use to communicate, I can:
- Chat one-on-one or in a group chat
- Drag-and-drop contacts to make my call a conference
- Video conference with one or one hundred of my closest friends
If we were allowed in the office, every Monday morning my team would gather in the boardroom to watch the big screen that outlines our goals and tasks for the week. Now that we are at home, we use gloCOM Meeting! While video conferencing, my team can share their screens, making it like we never left the office. The best part is I can see what everyone’s houses look like, and they can’t tell I am still in my pajamas.
Real-Time Agent Monitoring
When I am not meeting with my team, you can find me on a call with a customer. Even though I have been with the company for a while, I still have questions for my supervisor. When that happens, I can drag-and-drop her contact into the active call, and she can:
1. Listen👂 – My supervisor can listen in on the call without the customer knowing and send me messages in a private chat. This option means the customer has no idea that I required assistance, their problem is solved promptly, and I learned something new!
2. Whisper👥 – My supervisor can listen in on the call and talk to me directly without the customer knowing. Choosing the Whisper option allows us to solve the problem faster.
3. Barge 🗣 – My supervisor can listen in on the call and barge in when she is needed to talk to both the customer and myself.
Blending Mode
Doing the same thing over and over again can get not only repetitive but boring! I swear after a long day of placing outgoing calls and conducting essentially the same conversation, I start to feel like a robot. That is why I like to switch up my day-to-day with Blending Mode!
When I log in for the day, I can choose to receive incoming calls, place outgoing calls, or both. Blending Mode means I can call back abandoned customers, carry out satisfaction surveys, assist in outbound campaigns, and more while still calling my list of leads. In Blending Mode, my day definitely goes by faster because I am always on the phone!
Also, now that we are all working from home, some of my coworkers cannot do it successfully! Many are struggling with the balance of homeschooling, child care, connectivity issues, and finding quiet. Now I can help with the workload until we get back into the office.
Queue URL Pop Up
The Queue URL Pop Up feature is a game-changer! Back in the office, I had two monitors plus my laptop. Meaning, I had three screens with pages and applications open ready to assist customers quickly. While working from home, I only have one screen on my laptop.
The pop-up’s purpose is to assist me with my call by providing prompt access to retrieve information. I work in the Customer Service department, so when customers call in and select my department from the IVR, the URL Pop Up attached to the queue is our CRM. The CRM will appear on my screen once connected to the customer, and I can instantly serve the customer efficiently!
Dialer
Like any other Contact Center agent, my team and I have a list of leads to call. We also have different dialer strategy options that we can choose for call campaigns. Each option has different productivity levels, and I usually choose the highest level option, Power.
Power will dial more than one number on my list, based on the probability of the leads answering. Once a lead picks up, I connect to the caller. To me, the power option is like a fun game. I burn through my list of leads quickly and move on to the next campaign!
Hot Keys
What really makes my day go by faster is using Hot Keys. In a Contact Center, after an agent makes a call, they must disposition the call. That means, they must tell the system what happened with the call. For example, did we make contact? Did they tell us not to call back? Do they want a personal call back?
The keys must be pre-configured in the system, but it was effortless to do. I am good at meeting sales quotas, so I made key ‘1’ = ‘Sold’ and then key ‘2’ = ‘Call Back.’ With the help of Hot Keys, I can disposition calls in less than a second!
Skill Based Routing
As I mentioned earlier, I work in the Customer Service department. My friend George also started in Customer Service but then left me to take a promotion in Sales. Sometimes the Customer Service queue can get a little busy, but thankfully we have the Skill Based Routing (SBR) feature.
Since George started in Customer Service, he received the same training as I did. When the Customer Service queue is busy, George can answer calls for us! SBR means my supervisor sets rules and penalties for each queue and agent. For example, if all Customer Service agents are busy, and a customer has waited for longer than two minutes in the queue, George’s line will ring. He can help us decrease the call volume and then get back to his day to day responsibilities.
Force Call Answer
I think I left this feature for last because I have a love/hate relationship with it. When this feature is on, I have no choice but to answer the call. I actually don’t even have an option! It just connects me to the call immediately.
Many customers say, ‘oh wow, that was fast!‘ or they express how happy they were not to wait. It also limits the number of abandoned calls and angry customers. I really can’t complain because it keeps me busy and always on the phone, making my day go by faster. However, it does mean I always need to be on my A-game.
In the end, I am excited to get back into the office, but I am enjoying my time at home. These features are available in and out of the office, so I am getting my work done, I am just able to do other things like paint my nails at the same time. 😏
If you have any questions on the above Contact Center features, please feel free to contact our teams at sales@bicomsystems.com. Or by using our sign up form on our website here.
