As an increasing number of contact centers migrate to a virtual environment, companies need to adapt, adjust, and manage their people, processes, and technology. Virtual companies are challenged to provide home-based agents with an equal opportunity to learn and grow, no matter where in the world they reside. When it comes to training home-based agents, best practices and tools that support a virtual process are critical. Successfully addressing the unique training requirements for virtual agents equips them to support the customer experience and brand with consistent service and value. Following are three tips and tools for training virtual agents:

1. Consider the best vehicle for initial training
   For new hires, some contact centers may want to require on-site training for all agents, regardless of where they ultimately work – particularly if a considerable amount of knowledge transfer (i.e. several days) for product, service and process usually is required. On-site training also goes a long way to make these far-flung agents feel a part of their teams, the overall processes and the company as a whole.
   
   If on-site training is just not practical, turn to technologies such as web collaboration and video/webcam conferencing. Training content in an eLearning or remote broadcast format can be delivered to agents in any location. To validate the effectiveness of the knowledge transfer, consider incorporating scoring, hands-on labs and testing into the training curriculum.
   
   
2. Drive ongoing virtual training with Web-based quality management techniques
   In a virtual agent environment, it is practically impossible for supervisors to manually assess what training each agent needs and find time in the agent’s schedule for training. Identifying which types of calls to monitor is important, as random selection is not practical for home-based agents and most supervisors simply can’t dedicate the time and effort to sift through pages of unnecessary or irrelevant data. By identifying key business indicators, supervisors can more easily select the types of calls that are most important for monitoring and recording for virtual agents.
   
   Thanks to integrated quality assurance and workforce management processes, supervisors can use Web-based quality management technology to push targeted Internet-based training to virtual agents during times of low call volume. The technology adds all the monitoring results together to highlight the skill areas where the agent is struggling. It then links to the best training module, which is available electronically, and “asks” the workforce management system to schedule the training at the appropriate time. Once an agent’s scheduled training time arrives, the agent accesses the assigned training module without any supervisor intervention.
   
   
3. Connect and collaborate for supervisor-to-agent coaching
   Quality management systems also can help when direct supervisor-to-agent coaching is required. Using recorded customer calls and annotated evaluations, supervisors can train virtual agents one-on-one as effectively as if the agent were sitting next to them.
   
   Quality management technology also helps pinpoint when a home agent is having trouble with a specific system or process. Useful applications such as voice recording and screen capture enable collaborative training and review. Supervisors can hear the voice and see the screen of any agent at any location, which helps the home agent and supervisor walk through calls step-by-step together. Supervisors also can employ Web 2.0 tools such as instant messaging or chat capability to ensure quick and easy communication, presence awareness and improved connectivity.

Tim Kraskey is vice president of marketing and business development for Calabrio, Inc., a provider of workforce optimization and unified contact center desktop software that enables continuous business improvements in productivity, efficiency and customer satisfaction. He can be reached at tim.kraskey@calabrio.com.