Low-Cost Quality Monitoring: Can It Be Done?
1 May, 2004
By: Larry Hennessey,Oscar AlbanThe answer is a resounding YES! In the quality monitoring world, offering a system design that maintains broad features and functionality is not difficult, but it first requires stepping “out of the box” and challenging the conventional wisdom that solutions must be large and complex. And, with a simple analysis of how quality monitoring is developed, packaged and deployed, the logic behind pricing a cost effective system emerges.
Conventional Wisdom Challenged
In any call center, one of the first considerations is software integration to an existing ACD environment and, subsequently, how that integration will be controlled. There is a common myth that recording solutions must be CTI integrated to perform properly. This simply is not true.
Not everyone knows that all major ACDs provide a “standard” ACD record interface that permits call recording for monitoring purposes. Hmm. So, if it’s readily available why not simply use this type of connectivity for recording? The answer may lie in bottom-line. Many vendors hold two beliefs: first, to justify the cost of the software, it should be complex and include “value-added” features, and second, in order to work properly, it probably has to be expensive.
This ACD record interface positively eliminates the need for expensive CTI integration in a cost-controlled quality monitoring environment. By taking full advantage of this standard, yet alternative, integration and by bypassing CTI (coupled with a little common sense and old-fashioned ingenuity) it’s very easy to record for monitoring and maintain superior performance. In fact, the desired number of monitoring sessions over a given period of time can be implemented using this record interface to meet any call center’s quality monitoring requirements. The best part? It can be used quite effectively without sacrificing functionality.
Turnkey Solutions on Standard Equipment
Another significant factor in maintaining cost is deployment. Delivering a turnkey system on industry standard equipment that is pre-configured can greatly reduce the final cost for quality monitoring software when delivered. Major PC manufacturers have control over their inventory and are able to provide their technology and expertise at a moment’s notice. By offering turnkey systems that use industry standard hardware as base technology, product time to market is reduced, system quality is higher and long-term serviceability is better. The rule here is to find vendors that stick to their core business—developing software. To keep costs low, vendors should let the major hardware manufacturers provide the hardware and subsequent equipment maintenance.
In addition, with consistent preconfigured platforms, alternative installation methods are possibilie. For example, a company could opt to deploy via the Internet for core products as an alternative to more expensive on-site installations. The potential for a huge reduction in deployment costs for a majority of installs now exists, and the quality monitoring provider could pass on those savings to their customers.
Sales Model
The last area to be addressed when considering the cost of a quality monitoring solution is the vendor’s business/sales model for the solution. Most buyers expect to see the salesperson in their office for the traditional handshake. However, it’s interesting that 7 out of 10 on-site sales calls do not result in a sale. The average cost of an on-site sales call approaches $1,000. Who pays for all those non-productive sales calls? You do, as these costs are naturally factored into the quality monitoring product as a cost of doing business.
In strong support for a lower cost alternative to the traditional business/sales model is Dell Computer Corp. While hardware manufacturers were struggling in the 1980s to build brick and mortar establishments, Dell chose a different path. By going “direct to the consumer”—ultimately taking an early non-traditional path (the Internet) and eliminating “feet on the street”—Dell was able to substantially cut costs and pass savings on to their consumers. Dell’s used the Web, and their call center infrastructure supported their customers, as it does today. Dell is the undisputed, lowest cost provider and highest profit margin company in the computer industry.
Quality monitoring vendors that eliminate most expensive on-site sales visits and use the power of the Internet as a sales medium can offer solutions little impact on the final cost of the application.
Quality monitoring software can help build valuable long-term customer relationships and boost efficiency. And, by challenging the conventional wisdom, considering a turnkey solution and selecting a vendor with a less costly business/sales model, it is possible to reduce the cost of many quality monitoring solutions.
When Compliance (Not Cost) Is Your Issue
The operational regulatory requirements that today’s businesses must adhere to carry detailed compliance guidelines that are having a significant impact in the corporate world. While managing costs remains a key focus that impacts the bottom line, organizations must now run their businesses within the context of some stringent regulatory parameters.
These compliance guidelines are vast, ranging from government-sanctioned regulations—such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Patriot Act and Sarbanes-Oxley—to strict internal processes established within organizations, such as those designed for sales verification and fraud detection. This environment is causing companies to take a long, hard look at the people, processes and technologies they have in place to ensure requirements are met. Facing severe consequences for non-compliance (including hefty fines and even jail time), more and more companies are investing in ways to protect themselves, their customers and their shareholders.
Companies must now introduce and strictly enforce compliance requirements at all levels of the organization—from the C-level in the corner office to customer sales/service representatives (CSRs) in the front office (or contact center) to “back office” personnel that support the customer experience.
These governing principles have changed the way companies communicate with their customers, how their staff works and the processes they follow. CSRs must be well-versed in the products/services they represent, prepared to handle customer contacts across communications channels and able to contribute to revenue growth. Customer service/support staff also significantly impact customer experiences through the important role they play in the back office—fulfilling customer orders, handling invoices and processing claims, for instance. Added to the responsibilities of front and back office workers is the challenge of mastering an array of business and productivity applications, while also adhering to compliance procedures.
Front and Back Office
Customer relationship management (CRM) and customer interaction recording systems are playing a more important role now than ever before in the new world of compliance regulations. Many Global 2000 companies already leverage this type of technology to ensure they meet these obligations. Using customer interaction recording software as a means to reliably capture specific types of agent/customer interactions from both a voice and data/screen navigation perspective in the front office—and data/screen navigation perspective in the back office, shows management how well employees understand procedures and leverage the technology resources available to them.
One of the more challenging aspects of compliance is that it is not confined to one area of the business. Compliance affects both customer-facing activities and functions taking place behind-the-scenes in the back office, which is often overlooked as part of the customer service paradigm. The back office can dramatically impact customer experiences; for instance, is my ordered fulfilled correctly, is my bill accurate and what’s the status of my claim? That’s why many companies are taking customer interaction recording into these environments, as well as auditing processes to better understand the interdepartmental impact back office functions have on customer service and satisfaction.
By capturing contacts through customer interaction recording software’s user-defined business rules, organizations can record, analyze and report on specified types of contacts, as well as their adherence to compliance requirements. Users also can categorize and store customer interactions/transactions to verify those requirements have been met.
Customer Service Compliance Standards
Industries across the board feel the impact of today’s compliance standards. Some businesses are more heavily governed with requirements to capture all customer interactions/transactions. In the end, whether establishing practices around compliance to meet government mandates or to adhere to internally established procedures, these standards impact us all.
Organizations that have supporting and enabling processes and technologies in place will be even better equipped to adhere and meet compliance standards on a consistent basis. Customer service organizations without such a foundation run the risk of facing severe consequences. They also lose out on the ability to make their operations even more streamlined and efficient. Customer interaction recording technology provides a comprehensive view of customer experiences, captures valuable business intelligence, gauges process efficiencies, provides insight into service quality, points to training/development needs and enables organizations to directly impact the bottom line. Today, customer interaction recording is more than “nice to have”; it’s an insurance policy, an intelligence tool and a strong competitive differentiator that’s helping companies worldwide drive their businesses forward.
