Will Video “Kill” the Call Center Agent?
“Rewritten by machine and new technology/And now I understand the problems you can see”
Video Killed The Radio Star
(The Buggles)
No, video did not kill the radio star, contrary to the famous lyrics that launched MTV...
Providing Resiliency During Challenging Times
During the first quarter of 2020, I recall when COVID-19 started appearing more prominent in the U.S. we as a call center weren’t sure how everything would play out.
Though we had several plans in...
Going Home: For Good?
In today’s business environment people matter. Customers rightly want the option of speaking to live agents. Automated self-service alone, even with sophisticated tools like artificial intelligence (AI)-driven chatbots, is not enough to enable superior...
7 Ideas to Build Engagement with Work-From-Home Agents
“Now that we’re working from home, no one else (in the company) knows who we are,” said a veteran contact center agent during one of my sales training classes.
His frustration was echoed by...
The Evolving Contact Center Supervisor
2020 was a tough year for contact center supervisors. While the quick shift to work-from-home was a shock to almost every level’s work routines, no role has transformed as much as that of the...
The Hybrid Model Is Only Part of the Solution to the Work-at-Home Dilemma
5th Talent International has completed three contact center work-at-home studies since the beginning of the 2020 pandemic. We learned that most employees prefer the hybrid model, which is a mix of splitting their time...
The Hybrid Contact Center
As COVID-19 restrictions ease, contact center leaders are planning what their future work environment will look like. The hybrid work model, in which agents work at home but come into the center a few...
How to Ensure Your Live Chat Experience Is as Secure as It Is Seamless
Today’s customers want to get in touch with businesses fast, and live chat is a strong tool for meeting that expectation. Not only does live chat let agents monitor and engage website and app...
Old and In the Way
Old and in the way,
That’s what I heard them say.
They used to heed the words he said,
But that was yesterday.
I had a birthday in June, and it suddenly struck me that I’ve lived for...
Looking Good: An Amateur’s Guide to Zoom Success
I am taking liberties with Zoom’s brand name, as it appears that the masses use the word Zoom as a noun, referring to video meetings in general. This is true even when using Teams,...
Top 5 Posts in August
Our top 5 blog posts in August are very representative of the current environment we continue to find ourselves in. Our Pipeline readers are confronting the challenges remote work can bring. Candace talks of...
Reinforcing Your Work-From-Home Team’s Cybersecurity Foundation
Many organizations weathered the COVID-19 crisis by focusing first on the welfare and well-being of their employees. The quick shift from on-premise to work-from-home (WFH) last year helped to safeguard companies’ human asset. Yet...
Games People Play
Time for another trip down memory lane or, for most of you, probably another history lesson. Let’s start this one in 1968.
1968 was the year American singer-songwriter Joe South released a song called “Games...
Customer Experience & Fraud Prevention: Dueling Priorities for Today’s Contact Centers
The past year was a challenging and transformative time for many people as a global, once-in-a-generation health crisis upended critical components of how we work, play and connect.
From remote workers to Netflix bingers, a...
Three Ways to Future-Proof Your CX
Workplace trends come and go. From the hierarchical corner office setups and cubicle rows that dominated most of the 1900s to open-plan campuses with free lunch and foosball that came with the internet boom...
The Times They Are a-Changin’
The Times They Are a-Changin’” is a song written by Minnesota’s own Robert Allen Zimmerman, and was released in 1964 as the title track on an album by the same name. Robert Zimmerman is,...
This Little Light of Mine… Keep It Shining!
This Little Light of Mine” is a popular gospel song of unknown origin that is sung all over the world. I recently was surprised when my Spotify AI selected Sam Cooke’s version of the...
The Sustainable Work-From-Home Contact Center: Provide Agents with Real-Time Guidance and Support
The following Q&A is part of a series on creating a sustainable work-from-home contact center. Each post examines a vital technology that supports contact centers in the transition to a permanent remote-work model. Below,...
The Sustainable Work-From-Home Contact Center: Reduce Training and Onboarding Time with Visual Contact Scenarios
The following Q&A is part of a series on creating a sustainable work-from-home contact center. Each post examines a vital technology that supports contact centers in the transition to a permanent remote-work model. Below,...
The Sustainable Work-From-Home Contact Center: Engage Agents with Online Learning & Development
The following Q&A is part of a series on creating a sustainable work-from-home contact center. Each post examines a vital technology that supports contact centers in the transition to a permanent remote-work model. Below,...
