They’re out there ... somewhere. Hundreds of them, dotted all over the country. You know they’re there, but you can’t see them. You’d love them to be yours; it’d be so much easier for you. If they could be harnessed where they are, you wouldn’t have to provide them with all the comforts – sofas, microwaves, fruit - that you have to provide them if they were here.

But the problem is, they have to be here. To be any use, you have to plug them into your antiquated systems, and that means they have to be in the same room as everyone else. And you have to be able to see what they’re doing, otherwise how do you know if they’re doing anything useful?

Well, actually, they don’t have to be here. The internet you’ve been using for years at home is also available to them. Innovative businesses make business applications available over the internet, so whenever, wherever and however they connect to the internet, they can connect to you.

136 percent growth

Home-based agents, home-workers, home-sourcing or agents-at-home - whatever name you relate to - are becoming an increasingly common phenomenon. The spread of high-speed internet and clever technologies coupled with  the changing social (and now economic) landscape has made agents-at-home more attractive to more organisations. In fact, the 2008 Australian Contact Centre Survey conducted by Vivaz noted  that 15 percent of the industry is definitely pursuing home working and 30 percent is considering it - a year on year growth of 136 percent.

According to industry analysts, growth is fuelled by agent attrition rates of 40 to 50 percent and call centres seeking to retain and attract skilled staff; reduction in office space requirements and other onsite costs; increased flexibility in opening hours and improvements in agent satisfaction and productivity. Other benefits include an increase in disaster recovery preparedness as agents are familiar with remote access to contact centre systems and a general ‘green’ advantage from the elimination of agent commuting.

Advances in technology have also helped to overcome obstacles of security, management and  quality assurance. Real-time reporting and monitoring is a live link to every agent regardless of location so you don’t need to stand over their shoulder to know they are at their desk and not at Drik Drik. The same technology that delivers the VoIP voice call and customer data in the contact centre works equally well to the agent at home. Coaching and recording tools also operate irrespective of agent location.

Instant messaging, desktop video conferencing and intranet chat forums also help to develop camaraderie and team-building across office-based and home-based agents. Additionally, contact centre technology that is easy to use with minimal training and setup eases the need for remote IT support and helps to quickly build agent confidence.

Widespread obstacles

So if you can save up to 30 percent on normal agent costs, technology can overcome traditional obstacles, agent attrition can be reduced and previously unavailable skilled personnel integrated into the call centre - why are only 15 percent definitely pursuing it?

Internal challenges mostly. Many of the best agents are gregarious people who thrive in the hustle of a call centre environment and under-perform without that stimulus. Managers accustomed to in-person interactions and relationships find it difficult to manage staff on a remote basis. Likewise upper management may be sceptical of productivity gains though with the current economic climate the cost benefits (particularly if the underlying technology doesn’t require capex) may outweigh their concerns.

Home-based agents is a trend gathering momentum. The numbers of pure home-based call centres is increasing, powered by clever technology and Australia-wide skilled resource availability - Home Based Call Centres led by Matthew Saunders is just such an example.

Home-workers are out there. They want to work for you, and it would be so beneficial for you if they could.  All you need is an internal adjustment and some clever technology to turn you into a home-worker believer.

By Tim Ambler

Tim is the Sales and Marketing Director, Asia Pacific at IPscape and heads up our sales and marketing team including the guys and gals working on market development, communications, public relations and lead generation.

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