The virtual call centre is about to celebrate its 12th year in operation, over those years it was found that a home based operator was able to do the simple tasks that a company needed, taking the telephone calls for companies in busy times, lunch times, after hours, and in periods when extra cover is needed.
The call centre has grown, developed and matured but now as it moves into the future the home based operators are now taking on even more tasks. The general model has been implemented by so many separate companies that the development has been a natural one, progressing organically as companies decide which are the best ways forward for them.
Using a home based agent may be that way forward if you are looking for a more rewarding and profitable way for your company.
They are able to be there for the entire customer cycle; they offer a wealth of experience in customer services, are highly educated and even have bilingual communications a necessity in today’s world.
When the home based agents were originally introduced their basic function was a simple one which included tasks like supplying central information and possibly taking retail orders or bookings by telephone by a business telephone answering service.
The basic skills required by the operators were having an expert and professional manner over the phone and it worked well with most people having their calls answered.
As it worked so well, the home-based model of the virtual call centres became the perfect solution for companies searching for an answer to the problem of covering staff sickness, holiday cover, overflow of calls or simply providing additional coverage in the periods of high volumes.
The very idea of the virtual call centre removed all the geographical boundaries where once there were hiring issues concerned.
However, this in itself has brought its own small issue in as much as the call centre operators employed have to meet very specific criteria, like having a desired level of education, possess a certain amount of market experience and perhaps even support bilingual communications.
