73% of call centres see benefits of using homeworkers

New research shows that 73% of contact centres who did not use homeworkers believe that it would bring greater flexibility to add new agents and open for longer hours.

The research, taken from the UK Contact Centre Decision Makers Guide (9th edition, 2011) published by ContactBabel and sponsored by Enghouse Interactive is part of a major report focusing on the performance, operations, technology and HR aspects of 208 UK contact operations across all sectors and size bands.

The study also showed that 18% (up 15% on 2010) of this year’s respondents use homeworkers, with 92% agreeing that the flexibility was an advantage. Stated benefits included increased agent productivity, decreased staff turnover and claimed cost savings of 20%.

Iain McKenzie, President, Enghouse Interactive EMEA, comments “Remote homeworking is becoming a real option for an industry that faces difficulty with recruitment and the pressure of 24/7 opening hours.  Cloud-based solutions are perfect for supporting homeworkers, enabling organisations to benefit from a pool of agents that can be ramped up quickly in the event of one or more facilities going down, seasonal trends or extreme weather conditions.”

A full version of the ContactBabel Decision Makers Guide (9th edition, 2011) is available to download.