Outbound Call Center Featured Article

Cloud Based Call Centers Just as Safe as Brick and Mortar Operations

By Susan J. Campbell
TMCnet Contributing Editor

When you ask people what their major barrier to virtual software adoption is, many of them will say “control”. The psychology of not being able to “see” the product you’re paying for cannot be understated. But even when virtual software has been proven as effective as appliance based products, people still maintain some level of reservation leading up to a switch over. This is perfectly illustrated by call center managers who are reticent to use at home agents because they cannot physically monitor them. But even though you can’t see you’re agents, do you really have to be worry about the information they have access to?

This was the question asked in a recent Convergys (News - Alert) piece, forcing the reader to take a closer look at what are actually risks in the virtual contact center environment, and what myths circulating throughout the industry have no actual basis. According to Convergys, your data is just as safe with your at-home agent as it is with agents within the contact center.  

The biggest challenge to believing this statement is the common misperceptions about the ability to monitor at-home agents during their work hours. While virtual contact center management may not be able to physically see the at-home agent, he or she can take advantage of the advancements made in call center technology applications, as well as the stringent network capabilities that now exist, to easily monitor anything about the hosted contact center agent this wish. 

In the hosted contact center environment, all agent activity is measured very closely. With the Automated Call Distribution (ACD) and integrated scheduling and monitoring systems, at-home agents can be easily monitored as their activity is captured in great detail. Most virtual contact center providers have these tools built into their software suites. simplCT’s simplyWise software for example, which gives supervisors insight regardless of the agent location.

Well-run at-home agent programs often use key data security components to manage the desktop appropriately. Accessing client systems and hosted contact center portals can only be done with locked down desktops that are connected through a Virtual Private Network, encrypting all information as it traverses the Internet. If VoIP is in place, greater control is in the hands of the hosted contact center when it comes to managing the calls.

The at-home agent program within the virtual contact center can be easily designed to meet the specific needs of the client, including the deployment of a Thin Client or the use of a desktop as the Thin Client. No wireless connections to ensure added security, and virus protection is put in place to ensure home agents cannot introduce malicious content or activity onto the corporate network.

Monitoring eliminates the need to directly view what your agents are doing, and with the wealth of information most suites offer, managers will be far from flying blind.