A guide to Contact Centre resource planning
When is the right time to use outsourced staff for your communications, and what are the main options? In this blog we look at the different types of Contact Centre support available from Elovate.
‘Shared’ Resource
This refers to a team that will carry out multiple tasks for a number of different companies and charities. The shared team will often manage smaller number of communications coming in from clients throughout that week. The team will be trained across multiple clients and agreed Service Levels will often be less than dedicated teams.
Shared resource can be a great way to expand your communication options. It gives your customers or supporters the means to contact your organisation when it suits them, without the need for significant capital investment from you. This can give greater insight into the level of support you may need and allows a business case to be created based on evidence from the data gathered by using shared voice or alternative communications.
‘Dedicated’ Resource
A dedicated resource is where highly trained team members focus on exclusively servicing your account across multiple interactions. Often seen as an extension to in-house team members, they will work closely with an organisation to ensure seamless communication and service flow.
Dedicated resource teams are better suited for high volume or complex communication requirements where at least two agents are needed to oversee tasks. The total number of agents will depend on volume, service levels and type of activities to be completed.
‘Hybrid’ – a flexible solution
It is not uncommon to use both sets of resource teams, for example, investing in dedicated at peak times, and utilising shared service for overflow or for those time periods when communications may be less in volume.
Implementing a hybrid solution and aligning a training programme for dedicated resourcing can also help you have more staff “ready to go” if unforeseen circumstances arise. This helps ensure continuity of service for your communications and allows the continual improvement of your customer/supporter experience.
“Flexibility is key when looking at a Contact Centre solution and partnership working to expand and develop any communications programme is key to success. People still love to interact with a human and, while we are seeing AI come into our webchats, voice
calls remain the main driver of communications, regardless of what level of resource our clients choose.” Scott Gray – Marketing & Service Director
Time to explore your options?
If you’re looking for support to answer your calls, emails or webchats or, have any times where you are unable to deliver the service you would like, now may be the best time to explore the various options that Elovate can provide for you to continue providing an excellent customer experience.
