COVID-19 to Transform the Contact Centres!

Posted by Prachi Priya

The coronavirus outbreak has disrupted many industries and contact centres are among the most affected businesses due to the pandemic. BPO companies provide support to the clients’ company to perform the business secondary functions efficiently. However, due to the pandemic, the BPO industry has faced a huge loss. The reason behind this is the in-efficiency of the contact centres to perform functions remotely!

Several families around the world lost their near and dear ones due to the pandemic. With the Coronavirus threat spreading rapidly all around the world, countries were compelled to go under lockdown that has affected the business sector a lot.

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The-outbreak-has-caused-economic-chaos-and-uncertainty

Source- Wordstream

However, how about making businesses immune to the pandemic?

Well, yes, when we talk about contact centres, their functions are not ready to meet situations like this pandemic, which is why the threat to their development has raised a lot. However, contact centres can be immune to natural these! How?

Well, some essential steps can help safeguard the contact centres at this time of crisis.

Talking of numbers, there are 6000 outsourcing companies in UK alone, which staffs 2,25,000 employees. Contact Label also states that contact centres employee 4% of the UK population, so a detrimental effect on the industry can un-employee thousands of people making it a situation of crisis.

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Source - Statista

In such a condition of a pandemic, it is vital for contact centres to work remotely. To safeguard the business in such time and keep working for the clients the same as before, contact centres need to emphasize on the following:

Taking remote working seriously.
Emphasizing on the importance of system flexibility.
Informing the customers and keeping them up-to-date through all social channels.
Focusing on efficient planning and thereby the execution of the same.

Acknowledging the same, Martin Taylor, deputy CEO of Content Guru says, “More and more contact centres are likely to be faced with employees needing to work remotely in the coming weeks and months, so having the foundations for true flexible working capabilities will likely prove to be essential to remain competitive, or perhaps even operational,”

At such tough times, the main challenge that contact centres deal with is a hindrance in performing the same seamless business service as before. The same instant query resolution for the customers is hindered at such times when the agents are unable to be present physically at the destined location.

However, this highlights that businesses need to be ready for any kind of threat, which is why a radical shift in business functions is necessary.

Here we bring the changes obligatory for the Contact Centre Industry to survive all cases of the Pandemic, check out:

Switching to Cloud-Based Solutions

In the times of Corona cloud-based contact centres can excel brilliantly. Even outsourcing companies today look for a BPO partner having cloud solutions as they do not want their business to stop call support services at times of a natural disaster or a pandemic situation.

The companies that have outsourced to a cloud-based contact centre are functioning properly even today, so isn’t it important to turn all contact centres into cloud-based solutions?

Well, yes!

A cloud-based contact centre does not require the agent to be physically present at a certain location to handle the business processes. With the help of the cloud, contact centre agents can access the business data protected through passwords over an internet platform easily.

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Several contact centres in UK even today operate over on-premise services, which is why it is crucial to change the same to cloud-based contact centres. We feel that in the present crisis scenario where contact centres are facing several challenges, the next generation contact centres firms will surely be cloud-based.

After all, every business wants boosted workflow in every situation.

Remote contact centres

Management plays a crucial role in every business’s success, and so it is for BPO companies. The technologies have revolutionized today and there are various methods through which remote access for contact centres can be easily managed.

Trust plays a crucial role when it comes to remote working. Well, it is the supervisor’s enthusiasm and relationship with the employees that can get across the same. If the supervisor allots a designated task and tracks whether it is done on-time along with maintaining a healthy relationship with the staff, trust issues can be handled much.

biggest-benefit-you-see-to-working-remotely

Source- business2community

In times of a natural calamity or a pandemic, companies have no choice rather go for remote working. Thus employees need to be trained and technologically efficient for the same. You have to be ready at any time.

Supervisors should also remember to help the agents in real-time for which they need to have a technology to track the work performance for better results.

Flexibility in Systems

Flexibility in the system has become obligatory today. Even if things are smooth, there has to be a ‘Plan-B’ that takes care of services to be handled efficiently for worse scenarios.

Cloud-based contact centres help in maintaining flexibility in services a lot. Moreover, with the help of cloud-based contact centres, you can keep your customers informed always.

Imagine outsourcing companies in UK working for an international client. At times of a pandemic, it becomes hard to communicate and maintain services the same as before. Since coordination becomes hard, thus it is vital to be prepared with all communication systems to make sure that all touchpoints are informed.

It is important to boost suitable communication systems within the business so that the customers and staff are communicated correctly and on-time. After all correct communication is the key to boosted results.

Any pandemic or natural disaster impacts the way a business functions and brings some probable changes forever. The same scenario is in BPO companies, which has emphasized the use of cloud-based systems forever! Since cloud-based systems have various perquisites to offer like, availability of a team with an internet connection, the safety of data over the cloud with passwords, tracking systems available, etc. thus cloud integration is necessary.

What more can help businesses augment their services have been listed by several governments. Here is the UK’s government take on the same:

Government officials have stated that businesses registered for VAT will be allowed to pay sales tax at the end of every quarter. This step aims to boost cash flow.
The government has also said that employees can take leaves and on the contrary they would get 80 percent of their salary reimbursed.

Wrapping Up:

The COVID-19 pandemic is like an obligation for people compelling them to stay back at their homes. With many IT companies opting to work from home (WFH) in such situations, contact centres can do the same from their end.

It is vital to be prepared rather than regretting over business downfall later. This is the reason companies need to come forward and plan their re-launch amazingly. After COVID-19, companies need to build themselves up in a way that any natural calamity cannot make them stand still deteriorating the business brand image.

Many organizations will be working on various dimensions to boosting their services after the pandemic ends, nevertheless, it is crucial to broaden the perspectives at times of uncertainty so that the next time, the results are not a nightmare.

Use the opportunity to plan and give your business a comprehensive plan to act amazingly at times of a crisis.

Thanks for reading!

Tags: Transform the Contact Centres BPO Companies Call Centre Outsourcing COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic