Answer the call with a virtual call center

A virtual call center is a customer service call center where agents answering support calls aren’t in a single location. They are in various locations— either people working from home or different offices, but are connected via virtual call center software. Virtual call centers are for companies providing support to customers in various time zones and are looking to reduce the overhead costs of a central office.

Zendesk is a virtual call center solution embedded in the Zendesk support ticketing system, allowing service teams to provide more personal, productive phone support within an omnichannel customer journey. As a voice over internet (VoIP) technology, Zendesk is quick to configure, and management is simple. Because it is cloud-based, agents can use Zendesk anywhere in the world -- they just need a good internet connection and headphones.

Using call centers to provide phone support, both outbound and inbound, isn’t new. However, there’s always been issues associated with this approach which can be integrated with a virtual contact center:

• Inconvenient business hours. Many businesses have customers all over the world, but many don’t have offices in every place. The result is limited business hours in any given location of the local call center. If customers are unable to reach your businesses, it’s harder for them to get support.
• Employee turnover. It’s important to give the employees on the phone some flexibility. Giving your agents the options to work from home on occasion can increase retention. This will prevent agent burn out, happy agents, and reduce the cost of hiring and training new employees.

Managing a virtual call center can be hard, but here are some tips to help manage a virtual contact center:

• Foster communication: Managers need to communicate with their team as much as possible, lead by example and keep everyone in the loop. Continue to support your remote employees by checking in and ensure they’re connected with everyone on the team.
• Improve visibility: Focus on the performance of your employees, look for opportunities to coach and fill the gaps in training—so your virtual team runs like a dream team machine. Support your team by fostering a relationship with other departments like sales and marketing
• Build a relationship: Keep your team connected by bringing them in for a customer care in-office retreat with opportunities for shadowing, team building, lunches or dinner, meet and greets, or happy hours.
• Make it fun: Reward and acknowledge your team. Celebrate the employees going above and beyond with a little gift card or any token to show your appreciation for their hard work.
• Choose the right tools: No matter what industry you’re working in, consider tools that will help your team work better together—such as tablets, headphones, phone upgrades, messaging tools, and video conferencing.