Physical security information management is one of the most important developments in the history of public safety technology. PSIM is a type of software that integrates multiple security applications and devices and runs them through a single, all-encompassing interface.
Why is this so groundbreaking? Because PSIM can collect and sort data from different, unconnected security systems.
Security personnel who monitor the system can then use that data to make proactive, fast, and well-informed decisions in potentially dangerous situations. In terms of reduced cost, increased personnel empowerment, and efficiency, PSIM represents a dramatic step forward for the security industry.
Physical security information management first came to national notice in 2006. The theory behind it was simply that all of the information being transmitted by security systems around the world could simply be regarded as data, and that once that data is properly combine and analyzed, it can be used to make better, more informed decisions. Simply put, the core of PISM is the idea of taking the data-management practices of business and applying them to the practices of security.
A truly comprehensive PSIM software system focuses on six key factors:
Data Collection
Independent software gathers data from separate security devices and systems.
Analysis
The system analyzes and correlates the data, events, and alarms, to identify the real situations and their priority.
Verification
PSIM software presents the most important information about a given situation in a fast and easily understood format in order for an operator to quickly grasp the situation and verify the pertinent details.
Resolution
The system provides the accepted operating procedures and detailed instructions on how to proceed based on the organization’s current policies. It also lists the proper tools to resolve the situation.
Reporting
The PSIM software keeps close track of all the data and the necessary steps in terms of compliance, training and, if needed, further investigation.
Audit trail
The PSIM monitors how operators interact with the system, tracking any manual changes to the security systems and calculating potential reaction times for each event.
There are some exciting areas of PSIM innovation that seem to be producing new and exciting results every day.
Here are some areas of rapid development within PSIM.
IT security integration
New technology is allowing PSIM software to incorporate a company’s existing IT system, working with their needs and requirements for compliance.
This gives users the ability to move past situational awareness and physical security to quickly detect threats, which then allows them to deploy real-time responses more organically.
Without that integration, the systems involved in PSIM are still working independently, which can make responses slower and far less effective. There should be strong connections between physical and IT security so that the systems work in concert to reduce risk, both to the organizations and the people they protect. That’s why there’s
Mobile accessibility
Real-time management of a dangerous situation is one of the most crucial elements of security. A well-functioning PSIM system should be able to enhance security for assets, no matter how widely dispersed they are, which is why mobile accessibility is becoming more and more widespread.
First responders, supervisors, and IT staffers must be able to access important information from anywhere via their mobile devices to enhance their awareness of a potentially dangerous situation.
Real-time data correlation
If you‘re wonder what data has to do with security, remember the comparison we made above about how PISM applies data-management principles to security?
So essentially, data is involved in just about every aspect of finding and addressing specific threats. PISM uses all manner of security data to single out potential risks, and apply the company’s needs and the standards for compliance. PSIM doesn’t generate data, it filters it, finding the most important bits of information and identifying potential threats before they happen.
To learn more about how physical security information management systems are being used to keep people safer, read “How Cities are Using Physical Security Information Management and Situational Awareness Technology.”
One of the best things that any business can do is be on the lookout for new innovations that can help it be more successful and efficient. Even if a business is working at peak performance, that doesn’t mean they can afford to stop looking for ways to make things run more smoothly.
That’s especially true in IT support, where keeping up with new developments is a must. In an IT call center support situation, that can often mean bringing in new software to keep things up to date within the center.
Though a manager might be reluctant to bring in new software if the current system is running smoothly, there can be important benefits to upgrading your technology now rather than waiting. Here are some key benefits that might be available to your call center with an increased investment in better software.
Better perception
It might sound odd, but making improvements in your call center technology can help to improve its perception, both from inside the company and outside. The more willing a center is to stay current on technology, the better equipped they’ll be to deal with whatever IT issues a client base is having.
That willingness to improve will reflect well on your call center, even from within. Your employees might be impressed by how far you’re willing to go to stay at the top of your game.
More reliable metrics
The better your call center software is, the more easily your managers can make vital decisions about where the center’s resources are being directed, and how to make changes that will keep things running smoothly.
Analytics can create a virtual mountain of data for your supervisors to dig through. The better your software is, the easier it will be for them to do so quickly and efficiently. And the more they can figure out what the numbers really mean, the more tools you have to make improvements.
Increased productivity
Once your employees have a better way to record and document information about each call they take, they’ll be better able to address any IT issues that their callers might have. With the improvements that have come along in call center software over the last few years, it’s easier than ever for various departments to send and receive information about a client’s IT issues, making it much more likely that the problem can be solved more quickly.
In other words, the more information you have about a client’s issue, the better, and there are new innovations in call center software all the time; why not make sure you’re as up-to-date as possible?
Better equipped employees
The more tools you have for your employees to use, the more likely they are to improve within their positions, forming a key part of a successful organization. Newer, more flexible and adaptable software can empower an IT support employee to solve problems on their own, or collaborate with other members of your company to come up with solutions.
Either way, these employees will become more skilled when they can work with better technology.
Improved customer service
Of course, the point of all of this is to provide better service to your clients, whether they’re within a company or are out there in the marketplace. That’s what call center software is designed to do. Yes, it can break down your analytics more succinctly, and yes it can help make your employees more able to solve problems and become more skilled and empowered, but the ultimate goal is a happier, more satisfied customer base.
That’s an advantage that improved software can provide any call center, and it’s one that’s within your grasp. If all the other reasons for software upgrades don’t ring true for you, this one absolutely should: If you have a chance to provide your clients with better service, why wouldn’t you take advantage of that opportunity? Why not do so before your competition does?
To learn more about improving your customer service, read our post “How Emotional Intelligence Training Can Improve Your Call Center’s Customer Service.”
Managing a busy call center can be an incredibly challenging job, and it often might seem like, with all of the non-stop changes and innovations coming to the industry, it’s impossible to find the right guide for a manager who needs some tips or just a little help.
But as it turns out, there’s a healthy market of call center-related books for a manager or supervisor to choose from, and even the ones that might have been published before the recent trend towards automation might have something to offer.
Here’s a list of books that every call center manager can benefit from.
The Call Center Handbook: The Complete Guide to Starting, Running and Improving Your Call Center (5th Edition), by Keith Dawson.
Dawson’s seminal book was published back in 1996, but if you’re a new call center manager or an experienced member of the industry, it’s indispensable. It takes a basic but helpful approach, talking about important strategies for creating a successful call center, keep the everyday operations of the call center as efficient as it can be and focusing on key chances to improve performance in various areas.
In other words, it might be older than most of the other books on this list, but it might also be the best one for any call center manager to read.
As a manager, you know better than anyone that a satisfied employee is a productive one. And yet, employee satisfaction is an oft-overlooked factor when it comes to creating a successful call center. This book was created to help you remedy that; the authors have made a helpful guide aimed at keeping your workers happy and making them as productive as a possible.
As we alluded to with the previous entry, your employees are the most important ingredient for success. And that success begins in the training process. Any good manager should know how to recruit and prepare the best workforce possible, which leads to less turnover and more production goals being met.
Call Center Recruiting And New-Hire Training brings these different processes into focus, helping you to establish a plan to bring in the best people, prepare them as completely as possible and reward them for their successes.
Perhaps one of the best ways to ensure a successful and efficient call center is to create a culture within the company that promotes both. This book discusses how best to speak to employees and relate to them in a way that reinforces a culture of success.
It covered everything from real-life examples to developing the best performance skills, with a focus on ethics that some guides often ignore.
One of the more recently-published books on this list, this book makes the case that keeping an eye on the numbers is the best way to ensure a successful call center. Kerzner’s book looks at everything from from Net Promoter Scores to Service Level targets, and argues that metrics and KPIs are probably among the best tools at your disposal when it comes to improving performance.
But rather than simply stating its case, the book also gives you advice on how to look at the numbers, giving you a deeper understanding of what they mean. Statistics aren’t as exciting as strategies to make employees happier, but in an increasingly results-driven marketplace, they could be the most important thing to focus on.
The general public doesn’t often think of contact center work as particularly stressful.
However, customer service can be an extremely stressful profession. Contact center employees have to deal with any number of possible stressors, from angry customers, to ineffective training, to staying on top of new policies or procedures that may have just been put into place.
Add to that the focus on meeting quotas and ever-evolving technology and training, and it’s easy to see why your employees might need to blow off some steam. But how can you relieve your employees’ tension while making sure they remain focused on their work?
Here are a few tips for helping your contact center workers deal with on-the-job stress.
Effective evaluation
Feedback and conversation are essential for the health of any staff, but in a contact center situation, they might be even more vital.
Talk to your employees to gauge the stress-level among them. Take a look around the center to see if you can pick up any signs of what might be causing frustration or burnout among the employees.
The first step in solving any problem is understanding it, and speaking to or observing your workers can help create that understanding. And speaking of understanding…
Figure out where the stress is coming from
Are there confusing policies or procedures that are causing headaches for your staff? Are they spread too thin? Is there an issue with the workspace itself or with specific employees towards each other? Is your schedule too taxing, or are your quotas unrealistic?
Often, the biggest cause of stress can cause more stress in other areas. Figuring out what your main problems are and creating a plan to fix, or at least modify, those factors depends on diagnosing the problem correctly.
Making your plan
A plan, even in a rough draft form, is a concrete way to begin relieving stress on your employees. Even if it takes revision or time to implement, the fact that you’re attempting to make changes will likely resonate strongly with the people working for you.
Goals and expectations
Do you have specific outcomes in mind for the various phases of your stress-relief plan? The more a workforce knows about where you’re headed, the more comfortable they will be with the process.
Are you looking at less turnover or higher job satisfaction? They aren’t always the same thing; burnout is a lot more severe than irritation, so make sure your goals are related to your most severe employee-stress problems.
Encourage support and social interaction
What can you do outside of the call center to foster a friendlier atmosphere inside of it? Do you need more employee events, or holiday parties, or a less formal feel around the workplace?
As we mentioned before, you’re not always going to be able to eliminate the most stressful parts of an employee’s job, so it might benefit you to look at increasing morale in different ways. It’s not just about a great incentive plan; it’s about creating an atmosphere that makes people want to come to work every day.
Planning fun events or social gatherings outside the office might be good way to do that.
It’s important to remember that despite the increasing role of workforce optimization technology, your employees are still the most important factor in your call center’s success. The happier they are, the longer you’ll be able to keep them around, and that will make your center running efficiently.
Public safety is an ever-changing subject with so many different iterations that it’s hard to keep up. It’s important that all of these different elements work in concert with one another, so we offer a range of topics that stand alone but are interconnected at the same time.
But we’re by no means the only place to go for blogs that educate and inform those in public safety about new developments in the field.
There are other sites out there that provide excellent blogs on various public safety topics, and we’ve created a list of the some of the ones we think are the best below. Happy reading!
Police - The Law Enforcement Magazine
If you’re a police officer, particularly one who heads a department, this is one of the best resources available. Policemag.com is one of the most regularly-updated blogs around, and the topics cover just about anything you can think of.
You’ll find entries on new technology, diversity, new weapons, patrol tips, SWAT team-related innovations, potential career paths, general training and developments in police vehicles.
There’s also a “Breaking News” section, a list of public-safety podcasts and photo galleries of various police forces around the country. It’s a must-read for anyone in the law-enforcement community.
Chicago Communications
Despite their regional focus, ChiComm consistently posts highly relevant blogs for all of us in the business, covering everything from new communication products, to the latest cutting-edge equipment, to adapting your agency to those fresh innovations while remaining effective and efficient. They even have a large selection of eBooks for catching up on relevant topics and training.
LexisNexis Public Safety Briefing Room
For decader, LexisNexis has been one of the most trusted sources of legal and journalistic documents, keeping an unmatched database of public records and information.
Their Public Safety Briefing Room provides a similar treasure trove of resources that will aid public safety workers in keeping current on industry trends, new policies and practices and analysis that can help the decision-making process for agencies all over the country.
In addition to data-heavy blogs written by members of their staff, LexisNexis also offer material from current and retired public safety professionals. In terms of sheer volume and breadth of material, their blogs are hard to beat.
Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) Blogs
One of the best and most direct blog sites available to public safety workers, the APCO blogs, available on PS Connect, tell it like it is in no uncertain terms, and the largely concern themselves with the day-to-day issues and solutions of running an agency responsible for protecting the public.
Topics include workplace-centric missives on stopping “workplace drama” and interviews with various high-ranking officials, along with posts and solution-heavy essays from the officials and executives in the public safety field.
Some of these posts are even offered as audio tracks, an innovation that many sites don’t offer.
This Just In: The Blog of the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council
Another of the most often-updated blog sites on the net, these blogs often focus primarily on FirstNet and their efforts towards interconnected operations all over the country.
They also have one of the most impressive blog archives in the industry, with entries available as far back as April of 2013. This extensive history allows the reader to view different trends and developments in technology and equipment as they occurred.
These are just a few of the resources available on the Internet for a public safety agency or individual employees, and they all offer different advantages and opportunities for further education and training. They should all be taken advantage of by those in the business of protecting the public.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are a great way to focus your contact center on improvement by using the data that you generate every day. The idea is that you use several KPIs to measure different parts of your performance—call time, agent turnover rate, or first contact resolution, for example. By monitoring and measuring these KPIs, you can see exactly where you need to improve, and chart a course to do so.
But how do you know which KPIs to focus on? The problem is that if you spread yourself too thin when it comes to KPIs—if you’re evaluating too many at once—then you’re not going to see much change in any of them. Deciding that you’re going to measure and aim to improve every aspect of your contact center at once isn’t realistic, but how do you know which KPIs
will be most useful for your contact center?
The answer to this question really involves knowing your contact center well, and having a firm view of where you want to improve things. Let’s say your contact center is being overwhelmed by calls, and you want to not only reduce the amount of time that your agents spend on the phone, but you also want to reduce the number of calls entirely. In this case, you could focus on KPIs like average time on hold and percentage of calls blocked when there isn’t an agent available. But you could also monitor the nature of the event that led to the call, or the web page that was visited directly before the call. With those KPIs, you can get a better sense of why customers give up on solving the issue themselves and instead make a call. You could potentially find a flaw in your FAQ or Help pages, as well.
If your goal is to improve the service that your agents are giving customers, then you may want to focus on KPIs like abandoned calls, call resolution, customer satisfaction, and the amount of time spent speaking with customers. Once you begin measuring your agents’ performance in these metrics, you may come to a better understanding of what causes problems with customer service. You’ll also be able to see whether certain agents are causing a problem, or whether the entire process that you have set up is actually the issue.
You could also focus on your agent turnover rate, as constantly retraining new agents is both costly and inefficient. Keeping track of trends in the reasons for agent turnover will help you acknowledge if there is something that management can do to lower the turnover rate.
Deciding what KPIs to use can be a tricky choice, but it really comes down to a decision about where you want to improve your call center. The decision to measure a specific metric is the first step towards improving it. If you’d like to learn more about KPIs that your contact center might want to use, then read our article, “The Contact Center KPIs That You Should be Tracking.”
Think for a moment about how important it is to see the person you’re talking to in order to understand what they’re trying to say. The look on their face or their body language can clue you into what they really mean, even if their words are telling you something different.
Now imagine sitting at a desk and listening to someone’s voice. What tools do you have to judge their emotional state other than their words and their tone of voice?
Understanding customers is a vital part of a successful call center, and sometimes it takes a little extra training to make sure an agent is able to gain that understanding.
That’s where Emotional Intelligence comes in. The textbook definition of Emotional Intelligence, or EI, is this: “The ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others.”
And it’s immediately obvious why a concept like that could be vital to the success of a call center agent. The more you know about how to read or perceive a customer’s emotions, the better you’re going to be able to provide great customer service, thus satisfying the caller and the company your call center works for.
Good customer service at a call center is not just about dealing with calls in a timely manner and keeping up with documentation of the calls. It’s about making sure the customer’s issue was resolved. And to do that, an agent must consider the customer’s emotional state when speaking with them.
One of the typical first steps in EI training is to have agents think not about the customer’s voice, but how they themselves sound during a call. Does the agent have a harsh or ambivalent tone? Do they sound unsympathetic? That could be a turn-off immediately for anyone calling in with an issue.
Oftentimes in EI training, the next step is to have the employee go through some call simulations to examine their reactions, or even to speak into a mirror and take note of their tone, expression and body language. Keeping these things in mind when speaking with a customer can help the agent seem more sympathetic and lead to a greater level of understanding for the caller.
Another important part of EI training is teaching agents how to deal with stress or irritation without passing those emotions on to the caller. By talking about the science of what causes these reactions in the brain, agents can learn to better control them.
Once the science is a little clearer, EI trainers can move into strategies to respond to pressure, stress, tension and anxiety. By molding these strategies to an individual agent, a trainer can make certain that the goal of remaining calm, attentive and professional is within reach for every employee, regardless of the amount of experience they have at a call center.
EI also focuses on identifying patterns within an agent’s behavior than can either be nurtured for more effective performance or curbed before they cause a problem. The more ingrained the positive patterns become, the less likely an agent is to forget or disregard them.
The next step in the training process is all about judgment, and how to suspend it when speaking with a customer. Eliminating any sort of preexisting ideas about a caller or their situation is an excellent way for an agent to put themselves in the caller’s shoes, and that’s the point that a helpful dialogue between customer and agent can begin.
Once an agent has become skilled at reading and managing their own emotions, and doing so with their callers, it’s often a logical progression for them to begin coaching others in the call center on how to do so. This way, EI training can become a continuous cycle, with trained agents instructing others on how to step outside of their own experiences and patterns and learn to be more receptive and understanding to their callers.
