Only a few years ago, studies showed that while many contact centers were interested in moving their operations into the cloud, a significant number felt that there were still significant obstacles. Security concerns, questions about integration with existing systems, and concerns about a loss of investment in current on-premise systems were all reasons that organizations cited for being reluctant about making the switch to cloud services.
Today, those concerns are rapidly shrinking. Contact center solution vendors have been increasing and improving their cloud offerings, focusing strongly on those issues that contact center managers have felt to be barriers to adoption.
The result has been an increase in the number of contact centers recognizing the advantages of cloud-based services, for both customer service and operations. Here are some of the reasons that contact centers are moving into the cloud.
One of the biggest advantages of using cloud-based services as opposed to on-premise systems is startup cost. Instead of purchasing hardware and software, organizations can simply purchase subscriptions. This means there’s no initial capital investment, as there is with an on-premise system.
In addition, cloud services can be canceled without losing much of your investment - other than the time you spent training employees on the system.
According to Fortune magazine, the technology that many contact centers rely on is growing old - about eight to 10 years old, to be precise. This means that many centers are at a point when they need to decide whether to upgrade their systems, or purchase new ones. Executives are faced, therefore, with the complexity and cost of upgrading an on-premise system, both of which can be significant.
Since cloud services don’t require hardware updates, many executives are seeing them as a better option.
One reason that many contact centers wait as long as possible to upgrade old technology - in addition to the capital investment - is that executives don’t want to risk the lengthy downtime that can arise when installing new on-premise systems.
This can be managed well if you have a reliable vendor, but there’s no denying that cloud services can be deployed much faster. Whereas on-premise systems can take a few weeks to a few months to be ready, cloud services can be ready to use in as little as a few days.
With so many contact centers now using remote agents for a percentage of their workforce, cloud services are becoming a necessity. With cloud operations, agents can access all the information and services they need through their own computer, with nothing but a simple login.
As using remote and at-home agents allows contact centers to access wider pools of talent, as well as offer more competitive jobs, there’s every reason to believe that the growth of these types of positions will only grow.
With so many high-profile data security breaches - Target, Yahoo, the Democratic National Committee, and more - in recent years, contact center executives have justifiable concerns about whether their organization’s security would be more at risk by migrating to the cloud.
Cybersecurity is always an issue, and as more organizations move into the cloud, more security breaches will occur. This is simply because there will be more data available, not because the cloud is inherently less secure.
Cloud service providers are consistently improving security and responding to threats as they emerge, but there’s another option for contact centers that have concerns. Many of these organizations are choosing a hybrid model, which allows stored data to be shared between on-premise servers and the cloud. This can alleviate some of the anxiety that IT professionals and executives may have when choosing whether to migrate to the cloud.
In the end, contact centers must choose the solution that’s right for them, be that cloud, on-premise, or a hybrid of the two. If you’re considering changing your data systems, contact us at KOVA - we work closely with contact centers to create custom workforce management and workforce optimization solutions that fit their needs.
Any contact center manager today knows that analytics are key when it comes to monitoring your agents’ performance.
Thanks to the benefits of technology, data is everywhere - and if you have the right contact center software solutions, it’s easy to collect. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) like call abandonment rate, first call resolution, and others can be easily viewed with a simple click of a button.
However, it’s not the monitoring that will lead you to improved results and better service. It’s what you do with those KPIs that will have a real effect on the way your contact center operates. Alone, KPIs are just numbers - but if you can interpret those numbers in a wider context, you can figure out how to achieve the positive results you’re looking for.
If you’re going to gain actionable insight from your KPIs, you need to make sure you’re monitoring the right ones.
You’re probably already monitoring some of the basic contact center KPIs like average handle time and average speed of answer. These are important ones for every call center manager to keep an eye on.
But there are others that you can choose to monitor based on the issues you’re trying to address. Is agent absenteeism a problem? That’s a KPI you should be watching.
Are you noticing your agents taking longer to answer calls? You may want to start tracking Average After Call Work Time, which is the length of time it takes an agent to finish recording information, updating databases, and performing any other necessary tasks after hanging up the phone.
Once you’ve started monitoring the right KPIs, you’re on track to improving your customer service.
If one of your KPIs is less than satisfactory - call abandonment rate, for example - it’s time to look more closely at what’s going on.
If lots of customers are hanging up before reaching an agent, there’s a reason. Look at your other KPIs: is agent absenteeism rising? Is agent turnover higher than it used to be? Is the after call work time too long?
Looking at these KPIs can help you decide how to address the problem you’re having. If your After Call Work Time numbers are high, maybe your agents are having to spend too long after calls documenting the information they received. This means that they’re spending less time answering phones, which contributes to a longer hold time, which is most likely why your call abandonment rates are high.
You could do many things to address this problem. You could change the way after call work is performed to make it faster and easier. You could assign after call work to different agents, freeing up others to get right back on the phones. Or perhaps you need to improve your knowledge management so agents have access to the information they need during calls.
To get a good idea of where your contact center stands, compare your numbers to industry benchmarks. This will give you a better perspective on which issues actually need attention. It could be that a number you’re not happy with is fairly standard for contact centers of your type.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to improve it, of course, but it will help you form more realistic expectations.
If you want to get the most out of your KPIs, share them with the rest of your organization. If agents are being asked to improve a certain function, they’ll be more likely to do so if they can track their own progress.
In addition, if they can see how what they do affects the contact center at large, agents will feel more vested in their work. This, in turn, will lead to a more positive workplace and better customer service.
Are you struggling with how to monitor KPIs at your contact center? Read our post “The Contact Center KPIs You Should Be Tracking.”
As we continue to hear about the all-too-frequent shootings that are taking the lives of both police officers and civilians, it can be difficult to imagine a better future. How can we stop these shootings from happening? How can we prevent things like human error, bias, and hatred from affecting the way civilians and police officers interact with each other?
Perhaps, at times, it seems like a hopeless cause. However, there are plenty of people who not only want a future in which police officers and civilians are safer, but are actively working to make it a reality.
Ever since the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, technologists, engineers, and scientists have been working harder than ever on technology to prevent the kind of fatal interactions that have been dominating the news.
So what kind of technology is currently in the works?
Since the shooting deaths of Philando Castile, Alton Brown, and the five Dallas police officers in the summer of 2016, Silicon Valley developers have gotten very interested in how mobile apps might play a part in reducing these lethal confrontations.
One tech investor, Shervin Pishevar, has partnered with the retired New York City Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik to work on an app that would reduce the need for face-to-face interactions between police and civilians.
Although the app is still in its conceptual stages, one idea for how it could work is described in USA Today. When a police officer pulls someone over for a traffic stop, for example, the officer could connect their phone, via the app, to the driver’s smartphone. The app would initiate a FaceTime-like conversation that is recorded in the cloud. This way, both parties could remain in their cars, decreasing the risk of escalation or misunderstanding.
The app would also give the officer background information on the driver - including things like whether there is a warrant out for the person’s arrest, and whether the person has a gun license. This information would help the officer know what to expect and make more informed decisions on how to proceed.
A key feature on this app is a Panic button, which the driver could press at any time if they feel threatened. Then, the app connects both parties to a third-party mediator who would help manage and defuse the situation.
Pishever isn’t the only person hoping to help prevent police shootings with a mobile app. Another young company, Reboot Safety, hosted Hackathons in July with the goal of spurring development of apps with the same goal.
Another idea that is gaining traction among experts is to develop more effective less-than-lethal tools that police officers can use on combative suspects. If a suspect is truly incapacitated, there’s no need to use deadly force - and that’s a goal that everyone, from police officers to protesters, judges to city officials, can agree on.
According to an analysis for CNN by a professor of criminal justice, Adam Lankford, there are several feasible possibilities for less-than-lethal weapons. If Tasers can be improved, they could work well - they just need a better range and more reliability.
Chemical agents are also being considered, though this is a very controversial idea. If a drug or inhalant could be administered that would render a suspect unconscious, lethal force would be totally unnecessary.
Another potential side effect of these effective, less-than-lethal weapons, according to Lankford, is a decrease in mass shootings. Lankford says that many shooters he’s studied count on being killed by police when they commit their crimes - he calls it suicide-by-police. Lankford argues that if a criminal knows that instead of being killed, he would be incapacitated and forced to go to trial, he may not be as willing to commit the crime.
While there’s no way to guarantee an end to fatal confrontations between police and civilians, there is real promise in the idea that technology could make everyone’s lives safer. To read more about ways that public safety technology is improving safety for all, read our post “What’s Next for Public Safety Technology?”
For law enforcement, situational awareness is a vital skill that many police officers work continually to improve. When you’re dealing with potential threats day in and day out, a situational awareness mindset can be key in keeping you and the community members around you safe.
When you combine this mindset with the advanced situational awareness technology that is rapidly becoming available to police forces, police officers can gain a real advantage in dangerous situations.
Situational awareness technology includes a wide range of equipment, software, and hardware.
There are full situational awareness software suites, for example, that unify multiple tools to provide a more complete picture of what’s happening in an organization, town, or city. For example, the Verint Situational Awareness Platform can unify tools including body cameras, facial recognition, panic alarms, GPS tracking, and many more. This allows platform operators to view information gathered by each tool on a single interface, which can then be disseminated to the right agencies.
Then there are things like drones, for example - tools that aren’t specifically created to enhance situational awareness, but which nevertheless have a definite application. Drones equipped with video cameras are now being used by some law enforcement agencies to gather visual intelligence in active shooter situations or other dangerous scenarios.
Another tool is ShotSpotter, an audio sensor that can be placed in areas of high crime that detects gunshots and alerts law enforcement in real time. This allows for a quicker response time, as well as lets officers know the exact location of each gunshot.
The aim of all this technology is to enable police officers and security officials to make better decisions, while also protecting their safety and the safety of any civilians nearby. In fact, entire cities are beginning to jump on the “Smart Cities” bandwagon, implementing tech like smart streetlights, ShotSpotter, and more.
Just like any technology, situational awareness tools can’t do much on their own. In order to create positive results, the tech needs humans - people who can interpret the information that a situational awareness platform provides.
This requires cultivating a situational awareness mindset. This is something law enforcement officers are trained for, but anyone can develop this way of thinking. Security personnel, dispatchers, and emergency workers like fire and EMS can all benefit from practicing situational awareness.
The OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) and Cooper’s Color Code are both tools for situational awareness that law enforcement, soldiers, and first responders are usually trained on. However, there are other small things you can do to enhance your situational awareness as well.
When law enforcement and police officers are practicing a situational awareness mindset, the power of situational awareness technology can be used to its fullest potential. This means safer communities, safer civilians, and safer jobs for our police officers and first responders.
To learn more about how public safety technology can help make communities safer, read our post “The Importance of Public Safety Technology for Public Spaces and Large Organizations.”
This is the second post in our series on proactive customer service. For the first post, Proactive Customer Service for the Contact Center, click here [LINK].
Customer service has undergone a great many changes in the past decade. For one thing, customers are demanding a seamless, omnichannel experience - one that lets them contact you via phone, text, live chat, social media, and email.
They’re also more and more interested in solving problems on their own, forcing companies to make self-service portals an important part of their customer service strategy.
It’s all part of the general movement that forward-thinking companies are making toward proactive customer service, and away from the reactive mode.
Proactive customer service can help you head off customers’ potential problems by taking the initiative to address them before your customer contacts you.
In this model, you’re the one getting in touch first, whether by a personalized email or by offering a comprehensive knowledge base for customers to peruse on your website. The idea behind proactive customer service is that you want to reach customers before their issues become full-blown problems.
This has benefits for you and your employees - fewer support tickets and more loyal customers - as well as for the people who purchase your product or service.
For example, let’s say you sell blenders. Do you get a lot of questions about product longevity from customers in the pre-purchase stage? Do you see your post-purchase customers asking each other for blender recipe tips on your social media profiles?
These are just two examples of questions you could address via your proactive customer service efforts. An answer to the product longevity question could go into your online, customer-accessible knowledge base or FAQ, and you could tweet the information as a “Did You Know?” tidbit for your followers.
If customers are offering each other recipes and cooking tips, maybe you want to consider compiling a recipe book to have available as a free download.
Paying attention to what your customers are asking both you and each other will give you a good place to start.
It makes sense to start your new strategies with one or two pilot projects, so you can gauge interest and pivot quickly if needed.
To use the recipe book example, perhaps you would email 100 of your most recent customers with a link to a simple set of recipes that can be made using your blender. If you got decent click-through and download rates, you could invest more resources and put together a full e-book.
Or maybe you have a notification service you want to start using, so you can notify customers of service appointments the day before they’re scheduled.
You could put together a short survey asking how people feel about the notification service using a system like Enterprise Feedback Management and send it to a random group of customers. Using that feedback, you could decide whether to roll out the notification system, how often notifications should go out, etc.
These opportunities can be both large and small - anything from building an app that lets customers submit and access their service tickets, to giving shout-outs to your customers and followers on your social media channels. As you continue to focus more and more on these customer service methods, your organizational culture will shift more toward proactive service.
Want to read more about implementing 21st century customer service in your contact center? Read our post “3 Companies Offering Amazing Customer Service - and What You Can Learn From Them.”
Police and firefighters get a lot of praise, and rightfully so. They do the work that most of us don’t want to. They save lives and keep us safe every single day. But there’s someone who often gets forgotten in the rush to show our appreciation to first responders. That person is the 911 dispatcher—the reason your call for help made it to the first responder. Without the dispatcher, you might as well just hope that fire goes out on its own. Spoiler—it won’t. Call takers often have to deal with incredibly stressful and chaotic calls, and they’re required to handle them with grace and fortitude. It’s not an easy job, but sometimes they go above and beyond what’s required. Take a look at these true stories of heroic 911 call takers.
It’s true, call takers do this kind of heroic work every day around the country. It doesn’t always make the news, but we should still let them know we appreciate the work they do. At KOVA, our mission is to provide dispatch centers with the software they need to make these stories possible. So contact us today to find out more about how we can help your 911 contact center.
We all have areas of our business we’d like to improve.
Maybe you want your first call resolution rates to go up, so you’re working on building a better knowledge management system for your agents.
Maybe you want to help your agents improve the way they handle customers, so you’re investing time into one-on-one coaching sessions.
And maybe you want to reduce your costs and manage your scheduling better, so you want to invest in a workforce management system.
While organizing your knowledge better and taking the time for one-on-one coaching can be relatively inexpensive (at least in financial terms), implementing new software like a workforce management system presents a major investment. Because of that, you’ll have to build a strong business case for the purchase if you want your colleagues and superiors to get on board with it.
So how do you build that case? How do you convince your boss that workforce management is the right choice for your contact center?
When you start to build your case, the first thing you have to do is document the problems that are occurring that you want to address with a workforce management solution. Go through the issues you deal with on a daily, monthly, or long-term basis and identify which ones this new solution could alleviate.
For example, are your scheduling forecasts frequently inaccurate? Does your call volume often outstrip the number of agents available to handle it? Do you often find yourself unsure of organizational needs at any given time? A workforce management system can help solve each of these problems.
Once you’ve got your list, you’re ready to move on to the next step.
Workforce management has many benefits, but anyone can find a list and rattle it off. Instead of just relying on the generalized benefits to win over your boss, try to develop a list of benefits that pertain specifically to your organization.
For example, maybe your cross-selling numbers have been lower than you’d like. Using workforce management software, you can identify schedule the agents who’ve had the best cross-selling results at optimal times.
The more specific you can be, the better case you’ll build.
Of course, any executive will want to know what the new software you’re pitching will cost the organization.
While you may be tempted to lowball the number, that’s rarely a good idea. You may get sign-off initially, but If the project begins coming in over budget you’ll have an angry boss and harried work environment to deal with. At worst, the project may even be cut off before it’s complete.
Instead, put together a good estimate of how much the workforce management solution will cost. You’ll need to consider the cost of the actual software, plus any consultants who will be needed to set it up and test it. You’ll also need to estimate the costs of training, as well as factor in any time that will be lost during implementation.
If there are any realistic ways that you think your organization could reduce costs along the way, make a note of those as well.
Once you’ve gotten all this information together, it’s time to work it into a coherent presentation. You want to ensure that you present a well-conceived plan, so that it’s clear you’ve put time and thought into this.
Include categories like:
Depending on how formal your presentation needs to be, you may want to practice it a time or two with a colleague. Even if it’s going to be a casual meeting, run through your plan yourself enough so that you know your numbers and can answer general questions without digging through your notes.
If you can do all this, you will have built a strong business case for your workforce management software.
To learn more about how workforce management can help your company, read our posts A Fresh Look at Call Center Workforce Management Parts 1 and 2.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 15 years since 9/11.
As we mourn for the more than 3,000 people who lost their lives on that terrible, tragic day, we want also to remember with heartfelt gratitude the first responders who rushed in to rescue so many survivors and provide emergency medical care that saved lives.
Those first responders, and the thousands of others who work to keep the rest of us safe every single day, are the reason our company is in the business of public safety software. These brave police officers, firefighters, and EMS providers put their lives at risk on the line of duty, so the rest of us can go about our daily lives.
Unfortunately, we’ve had several sad reminders of that this year with the shooting of policemen in Dallas, the loss of firefighters to wildfires out West, and too many others that go largely unnoticed.
We are proud of the small part we play in helping public safety officials and first responders operate more efficiently, more smoothly, and especially more safely. And on this sad anniversary, we want to share a story of how we were privileged to lend our resources to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Sept. 11, 2001.
We all remember where we were on that day. For many of us at KOVA, we were at our headquarters in Little Egg Harbor, a mere hour and a half away from New York City. Like so many across the United States, many of us felt helpless. As an organization, we wanted to help however we could.
When the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) lost its Emergency Operations Center in the attacks, we reached out to our contacts in their engineering department to offer our assistance in any way we could.
The PANYNJ accepted our offer. Their request was for a large capacity recording solution that could accommodate the new temporary Emergency Operations Center that they were creating.
Thanks to our wide network of specialists, we were able to assemble and install the equipment within 20 hours of the request. We also were able to provide training on the new system to PANYNJ employees. KOVA established that the services were free and the solution was on loan for as long as it was needed.
Shortly after, the PANYNJ needed assistance in creating large volumes of copies of recordings from their legacy recorders. These needed to be in digital format for ease of dispersal to investigative entities.
We were eager to help once again, and so we devised a method to transfer audio from their legacy system, convert it into a digital format, and provide a mass copy procedure to facilitate the discovery request.
Three years later, when a permanent PANYNJ Emergency Operations Center was being rebuilt, the organization wanted to buy the solution. Although we informed them that it was an open-ended loan and no payment was necessary, they would not take no for an answer.
So, instead of just issuing an invoice, we provided the organization with a brand new solution, complete with the latest hardware and software technology, and transferred all of their data over. We were also told that KOVA was one of three companies that did not charge the PANYNJ for their services during the Sept. 11 attacks and aftermath.
We share this story not because we want to illustrate our own virtue - we simply did what was right to help our country, just like so many other Americans did on that day and in the months and years afterward.
We share this story because we want our readers and clients to know that we understand just how important our work is to the public safety communities that we serve.
If computer systems go out, it can have major adverse effects on the safety of not just everyday civilians, but of our law enforcement and emergency personnel as well. KOVA is dedicated to making sure public safety organizations have the hardware and software they need to do their jobs as well as possible. We are extremely grateful to be able to work with those who keep our country safe.
Unless you have a friend or family member in uniform, you may not think about the police all that often until you really need them (or get a speeding ticket). That’s unfortunate, because even though you don’t interact with them every day, they’re out on the job all day and night protecting us and staying ready to respond to 911 calls. Police officers don’t always get a lot of appreciation for the dangerous work they do, so take a look at some of the ways you can show them that you appreciate their commitment.
First, you should keep in mind that some departments have strict rules on accepting gratuities in any form, as it could pose a conflict of interest. Not every department has the same policy, so check with your local department before you send any gifts or pay for food.
Pay For A Meal
This also falls under the caveat of needing to check first. Some people anonymously pay for military members and police officers when they see them eating in a restaurant. Whether it’s just a coffee or an entire lunch, this is a great gesture and certainly shows your appreciation.
Say Thank You
This is actually a very underrated option. If you see a police officer around town, simply tell them that you appreciate all the work they do, and thank them for keeping you safe. That’s a small gesture that can make a big difference in an officer’s day. You can also send a thank you note to the station; outlining a few reasons why you value and respect the work they do every day. Even just a friendly wave when a police cruiser drives by is a nice way to show you care.
Make A Donation
If you called and checked with your department and found that they don’t accept any form of gratuities, this is another good option for you. Many departments have scholarships or memorial funds that they run, and a donation is a good way to show your respect and appreciation. There are also plenty of organizations that assist injured officers or help the families of fallen officers. These donations are incredibly important, so look into your local organizations and find out where your money would do the most good.
Write A Letter To The Editor
It doesn’t have to be political or fiery in tone, it should just get across the point that the officers in your community put their lives on the line for everyone, and you want to thank them for that. Taking the time to write out a thoughtfully worded letter to the editor in your local paper is an excellent way to show your support for your police department.
Police officers don’t always get the respect and appreciation they deserve, but you can help change that. It isn’t always about the big shows of support. Sometimes small acts of kindness are just as powerful. So take some of these ideas and use them to show the officers in your town how much you appreciate them.
Too often, the hard and dangerous work that our police officers do goes unnoticed or at least unrecognized. Most people don’t really think about what police do every day in their community until they need assistance from them. There are a lot of reasons to thank your local police department, and these are just a few of them.
They Work A Dangerous Job
This really can’t be overstated. Every day police officers leave the station in order to protect us from any dangerous elements in our community. They put themselves in dangerous situations that could end with them being hurt or even killed—all in the name of public safety. That’s not a job that many people sign up for, and it’s sad that many of us ignore the good that police do on a daily basis.
They Do The Dirty Work We Don’t Want To
Would you ever willingly go confront an intoxicated person outside your building at 2:00 a.m.? How about a drug addict? We don’t want to deal with these people, so we call the police. Police officers deal with the worst people in our society all the time. That’s not easy physically or mentally, and they do it so we don’t have to.
They Are Given A Bad Image
In addition to going out and protecting their communities every day, police officers have to do their work with the knowledge that any mistake they make will be all over the media. People who never even interact with officers end up with negative images of them from the media coverage they get.
They Aren’t Out To Get You
Police don’t want to hurt anyone. Their job is to protect, not harm their community. If you treat them with respect, they’ll treat you the same way. Officers take a lot of abuse from people who don’t know them and simply don’t like the police. Showing a little respect will go a long way when you’re talking with police. You got a ticket because you were speeding, not because the officer just felt like giving it to you.
They’re Human Too
This is something that gets overlooked all the time. Maybe it’s because of the uniform and the badge, but people often think that police are very different from them. Simply put, they aren’t. Their kids probably go to the same school as yours. They eat at the same restaurants as you do, and they get their coffee at the same corner store. Too often we forget that police officers are human—they aren’t infallible and sometimes they make mistakes. That’s not a good enough reason to treat them with contempt or try to make their job more difficult.
It’s easy to forget all the hard work and sacrifices police officers make for their communities on a daily basis—until we need their help, that is. So try saying thanks or showing some appreciation next time you see an officer. A little respect goes a long way.
