Preparing Your PSAP for NG911 Compliance

If you manage a Public Safety Answering Point, then you’re probably very familiar with Next Generation 911, or NG911. These standards, which are gradually being put into place throughout the country, are taking current, telephone-based 911 systems and upgrading them into fully digital networks capable of transmitting video, photos, and SMS in addition to audio. […]

How to Manage Contact Center Agent Idle Time

It’s not always easy to find the perfect balance between affirming agents’ rights to take breaks and recharge and ensuring optimal productivity for the whole center. The challenge comes into sharp focus when considering what to do with agent idle times. According to research done by the Aberdeen Group, 25% of an agent’s time is […]

Top 7 Books for Contact Center Managers

Managing a contact center, or even working the phones, can be an art and a science. At its heart is cultivating good relationships with customers, but it can also be a process in which one has to learn how to juggle numbers, human needs, and technical intervention. Like any discipline, it requires continuing education and […]

Callbacks and Contact Centers

Time is precious, and no one wants to spend it listening to a recording repeat, “Your call is important to us” with interludes of elevator music. It’s possible that contact centers may discover some ingenious ways of entertaining customers during wait periods that don’t trigger feelings of helplessness and frustration; perhaps they will provide snippets […]

Workforce Optimization 411

Workforce optimization, or WFO, is a key avenue through which businesses increase efficiency, customer satisfaction, and employee growth and development. If it feels like another fancy shell of a term, think again. Through the lens of WFO, contact center owners and managers are able to approach their center’s productivity objectives and functionality challenges with a […]

The Importance of Body Language in Management

When communicating with others we are not just communicating through words that are spoken - our bodies send messages and signals too. Body language is actually something that is biological. Humans and animals all share similar body language expressions. Across cultures, everyone smiles, including babies, before they are even taught what a smile is. Animals […]

Contact Center Questions: What Makes a Leader?

Leadership is one of the fundamental building blocks of every business/organization. Without leaders, the businesses and organizations we have now wouldn’t exist. But what makes a true leader? Is a leader someone who has a vision and works with their team to establish that vision? Yes and no. A leader is much more than that. […]

5 Easy, High-Impact Ways to Improve Your Contact Center Culture

Contact centers are known for occasionally being tough environments to work in, but as a manager, you have the power to change that and make your agents love coming to work. Any workplace can benefit from a strong, positive company culture, especially those that are based on human relationships, like contact centers. Here are five tips that can transform […]

Are You a Contact Center Manager or a Leader?

Here at KOVA, we’re always trying to make contact centers better for the customers, the workers, and the shareholders. We believe that management has one of the greatest influences on all metrics of success, and there are a few key ways to improve the contact center environment. One of those ways is for each supervisor […]

Hiring Veterans as Contact Center Agents

In our country, we tend to have a double standard, or somewhat bipolar attitude, when it comes to veterans. On one hand, we acknowledge them as heroes and honor their courage, hard work, and sacrifice. On the other hand, we neglect to meet their needs – whether they be those of counseling and support groups […]