Emma Hall explains how the cloud has finally made homeworking a reality.
I can understand that with outdated technology the idea of homeworking was met with negative thinking, a feeling like it was an impossibility. Giving access to internal systems, routing calls effectively, and the ability to monitor what your users are doing, are just a few of the pain points when thinking of introducing homeworking.
However, cloud-based technology has allowed for the impossible to become possible. This is because the products and features that it offers allow you to ensure that you are getting the most out of your staff, wherever they are.
The ability to link multiple sites and operate as if you are all in the same place is just one reason that makes working from outside the office possible, as the ability to control the routing and delivery of a call – down to the minutest detail – ensures that wherever your agents are, you are getting the caller to the right person, first time.
With presence and state management you can also manage and monitor what the user is doing with their time, ensuring you are getting the highest productivity. State management, operator’s statistics, monitoring and call recording are just some of the features that can be used to ensure that your calls are being handled in the right way.
At a time when office space and price per head are high, homeworking is a financially viable resource, but there are other benefits that honestly need to be considered. With offshore centres declining in popularity and so many people out of work, we have a nation of possible candidates. They don’t have to be down the road or within commuter distance, they can be anywhere. You become an equal opportunities employer, ensuring that you have the right people, at the right time, to answer your calls.
Another benefit is productivity. Take into consideration the disastrous weather that we’ve had. It’s not just the delivery companies that are affected, but also the call centres that have to deal with the 10 times increase in calls. What if you can’t get into the office to take those calls? What if you waste 3 hours of your day fighting with travel complications?
Now how much could you do if all you had to do was walk down the stairs, grab your cup of tea and walk to the office, or the dining room, or the living room, turn on your computer and start your working day?
Having your ready-made business-continuity plan in place is surely a resource benefit that cannot be ignored? Even internet connectivity is not the worry that it once was, with most people having better and faster connections than ever before.
More and more frank and honest discussion is occurring with wide-ranging opinions on homeworking. It is only through this that we can challenge homeworking head on, welcome the change, continue to invest in robust technology, and give the biggest opportunities to business and staff.
With thanks to Emma Hall, Service Delivery Manager at Cirrus
Author: Megan Jones
Published On: 12th Feb 2014 - Last modified: 18th Sep 2019
Read more about - Archived Content
