How Have Call Centers Thrived Working from Home During COVID-19

Businesses in all industries have had to adapt to remote working in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and in many cases, this has proven to be a success. One type of business that has flourished because of remote working and could result in long-term changes even once the threat of the virus has passed are call centers, as many of these have found this to be a highly successful period. Many employees are thriving while working from home. So, how have they managed to do this? Read on to find out how call centers are thriving with remote work during COVID-19.

Lower Costs

Of course, one of the main benefits of remote working and a reason why it was popular even before the pandemic is that it can lower operational costs, which is always a plus for businesses. When entire teams are working remotely, it can make a big difference in the amount of energy that is consumed and will bring down the utility bill each month. Additionally, moving forward, if a call center continues with remote working, then they could significantly downsize their office space or even go without a central office.

Productive Employees

One of the biggest debates that there is when it comes to remote work is productivity, with many stating that employees will be less productive when they are not being supervised. In contrast, others state that people are actually more productive from home largely due to an increase in morale and with less stress. It is the latter argument that seems to hold the most water, particularly when it comes to call centers where employees still need to be communicating and working throughout the day, so there is less of a concern of “slacking off”.

Unified Communications

The biggest potential drawback to remote working is communication issues, which, of course, is hugely important in this industry. Fortunately, unified communications (UC) where all real-time communication services are integrated can streamline remote communication and make it easy for people to carry out their roles without being in the office. You can use unified communications software and monitoring tools to monitor and manage remote communications so that you can help staff to work to the best of their ability while working from home.

Expanded Talent Pool

Another significant benefit of remote working from a business standpoint is that you are no longer limited to the local talent pool. Instead, you can cast a much wider net. This is useful in a call center where staff turnover is often high, so remote working allows you to look much further afield and find the top talent (remote working will also be a perk that attracts prospective employees).

Remote working has largely worked very well for call centers, and now that businesses have systems in place and invested in tech, it seems logical that this will become the new normal for most. There are challenges with remote working, but when a company knows how to manage and overcome these, it should help them, and the staff enjoy all of the perks that working from home can bring.