Answering Service Blog | American Inbound

A recent article at callcentrehelper.com cites a study conducted by Dimension Data. The recent study has found that customers calling an agent now wait on hold longer than they did ten years ago. The reason according to the article: human operators are being replaced by machines or the internet for simpler tasks. On the other hand, companies who have more complex customer service needs elect to use live, human operators. These more complex customer service calls take longer on average.

The study revealed that the average hold time is 39 seconds. After 45 seconds of holding, people normally end their call. That’s why its important to choose a call center that has a low hold time.

Direct link to “Ten years on, and still not listening”

Do you find that your telephone voice is not understood? I stumbled upon a linguistic student’s observations about this problem. She explains that the first two syllables in a telephone conversation are never registered, at least until the listener is aided by context. She then explains that just by saying “Hello” your voice will be recognized more easily and understood better.

Here is a link to her interesting discussion.

Think holographic teleconferencing technology is years away? Well think again. Cisco and Musian Systems have joined forces, and their results are nothing less than spectacular. Seeing is believing, so please check out the video.
For more info on the subject:
Cisco On-Stage TelePresence Holographic Video Conferencing
Cisco Experimenting with an On-Stage Telepresence Experience

Working from home is a dream for many.  Not only does it free up more of an employees personal time, but it helps them and the company save money.   However, there are downsides to having remote operators.

Remote operators can have a problem with motivation as they do not have a boss directly breathing down their neck.  It is essential when hiring a remote operator, that you select someone who can be trusted to work on their own. 

Call Center Cafe has posted a great article called 7 Tips To Help You Maintain Your Discipline While Working At Home.  The suggestions offered are worthwhile to keep in mind if you answer phones from home.

Verizon is being charged $6.5 million dollars for bad telephone service.  Florida’s top law enforcement official states this is due to “willful” and “repeated” lapses in service.

These lapses have left many customers without phone service for up to a week.  Currently, the issue is in the hands of the Florida Public Service Commission, who regulates many aspects of telephone service.

The next deadline for Indiana’s telephone privacy list is coming up.  In order to have your number included the next update (which is July 1st) you must register your number by May 23, 12AM.

So get your calls in before midnight on Tuesday and you should be good!  If you miss it; that’s okay.  You’ll just have to wait until next quarter for your number to be included.

The website to register is here:

Register online for the Telephone Privacy List!

The telephone number to dial is  888-834-9969.

The CRM Buyer has come through with another great article. They have interviewed several prominent executives in contact center solutions and service provider companies. The issue is that during an economic slump service-oriented businesses must concentrate on two things: lowering costs, and keeping customers.

If you’re interested in how the experts are dealing the slump, check out the posts here:

Software to Save the Contact Center, Part 1

Software to Save the Contact Center, Part 2

If anyone has looked at American Inbound’s main site, you can see that we are currently hiring for remote agents in the Bloomington, Indiana area. Well, I put up a job application online and we have been swamped with submissions. Honestly, our HR department has so much on their hands, they’ve asked for help from some of our other employees.

I run across all kinds of operator hiring guides online, so I wanted to post up listings I found for a few of them. Hopefully, it helps them out!

1. How To Hire Better Call Center Agents - Every Time!
2. The Science of Agent Selection: Assessment Tools Help Centers Find the Right Fit
3. New Call Center Hiring Tips from FurstPerson
4. Hiring Customer Service Oriented Employees

Ben Wurthen has written a piece for the Wall Street Journal stating that data centers are fast becoming one of our biggest polluters. Studies have shown that data centers are responsible almost half the amount of emissions as the airline industry. As data centers become more and more common, this number will only increase.

No Jitter has given us a couple of energy-saving tips to help, and I encourage you to try some out! They name unoptimized cooling systems and server underutilization as key energy-wasting culprits.

Customer service reps like to throw around the word “sorry.” But is it overused? Derek Stockley believes so.

He explains that “I’m sorry” often comes across as insincere. This is true if the phrase is overused. However, I believe an agent would have a difficult time if it was banned completely.