Call Recording Center

The benefits of quality monitoring are exponential. Cost savings are just around the corner. With a Quality Management application you can: Lower average call handle times Improve first-call resolution Reduce training time Increase management productivity Boost agent retention Each of these hard benefits are described more fully in the following sections, including dollar-saving examples based on benchmarking studies. Lower Average Call Handle Times Since the majority of costs in a contact center are with the agents, it makes sense to invest in boosting their efficiency. A Quality Monitoring solution is the answer. There’s no better way to coach your agents to success than to listen to their actual conversations and evaluate their performance using a standardized list of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) customized for your business. Audio recordings and screen captures bring to light procedures that may need revision in order to make your agents more productive. And it provides the opportunity to evaluate whether agents are already using proven call handling techniques and established company procedures. In the 2005 Service and Support Metrics Survey (conducted by Service XRG), the majority of respondents reported that talk time for phone support issues ranged between 5 and 15 minutes. If a contact center is able to save just 2% off that number, it can result in significant savings. In the following scenario, the average call handle time is 7 minutes for a 200-agent contact center. We also assume agents are paid $17.32 per hour. Call Handle Statistics Before After Total # of contacts handled per day for all agents 10,285ˆ 14,400 Average call handle time 7 minutes 5 minutes Time saved per transaction   2 minutes Total cost per minute per agent   $0.288667 Total savings per day for all agents*   $5,848* Potential Annual Savings   $1,520,480** ˆCalculated by ((200 agents x 6 hours) x 60 minutes per hour) / 7 minutes [agent handles 8.57 calls per hour] *Calculated by [(17 more minutes available per hour per agent x 0.288667 cost per minute per agent) x 6 hours per day] x 200 agents **Calculated on same agent levels but able to handle more calls daily by reducing overall call times. Considers 260 working days per year

Improve First Call Resolution

First call resolution is a critical Key Performance Indicator. Agents who can assist customers phone call offer considerable value to the contact center by building confidence with customers ultimately increasing customer loyalty. The hard cost savings result from reduced expense for subsequent contacts the customer would have otherwise had to make to resolve the issue.

In the following scenario, the contact center employs 200 agents and, after implementing Quality Management, has experienced a 2% increase in First Call Resolutions. The Purdue Contact Center Benchmark Study states that an average inbound call costs at $6.03.

First Call Resolution Statistics	Before	After
First call resolution rate	78.3%	80.3%
Number of agents	200	200
Cost per contact	$6.03	$6.03
Calls per annum	3,744,000ˆ	3,669,120
Potential Annual Savings		$451,526*
ˆ Calculated by 14,400 contacts per day x 260 work days per year *Calculated by (3,456,000-3,386,880) x $6.03

Reduce Training Time

Unidentified training opportunities can become a hidden risk resulting in a negative impact on the contact center’s performance. Training programs developed with inadequate information can miss the mark, resulting in wasted resources.

A Quality Management solution provides contact centers with the opportunity to pinpoint specific training opportunities and build their training programs around them. Agent recordings may also be used as Best Practice standards, offering real-world examples for training and boosting the morale of agents who are performing well.

Training Statistics	Before QM	After QM
Hours of training per agent per year	120	110
Number of agents	200	200
Training hourly cost	$14.47	$14.47
Total training costs	$347,280	$318,340
Potential Annual Savings		$28,940

Increase Management Productivity

Manual methods for performing quality assurance can be tedious and time consuming. Taping at an agent’s desk, performing live monitoring, and completing and scoring paper evaluations takes time and diverts the supervisor’s attention from more important tasks, such as performing personalized coaching or handling escalated calls.

Results from our user-base indicate that automated monitoring allows supervisors to review the same number of contacts in two-thirds of the time resulting in significant savings.

Management Productivity Statistics	Before	After
Number of supervisors	20	20
Total hours spent monitoring per month	900	630
Hourly rate	$28.85	$28.85
Annual cost to monitor	$311,580ˆ	$218,106
Potential Annual Savings		$93,474
ˆ(900 x $28.85) x 12 months

Boost Agent Retention

Knowledgeable, responsive agents are crucial to good customer relations and significantly impact the bottom line of the contact center. Training new agents is an expensive and lengthy process. Retaining successful agents is a top priority and Quality Management tools can help.

Quality Management helps the contact center communicate clear goals, evaluate agent performance, and provide prompt feedback. Additionally, consistent feedback and coaching can help to eliminate burnout among contact center agents. All this leads to increased job satisfaction for agents, resulting in a longer tenure and a wealth of experience you can continue to build upon.

In the following scenario, the implementation of a Quality Monitoring system reduced agent turnover by 2%; the cost of training a new agent was calculated to be $6,572.

Agent Retention Statistics	Before	After
Turnover rate	35%	30%
Total number of agents	200	200
Number of agents replaced	70	60
Annual training costs for new agents	$460,040	$394,320
Potential Annual Savings		$65,720

Return on Investment

An approximate investment for a Quality Management application with monitoring tools, reporting package, screen recording licenses, installation, and training for a contact center of 200 full-time agents could be $100,000. If recording is also required, the investment might approach $200,000. There are variables that would lower the initial costs depending upon schedule of agents and telephony infrastructure. With the noted potential savings approaching over $1 million, the payback for a Quality Management solution is a short time frame, often a matter of months.

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