Started program pilot with 16 associates working at home.
Initially considered working with established, large scale, outsource partners but eventually decided to build an internal program given my past experience in the field.
Agents began by providing low level assistance (“Meet and Greet”) but steadily progressed and were able to lead calls.
Approximately 78% of all agents schedules occurred on calls that started at the top of the hour. Only 22% were for calls that started on the ½ hour. The chart below demonstrates the flexibility possible when staffing with work at home agents
Benefits
Full year savings of approximately $ 300,000 were documented in 2006 with full year savings of $ 435,000 predicted for year 1.
The primary client later indicated that this was a very innovative and effective process to handle their peak call volumes which occurred during a 90-minute window on select days of the week.
Based upon success as measured in quality and productivity, the program was expanded to 100 agents by year-end.
Recruited all agents in the greater Kansas City area. Education and prior work experience levels among the first 100 Work-At-Home agents were much higher than those typically seen in call centers. Approximately 90% had a college degree or some college education.
Note the disparity in staffing requirements at 10:00 and 10:30. This company was able to reduce labor costs by approximately 90% from hour-to-hour.