Using state-of-the-art agent supervision technologies to improve contact center results

We know that agents are important, skilled people who can relate to customers and garner brands a reputation for empathy and satisfaction. Agent experience (AX) has been put on the same level as customer experience (CX) as key to brand performance. But how can the supervisor ensure the contact center is on the right track for both? 

Supervisors definitely have a lot on their plate. In between the floor and the C-suite, they are tasked with carrying out a brand’s customer service strategy while at the same time coaching and leading agents as they develop their skills and become brand ambassadors. Due to the new reality of work, agent supervision must also take place remotely, at least in part. As every contact center is different, each supervisor has different needs. A flexible, intuitive and customizable response is needed to manage the contact center effectively. The good news is that the latest technology can help supervisors make quick decisions, develop agents and improve contact center performance while avoiding some of the more common mistakes that supervisors make in day-to-day operations.

Know the right level of agent supervision 

Whether on the contact center floor or working remotely, it is important for every agent on the team to know exactly where they stand on goals and how to achieve them. Playvox published a list of all-too-common bad contact center practices, such as having the wrong team goals, blaming the inability to achieve sub-optimal metrics on agents, and a lack of engagement with the very real struggles of agent workloads. What’s more, underachievers can get lost in the shuffle of high call volumes and not receive proper coaching, while the achievements of high-performers can fall by the wayside.

All of these missteps tie back into the idea of effective agent supervision. The scope of supervision that your Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solution provides should allow supervisors to better listen to what agent performances are communicating. For instance, if the dashboard shows agents who have high availability times on one project, it allows supervisors to redeploy them to another project where they are more needed. 

Find the right metrics

Each supervisor, contact center and brand has its own different and special needs, and therefore specific metrics to track. Just as it’s important to not chase metrics for their own sake, badly organized displays of data can lead to hasty readings of that data and making the wrong decisions with regard to agent deployment. In crucial moments like these, agent supervision suffers and can lead to poor performance as well as the perpetuation of poor contact center practices. 

High-performing dashboards allow supervisors to get a better grip on agent supervision. They not only keep track of every metric relevant to the project at hand, but also create a customized workspace that provides an accurate graphical representation of the data, such as traffic overview or KPIs, that matters most in the moment. Every relevant metric can be assigned to their own widget, which can then be arranged as supervisors see fit. Alongside this enhanced visibility and clarity, dashboards have a range of features that re-define decision making. 

New supervision technology is proactive, which helps make the most of data

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it is difficult to overstate the impact that customization can have on contact center productivity. What’s needed in a modern CCaaS solution is a user experience that enables agent supervisors to organize information in a way that’s most convenient for them. Metrics such as agent activity, as well as distribution charts and timelines provide full visibility of contact center operations at any given point in time. Most significantly, agent supervision technology comes with a variety of proactive decision support features, such as alerts and suggestions, which facilitate making the right decisions in real time. For instance, if a supervisor sets up an alert for a specific metric, then they will get notifications if the metric is close to reaching a predefined threshold, allowing them to act on their expertise for what to do next. Additionally, smart automation will take care of certain processes which the supervisor would otherwise have to engage in. 

Supervisors can have a better understanding of the contact center agent workloads thanks to these monitoring tools. Because that information is presented visually and is quick to grasp, supervisors can better understand their agents’ limits and counsel or motivate them accordingly. Remote work brings its own challenges. Luckily, new agent supervision technology functions as a workforce management tool that assists with adjusting CX strategy and agent workloads as necessary no matter where agents are working. 

Odigo solutions support agent supervision for contemporary contact centers

Odigo’s CCaaS platform comes with improved supervision features that make the supervisor experience more customizable and provide a better understanding of data at a glance. It’s able to make decisions in real-time, thanks to automatic suggestions and tracking that warns about upcoming problems and monitors how much progress is made in resolving issues. To learn more, get in touch with one of our experts.