n Step 1: Technology Choices: Two kinds of technologies are available for call centers—traditional EPABX-based and next generation server-based.

Traditional EPABX-based call center: Historically, call centers evolved from being a place with just telephone lines landing on agents’ desks. Then a PBX was added to distribute calls coming on common lines. Over time, predictive dialers, IVR systems and CTI were added to create a full-fledged call center.

Server-based call center: A server-based call center integrates all the components of a call center into one server as software components. Server-based call centers offer three main advantages:

Dramatically lower cost: A server-based call center now costs far less, the total cost of ownership being up to one fourth of the traditional architecture. This is because standard hardware and software components rather than proprietary systems are used. Call center components are software modules on a common platform, which does away with expensive and difficult integration needs.

Superior functionality and smooth scalability: Server-based call centers provide far superior features. The most important aspect of server-based call centers is the flexibility they provide in increasing the scale of operations.

Web integration, multimedia contact: Most of the information delivery is moving towards the Web and hence Web integration becomes very important for providing good access to customers. The multimedia handling capability of server-based systems will become crucial in the coming years as communication will be through rich ‘hypermedia’, which will seamlessly integrate video, voice and data.

n Step 2: Equipment Sizing: Both telecommunication and computer equipment must be sized appropriately to handle call loads projected for a call center. A certain number of incoming PSTN trunks will be required to handle a specific load. PBX/ACD and IVR units must have an appropriate number of ports to receive incoming trunks and additional ports to handle internal agent lines. Computer networks must handle an appropriate number of network connections. Appropriate sizing of each of these components is essential for efficient call center implementation and operation.

Server-based call center architectures are generally non-blocking, hence the complexity is reduced to estimating the call load, which is used to derive the number of PSTN ports required. A general rule of thumb is that the ratio of PSTN ports to number of agents for effective agent utilization should be between 1.5 and 2.

Telecommunications equipment are generally sized based on peak loads and desired performance levels. Various formulas and queuing algorithms are used to determine line and port configurations for incoming call center operations. These models are based on performance parameters including:

Blocking levels—the number of callers who get a busy signal in a specified period of time
Queue times—the duration of time for which a caller is held in queue prior to connecting to an agent
IVR time—the time required to complete an IVR portion of a script
Agent time—the time required to complete an agent portion of a script
Re-dial rates—the percentage of blocked callers who re-dial within a peak hour
Average number of calls per month
Number of calls during a peak hour

Peak call volumes are traditionally used for equipment sizing. A number of peak load situations may actually occur in an operation, all of which must be considered when developing loading models.

n Step 3: Telecommunication Issues: Following are some telecommunications issues to be considered when deciding upon a call center location:

PSTN service provider support and availability of current technologies: Does the local exchange provide digital links or just analog ones? This may be an important issue when scaling up the operation?

Possible use of existing equipment: In case there is a sizeable investment in PBX and telephone lines then can they be effectively used in the call center environment?

Potential for redundancy in the network: Can the PSTN service provider give routing from two different exchanges to increase reliability? This is critical in the Indian environment where exchange failures happen, and the snapping of links is a daily phenomenon.

Agent infrastructure: Two important issues, which are often not given due importance in equipment selection, are agent computer monitors and agent headsets.

n Step 4: Operational Issues: The operational issues in a call center include facility design, staffing and workforce management, employee motivation and training, performance management and utilization for cross selling.

Facility design: Call center development will, in many cases, require the design of new facilities or redesign of the existing facilities. In either case, it is important to create a well thought out facility plan, with process work flows and employee satisfaction being two important criteria in the design.

Staffing and workforce management: Periods for peak claim loads may generally be identified through call volume statistics.

However, the exact volume of calls that might arrive at any point in time is unknown. Optimizing the number of staff available to deal with these unknown volumes, is critical.

Tracking call center performance: Important criteria are abandonment rates, numbers of calls handled by each agent, average speed of answer and/or wait times, average time of each call (by agent) and percentage of blocked calls (busy). However, quality customer service is much more important than achieving these goals.

Cross selling services: Call centers that consistently cross-sell at every opportunity can quickly become a profit center as opposed to a cost-center.