Some facts
? Outsourced homeshoring jobs grew 20% last year, to 112,000 jobs,
according to tech-market researcher IDC, and will hit 330,000 by 2010.
? Against cost per employee of $31 per hour at traditional call
centers, per hour (including overhead and training), virtual agents
cost an average of $21 per hour
? A recent Booz Allen Hamilton report (Home?based Agents an Emerging
Contact Center Trend) found that over 20% of the companies surveyed
already use at-home agents, though in a limited way, mostly to handle
call spikes. Some early adopters include Jet Blue Airlines, which is
pure virtual, and 1-800 FLOWERS, which relies on at-home agents to
handle seasonal peaks.
? Eighty-two percent of adopters are ?satisfied? or ?very satisfied?
with their performance, and 22% of non-adopters expect to add at-home
agents in the next two years. 27% of the companies surveyed would
consider using an outsourcer that supplies at home agents; firms
prefer an end-to-end model, whereby the outsourcer supplies the
workers and guarantees results. Vertical markets first to adopt the
virtual model are financial services, retail and telecom.
? Purdue University?s Benchmark Portal recently surveyed 493 contact
center managers using home-based agents. The most cited reasons for
using virtual agents are to ?improve staff utilization and
effectiveness? and manage peaks (43%). The most cited reasons for not
using virtual agents are ?technology limitations? (25%) and because
they?re ?difficult to train and manage remotely? (43%).
The workforce
? The biggest group of home-agents are educated, stay-at-home moms who
were previously workforce MIAs because they lived in rural areas,
couldn't afford child care, or were unable to contort their lives into
mandatory, face-time schedules.
? Other members of the hidden labor force: itinerant military spouses,
seasoned retirees living half the year down South, computer-savvy,
disabled veterans -- even corporate wives looking to go back to work.
? More than 75% of home agents have some college, vs. 20% in call
centers. Home-based agents are also far more experienced and radically
more loyal.
? Home agents earn more than their brick-and-mortar counterparts (most
earn $10 to $15 an hour without benefits vs. $7 to $9 with benefits in
a call center. The dark side ? The agents are on the hook for their
own health care, computer equipment, training, and even background
checks.
? A September 2004 International Telework Association and
Council/Dieringer Research Group study estimates 44.4 million
Americans now work partially or entirely at home, a 7.5 percent
increase over 2003. Source:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DTI/is_8_33/ai_n14837075
(August 2005)
Key Drivers
? Employee turnover has always been high in call centers. Risk
management consultancy Hill & Associates puts the attrition rate in
Indian call centers at around 40%. The main reason is lack of
prospects, rather than low pay or the unsociable hours associated with
handling customers in different time zones.
? "People working from home are generally happier. They don't have to
commute, they can be doing something on the domestic front and log on
two minutes later without having to travel
? Homeshoring is less likely to risk the accent fatigue, cultural
disconnection, and customer rage that offshoring can inspire. That's
not to mention the mounting security fears (once your private data --
credit-card and Social Security numbers, medical and brokerage records
-- go overseas, they're beyond the reach of U.S. law).
? Some companies are simply looking for a less contentious alternative
to call centers in Asia.
? Homeshoring also provides a flexible, just-in-time workforce. Shifts
can last as little as 15 minutes. Agents are paid only for the time
spent on the phone -- a 21st-century piece-rate system. Technology
lets companies monitor worker performance with the same precision as
the machinery on their assembly lines.
? While a stateside call-center worker typically costs $31 an hour,
including overhead and training, home agents cost only $21, says IDC.
Home agents are also more productive. Willow CEO Angie Selden says the
company's home agents make sales that are up to 25% higher than in
call centers; their customer satisfaction rates are often 40% better.
Companies that offer the service
? Alpine Access
? LiveOps
? Willow CSN
? Working Solutions
Traditional call center outsourcers with large at-home agent pools
? Aspect
? Intellicare
? West Corp
Companies that use home-based call center agents
? Jet Blue
? AA
? Office Depot (ODP)
? McKesson (MCK)
? J. Crew
? Sears Roebuck & Co
? Verizon
? Virgin Atlantic Airlines
? Local AAA auto clubs
? The New York State Workers? Compensation Board ? THE pioneer
Reports on this subject
? IDC - An Alternative to Offshore Outsourcing: The Emergence of the
Home Based Agent
? Booz Allen Hamilton - Home?based Agents an Emerging Contact Center Trend
? Purdue University?s Benchmark Portal recently surveyed 493 contact
center managers using home-based agents
Key References
1. Using a call center means you might be phoning home, March 05,
2005, http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/14022473.htm
2. Call Centers In The Rec Room, January 23, 2006,
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_04/b3968103.htm
3. Could the alternative to overseas call centers be found in the UK's
living rooms? Matt Keating investigates the growth of 'home-shoring'
(an article from the UK), October 15, 2005,
http://money.guardian.co.uk/workweekly/story/0,16547,1592536,00.html
4. Virtual call centers validated, March 07, 2005,
http://www.networkworld.com/net.worker/columnists/2005/0307kistner.html
5. Companies Are Turning to Home-Shoring to Boost Productivity and
Efficiency While Reducing Costs, IDC Says, December 21, 2004,
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=pr2004_12_14_110307
6. http://www.findarticles.com/p/search?tb=art&qt=virtual+call+center&sn=0&qf=1%3Aall&uid=752215643&1stVst=13219&pvs_sess=1&IFsess=1&x=14&y=18&sb=&pc=15&so=&free=1
7. http://www.findarticles.com/p/search?qt=home-based+call+center&qf=free&tb=art
8. SSM Health Care uses virtual call center, March 03, 2003,
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3649/is_200303/ai_n9178843
Hope you find this useful.
Best Regards,
Mitanni-ga. |
