If you want to know how to create a virtual call center, you came at the right time. Here you will learn all the necessary steps you need to follow to start a remote call center . Currently, we are facing a pandemic that has forced most jobs to be virtual. For this reason, this article will focus on creating a virtual call center from scratch.
Projections were made for 2022 which stated that the global cloud-based Call Center market will decrease by US$ 20.93 billion. With this figure, looking for how to make a virtual Call Center is not an unreasonable idea. Quite the contrary, great profitability is expected for this type of business.
Although before COVID-19 there were already Call Centers that worked 100% in the cloud and remotely. With the start of the pandemic, cloud-based Call Centers have increased to unimaginable levels. And there is no doubt that even with the return to normality, the idea of staying virtual will endure over time.
After all, having a call center in the cloud does not imply infrastructure costs. In addition, its implementation is easy and fast. In addition, access is much easier since cloud call center software must ensure that staff connect from any device with an internet signal .
Knowing these great benefits, let’s learn in depth how to make a virtual Call Center step by step and in a very simple way.
With a virtual Call Center you don’t need to have an office for your agents to start working. Only with a reliable internet connection .
What is a virtual Call Center?
The virtual Call Center is characterized by managing all its operations and its agents virtually, without the need for a physical infrastructure. The main support of this type of Call Center is cloud software that facilitates business scalability , as well as easy access to the business system.
An important feature is that it breaks all boundaries. It allows you to hire agents from other countries with different time zones to cover shifts that in a country of origin are very late or early. Thus, your Call Center enhances the quality of service and guarantees 24/7 attention.
A virtual Call Center is quite economical, since you do not need to have an office for your agents to start working. Only with a reliable internet connection, all your team can be working from the comfort of their homes or wherever they are.
In addition, having remote agents increases productivity in a call center , since they will feel more comfortable working from where they are than they will be stressed when they go out on the street. In addition, you can monitor the work of your agents with a call center platform that provides you with real-time supervision viewers.
The advantages of a Virtual Call Center
Before you know how to make a virtual Call Center, it is important that you take into account the strongest points that this type of call center has.
- Helps reduce equipment, installation, maintenance, and upgrade costs.
- It has very secure cloud servers , much more so than traditional ones.
- It ensures the scalability of the Call Center , whether it is up or down, everything will be done quickly and easily.
- Agents and supervisors can be hired from anywhere in the world.
- Reliance on IT staff is reduced as software vendors take care of system security.
- Increase the productivity of the Call Center thanks to predictive and progressive dialers.
- It offers real-time information on the activities of the Call Center; this helps make quick adjustments to meet business goals.
- All customer data is integrated in one place thanks to working with APIs that easily adhere to the internal system.
How to make a virtual Call Center?
Next, you will know what is needed to make a Call Center . Being honest, it is a fairly simple operation to do, since most of the work of a cloud software for Call Center is done by the provider, both maintenance and updates.
For this reason, this tutorial will be brief, but with relevant information so that you know how to make a virtual Call Center. Let’s get started!
Determine what type of virtual Call Center you want to be
First of all, it is important to decide the types of call center campaigns you want to focus on. Having this clear helps to clarify the characteristics that a Call Center software in the cloud must have. In addition, what are the agents and supervisors that can be hired.
As you well know, there are inbound campaigns for Call Center or incoming calls . In general, this type of campaign is focused on customer service , helpdesk, appointment scheduling, among others. In short, those campaigns where the user has to call.
Likewise, there are outbound campaigns for Call Center or outgoing calls . Here the agents are the ones who call the users. These types of campaigns are handled by sales or collections . They are more difficult to carry out, since the objectives of both types of campaigns have a transactional part for the business.
As you can read, a virtual Call Center is presented for multiple purposes . Therefore, it is important that you make a decision, if you only want to answer incoming calls or make calls to collect or sell. The criterion I leave it as homework.
Create an organizational structure
You already know what types of campaign your virtual Call Center is going to execute. The following is to analyze how the budget and the organizational structure will be carried out. Here, don’t worry about expenses such as office equipment, rent, internet, among others. Virtual Call Centers do not have to spend so much money .
While it’s true that you won’t be spending much, it’s important to set aside that budget to start a virtual call center for remote agents. For example, good headphones with a microphone, subsidizing your internet connection, among others. Also, keep in mind that the budget varies depending on the focus of the Call Center.
Get the right call center software
There are many platforms for virtual call centers . Therefore, it is important to make the right decision that suits your budget and the activities you are going to carry out. Also, as mentioned above, it is important for any cloud software to ensure the scalability of your business.
This is important because not all call center campaigns will need the same workforce. Therefore, the program must allow agents to be added or reduced in the shortest possible time and without costly infrastructure changes.
Another important point is that you consider the time of its implementation. Generally, it shouldn’t take too long to do. In addition, it must be integrated into the CRM of your business without any complications.
To reduce the time of your search, here are some types of call center software that will help you create your virtual Call Center
score
Cloud platform that powers the operations of your contact center, both for inbound and outbound. With this platform, agents can access from different devices such as cell phones, PCs or tablets. They just need to have an internet connection. In addition to having IVR, progressive, predictive markers and much more.
Score Dialer
This software easily adheres to the internal system of your business, such as CRM or ERP. It allows you to integrate a predictive dialer that works with Machine Learning. In addition, you can monitor your agents in real time remotely.
Contact Centers must respond to all business chats. They achieve this with an omnichannel platform that unifies all virtual channels in one place.
PlatCon
It is a platform that focuses on SMS campaigns. It allows real-time monitoring of shipments and the ability to respond to the customer via chat. In addition, it has the ability to verify if the numbers in your database are operational, sent to voicemail or non-existent.
ticker
Omnichannel software that unifies all your digital channels in one place. That is, you can manage your WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram or webchat messages. In addition, you can add chatbots to your social networks and provide multi-agent management.
Create growth projections
Having a virtual Call Center does not only consist of acquiring software, hiring and starting to call. Like any business, there are new innovative ideas that will make the business much more profitable.
For example, today call centers are expanding their service portfolio to answer chats. You can achieve this with an omnichannel platform that unifies all virtual channels in one place.
Check list to start a virtual call center
Now you know how to make a virtual call center and everything you need to be successful. As the final part of this tutorial, I will leave you with a small checklist that you should go through and check if everything is ok before starting a call center.
- Specify the organizational structure and what exactly your call center needs to start.
- Calculate your budget.
- Carry out tests or demos of call center tools and choose the best one.
- Implement the call center software that you decided to hire.
- Check if the platform you chose integrates with other tools such as CRM or ERP.
- Recruit and train the necessary agents for your campaigns.
- Train the entire team to become familiar with internal business platforms.
You already have all the necessary information on how to make a virtual Call Center. It’s pretty easy, right? The most complicated part may be the distribution of the budget and the choice of cloud software that suits your needs. However, we already gave you 4 very good options to start off on the right foot.
