My comments on Getting More from Call Centers

1. Set priority Q. Use routing software to send different type of customer with different tast to the corresponding agent. The problem is what type queue it will be V, M, N or others? If it is combined with time variant demand, how to set the parameters.

2. Agent learning. In the article, it said

Ideally, supervisors should spend 70 percent of their time coaching, and the
number of agents they monitor should reflect the team's role, so that, say, a
general-service queue would be supported by a 1:18 coach-to-agent ratio, while a
vital sales or support queue that needed more coaching would enjoy a 1:14 ratio.
Coaches should combine side-by-side training with remote listening (in which the
agent is unaware of being monitored) and should provide immediate feedback in
both cases. The coach is also responsible for sharing best practices with
agents.

The ratio is surprisingly low. Is this ratio indeed reasonable?

3. How to evaluate quality decreasing via outsourcing. What is the relationship between quality and reveneue

4. What performance measures are effective. Since I have do several projects related to the PM, it is one of most interests to me. The performance measures mentioned in the article are total revenue per month, average handling time,... It also mentions that without good design, the effect of call churning will happen. Like balance score card, it is crucial to know how to convert the individual targets to the overall score which is related to the incentive.

I never see any research paper on the part 4 before. Maybe human resource research will be more relavent than our OR field. But it is important issue.

Good Article!