We recently completed our 2010 inContact User Conference and it was fabulous. At the conference I moderated a panel discussion on deploying at-home agents (thank you Michael, Jill, and Penney for being fabulous panelists). While we were being prepped with microphones before the panel discussion began I asked the panelists how they refer to "at-home agents". I got an interesting response that impressed me. The response was "remote workforce".
I found this designation, "remote workforce" interesting because I have been so accustomed to the at-home agent being focused on contact center work it didn't occur to me that there is the possibility of having the at-home agent be a remote worker capable of doing more than just answer calls from customers. Being a remote worker enlarges the potential of the agent who happens to work at home. Savvy companies recognize that they can maximize the use of the at-home agents by leveraging their skills, maturity, and work ethic for additional work that can be done remotely without sacrificing quality.
In addition to handling contacts, are you having your "remote workforce" do other work that can be completed at-home? What kind of work do you have them do? Share your experiences with me at greg.smart@incontact.com or comment below.
