Companies deploy multi-networked call centers for a variety of reasons. Some want to make it easier for customers to contact agents by providing a single toll-free number instead of having separate numbers for each center. Others want to be able to hire agents from larger labor pools or direct callers to backup locations in case the larger centers go down. Call centers with nationalor international clientele can expand their hours of operation if they employ agents throughout different time zones.

As with any major changes to your call centers, you have to stay on top of the latest developments in call center technology if you plan to enable multiple locations to share a single data and telephony network.

Implementing multi-networked call centers isn't easy. Interoperability can be an issue, especially if different locations each use ACDs, IVR systems and automated dialing systems from different vendors. You can't assume that all your existing call center systems will automatically work together once you place them on the same network.

Fortunately for you, new versions of products, such as network-wide call routing systems, are continually becoming available to help you load-balance and route calls to agents who work from call centers, branch offices or even from home.

There are different ways to multi-network your call centers. The call center managers we interviewed for this article explained why they set up their centers the way they did and told us about the vendors that helped them along the way. Some companies reduced the number of call centers they had. Others added call centers. All these companies networked their centers so they could operate as one. In so doing, these companies found they were able to provide consistently high levels of customer service among all their locations. Here's how they did it.

Improving Customer Care

Bell Canada, Canada's largest telco, was facing stiff competition from other providers three years ago when the company decided to improve the ease with which customers reached agents at its call centers. The company wanted to reduce the number of misdirected calls, offer 7x24 customer service and provide self-service through an IVR system. "We wanted to offer an outlet for mundane inquiries, like account balance, phone bills and so on," says Alec Ko, who serves as an executive consultant for Bell Canada with CGI, a Montreal-based IT consultancy.

The company's 29 call centers, each equipped with a Meridian 1 phone switch from Nortel Networks (Richardson, TX), employ a total of 7,000 agents who collectively handle an average of 40 million calls a year from nine million customers. Agents at Bell Canada answer inquiries from residential customers between 8 am and 8 pm and assist business customers between 8 am and 6 pm. Tech reps are available 7x24.

Customers dial a single toll-free number to reach agents at any of Bell Canada's centers. When customers call the telco, they first reach an IVR system that captures their phone numbers. The IVR system determines whether callers are residential or business customers and can also identify callers whom Bell Canada considers to be high-value customers.

Although Bell Canada primarily organizes agents into different groups, such as those who answer questions from residential customers, it does allow some agents to answer calls on behalf of more than one group. The company uses a Symposium Call Center Server from Nortel to route a call to an agent at any of Bell Canada's 29 call centers based on the caller's selections to the IVR menu. The telco uses a workforce management system from TCS (Nashville, TN).

Besides being useful for consolidating call center operations within telcos, network-wide routing is similarly applicable to call centers within financial services companies, shipping firms and utilities. Prudential, for example, lets its customers reach agents at any one of 26 call centers from one toll-free number. The company directs calls to agents based on the business lines, such as Prudential Insurance and Prudential Securities, that callers inquire about. Prudential uses GeoTel's (Lowell, MA) Intelligent CallRouter to perform network-wide call handling among centers. Each center routes calls internally using phone switches from Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, NJ).

Prudential's customers can also access information, such as their account balances, through the company's Lucent Conversant IVR system. The company is currently testing a speech recognition system that will let callers speak the name of a Prudential business line and direct them to agents who are knowledgeable about the financial services they're interested in.

When Prudential began consolidating its call centers, it created a department called Voice of the Customer to gather information from all the business units about customers' needs. The company applied the information it collected to the development of an in-house training program for agents. "We want to make sure we are all on the same page," says Warren Leary, VP for Prudential's call center group.

The company uses a call monitoring system from Teknekron Infoswitch (Fort Worth, TX) to record calls and to ensure a high standard of customer service. The company also uses a workforce management system from TCS.

Some call centers have multi-networked centers within specific regions or countries. FedEx, for instance, wanted to make it easier for its Canadian customers to reach agents at its three Canadian centers in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. These centers have a total of 300 agents who collectively handle about 33,000 calls a day. Customers usually call the centers to find out about the status of their packages, rates, pick up times, locations, bills or shipping regulations.

FedEx's Canadian centers had functioned independently and each handled calls from customers who were located nearest to each of them. "We realized that in order to enhance customer service we should integrate," says Pina Starnino, managing director for customer service for FedEx's Canadian call centers. "We wanted to enhance the ease of access for the customer."

The company uses Spectrum phone switches from Rockwell Electronic Commerce (Wood Dale, IL) at its Canadian call centers. Canadian customers dial one toll-free number to be directed to the FedEx call center with the most readily available agents. Through its ACD reports from the Spectrum system, FedEx's Canadian call centers keep track of average handling times, the number of calls answered, how the calls are managed and whether the company meets its service levels. The company creates and forecasts agents' schedules using Pipkins' (St. Louis, MO) workforce management system.

Companies deploy multi-networked call centers for a variety of reasons. Some want to make it easier for customers to contact agents by providing a single toll-free number instead of having separate numbers for each center. Others want to be able to hire agents from larger labor pools or direct callers to backup locations in case the larger centers go down. Call centers with nationalor international clientele can expand their hours of operation if they employ agents throughout different time zones.

As with any major changes to your call centers, you have to stay on top of the latest developments in call center technology if you plan to enable multiple locations to share a single data and telephony network.

Implementing multi-networked call centers isn't easy. Interoperability can be an issue, especially if different locations each use ACDs, IVR systems and automated dialing systems from different vendors. You can't assume that all your existing call center systems will automatically work together once you place them on the same network.

Fortunately for you, new versions of products, such as network-wide call routing systems, are continually becoming available to help you load-balance and route calls to agents who work from call centers, branch offices or even from home.

There are different ways to multi-network your call centers. The call center managers we interviewed for this article explained why they set up their centers the way they did and told us about the vendors that helped them along the way. Some companies reduced the number of call centers they had. Others added call centers. All these companies networked their centers so they could operate as one. In so doing, these companies found they were able to provide consistently high levels of customer service among all their locations. Here's how they did it.

Improving Customer Care

Bell Canada, Canada's largest telco, was facing stiff competition from other providers three years ago when the company decided to improve the ease with which customers reached agents at its call centers. The company wanted to reduce the number of misdirected calls, offer 7x24 customer service and provide self-service through an IVR system. "We wanted to offer an outlet for mundane inquiries, like account balance, phone bills and so on," says Alec Ko, who serves as an executive consultant for Bell Canada with CGI, a Montreal-based IT consultancy.

The company's 29 call centers, each equipped with a Meridian 1 phone switch from Nortel Networks (Richardson, TX), employ a total of 7,000 agents who collectively handle an average of 40 million calls a year from nine million customers. Agents at Bell Canada answer inquiries from residential customers between 8 am and 8 pm and assist business customers between 8 am and 6 pm. Tech reps are available 7x24.

Customers dial a single toll-free number to reach agents at any of Bell Canada's centers. When customers call the telco, they first reach an IVR system that captures their phone numbers. The IVR system determines whether callers are residential or business customers and can also identify callers whom Bell Canada considers to be high-value customers.

Although Bell Canada primarily organizes agents into different groups, such as those who answer questions from residential customers, it does allow some agents to answer calls on behalf of more than one group. The company uses a Symposium Call Center Server from Nortel to route a call to an agent at any of Bell Canada's 29 call centers based on the caller's selections to the IVR menu. The telco uses a workforce management system from TCS (Nashville, TN).

Besides being useful for consolidating call center operations within telcos, network-wide routing is similarly applicable to call centers within financial services companies, shipping firms and utilities. Prudential, for example, lets its customers reach agents at any one of 26 call centers from one toll-free number. The company directs calls to agents based on the business lines, such as Prudential Insurance and Prudential Securities, that callers inquire about. Prudential uses GeoTel's (Lowell, MA) Intelligent CallRouter to perform network-wide call handling among centers. Each center routes calls internally using phone switches from Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, NJ).

Prudential's customers can also access information, such as their account balances, through the company's Lucent Conversant IVR system. The company is currently testing a speech recognition system that will let callers speak the name of a Prudential business line and direct them to agents who are knowledgeable about the financial services they're interested in.

When Prudential began consolidating its call centers, it created a department called Voice of the Customer to gather information from all the business units about customers' needs. The company applied the information it collected to the development of an in-house training program for agents. "We want to make sure we are all on the same page," says Warren Leary, VP for Prudential's call center group.

The company uses a call monitoring system from Teknekron Infoswitch (Fort Worth, TX) to record calls and to ensure a high standard of customer service. The company also uses a workforce management system from TCS.

Some call centers have multi-networked centers within specific regions or countries. FedEx, for instance, wanted to make it easier for its Canadian customers to reach agents at its three Canadian centers in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. These centers have a total of 300 agents who collectively handle about 33,000 calls a day. Customers usually call the centers to find out about the status of their packages, rates, pick up times, locations, bills or shipping regulations.

FedEx's Canadian centers had functioned independently and each handled calls from customers who were located nearest to each of them. "We realized that in order to enhance customer service we should integrate," says Pina Starnino, managing director for customer service for FedEx's Canadian call centers. "We wanted to enhance the ease of access for the customer."

The company uses Spectrum phone switches from Rockwell Electronic Commerce (Wood Dale, IL) at its Canadian call centers. Canadian customers dial one toll-free number to be directed to the FedEx call center with the most readily available agents. Through its ACD reports from the Spectrum system, FedEx's Canadian call centers keep track of average handling times, the number of calls answered, how the calls are managed and whether the company meets its service levels. The company creates and forecasts agents' schedules using Pipkins' (St. Louis, MO) workforce management system.