Ken Wisnefski, president of VendorSeek, gives some examples of disasters that could befall your call center and how to prepare for them. You can also catch each tip by subscribing to our feed.
To specifically label one “problem,” let us think about an electrical disaster. Lightning is one of the most odious threats to electrical equipment, and it can enter through a number of thoroughfares. Do you know of all potential pathways? Make sure a qualified electrician educates on your systems, ensures all equipment is properly connected to the electrical feed and backup systems, and optimal levels of lightning protection is in place and grounded thoroughly.
Let us discuss another possible situation. Many centers handle customer interaction via the Web. In the event that your site is down, is your center ready to handle calls coming in as an alternative? Is your center prepared to accommodate an influx in calls from customers who regularly use other methods of contacting your business? If not, the customers’ other alternative may involve contacting your competitor.
Every time we had a lightning storm, agents would take off their headsets and start using handsets. They were afraid lightning would travel through their phones and burn their ears. This doesn't seem possible.
For further reading: Call Center QA Blues
When I supervised a team of Reservations employees at an airline several years ago, we had an incident of Lightning hitting a transformer and several TSRs, who wore headsets, went to the hospital with ear pain.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 17, 2007 10:56 AM | Permalink to Comment