When it comes to your contact center, I don’t need to tell you that there are any number of variables that can impact your organization. From internal infrastructure, such as a switch going down or loss of a database, to external events such as an unplanned spike of inbound calls.
In the private sector, this may be the result of a publicized loss of sensitive customer data or response to a marketing campaign. In the public sector, the aforementioned loss of citizen data or an unplanned act of god, such as the recent earthquakes in California or flooding in the Midwest, can send citizens in impact zones to call into their government agencies for help or information. Regardless of industry, the threat of an unplanned event is ever-present.
There are of course, steps that can be taken to mitigate these circumstances but never eliminate them. Even the most well-intentioned due diligence can backfire. What for instance, do you do when you’ve staffed up for what you think will be an event that will require additional support and that even does not happen?
NICE CXone has sought the guidance of our customers that are succeeding in call center excellence from Amy Latzer, Chief Operating Officer of 211 LA, Los Angeles County’s Health & Human Services Organization which provides citizens access to social services.
“For operational agility, I think the best thing I could tell someone, is prepare and practice,” says Latzer. “Prepare for what you don’t know is going to happen but all of the things you think could happen. For us many times it’s a natural disaster or a public health disaster, however there are other points in time that we’ve had to be agile and turn on a dime.”
Preparedness is a broad-brush stroke but nevertheless, an important one. In her interview, Latzer points to leveraging NICE CXone’s team to help them in the arena of preparedness. Indeed, this should be an expectation of any enterprise exploring the managed contact center space. A credible contact center provider invests in its professional services disciplines to create value around its core offer. Throughout vendor assessments, contact center leaders would be wise to explore this capability as it represents a critical spoke on the wheel of a contact center provider’s ability to deliver a true solution and not just a platform.
Read more on how 211 LA is improving its contact center operations to solve critical citizen issues.
