I had an interesting conversation with Greg Sherry, the director of marketing for Witness Actionable Solutions at Verint Systems, Inc. about the rapidly-evolving nature of the call center, especially as it evolves from a fixed environment on a corporate campus to a virtual call center, with agents spread literally all over the country. As we were talking, Greg explained that a series of seemingly unrelated events – better technology, higher gas prices, the difficulty of retaining good agents, the costs of building a physical call center – were conspiring to make the virtual call center a more enticing option for more companies.

There have been a set of concerns that have kept companies from jumping on the home-sourcing bandwagon, but trends are making this thinking obsolete. Consider these fears:

1. Agents at home won’t work. This lack of trust has legitimate roots, but new work force optimization (WFO) software allows managers to see just how much work an at-home agent has done. Also, the changing nature of the at-home agent – who is typically older and more experienced – means that goofing off on the clock is much less likely than it used to be.

2. Agents at home are costly to set up and equip. Not necessarily. VoIP, new tools and SaaS delivery of applications mean that an agent’s home machine can be set up at a fraction of the cost of days gone by, when equipment had to be delivered and phone lines needed to be run.

3. Agents at home are difficult to manage. Not with modern management tools. Just about anything an agent does can be monitored in the same way it was when the agent was ensconced in a cubicle.

4. Agents at home cost more than agents in a cost center. Not when you factor in the cost of the real estate they occupy and the building the sit in. In fact, one major air carrier’s entire call center operation is comprised of at-home agents. Of course, such agents must be carefully chosen, and most company’s at-home agents have earned the right to work at home after putting in some time in their company’s call center. But the trend is becoming clear.

The technology growing up around the virtual call center model – including Verint Systems’ products – is shifting the issues of the call center away from technology, because CRM and other technologies are easy to integrate with VoIP and back toward the more important issue, which is hiring the right people to be agents. Soon, once one has hired the right people, the rest is a breeze – and isn’t that how is ought to be?

Know of any more of outdated call center beliefs? Let us know.