What do your top executives see when they bring up their dashboard in your facility? If they’re like the heads of many contact centers, the answer might be disappointing. Too many companies suffer from too much data and an ineffective executive dashboard to present it in.

Don’t let your facility be among them. Check out this list of key metrics to include in your executive dashboard, along with some important hints on how to do so. Remember - your dashboard is only as effective as it is user-friendly, so style can make just as big a difference as the information it is used to present!

It’s never easy to completely overhaul the way your company presents itself. Whether you’ve been in business only a few months or for many years, you have all of that time and the memories of your previous iterations working against you. Even when rebranding is for the best, it can be a difficult task, prompting many companies to wait until it’s simply unavoidable.

Your contact center doesn’t have to be one of those businesses. Call center rebranding doesn’t have to be something you put off and avoid until you can’t avoid it any longer - but it will be, if you don’t give it the kind of attention it needs now. Here’s your guide to a seamless transition this year - and to making call center rebranding a simple task in 2020:

In most businesses, keeping up with trends is important. It helps you stay relevant and keeps consumers interested in what you have to offer. In the world of the contact center, though, keeping up with - and perhaps ahead of - trends is imperative to your success. It can mean the difference in delivering a great customer experience and providing the kind of service consumers really need - or getting outpaced by those you’re in direct competition with and leaving profitability behind as a result.

Want to know what the call center trends are projected to be in the coming year and beyond? Here are some expert takes on the trends to watch:

“Going green” is something more and more businesses are prioritizing in the modern day. With the climate crisis on the forefront of the public’s minds, it only makes sense that so many companies hoping to stay in that public’s favor are doing their part to help get emissions and pollution output to a minimum.

Fast food companies, for example, are pitching in by eliminating packaging on products where possible, trying to endear themselves to millennial and Gen Z consumers who are concerned about the overuse of single-use plastics. These measures are working; companies who were in on the green trends saw significantly positive user feedback in the last two years.

But can your call center be one of those businesses? Is there a way to have a financially stable green call center? Here is what you need to know about making your contact center more eco-friendly without losing profitability and productivity:

For a long time, now, contact centers have relied heavily on the interactive voice response system - also known as IVR - to direct consumer traffic and create self-service options. It makes sense; a good IVR system can lower labor costs, improve efficiency, and enhance customer experience. But could a chat bot be doing the same thing?

These days, companies are using chat bots to accomplish numerous tasks that were once the job of live agents. They can also be employed to handle many of the same jobs your IVR system once did. The question is - are they capable of doing it better?

Being able to see figures and facts is an important aspect of success when growing and improving your call center’s approaches. Data visualization has long been a focus of these improvement strategies for contact centers, BPO organizations, and more. These days, though, this visualization is its own approach - and its entirely digital.

Digital visualization allows for better interaction with data and a better understanding of the figures being examined. It allows for companies to make more meaningful adjustments based on the information presented - and access that information whenever necessary.

Ready to learn more about how great digital visualization can improve your call center from the inside out? Check out all the ways seeing it in living - digital - color can help your team put your data to better use:

Today’s consumers are increasingly fond of self-service.

Part of this comes from the convenience of self-service options; whether it’s paying a bill from the comfort of your own home or canceling a subscription without having to spend half an hour on the phone with someone, it’s an approach to customer service that fits the busy modern person’s schedule.

However, a larger part of this desire for self-service options comes from the newer generations’ lack of desire to talk to actually talk to other people on the phone. While often mocked by older people, this is just a natural part of the evolution of communication - and something that should be catered to by businesses that hope to remain competitive. Offering more contact center self-service options is one way to keep these businesses relevant in a time when they have fallen out of public favor.

What makes a great call center agent? The problem with answering that question is that the correct reply might vary from center to center - and it will also be dramatically different than the answer might have been just a decade ago. It definitely makes call center agent assessment difficult!

Here, we will take a look at some of the qualities that create an excellent agent. Use these as a guideline to form your own method of evaluating your employees. Call center agent assessment doesn’t have to be difficult; just follow these recommendations and give your agents the kind of feedback they need to thrive!

Data is bigger than it has ever been. In your contact center, that data can include all manner of sensitive and critically important consumer information - as well as a lot of useless data that you cannot use. Sorting the two apart and making use of what you need while also protecting consumer privacy is a delicate balancing act that can easily overwhelm centers that are not prepared for the task.

This is why call center data management is so important. Without the tools and technology to collect, organize, and analyze the massive amounts of data your center is likely to process in an average month, you may be doomed to repeat the same mistakes of many others - compromising data, losing consumer trust, and eventually losing your business to better-prepared competitors.

For outbound call centers, compliance with government regulations regarding consumer privacy and protection is essential. Noncompliance won’t just get your center into hot water - it can get your business shut down and land you in major legal trouble.

Can you operate an outbound contact center in the post-TCPA era without worrying about this potential problem? Yes - if you and your staff understand outbound call compliance and how to work within the government guidelines. Here, we’ll help you understand your center’s place in the modern marketplace and how to keep from encountering problems related to compliance: