Remote work has opened new possibilities in how contact centres manage their workforce. However, it has also unearthed new challenges in keeping those employees engaged.

Two resources, often mentioned in the context of tracking agent activity, are Desktop Analytics and Screen Recording. While both allow capturing of agent activity on-screen, there are large differences that relate to remote work needs.

Dispelling the tracking stigma

Desktop Analytics is primary used to see the effectiveness of agents and the amount of time they spending using specific tools. It often gets a bad name because a lot of agents automatically associate it with “Big Brother” type surveillance. This is not the case, and in fact, most website blocking it usually done by the IT team through the company  firewall—not directly in the contact centre.

Adjusting to smaller processing needs of remote machines

Desktop Analytics is a light application that resides on each contact centre agent’s desktop, compiles a list of every application, URL, etc. accessed during the day,  and tags each as either “approved” or “unapproved” in order to maintain preset standards. When combined with other metrics also gauging agent effectiveness—such as average quality evaluation score, the number of positive sentiment calls received, agent adherence rates—desktop analytics provides an additional perspective not attained elsewhere.

You don’t need a ton of storage space

Right now, with many agents working remotely, many contact centres are concerned with bandwidth. Some are already having trouble managing it. We have heard it over and over again in our webinars and on our customer communities. Desktop Analytics answers this need by using a minuscule amount of bandwidth—a full days data is only 500 KB. Screen recordings typically eat up 1 mb per MINUTE of recording, so the storage difference is stark.

Everything is contained, nothing is separate

Desktop Analytics essentially upskills traditional quality management. The information appears right in the Calabrio media player. So, if you are listening to an agents call and they say “I am having trouble finding that information” you can quickly go to the Desktop Analytics information and see why. On the next call, then,  your agent gets the same question and quickly gives updated shipping information using a different website.

You now know agent best practise, so you can train the other agents on this information.

Read more on Desktop Analytics for remote working solutions, and other options to help work-from-home needs, on our Remote Solutions Centre.