Customers can be sent to the next available agent, for example, or to an agent with language or other skills needed to handle a particular call. Software called Home Agent takes virtual call centers a step further by linking agents' home computers to customer service databases. According to a TCS 1997 benchmark report, about 11 percent of call centers responding used Home Agent last year, up from 7 percent who used it in 1996. The reason for slow growth, Hayes said, is that it is expensive to implement because it requires installing infrastructure in homes. Computer telephony integration, however, is.
Computer telephony is the ability to link voice and computer systems.
It's going real fast.