These tools are nice to have in a pinch. The VCS system is good because rather than create a permanent assignment of one connection port per worker, the architecture of VCS lets businesses allocate PBX ports dynamically. This means the total number of ports purchased can support a much larger number of workers. This tool, scheduled for its first installs in March, has more of a general business outlook, targeted at corporate users needing standard the features of the standard business phone system from home or while on the road. An offering that's more specific to call centers, called VCS Virtual Agent, is coming out in the second quarter of 2001.
Supervisors can listen, watch, and interact with calls from anywhere.
A lot of people see these benefits as too soft to warrant the installation of major technology to support them. With the economy slowing and the labor market perhaps softening too, the incentive to devolve call center operations outside the physical center may not be there. Especially when those benefits run counter to the prevailing managerial culture. It remains to be seen whether better tools and the changing economics of call center management create a climate that supports more remote agents.