scholarly journals A Decision Model For Contracting Helpdesk Services

2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-56
Author(s):  
Meg Murray ◽  
Joy Young
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Call Center ◽  
Decision Model ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Call Routing ◽  
High Investment ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
Business Requirements

Contractual helpdesk services, also known as call center outsourcing is a growing industry. Helpdesk solutions, which offer customer service to consumers who have an issue, problem or concern, are an integral part of many organizations wider service function. For smaller companies, outsourcing helpdesk services is becoming more and more popular given the technical expertise and high investment costs required to develop, implement and maintain the infrastructure needed to support these services. Contracting for helpdesk services helps to alleviate smaller companies from concerns with technical issues, retaining employees dedicated to continuous research on the value proposition of emerging products or services, and in some cases, the need for hiring additional staff. While the basic principles for negotiating an outsourcing contract apply, this paper explores the special considerations pertinent to contracting helpdesk services. These include determining an optimal solution by mapping business requirements to specific call center resource options, determining the optimal call routing structure given budgetary considerations and understanding technical problems associated with the call center environment and developing a satisficing plan to address problems should they occur. As the technologies, including telecommunications and call routing options, that form the basis of helpdesk services evolve, so does the importance of helpdesk services as they move from cost centers to profit generating ventures.

Mitigating Burnout Through Organizational Justice: Customer Support Workers’ Experiences of Customer Injustice and Emotional Labor

2021 ◽  
pp. 089331892110120
Author(s):  
Heewon Kim ◽  
Rebecca B. Leach
Keyword(s):  
Procedural Justice ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Emotional Labor ◽  
Call Center ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Interpersonal Justice ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
Customer Support ◽  
Decision Making Processes

Employee burnout is a critical organizational concern that can be prevalent among customer support workers whose day-to-day tasks inherently include emotional labor. This study examines emotional labor and burnout among call center workers in customer service industries, specifically focusing on the influences of injustices from customers and supervisors. The findings demonstrate that: (a) customer injustice was associated with an increase in emotional labor, which in turn exacerbated customer support workers’ disengagement and exhaustion; (b) interpersonal justice perceived in the interactions with supervisors was negatively associated with disengagement; and (c) procedural justice perceived in supervisors’ decision-making processes was also negatively associated with disengagement. The findings indicate the mitigating role of interpersonal and procedural justice in reducing burnout among customer support workers.

Theoretical Framework for CRM Outsourcing

2005 ◽  
pp. 2841-2845
Author(s):  
Babita Gupta ◽  
Lakshmi Iyer
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Customer Relationship Management ◽  
Call Centers ◽  
Relationship Management ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Customer Relationship ◽  
Retail Stores ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Business Requirements ◽  
E Mail

Customer service is emerging as a key differentiator among competitors as the explosive growth of e-commerce is changing the nature of competition among companies. This has changed the customer-related business requirements for all types of companies. With firms increasing their online operations, customers now have the ability to contact organizations through a variety of interactive and noninteractive means (such as e-mail, fax, call centers, FAQs, online chats, newsletters, snail mail, retail stores, and Web-based forums). This has led companies to consider customer relationship management (CRM) as an important part of their competitive strategy. As the focus is shifting to retention rather than acquisition of customers, companies are looking for ways to identify and engage their most profitable customers.

THE WORKPLACE, THE SOCIETY AND THE WIDER WORLD: THE OFFSHORING AND OUTSOURCING INDUSTRY

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 145-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Hamp-Lyons ◽  
Jane Lockwood
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Call Center ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Call Centers ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Business Success

Workplace language assessment poses special issues for language testers, but also, when it becomes very large scale, it poses issues for language policy. This article looks at these issues, focusing on the offshore and outsourcing (O&O) industry as it is transitioning from native-speaking (NS) countries into nonnative-speaking (NNS) destinations such as India and the Philippines. This is obviously most impacted in call centers, where the ability of customer service representatives (CSRs) to communicate with ease with their native-English speaking customers is central to business success and can be key to a nation's economy. Having reviewed the (limited) research in this area, we take the Philippines as our example to explore how government, academe, and the business sector are dealing with the language proficiency and personnel-training issues caused by the exponential growth in this industry. Appropriate language assessments that are practical, while also being valid and reliable, are critical if the Philippines is to retain its position in this emerging market. Currently, call centers in Philippines complain of very poor recruitment rates due to poor language ability, and of poor quality communication outcomes measures: But how do they assess these key areas? We describe and evaluate the current situation in call center language assessment in the Philippines and discuss possible ways forward, for the Philippines and for the O&O industry more broadly.

scholarly journals The Effect of Various Parameters of Solution Methodology on a Flexible Integrated Supply Chain Model

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elham Behmanesh ◽  
Jürgen Pannek
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Integrated Design ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Chain Model ◽  
Logistics Network ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Take Back ◽  
Supply Chain Model ◽  
Integrated Supply Chain

A successful supply chain must be able to operate at the lowest cost while providing the best customer service as well as environmental protection. As industrial players are under pressure but mostly unprepared to take back products after their usage, logistics network design becomes an even more important issue. To allow for a maximum of flexibility and efficiency, we consider an integrated design of the forward/reverse logistics network using full delivery graph. We apply a Memetic Algorithm with a novel population generation to find a near optimal solution for large size problems. The effect of different parameters on the behavior of the proposed Metaheuristic Algorithm is investigated. Using the experimental work to find the best parameters for this problem is the outlook of these researches.

Call Center Employee Adherence to Customer Service Scripting

2013 ◽  
Vol 113 (9) ◽  
pp. A53
Author(s):  
C.D. Weiss ◽  
D.M. Brown ◽  
J. Whaley
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Call Center
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