Do you know what your contact center agents are saying to your customers? How do you measure the quality of a call? The answers to these questions are indicators of whether Call Quality Monitoring is being implanted in a contact center. Many contact centers claim on having a Call Quality Monitoring Process in place. However upon evaluation, a majority do not utilize the appropriate approach; hence resulting in ineffectiveness.

The common pitfalls in implementing a Call Quality Monitoring program are as follow:

1. The key purpose of Call Quality Monitoring is to “check” on contact center agents.
This is a common misconception whereby call quality monitoring is used as a tool to “spy” on the call interactions with the customers. In certain instances, this approach causes fears and lack of trust in contact center agents. This ultimately affects the contact center agent’s performance. To address this challenge, contact center agents should be educated and constantly reminded that calls are being monitored for learning, development and continuous improvement.

2. Investing in the most advanced Call Quality Monitoring system will provide the desired results.
Although putting in place a Call Quality Monitoring system is essential, investing on the most advanced technology may not be ideal in providing the total desired results. Prior to selecting a system, a thorough evaluation on the system in meeting a contact center’s needs is required. User-friendliness, scalability, customization, value added services and vendor support are some of the key criterions to be considered in the evaluation process.

3. Lack of clearly defined and measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
KPIs are vital in providing a set of call quality standards. Simply documenting a list of KPIs is not sufficient. Each KPI has to be clearly defined and measurements need to be established. This approach is important to eliminate disputes which are bound to arise in the call quality monitoring process.

4. Lack of effective Coaching and Mentoring.
This is a common challenge faced by contact center Team Leaders and Supervisors. To compliment the call quality monitoring process, coaching and mentoring must be carried out. Team Leaders and Supervisors must be equipped with the necessary coaching and mentoring skills and knowledge to undertake this role effectively.

Call Quality Monitoring is an essential process in a contact center operation. This initiative provides the platform for continuous process, quality improvement and contact center best practices. It requires proper planning, implementing, improving and calibration to make it a success.