Contact Center Analytics: Reporting vs. Supervision

Analytics tools allow contact centers to track their performance and determine whether they are meeting their goals. These analytics collect, measure, and report key performance metrics for agents’ inbound and outbound interactions and ultimately reveal whether the time and effort put into every interaction is driving customer satisfaction and brand growth. Key metrics include, for example, average handling time, hold time, and call duration. Measuring these metrics in real time is especially critical for managing high call volumes and adjusting agent workload as necessary to meet demand. To achieve maximum efficiency, contact centers must therefore have both a short-term vision that allows for real-time adaptations using supervision tools and long-term goals for achieving customer service success using reporting tools.

A contact center solution equipped with advanced supervision tools allows call center supervisors to have a comprehensive view of agent performance in real time. These KPIs presented in a real-time dashboard allow a supervisor to oversee, analyze, and assist agents as needed. With the Vocalcom contact center solution’s real-time, intuitive, and customizable dashboards allow supervisors to analyze agent performance and make quick decisions to optimize call center practices.

For example, if a supervisor sees that there is a high call volume at a certain time and agents are taking too long to finish every interaction, the supervisor may choose to allocate agents differently to meet the increased demand in real time—for example, by moving more agents to inbound channels. This can help increase both agent efficiency and customer satisfaction as more calls are handled in an effective manner. Supervision tools also help supervisors assist agents during interactions. For example, supervisors may use tools such as call whispering, listening, conferencing, and chat to help agents handle interactions more efficiently. Agents may improve their performance by speaking more clearly with a customer, offering more detailed information, or simply finding information more quickly in order to reduce call handling time. Supervision tools therefore allow call centers to take immediate action easily in order to improve agent performance and customer service practices and reach short-term performance goals.

With Vocalcom’s reporting solutions, data is collected from your omnichannel contact center’s activities to provide valuable information for your teams to act upon long term. This data can be used to make decisions about foundational practices, such as how many agents are needed in the contact center, which channels need the most attention, etc. Unlike supervision tools, however, reporting tools may be used at a later time to make decisions about overall contact center strategies that may be optimized for stronger agent performance. For example, if the average handling time appears to be high over a long period of time and is resulting in low customer satisfaction scores, you may decide to find ways to improve efficiency through agent training and better use of technology. Some contact centers may choose to consult their reports on a monthly basis, while others may wish to study them on a weekly or even daily basis. No matter how often you choose to look at your reports, they will allow your contact center to determine if your overall goals are being met and make adjustments as needed every trimester or semester. As KPIs evolve, you can determine if there are any specific patterns in your service and make strategic decisions to improve your performance based on the proof of your data.

Both supervision and reporting tools have benefits for the contact center, but they are typically used under different circumstances to optimize contact center practices. While supervision tools are best used to make immediate real-time adjustments for greater agent efficiency, reporting tools may be consulted at a later time. Supervision tools therefore help contact centers meet short-term goals, while reporting tools help contact centers make periodic adjustments in order to meet long-term goals. Lastly, supervision enables supervisors to better assist agents in their customer interactions through improved practices, while reporting is ideal for tracking and improving specific KPIs and meeting overall strategic goals. When used together, supervision and reporting are powerful tools for contact center success.

In summary: Supervision vs Reporting