Designing the Best Call Center for Your Business, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

by Brendan B. Read (Author) "When people strike up a conversation with me, they invariably ask what I do for a living..." (more)
Key Phrases: best call center, nearshore countries, serving foreign customers, New York, Call Center Magazine, New Zealand (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Designing the Best Call Center for Your Business examines all key aspects of opening and expanding a live agent call center, with in-depth coverage on facilities and workstation design; site selection, including communications and power backups; finding the right property; and staff recruiting, training, and retention. It covers domestic and international call centers and those that handle online as well as voice interactions. The book also explores what functions and value call centers can offer businesses, including outbound and inbound sales and customer service and help desk. It examines and suggests how to cope with hot issues that could affect the center such as customer hostility to outbound cold-calling and unsolicited emails.

This edition is revised throughout and expanded with two new chapters. Key topics in the second edition include offshoring as well as nearshoring, including the pros and cons as well as the how-tos of offshoring and nearshoring; hot issues involved with offshoring, such as cultural affinity, unique facilities and staffing issues, and consumer and political resistance; the impact of federal "Do Not Call" legislation; technology changes, including voice-over IP has come into its own; eLearning as a training alternative; ergonomic issues; and business continuity planning and disaster recovery.

About the Author
Brendan B. Read is a business editor, writer and consultant who writes about site selection, real estate, facilities, staffing, training, outsourcing and home working. Brendan served for many years as services editor of Call Center magazine. A frequent speaker at at industry conferences, he is the author of Home Workplace and co-author of The Complete Guide to Customer Support.

Product Details

• Paperback: 362 pages
• Publisher: CMP Books; 2.00 edition (January 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578203139
• ISBN-13: 978-1578203130
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #505,641 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE UPHEAVEL IN THE CALL CENTER UNIVERSE, August 10, 2005

By	John R. Vacca "Tech Write Independent Reviewer" (Pomeroy, Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Call centers are a key part of our lives even if we have never set foot into one of them. Author Brendan B. Read has done an outstanding job of telling the reader how to design, plan and create call centers to supply those functions cost-effectively to satisfy both users and your organization..

Read begins this 2nd edition of the book by defining what call centers are. Next, the author takes a hard look at what functions call centers provide for you to determine which of them you need for your organization and how to justify their costs. Then, he discusses what type of planning takes place in the call center. From there, you can then begin to explore your strategies, The author will then leave you to look at alternatives for live agent handling, including self -service (IVR, outbound voice messaging or OVM, fax, automated email, or Web self-service); home agents; and, outsourcing. Read continues by presenting specific characteristics and issues entailed in serving Spanish-speaking Americans that affect call center planning, operations, and costs. In addition, the author describes several characteristics of serving foreign markets with call centers that you must take into account. He then provides you with a set of requirements for buying property for your call center. Read next suggests that if you maximize your investment, you also need to keep your call center clean, functioning properly, and protected. Also, according to Read, "your attention should be focused on selecting the right agents; as well as, training strategies." The author then continues to discuss training strategies and how to retain agents. Next, he touches on the key issues that affect your call center's performance and how to maximize your returns. Finally, he finishes up by recommending a great call center resources guide.

With the preceding in mind, the author has done an excellent job of exploring most of the facets of call centers. That's why he focused on call center creation.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for the real estate professional, July 19, 2005

By	L. R. Owens (Pasadena, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is good, and at times entertaining (something you don't expect in a technolgy book), but if you are looking for specific guides and standards that corporate real estate professionals need in developing their strategies, then this is not the resource for you. It may help you develop you thought process about what you need to consider in establishing a call center, but it falls short in the development of strategy.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars don't buy it : worth nothing, March 23, 2005

By	dehbi jaafar (montreal, Québec Canada) - See all my reviews

i bought the book thinking it would be THE book.

only one advise that i could give regarding the book : DO NOT buy it !! worth nothing.