The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on contact centers is nothing short of phenomenal. This is especially true in the case of public sector contact centers. Last year leading up to this year, the public sector agencies’ contact centers have been, and continues to be, put to the test.

In the face of the crisis almost all face, the public sector (i.e., government-controlled economy) must evaluate how they can reach out to the people they serve, along with various other customers and stakeholders. What they should be thinking about is, of course, providing quality customer experience. Moreover, the public sector contact center should also be thinking about their agents and digital channels for increased support.

How things were handled 

The public sector contact centers’ leaders within those agencies, although admittedly rough, transitioned greatly due to their swift action in pivoting their centralized, brick-and-mortar contact centers to a remote work-type of way. Making this move greatly took a lot of stress off of everyone’s backs and provided tremendous support in the contact center industry trying to handle the COVID process — the public sector included.

The leaders needed to think a number of factors for the continuation of the contact centers’ support. Of course, the leaders/managers thought about providing the different technology that reinforces remote work. Along with that, the provision of laptops or other devices was also made sure. Leaders also made sure to manage, monitor, and provide assistance to agents in a remote manner, as well. 

From the statements, it is clear that leaders also have a lot in their plate to ensure the continuity of the public sector contact center operations. Three of these were just some of the examples of the challenges the contact center leaders experienced which seemed like a hurdle impossible to jump at.

But at the end of the day, the agency leaders in the public sector along with the contact centers leaders all accomplished their objectives for the continuation of operations — as well making sure of the agents’ safety and well-being.

Should the public sector contact centers handling the COVID process now return back to normal after the pandemic?

As stated above, the public sector contact centers made the necessary adjustments to continue operations. The question is: should they put the adjustments at a halt and revert back to the “old ways” after the pandemic. Of course, the answer to that is a big, fat NO.

It really does not matter if the current framework today in the midst of the pandemic was “rushed”, per se – there is nothing anyone can do about that. Contact center leaders have already made the pivot or adjustments, as mentioned. 

Cloud-based solutions which is a foreign concept from most public sector agencies have been deployed, albeit with a little bit of pressure in this COVID pandemic. Agents have been equipped with the proper tools to properly respond to incoming calls and initiating those, as well (i.e., tools that improve inbound and outbound calling experience). As a result, the public sector contact centers which are more inclined to serve the citizens can now provide the same quality service as those in the private sector that tends to their beloved customers.  

Obvious changes between remote vs office-based

The changes are quite obvious — no one in the contact center is in the same room. This can create certain challenges. Moreover, all that work from home will surely experience some sort of friction because of the overlapping of one’s personal and work life. Outside factors like noises, distractions, and the general vibe of a home can render one experiencing difficulties, or worse, unable to work altogether. That is why the public sector contact center leaders must take everything into consideration and carefully adjust the agents’ schedules and shifts and align the agents to their best positions for a smoother call volume flow.

Finally, agent monitoring has also become more different now that remote working is implemented, removing the use of an office workspace. Solutions like Workforce Management (WFM) are used in this situation.

With challenges also come strengths. One particular benefit is recruitment. With the limitation that is only applying at one specific place removed, many can now apply and contact centers can pick from many talented prospects available online.

Positive chain of events

With an improved public sector contact center in the COVID process, citizens which they serve can have a better experience. Self-service can greatly help provide a better citizen experience. Contact tracing and vaccine distribution, for example, is widely supported by the public sector. As a result, self-service is all the more important for both citizens and the contact center itself to not be drowned and find a way to balance call volumes, all the while instilling improvements in the processes. 

Digital channels, too, is very important nowadays, the reason mainly being accessibility. With this, only improvement awaits in the future.

Tegsoft

Tegsoft is a well-design platform capable of helping companies provide the best customer experience. This can truly help in establishing good to great contact centers capable of almost everything it intends to do!

The municipality sector, related closely with the public sector, can provide quality services to their citizens by using Tegsoft’s communication infrastructure. Contact us to learn more.

Reference/s:

https://www.niceincontact.com/blog/did-2020-reveal-the-future-of-public-sector-contact-centers