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Implementing a Call Center

Implementing a Call Center. ( Doing more with more!). Once upon a time…. …there was medium sized community college 36,000 duplicated headcount 9,000 FTE …located south of Portland OR …called Clackamas Community College (CCC). And they had issues…. Too many students

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Implementing a Call Center

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  1. Implementing a Call Center (Doing more with more!)

  2. Once upon a time… • …there was medium sized community college • 36,000 duplicated headcount • 9,000 FTE • …located south of Portland OR • …called Clackamas Community College (CCC)

  3. And they had issues… • Too many students • Not enough staff

  4. And a grumpy Registrar… • Tara Sprehe who oversaw: • Accounts Receivable (temporarily) • Admissions (processing) • Degree and transcript evaluation • Registration

  5. And her staff felt like this:

  6. Why? • The phones never stopped ringing • Students left the same message with multiple staff • Answering the phones meant staff couldn’t get processing done

  7. And the students felt like this:

  8. Why? • They couldn’t talk to a “live” person • Answers to questions never seemed to be the same • Processes took “forever”

  9. So the grumpy director said… • We have a new “communications system” • And we implemented a college-wide phone tree • So…what if we implemented a call center?

  10. What would we need? • Phone system • Space • Staff • Money – but how much and for how long?

  11. Phone System: • Already owned CISCO communication system (very robust) • College phone tree helps funnel callers • Created three “call centers” to respond from phone tree: • Enrollment Services (Cougar Call Center) • Spanish • Student Services

  12. Space • Space wasn’t really an issue at CCC • First call center was in one office with 6 call stations and coordinator – very, very tight! • cost nothing to build (took everything from surplus).

  13. Space continued: • In year two, moved to a new location of two adjoining offices (highly recommend) • Cost approx. $150.00 • How did we spend so little to provide 7 call stations? • Used surplus materials (get creative!) • ITS donated all the phones and computers through reallocation process • Purchased 2 white boards, misc. office supplies and materials for manuals

  14. And it looks like this:

  15. Staffing: • Hired one full-time classified Call Center Coordinator • Physically located in outer office which has two work stations • Provides quality assurance • Provides training • Assigns work projects during slow periods • Tracks data and provides reports • Trouble shoots all phone related challenges

  16. Staffing continued: • ESL department secretary responds to Spanish Call Center • Peer Assistants and FWS students from Student Academic Support Services (SASS) area respond to Student Services Call Center • Peer Assistants, and FWS students respond to Enrollment Services Call Center

  17. About those Peer Assistants: • Created a new program (Peer Assistants) in part to staff the Cougar Call Center • PA’s earn a tuition waiver: • Partial waiver for 110 hours of service per term (11 weeks) • Full waiver for 165 hours of services • Impacts college revenue

  18. Money • Start up costs were very low thanks to the creativity and diligence of the Call Center Coordinator. • Operates on annual budget of $70,000: • Annual salary • Travel/staff development • Office Supplies • Repair and maintenance

  19. Challenges to implementation… • Fear – departments said students couldn’t answer these questions. • Training – still needs work • Break weeks – hard to staff with students

  20. Success: • Actually saving the college money in staffing costs • Of the 14,916 calls received by the Cougar Call Center between July 1 and Dec. 31 of 2010, 4,927 (33%) were transferred to a specialist. • In the spring of 2012, we received 7,542 calls and 2,581 were transferred to specialists (34%).

  21. And the staff felt…

  22. Why? • The phones stopped ringing • They focused on processing which helped students • They felt calm, cool, and collected

  23. And the students felt…

  24. Why? • For the most part, they reach a live person each and every time they call • Answers to their questions are consistent • They connect to someone at the college -usually a peer!

  25. And there was much rejoicing. The End.

  26. Questions?

  27. Contact Information • Tara Sprehe • Director of Enrollment Management/Registrar • taras@clackamas.edu • 503-594-3370

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