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This is a printed copy of current questions for the ContactCenterWorld.com Top Ranking Performers Awards. Note this copy does not include any routing based on answers. It is a copy of all questions and if you complete this off line, please log back into ContactCenterWorld.com to enter the information.
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Best Emergency Services Center - Award Entry Form

KEY / LEGEND

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1.) What type of industry sector would describe your company best? (Please select the closest one)
 


2.) When was the center first established? What was the business justification at that time?
 





3.) What kind of customers does your center serve?


4.) Which of the following geographical areas for your center supports (Please select all that apply)


5.) What kind of contacts does your center handle? (Please tick all that apply).
 


6.) Please describe the overall strategy behind the contact center, its functions and how it contributes to the overall success of your organization.
 





7.) How many agents/representatives do you have?
Full Time
 
Part Time
 
Total FTE
 


8.) Do you have any home based agents?


9.) If you do have home based agents, what percentage of staff work from home.
 


10.) What was the total annual call volume handled by your center last year?
Inbound:
 
Outbound:
 


11.) Please describe your strategy for the management of social media activity within your company and which channels are being worked on i.e. Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc.
 





12.) Please explain the specific role of the contact center in this social media strategy.
 





13.) How do you measure the success of your Contact Center?
 





14.) What is the annual budget for the center for this year? Please state in USD (note use Oanda.com for conversions)
 
specify currency
 


15.) What percentage of the budget does the center spend on:
 
Wages / Labor costs
 
Marketing
 
Publicity
 
Training
 
Other areas (specify)
 
100%


16.) Is your center available 7 days per week, 24 hours per day?


17.) If No to Q16, specify the hours you are open
Monday
 
To
 
Tuesday
 
To
 
Wednesday
 
To
 
Thursday
 
To
 
Friday
 
To
 
Saturday
 
To
 
Sunday
 
To
 


18.) Is your Center unionized?


19.) Does the contact center have its own mission statement, and if so what is it?
 





20.) Which industry rules, regulations or guidelines do you comply with? (e.g. do not call etc)
 





21.) Do you measure customer satisfaction?


22.) What method(s) do you use to collect customer feedback on a customers experience with your center? (Please select all that apply.)
 


23.) What is the frequency with which you measure customer satisfaction?
 





24.) What are your customer satisfaction scores?
 


25.) Who measures customer satisfaction? (Please select all that apply.)
 


26.) What would you regard as the most surprising outcome as a result of measuring customer satisfaction?
 


27.) What actions have you taken as a result of measuring customer satisfaction? (Please select all that apply.)
 


28.) Do you measure staff morale/motivation/engagement?


29.) What are your current scores and define the scale used?
 


30.) Has morale in the last 12 months...


31.) What kind of features does your center have to make the workplace more comfortable? (Please select all that apply.)
 


32.) What kind of additional facilities for staff do you provide in your center? (Please select all that apply.)
 


33.) What kind of ergonomic features do you have in place in your center? (Please select all that apply.)
 


34.) How would you describe the layout of your contact center?
 


35.) Please upload some photos of your center so judges can see the layout etc. (Do not include any photos that show your company name)
 





36.) What type of telephone number(s) do you provide for inbound customers? (Please select all that apply.)
 For Customer Services?For Sales?For Technical Support?
Toll free (800) number
'Local rate' number
Standard area code number
National rate call number
Premium rate /Higher rate numbers
Unsure


37.) What is the shift rotation pattern of the center?
 


38.) When you recruit agents/representatives, which of the following methods do you use? (Please select all that apply.)
 


39.) How would you rate the competition with other centers in your local labor market with respect to human resources?


40.) How do you advertise agent positions for your center? (Please select all that apply)
 


41.) When you advertise for staff, how do applicants respond? (Please select all that apply)
 


42.) How many applications do you need to sift through to appoint just 1 agent/rep?
 


43.) What are the 3 most important skills and experience for new agents? (Please select all that apply.)
 


44.) What is the approximate percentage of employees aged?
Under 25
25 - 35
35 - 50
50+
______
100%


45.) What is the approximate percentage of turnover of your full-time agents/representatives pre annum? (Including promotion, moving to another department, leaving the company)
 


46.) What is the approximate percentage of total annual turnover that is just related to agents/reps leaving the company?
 


47.) What would you consider to be a realistic turnover rate?
 


48.) What strategy/strategies do you have to keep agent turnover as low as possible? (Please select all that apply.)
 


49.) What is your current CALL service level agreement? (Percentage of calls handled within X seconds i.e. 80/20 = 80% of calls within 20 seconds) (Fill in 0/0 if no service level agreement is in place)
 
% within
 
seconds


50.) On average, how many days per year are spent training supervisors?
 


51.) On average, how many days are spent training new agents?
 
and existing agents?
 


52.) What do you measure agents against? (Please select all that apply)
 


53.) What is the percentage of total working days lost to absenteeism per year per agent?
 


54.) What methods do you use to motivate your agents? (Please select all that apply)
 


55.) Please describe recent programs or activities that demonstrate your focus on your staff and how this has benefited morale and team work.
 





56.) What technologies have you deployed in your contact center? Please detail any that have had substantial impact on enhancing service, reducing cost, increasing productivity and/or enhancing employee satisfaction.
 





57.) Please describe your training and development plans for your contact center staff.
 





58.) Do you have an IVR or speech recognition system?


59.) Which of the following IVR/speech recognition system technologies do you use?
 


60.) For certain transaction types, do you force your customers to use your IVR/speech recognition system? (if applicable)
 


61.) What percentage of your total center volume is completely handled by your IVR/speech recognition system?
 
 


62.) What are your primary reasons for deploying an IVR/speech recognition system? (Please select all that apply.)
 


63.) Do you have internal Service Level Agreements (SLA) between your center and other departments?


64.) Do you have a disaster recovery plan for the center?


65.) What is your average speed of answer in seconds?
(total time in queue / total number of calls answered)
 


66.) What is your average talk time in seconds?
(number of seconds the customer was connected to an agent)
Inbound:
 
Outbound:
 


67.) What is your average after call work time in seconds?
(average amount of time taken by an agent to complete tasks, for example data entry after the call is terminated)
 


68.) What is your average abandonment rate as a percentage?
(the percentage of calls that are abandoned compared to the calls received)
 


69.) What is the percentage first time completed calls?
(calls where the customer's query or requirement is resolved during the first call)
 


70.) What is the average number of calls handled per agent (per day)?
Inbound:
 
Outbound:
 


71.) What is the percentage agent utilization?
(Talk time plus after call time divided by total time logged into system)
 


72.) How is an agent's time typically split up? (on inbound only)
On calls
Post call; wrap up
Available but idle
Other admin duties
Other (specify)
 
______
100%


73.) What other ways can your customers communicate with your center? (Please select all that apply)
 


74.) Describe how you ensure consistency across all channels you contact center offers customers.
 





75.) Do you call back abandoned calls?


76.) How quickly do you call back?
 


77.) Do you employ any business strategies/methodologies such as Six Sigma /Lean etc.
 


78.) What are the 3 biggest challenges facing your center in the next 12 months? (Select ONLY 3)
 


79.) Please explain how you plan to develop your contact center in the next 3-5 years. Include details of what investments you will be making and how these will benefit the customer, your contact center staff, and the company, if relevant.
 





80.) Please add any additional information on what makes your Center outstanding from others and why you should win this award.
 





81.) If you qualify for the regional award finals and are asked to present your contact center best practices in 20 minutes or less, to a panel for judging purposes, what would you present and why?
 





82.) To help us understand some of your successes in this category, please upload a short (no more than 5 minute) Video (mp4) OR Audio (mp3) of you talking about your achievements in the last 12 months. DO NOT wear any corporate clothing, mention your name or company name or have anything that will allow any judge to figure out who you are or where you work!
 





83.) Who suggested you to enter this award (Job title only NO NAMES please) and why? (This is for background information)
 

Global Benchmarking Study Questions

These are optional questions that you can provide as part of our global benchmarking study. By contributing to these you will have access to a comprehensive industry report online at the end of the awards year. All data is confidential and if you participate in this survey your data will be included but no data will be attributed to you so no one accessing the results can track it back to you or your company. We encourage everyone to participate.



1.)What CRM initiatives have been implemented? (Select all that apply.)
 


2.)Why has your company invested in CRM? (Select all that apply.)
 


3.)Do you have a single view of the customer across all touch-points?


4.)Who designed the contact center?


5.)Is your center designed to accommodate staff with disabilities?


6.)What is the average workspace for an agent? (Size: in cubic metres or feet)
Size:
 
specify square metres or square feet
 


7.)Do you do any of the following checks on staff; either during or after you recruit them? (Select all that apply)
 


8.)Do other employees participate in the interviewing and selection process for new employees?


9.)What are the top three reasons for agent turnover? (select ONLY 3)
 


10.)Which strategy do you feel has resulted in the biggest reduction of agent turnover?
 





11.)Which of the following methods do you use to monitor your agents? (Select all that apply)
 


12.)Do your agents/representatives pass on unsolicited customer comments to the management team?


13.)What is your staffing ratio for:
Agents/representatives per supervisor/team leader?
 
:
 
Supervisors/team leaders per manager?
 
:
 


14.)How do you monitor at home employees? (Select all that apply.)


15.)Are you looking into hiring any (or more) home based agents?


16.)Do your agents/representatives receive any individual performance bonuses?


17.)What is the average starting salary for an agent?
 
specify currency
 


18.)What is the average starting salary for a supervisor?
 
specify currency
 


19.)What is the average starting salary for a manager?
 
specify currency
 


20.)Do agents use any scripts when dealing with customers inquiries/calls?


21.)Do you have in place any of the following?


22.)Do you have a career development plan in place for employees?


23.)How do you deal with an employee who is not performing well? (Select all that apply.)
 


24.)Do you conduct exit interviews when your agents leave your contact center?


25.)How do you match staffing levels to call volumes?
 


26.)What type of contracts are used for agents? (Select all that apply.)
 


27.)What areas are included in training for ... ? (Select all that apply)
 AgentsSupervisors
Corporate overview
Customer Service Skills
Negotiation skills
Procedural skills
Legislation
Product and service information
 
Other (specify)
 
 
Other (specify)
 


28.)Do you verify or authenticate the identity of your customers at the start of, or during calls?


29.)What types of data are used to forecast call volumes? (Select all that apply.)
 


30.)Have you ever had a need to make use of your disaster recovery plan?


31.)Did your disaster recovery plan work as expected?


32.)Of all channels, how are volumes compared to 12 months ago?
 IncreasingDecreasingNo change
Inbound calls
E-mail
Other (specify)
 


33.)Which is more important First Call Resolution or Customer Satisfaction?


34.)How do you find balance between first call resolution and customer loyalty/satisfaction?
 


35.)What percentage of calls is resolved in?
Less than 30 seconds30 Seconds to 1 minute
1 - 2 minutes2 - 3 minutes
Over 3 minutes


36.)Rate your use of the following technologies; please tick off all those that apply and if using now, please indicate the supplier (if known)
 Used in the pastUse Today
and Specify Supplier where known
ACD (automatic call distributor)
 
Billing solutions
 
Call routing
 
Click to call services
 
CRM (Customer relationship management)
 
Data analytics
 
e-Learning
 
Enterprise personalization
 
IP telephony
 
Knowledge management
 
Call monitoring software
 
Predictive dialer
 
Remote agent management technology
 
Speech recognition
 
Scripting software
 
Web chat
 
Other (specify)
 
 
 
Other (specify)
 
 


37.)What information do the majority of your agents have access to when dealing with customers?