Implementing skill-based routing in a service agency environment

Telemarketing & Call Center Solutions, Feb 1998 by Crisafulli, Michael A

For most call center managers, skills-- based routing is a dream come true. In an ideal world, the method by which incoming calls would always be handled is based on a combination of what the call requires and the skills of the agents. For service agency call center managers, the benefits of using skills-- based routing technology include efficiencies in utilization, staffing and administration, thus resulting in lower costs and potentially increased income. To effectively utilize this technology, it is important to thoroughly understand the implications of implementing skills-based routing in a service agency environment.

What Is Skills-Based Routing ?

Fundamentally, skills-based routing is a feature used by an ACD (if capable) to route inbound calls to specific agents or agent groups. It allows call centers to customize the way they handle calls by sending specific types of calls to the most qualified agents. This differs from traditional routing that may distribute calls equally to all agents based on incoming traffic. Proper implementation of skills-- based routing enables the call center to achieve a high level of agent utilization while optimizing customer service levels. Typically, the ACD uses several steps to support the skills-based routing:

* A front-end mechanism to identify the call (e.g., ANI, DNIS),

* Creation and design of agent groups based on skill or application,

* Implementation of agent groups into call control tables to handle the incoming call flow.

The number of agent groupings required depends on both the number of unique applications the call center must support as well as the number and combination of agents trained on those programs.

Why Are Service Agencies Different

To understand the unique complexities of implementing skills-based routing in a service agency, it is critical to evaluate the differences between a service agency and a traditional call center. Service agencies often specialize in handling multiple inbound applications, each of which may or may not have unique call-- handling and servicing requirements (e.g., order processing, help desk and third-party verification). A "traditional" in-house call center may handle a few or several inbound applications; however, each has common or similar call-handling and servicing requirements (e.g., help desk). Because of the diverse number of applications as well as competing multiple priorities in a service agency environment, the skill sets and quality of the agents will vary - not only from agent to agent, but also from application to application, based on the experience and training of the agent.

The Challenges

Let us follow an example that illustrates the challenges associated with implementing skills-based routing in a service agency.

Service Agency A has purchased a new ACD and has identified that implementing the skills-based technology will increase agent utilization and ensure that customer service levels are satisfied. (In a review of the current application mix, a total of 25 totally unique applications with a pool of 100 agents have been identified. In mapping the applications to the agents who are qualified, management begins to identify what agent groups may be required to properly service the different combination of calls agents could handle.) The result of the mapping reveals that more than 80 agent groupings are required to support the 25 unique applications. The primary reason for this is that not all agents are qualified (or trained) on every program and, as a result, the agent groupings must be developed to support the different levels of agent qualifications. The Figure below illustrates this scenario.

For example, the Figure illustrates that several agents may be trained on application A and B, but not application C, while others are trained on B and C, but not application A. As a result, two agent groupings must be developed. With three or four unique applications, the challenges are somewhat trivial; however, with 25 unique applications, the design and implementation complexities increase substantially.

In this example, productivity would obviously be increased, and implementation would be greatly simplified with an accurate staffing program as well as potential cross-training. Operations and Training Departments would therefore be critical players along with the IT group in implementing the new process. If the design process for skills-based routing is flawed, call center managers could see drops in agent utilization and unacceptable customer service levels. Additional costs resulting from a higher level of ACD administration are required to maintain these agent groups and call-- routing programs. As a result, the return on investment for an ACD capable of skills-based routing can be much lower than expected.

Overcoming The Challenges

There are several methods to overcome the challenges of implementing skills-based routing in a service agent environment, as follows.

1) Take the time to design the routing plans before starting to implement the agent groupings: