PALO ALTO, Calif. — Three things have changed with the times at the Stanford FCU contact center here: the software allows telecommuting, all representatives are highly experienced and all but one works off-site.
"These changes have provided for good marks from our membership," explained Ali Shafai, VP-eCommerce at the $1.1-billion CU. Scores from monthly contact center surveys have consistently topped out at about 3.75 out of 4, up from an average of about 3 out of 4, he said.
Stanford FCU launched Oracle's Call Center on Demand (CCOD) in 2007. "CCOD delivers the eyes and ears to handle calls" to the CU's eight contact center representatives — seven of whom work from home, he said.
"All a representative needs is an Internet connection and a phone to field member calls," said Shafai. "This provides the ultimate in flexibility in executing a telecommuting program and business continuity. A representative could be fielding member calls anywhere an Internet connection is available."
Oracle CCOD provides Internet Protocol-based, automatic call distribution (ACD) for calls, voicemail, interactive voice response and email, all routed to the appropriate agent.
But the primary reason that Stanford FCU initially hooked up with Oracle was to allow representatives to work off-site, Shafai continued. Representatives live as far south as San Diego and as far north as Modesto. "There's a wide geographic dispersion."
Indeed, the CU's experienced team of agents can't afford to live and work in high-priced Silicon Valley, said Shafai. "Allowing representatives to work from home has meant they can move away from the area to provide more housing for their families and still be gainfully employed."
The telecommuting program has become popular and successful, he continued. "It's a cost-savings and a time-savings for employees. Now it's even a recruiting tool. Applicants are very enthusiastic about the possibility of working from home when they reach a certain level of proficiency."
The CU provides telecommuters with an ergonomic review of their workstation; a PC, telephone and headset; and a high-speed Internet connection - as long as the employee agrees to provide a "dedicated work area in their home free of noise and distractions," said Shafai.
Conversations with members surrounding non-public core system data are accommodated through the secure network connection and electronic forms, he said.
In some ways, telecommuters are better performers: they are more available because they don't call in sick as often as on-site representatives. However, the on-site agent can usually handle a call in less time than the off-site agents — "there's more of a sense of urgency because you can see your colleagues," who may be taking note of your diligence, he said.
Telecommuting also saves Stanford FCU on occupancy costs, continued Shafai. "You don't have to grow yourself out of your existing square footage as your team grows."
Although Stanford FCU has 46,500 members, it only needs eight agents working normal business hours to handle the average 8,500 calls and 1,200 emails per month from members, said Shafai. "That's because 98% of our transactions are electronic. There's not a lot of reason for our members to call us."
When members do contact the CU, they're assisted by experienced representatives, said Shafai. "We're hiring journeyed professionals who have had several years' experience in contact centers. It has fundamentally changed the make-up of the contact center."
A new contact center representative job description, grade and salary structure reflects the CU's five-year focus on trained, enthusiastic employees, said Shafai. One result has been decreased turnover, he said.
