Technical support is possibly one of the most difficult areas a contact center agent can work in. As part of an off-site company, it can be challenging to get the information you need from your callers - much more  so than as part of an on-site service that can simply take a look at the device and diagnose the problem in person.

So what is it that makes a good tech support contact center worker? What advice or strategies can an agent use to make sure they’re doing their job to the best of their ability? Here are a few tips.

Be an excellent listener

We’ll start with the most obvious one. The best way to help a caller with any problem, particularly a complex one, is by listening to them describe their issue carefully. Keep your ears open for minor details that could lead to a solution, and ask as many relevant questions as you need to - without annoying your customer, that is.

Quite simply, the more information you can glean from the caller, the better equipped you’ll be to resolve their problem on the first call.

Manage your time well

Contact center agents work on a tight schedule, and they’re often required to manage that schedule on their own. It’s up to the agent to be efficient and concise while still providing excellent customer service.

Remember, time is valuable to both you and your caller.

Use your discretion when it comes to technological details

This might not be an area that you think about too much when it comes to being a tech support contact agent, but it’s important to remember that the technology you’re working with belongs to a company that’s selling it.

There are bound to be some trade secrets involved in whatever tech you’re providing support for, so you shouldn’t give more details than necessary, either to the caller or to friends and family in your off-time.

Stay flexible

Remember, you’re going to be experiencing all sorts of situations and issues that you’re not expecting; that’s part of the job when you’re providing technical support. An effective agent learns to expect the unexpected and deal with unpredictability.

When dealing with callers, it’s simply impossible to anticipate all the potential problems they might have, so be ready to change course and adjust your strategies on the fly.

Always maintain a pleasant tone

How you speak to a customer is possibly just as important as how well you listen to them. Remember that someone calling in with a technical issue is probably going to be irritated about that issue - especially because the device that’s malfunctioning was likely expensive.

Your tone should project patience, empathy, and authority in equal measure, without exaggerating any of those qualities. A customer wants to feel both understood  AND like they are in the right hands.

It’s up to you to project as much of those sentiments as possible using only your voice.

Use your company’s knowledge base

Knowledge of the policies of the company you’re providing service for is vital. You’ll need to know their tech inside and out along with their rules, and be able to apply your knowledge of both to each customer’s situation.

Since you might be providing service for several different companies at a contact center, it’s important to keep all of that information straight and at your fingertips to provide the best possible service. Use the knowledge base provided to you regularly and often.

Don’t use jargon

As familiar as you will need to become with the technical information of the devices or systems you’re providing service for, it’s handy to remember that the person you’re talking to might not have that same knowledge.

Plenty of callers will know their way around the technology they’re calling about to some degree, but many won’t. After all, if they knew how to fix problems with their devices, they wouldn’t be calling you!

When explaining a problem or a potential solution, keep your language as plain and straightforward as possible. Use a conversational style that can be easily understood, regardless of who you’re speaking with. Customers will appreciate it.

For more on offering your callers excellent customer service, read our post “3 Ways You Can Empower Your Agents to Handle the Most Difficult Callers.”

You’ve probably seen the scene before in movies: There’s a tense hostage situation or a bank robbery gone wrong, and the police cars and SWAT teams start rolling up. And somewhere nearby, there’s a large van or truck that looks similar to the ones that UPS and FedEx drive around, but more fortified.

Inside this truck are the people making the calls, making the decisions and making the plans. These vehicles are called mobile command centers, and they’re hugely important pieces of technology for police, firefighters and other public safety workers.

Inside these mobile command centers, you’ll find all kinds of tech, public safety software, communications gear, and other vital tools that public safety workers need to do their jobs.

Here are a few of the possible uses of mobile command centers (or MCCs) in the field.

Crime labs

Believe it or not, police don’t always have to transport evidence back to some distant crime lab to get the results they need. Many MCCs are outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment to test all sorts of potential evidence from a crime scene.

Public safety workers can get the results they need on the spot to help them do their jobs more quickly.

Bomb units

Nothing is more important in a bomb-threat situation than the ability to respond quickly, and that’s what an MCC provides. Whether it’s fast, clear communication, high-quality video cameras, or even a remotely-operated bomb-defusing robot, an MCC can be loaded with all of the necessary equipment that a bomb squad might need to keep the public as safe as possible.

Large event security

In a case where a city or community is hosting a multi-day festival or event, public safety workers often bring in more than one MCC to serve not just as mobile headquarters for those on duty, but to provide wireless surveillance of a wide area filled with hundreds of thousands of people.

Long-term surveillance

MCCs are perfect for spending days, weeks, or even months on surveillance. Whether it’s an area with a high crime rate or keeping watch on one specific structure, MCCs can be equipped to run like a full-scale police station on wheels, and they can do so indefinitely.

Search and rescue

One of the most important uses of an MCC can be in the search process for someone who’s missing or is being sought in connection to a crime. Thanks to the technology available at a public safety worker’s fingertips inside an MCC, they can help with search and rescue operations alongside the more traditional search methods.

Nothing aids a team of searchers on the scene of a hunt for a suspect or a missing person better than an MCC, because they can move with the search on a moment’s notice.

Shelter

At the most basic level, an MCC can provide a temporary place for public safety workers to stay in the event of an emergency or extreme weather. They may not have all the comforts of home, but a well-stocked and fortified MCC can provide at least a temporary respite for those that protect others for a living.

A safe environment

Even if extreme weather isn’t an issue, an MCC can be a perfect place for a police officer or firefighter or other public safety worker to set up some office space.

Protected from most potentially dangerous situations even at an active crime scene, public safety officials can do paperwork, research a particular person or situation on the computers or plan the next step in an operation, all from inside an MCC.

Monitoring criminal or emergency situations in progress

The true original function of an MCC is to provide help in an active situation, whether it’s a crime, a natural disaster, or a rescue operation. That’s what MCCs are made for, and that’s still their best primary purpose. Communications, security and flexibility are all vital parts of public safety work, and an MCC can provide all of those on four wheels.

Want to learn more about public safety communications? Read our post about the nation’s first broadband network dedicated to public safety, “FirstNet and Broadband - Changing Public Safety.”

Without a doubt, the Harris Corporation is one of the standard-bearers in the field of wireless communication. Their collection of tactical radios, electronic systems, night vision equipment and antennas is about as must-have for members of the public safety community as you can get, up to and including the Federal government.

That’s why their International Users Conference, which will take place at the Hilton Palacio Del Rio hotel in San Antonio, TX from April 23rd-27th,  is about as close to a must-attend event as you can get. Here are some of the highlights of the conference schedule, which is jam-packed with training sessions and vendor exhibits.

Sunday, April 23rd: Training Session 1

The first of many wide-ranging training sessions, this first gathering will focus on maintenance procedures for the popular XG series of portable radios.

In addition to a basic rundown of the XG family of products, there will be tutorials on replacing parts, maintaining the XG software, the best testing scenarios for the radios, a detailed lesson in assembling and dis-assembling an XG, and conversations about how the radios work in the field, delivered by experienced users.

By the time this session is over, you should know all there is to know about these durable, state-of-the-art public safety tools.

Monday, April 24th: Training Session 2 and Exhibit Hall

This training session will help those attending understand the configuration and operation of an Inter RF Sub-System Interface (ISSI). Topics for this course will include configuring the Unified Administration System (UAS) for foreign and local ISSI gateways, creating ISSI Regions, establishing System Assigned ID ranges for foreign user and groups, determining talk groups and shared users available to foreign systems and creating foreign user permission templates.

Monday will also feature the first collection of exhibitors, displaying public-safety and surveillance solutions from all over the country.

Tuesday, April 25th

The third day of the conference focuses more on speaking engagements than training, and will feature several important presentations.

8 a.m.:

An overview of the Harris Corporation and the conference will be offered by Vice-President of Strategy and Business Development Communication Lori Thompson and Public Safety and Professional Communications President Nino DiCosmo.

There will also be symposiums by Dr. Dennis Martinez, the Chief Technology Officer at Harris, Michelle Johnson, the LTE Center Of Excellence Director, members of the San Antonio Sheriff’s Dept., and many other public safety and communications officials. All told, there will be more than ten different speakers throughout the day.

Wednesday, April 26th

Training Session 3: The Harris P25 Radio System

This session will provide attendees with a full rundown of the Harris radio system called the P25.. By the time the session is complete, you should be able to identify equipment, components, and terminology,  along with being able to describe the features and operational processes associated with the P25 radio system.

There are many key functions of the P25, including a network switching server, a storage array network, a voice interface controller, a network sentry and dispatch consoles.

This training will be essential for anyone who wants to master this exciting new technology.

Thursday, April 27th: Conclusion of Training, Q&A

In addition to continued training on the P25 system, the final day of the conference will be a busy one.

There will be an extensive seminar in creating a radio personality and radio groups, which will include training on creating and populating a talk group, defining radio emergency behavior, loading a personality into a radio, creating a voice-end user, giving a radio an alias, exploring the parameters of property classes, priority classes and coverage classes, and creating a subscriber unit by using the appropriate IP address.

Then, at the end of this training session, the attendees will be given time for a Q&A session and, time permitting, a series of tasks to complete, including making and receiving group calls, changing talk groups, changing systems, making and receiving individual calls, and finally, operating the radio system’s scan feature.

Want to learn more about public safety technology? Read our post “The Future of Public Safety Technology.”

 

Maintaining and enforcing public safety are not static professions. They are constantly evolving, with new standards and requirements popping up all the time. It’s KOVA’s job to stay on top of those changes, and that’s why we’re going to be participating in this year’s New Jersey College and University Public Safety Association Conference.

The conference, which will take place from April 19th-21st at the Resorts Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, will include vendors with the latest public safety technology, lectures and advisory sessions by some of the top experts and officials in the field, and multiple networking opportunities for all attendees.

Here’s a more specific, though by no means complete, breakdown of what the NJ-CUPSA will offer at this year’s convention.

Keynote speaker

On the first evening of the conference, Dr. Chris Rodriguez, from the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security, will speak. Rodriguez served in the CIA for more than a decade before accepting the Homeland Security position, rising to the position of Senior Analyst in the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center.

In addition, Rodriguez has travelled the world and served in both Iran and Iraq.

There are few people in the country more qualified to speak on the issue of public safety than Dr. Rodriguez.

Campus trends and threat assessment

Critical Infrastructure Coordinator Audrey Miller and Intelligence Analyst Paige Schilling will lead this seminar on the second day of the conference.

Unfortunately, more and more threats to public safety seem to be happening on college campuses these days, and that means that those tasked with keeping students safe must be as informed as possible on different methods, tactics and strategies.

The more a public safety worker knows about the possible threats that are on our country’s college campuses, the more likely they’ll be able to work effectively if the worst happens.

Active shooter and campus issues

FBI Special Agent Bruce Kamerman will be on hand immediately after the Threat Assessment seminar to discuss what happens when the worst does occur.

Active shooting situations on college campuses are among the most terrifying situations that can happen, and as sad as it might be to say, they are becoming increasingly common.

With the help of special agent Kamerman, public safety workers can learn about how to react in those crucial first moments after an active shooter is detected on campus.

Vendor reception and exhibit

Later on the second day of the conference, vendors will be in the ballroom of the Resorts Hotel & Casino, showing off some of the most recent developments in public safety technology.

From PSAP call recorders and response systems to better protection for those out on the front lines, these vendors will have the most cutting-edge new tools that you can use to keep yourself, and those you’re protecting, safe.

This is an area of public safety that seems to change by the second, so it would serve anyone in the field well to stop by the exhibition and see what’s new.

Panel discussion: Diversity/Relations on campus with Vickie Weaver, Dr. Pamela Pruitt, and Susan Stahley

As our population grows more diverse, it goes without saying that college campuses will become more diverse as well.

Dr. Pruitt, director of Rider University’s Department of Multicultural Affairs; Vickie Weaver, the Director of Public Safety at Rider; and Susan Stahley, of the university’s Substance Abuse Prevention Office, will discuss not just the way public safety workers and officials will need to adapt to a culturally diverse student body, but also how to foster better relations between students and staff.

One of the keys to better protecting the public is better understanding them, and this panel discussion will be a useful lesson in how to do that.

KOVA is proud to be a part of this year’s conference, because we’re committed to being responsive to changes in our ever-evolving public safety industry. We hope to see you at the Resorts Hotel & Casino on April 19th!

In an age of increasingly technology-fueled contact centers, automated systems can often handle minor issues with customers. This is no doubt a good thing, both for the client and the contact center. But it also means that the larger, more complex problems are still going to need to be addressed by your staff.

This gives them a higher level of responsibility than ever, and it also means that your process of training has to be better, more effective and more thorough than ever. But with so many training procedures and theories out there, what are the best ways to create a knowledgeable, effective staff?

Here are some best practices when it comes to training your contact center employees.

Empowering Your Employees

If you make sure your employees feel like they have a stake in your contact center’s success, they’re more likely to go the extra mile to make sure that’s the case.

An employee that feels valued within the center and that has the power to make certain decisions is much more likely to solve a customer issue within a single call, and they’ll be a better representative of whatever brand your center is handling.

Varied Procedures

Who says that training procedures can’t be frequently examined, evaluated and changed, just like you might do in an employee evaluation? This helps to ensure a higher level of engagement from the employee, whether it’s a new hire or a longtime employee who’s training on new procedures.

Mix up simulations, videos, written training and actual calls to make sure that your employees have as many different situations under their belt as possible. The more prepared they are, the more likely they can handle a customer’s problem in one call.

Why Wait?

And speaking of the training period, why not have your employees handle some calls (under the proper supervision, of course)? It may sound a little intimidating for them and like a bit of a risk for you, but with a fully trained supervisor on hand, the trainee can defer to them if need be, and there’s no better way to train than by having hands-on experience.

Keep The Process Continuous

Training doesn’t end when an employee begins handling calls on his or her own. It’s a constant process of learning, and one of the best ways to periodically strengthen your employee’s abilities between evaluations is to review their calls monthly.

Frequent check-ins and call evaluations can clear up small problems before they become larger ones.

Positive Management Philosophy

Encourage your contact center supervisors not just to offer critiques and constructive feedback, but to praise the trainees when they’ve done things well. An unbalanced amount of criticism vs. praise can create an impression with the employee that they aren’t doing well, when they might be doing just fine.

And who among us doesn’t feel the urge to perform better at their job when they’ve received positive encouragement?

Clarity Is Key

Speaking of feedback, it’s important to make sure that what you’re telling your trainees is as clear as possible. Make your language specific and precise, so that there’s no room for ambiguity in what you tell your new employees.

Not only will it help their development, but it can set a precedent for all of their future interactions with the contact center management.

The Buddy System

Who are the star performers at your call center? What makes them excel at their jobs? Why not pair up your trainees with the workers who have gone above and beyond?

Not only does it give them a chance to see the practices and techniques that will help them excel, but it will also give them an idea of how the call center works from a knowledgeable, reliable perspective.

Incentives

Incentives for above-average job performance are a well-known way to encourage great results and company loyalty, so why not introduce the same kind of program to your training process? It doesn’t have to be a large financial investment; small bonuses or paid time off or a free lunch can be effective training incentives.

Search and rescue missions can be dangerous and difficult, and every second counts. Despite the best efforts of public service professionals who work hard to save lives, there are places and situations that are can put their lives in as much danger as the victims they’re trying to reach.

So what tools can these public service agencies bring into play to help them ensure their own safety and still reach those that are injured and locate those who are missing? The answer may be in drone technology.

Here are some of the advantages of using a mechanical drone system to locate those that are missing or injured.

Cost

It’s worth mentioning that search and rescue missions are expensive. They take a large amount of personnel and hours, and a long, thorough search under those conditions is bound to be expensive.

But with a drone, or a fleet of drones searching for a victim, that cost can be minimized without sacrificing accuracy.

One drone can search an area in minutes that would take human searchers hours to complete.

Post-Search Technology

The video technology used by state of the art drones can allow search and rescue teams the chance to analyze the footage a drone has collected and perhaps spot something the drone was unable to identify.

Video quality has increased in drone technology to such an extent that a team of police or firefighters or search volunteers can get a clear, crisp, bird’s-eye-view of massive amounts of territory so they can find the missing victims faster.

Rapid Assessment

In a situation where fire or severe weather is the concern, a drone’s flight can provide on the spot data that workers might not be able to get. By sending a drone into an area that’s too dangerous for human surveillance, a search and rescue team can collect vital information on the location of accident victims and the best route to reach them.

Quicker Deployment

When search planes and helicopters are required in a rescue situation, it often takes a lot of time to prepare them for takeoff and reconnaissance. But a drone can be launched on extremely short notice, and they can be built to handle extreme conditions like fire, wind and severe weather.

The more quickly a drone can be deployed, the better chance an accident victim or missing person has.

Providing Supplies

It’s not always possible for a victim to be immediately extracted from a perilous situation. Until that victim can be reached, drones can be used to drop food, water, first aid items or medicine into the area that a victim is in.

This is a vital role that a drone can play while search and rescue teams form a plan to reach an injured person.

Monitoring The Perpetrators

People aren’t always hurt or missing because of accidents. If the person responsible for injuring or abducting someone is still in the area, a drone can be vital in tracking their movements.

Rather than send law-enforcement into unsafe situations, a drone can track an assailant if he or she tries to escape, and keep police and other search and rescue workers apprised of their movements in up-to-the-minute real time.

Team Safety

Perhaps the most important reason that drones should be used for search and rescue teams is that they can increase the safety of the very workers assigned to protect OUR safety.

By sending unmanned drones into dangerous situations, police officers, EMS techs and firefighters can get a much fuller idea of the situation they’re about to walk into and ensure they’re taking the safest possible approach.

Other than the safe rescue of an accident victim or missing person, there’s nothing more important than protecting the well-being of those who put their lives on the line to provide these vital services.

Technology is a vital element, perhaps the most vital, in creating an effective contact center. Without the right tools, your contact center could fall behind the competition easily. It’s a good idea to stay on the lookout for any new tech that can help you keep up with call volume and address your customer needs better.

With that in mind, we’ll be examining a particular piece of technology here: the Verint Media Recorder. Verint is a company that specializes in risk compliance, optimizing customer engagement, security and intelligence, and they work in 180 countries with over 10,000 organizations.

The Media Recorder is an advanced digital recording, archiving and evaluation system with the purpose of helping contact centers deliver better customer service and operate more efficiently. It has several key features and benefits that we’ll discuss below.

The Verint Media Recorder is capable of full-time and scheduled recording, and it can be programmed for specific criteria and on-demand situations.

The user interface is quick and easy to use, which allows you to rapidly pinpoint areas for customer-service improvement as well as reducing any potential liability and making dispute resolution easier to handle.

The recorder is flexible enough in terms of storage capacity that it can enable large databases of calls, text messages, emails and chat sessions to be retained for longer periods of time, making a massive amount of data available at your fingertips.

Speaking of flexibility, you can choose the best playback and recording methods for your call-center, tailoring the system to your specific objectives, whether you need more emphasis on monitoring, replay or archiving.

The configuration of the Recorder can also be manipulated or changed easily. Based on your needs, you can work with a single record/playback unit or multiple recording servers with ease.

You can tag a large range of pertinent factors in your recording and combine those factors, including the agent’s name, the caller’s number, the duration of the call, the time the call came in, and the date.

Your contact center can also use the recorder to tag specific interactions, attach any relevant comments to them and forward them to the correct members of the organization, which will make compliance issues easier to address and cut down response time dramatically.

As far as your employees’ ability to work with this technology, the Verint Media Recorder has some definite advantages in that area, as well. The Recorder allows customized-capture of data associated with a call and can incorporate user-defined triggers to stop, start and tag recordings.

That’s just a sample of the range of playback options available with the Verint Media Recorder. It can also allow simultaneous synchronized playback of captured interactions, allowing supervisors the ability to quickly search for recordings, access them and play them back via a desktop browser, helping them gain a better idea of what occurred at specific points in the call.

As far as archiving, the recorder offers some groundbreaking options there, as well. It provides storage options that include multiple redundant hard-drives, automatic virtual archiving and many support options.

There’s also state-of-the-art quality monitoring software, allowing supervisors to evaluate the performance of their agents, create new evaluation systems and access quality management reports, and all of these options are available from a desktop.

But that’s not all. The recordings in the Verint Media Recorder can be tagged with vital data about the transaction in question, with customer and account-identification information embedded for easy access during reply.

You even have the option to insert documents into the recording process and encrypt audio and screen date for security protection. Within the system, a supervisor can even redact sensitive data, so that the calls can be replayed for training or other purposes without giving away any customer or client information.

In short, the Verint Media Recorder is a secure, fast, reliable way to get vital data and improve employee efficiency at your contact center. It’s the cutting edge of media-recording technology. If you think Verint Media Recorder might be right for your business, contact us at KOVA today.

Many times our first responders don’t always get the love and respect that they deserve. Sometimes great stories can end up getting buried under the depressing news that tends to dominate the media landscape. So we thought we’d bring you some of the best first responder rescues from around the internet, and maybe brighten your day just a bit.

Returning The Favor

Our first story is so incredible that Snopes actually verified it as true because so many people had doubts. Over thirty years ago, a doctor in California worked to keep a premature baby alive. At 3.2 pounds, Chris Trokey had been given a 50% chance of survival. Chris did survive, and he grew up to become a fireman-paramedic. Maybe you can guess where this is going. The doctor, Michael Shannon, was hit by a semi truck on Pacific Coast Highway, and was trapped in his burning SUV. And guess who showed up with the Jaws of Life and saved him? That’s right, Chris Trokey had no idea who Dr. Shannon was until he got to the hospital afterwards, but was shocked to find out it was the same doctor who had saved his life all those years ago. Talk about returning the favor.

A Window Of Opportunity

Firefighter Matt Holladay wasn’t even supposed to be working the day that he saved Jeffie “Honey” Sanders life, but he had traded shifts and was on duty when the call went out. The house they responded to was engulfed in flames, except for the smoke-filled bedroom where Sanders lay. Holladay made the decision to go in, and jumped through the window to pull the 70-year-old grandmother out of the burning house. At first he sadly thought that he had recovered a body, but then heard paramedics yelling that they had a pulse. Sanders was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation and burns, all thanks to the heroic actions of Holladay.

Best Doggone Rescue

In our last story, the stakes might not be quite as high, but if you’ve ever owned a dog, then you can relate to the fear of losing your furry best friend. A dog in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area almost suffered a terrible fate, but was rescued by the San Francisco Fire Department. The dog was in a leashless area, and its curiosity may have gotten the better of it, as it took a tumble down a cliff and wound up sitting precariously on a ledge. Luckily, the fire department responded, scaled the cliff, and managed to bring the poor pooch up to safety. Check out the video of the rescue if you need a little pick me up today.

Our first responders go through a lot to help us, and even if we’re not always thinking about them, they’re always ready to give us a hand and help us out of dangerous situations. If you’d like some advice on how you can say thanks, then check out our article, “4 Ways to Show Appreciation for Public Safety Workers this Holiday Season.”

 

We’ve talked before about how a contact center might need to adapt their training procedures differently for members of Generation X and Millennials (or Generation Y). Now, we’re going to look at the flip side of that equation - customer service expectations - using a different population group, Generation Z.

Generation Z, or those born between 1994 and 2005, are a new breed of customer, and they’ll necessarily require a new level of customer service. No amount of training will be adequate for your employees if it doesn’t take customer expectations into account.

Judging by the research that’s already being done by companies like IBM, Generation Z is going to be one of the most informed groups of consumers we’ve yet seen. Their expectations of your contact center are therefore going to be higher.

Here are some characteristics that might define a Generation Z customer.

Desire for a quick resolution

Every customer wants their question or issue resolved as quickly as possible, but Generation Z is so accustomed to fast-moving technology that their expectations are heightened. They expect the right solution, and they expect it quickly.

It's also worth noting that the typical customer-service pleasantries like a polite greeting might not matter as much to a Gen Z customer as getting to the point of their call.

Loyalty must be earned

The average Gen Z consumer has been bombarded by constant advertising for virtually their entire life. Often, whatever offers or assurances they’ve received from the advertisers aren’t totally reliable.

It’s important that their contact center experience with you inspires loyalty to the product they’re calling about. Your handling of the issue, and your ability to resolve it, will make a big impact on your youngest customers.

Efficiency over pleasantries

There’s often unnecessary conversation in the typical customer service call. This is typically to root out any potential hidden issues the customer might have, or to make sure the customer feels empathized with and respected by the contact center employee.

Those words may not be as needed with a member of Gen Z. In an age of increasingly short attention spans and increasingly high demand on their time, this demographic is happier with results than repartee.

We’re not saying that politeness and a thorough understanding of the situation aren’t both key, but reducing the amount of time spent on the phone is extremely important to this group.

Extreme tech-savviness

It’s important to remember that with Gen Z, you’re dealing with a generation that’s seen revolutionary waves of technology come and go in the blink of an eye. They’re probably going to have a more comprehensive knowledge of whatever technology or service they’re contacting you about.

This is vital to keep in mind because there will probably be steps they’ve already taken to resolve the issue themselves, and reaching out to the contact center might be a last resort. Their patience might therefore be a little thinner, and their issues more complex.

Price is less of an issue

A recent extensive study of Gen Z consumer habits vs. Millennials revealed one major difference between the two groups: While Millennials typically preferred the least expensive solution to a typical issue, Gen Z wanted whatever worked the best for them, regardless of price.

This is a dramatic difference, and one that might allow us a window into their way of thinking when they call a contact center.

Instead of always focusing on the financial aspects of resolving their issue, it’s important to remember that you might be speaking with a customer who isn’t especially concerned about that.

This is probably the most positive aspect of the somewhat limited research available on Gen Z customers: You can offer a more thorough, complete solution to their issue because that’s what they want.

Want to learn more about handling difficult or complex customer service situations? Read our post “3 Ways You Can Empower Your Agents to Handle the Most Difficult Customers.”

At KOVA, we’re deeply committed to helping public safety communications professionals do their jobs as effectively and efficiently as possible.

After all, these are the people who help us when we’re going through the most difficult, frightening, and dangerous situations in our lives.

Car wrecks.

Natural disasters.

Domestic violence.

Terrorist attacks.

The list goes on. A 911 call-taker or dispatcher who not only has the best training, but also is working with the best available public safety technology, can mean the difference between life and death in certain situations.

That’s why we’re honored to be a sponsor of the Pennsylvania Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (PA-APCO) Annual Conference this year. The conference is taking place April 2-5 at the Eden Resort in Lancaster, Penn. and will feature a wide array of training sessions.

These are just a few of the topics being covered that we’re most interested in this year.

FirstNet and NG9-1-1

As we get closer and closer to nationwide Next Generation 9-1-1, many PSAP operators are working hard to meet the requirements and understand how they’ll affect their team’s daily operations.

When combined with FirstNet, the nation’s first dedicated public safety broadband network, the capabilities of NG9-1-1 will allow 911 call-takers, dispatchers, and First Responders to make use of more accurate location and incident data. This will have major positive effects on public safety - but what has to happen in order to get us there?

We’ve written about this a bit ourselves - for more info on this exciting development, read our blog post “FirstNet and Broadband: Changing Public Safety.”

Mapping

One of the NG9-1-1 standards is 98 percent accuracy for GIS mapping. This is a critical issue for PSAPs, especially those in rural areas where GPS data may be less accurate and landmarks fewer.

And since cell phone calls to PSAPs still do not automatically transmit location data - what many have called a “deadly flaw,” as it can result in response delays of seconds and even minutes - it’s even more important that PSAPs be ready to adopt technology that will allow them to find callers as quickly and accurately as possible.

PSAP call-taker and dispatcher training

Training is a vital part of any public safety communications professional’s work, especially as the technology that they use, like the Verint Media Recorder for Public Safety, gets more advanced.

Sessions covering lessons learned from real incidents, best practices for training younger call-takers, and team-building will be highly valuable for PSAP managers, as well as call-takers themselves.

For more on PSAP training, read our post “6 Vital Leadership Skills for PSAP Managers.”

We hope to see you at the Pennsylvania APCO Annual Conference!

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