The back office is just as integral to your business as your customer service agents - and yet, this area of contact center business doesn’t receive nearly as much investment

While the back office has undergone a lot of changes in recent years, many back offices still handle many tasks manually, and they may use a lot of paper. Using workforce management software to improve processes and automate tasks are great ways to update your back office.

Here are five reasons not to overlook your back office.

1) Efficiency

A more efficient back office means a more efficient business as a whole. The back office can be made more efficient by going paperless or updating the way paper records are stored. When paper records are stored electronically, they’re faster to find and can be accessed at the click of a mouse.

And once documents are scanned and properly stored electronically, they can be shredded - which frees up space, too.

2) Productivity

New computers are a great way to increase productivity, ensuring your back office staff have the necessary and most up-to-date software to do their jobs properly.

Software is continually being updated, and it works best with the most current operating system. The most current operating system works the best when it’s coupled with the latest hardware. It can really eat into your back office staff’s productivity if they have to wait for a slow and outdated machine every time they wanted to do something. That’s just frustrating for everyone involved.

3) Quality Control

Establishing systems in the back office will help managers optimize tasks so they are done in the most efficient way possible with minimal mistakes. Systems also ensure quality control by providing documentation as to how a task is to be completed, ensuring each employee knows and follows the required steps.

4) Predictability

Predictive analytics can boost your contact center’s success in three main ways: better customer retention, improved follow up contact, and increased quality and efficiency. Back office efficiency programs like Workforce Optimization and Management Software can help lower contact center and back office costs by reducing overstaffing, overtime, and shrinkage. By tracking back office data, managers are able to understand how employee resources are used and can better predict needs for future projects.

5) Preparedness

Disaster recovery is a key process that takes place in the back office. Whether your back office is completely paperless or only partially, so much work takes place digitally that you need to make sure you have a plan in case your data is lost. This goes far beyond ensuring you make daily backups. You need to have plans in place for preventing IT disasters as well as a plan for recovering from one if it does happen.

How the back office operates is reflected in other areas of your call center. That’s why it’s important to optimize the back office for efficiency, productivity, quality control, predictability, and preparedness. For help in setting up your back office to perform optimally, contact KOVA Corp today.