--- name: voice-support-operations description: "Manage voice-based customer support operations including call center management, call routing optimization, call quality standards, agent coaching, and telephony analytics. Use when optimizing call center performance, setting up IVR systems, managing call queues, or improving first-call resolution. Triggers on phrases like 'call center', 'voice support', 'IVR', 'call queue', 'first call resolution', 'FCR', 'average handle time', 'AHT', 'call routing', 'call quality', 'telephony', 'omnichannel routing', 'WFM', 'workforce management'." --- # Voice Support Operations Manage voice-based customer support operations including call center management, call routing optimization, call quality standards, agent coaching, and telephony analytics to deliver exceptional phone-based customer experiences. ## Workflow ### Phase 1: Call Center Design & Capacity Planning 1. **Demand forecasting**: - Historical call volume analysis (hourly, daily, seasonal patterns) - Forecasting models (trend, seasonality, event-based adjustments) - Service level targets (80/20 standard: 80% answered in 20 seconds) - Abandon rate targets (< 5% industry benchmark) 2. **Workforce planning**: - Erlang C calculations for staffing requirements - Shift scheduling and span of control - Flex staffing strategy (part-time, overtime, backup) - Shrinkage accounting (breaks, meetings, training, PTO, sick time: 30-40%) 3. **Technology architecture**: - Telephony platform: Genesys, NICE CXone, Five9, Amazon Connect - IVR design and call flow optimization - Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) routing strategies - Voice analytics and quality management tools ### Phase 2: Call Operations & Routing 1. **Call routing optimization**: - Skills-based routing (match agent expertise to customer need) - VIP/premium customer prioritization - Callback options (virtual queue management) - Overflow and escalation routing 2. **Queue management**: - Real-time queue monitoring and alerting - Service level breach prevention (proactive staffing adjustments) - Cross-training for flexibility across queues - Overflow protocols and escalation paths 3. **Call handling standards**: - Standard operating procedures per call type - Call scripting and guided workflows - First Contact Resolution (FCR) optimization - Average Handle Time (AHT) targets by queue ### Phase 3: Quality Assurance & Continuous Improvement 1. **Quality monitoring**: - Call evaluation scorecard (compliance, soft skills, accuracy, resolution) - Calibration sessions (align evaluator scoring) - Agent coaching based on quality findings - Customer satisfaction (CSAT) correlation analysis 2. **Performance management**: - Individual performance dashboards - Team performance tracking - Recognitions and incentives - Performance improvement plans 3. **Process improvement**: - Root cause analysis for common call drivers - Knowledge base updates to reduce call volume - Self-service deflection strategy - Continuous feedback loop (agent → process → product) ## Templates ### Call Center Operations Framework ``` VOICE SUPPORT OPERATIONS — Framework ======================================= Version: [4.1] | Effective: [2025-01] SERVICE LEVEL TARGETS: Primary SLA: 80/20 (80% of calls answered within 20 seconds) Abandon rate: < 5% Average speed of answer (ASA): < 25 seconds First Contact Resolution (FCR): > 85% Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): > 4.2/5.0 Average Handle Time (AHT): < 6 minutes (varies by queue) QUEUE CONFIGURATION: ┌────────────────────┬────────┬───────────┬───────────┬──────────────┐ │ Queue │ Agents │ Skill Req │ Hours │ SLA Target │ ├────────────────────┼────────┼───────────┼───────────┼──────────────┤ │ General Support │ 45 │ Tier 1 │ 24/7 │ 80/20 │ │ Technical Support │ 22 │ Tier 2+ │ 24/7 │ 80/30 │ │ Billing/Accounts │ 18 │ Tier 1 │ 06:00-22:00│ 80/15 │ │ VIP/Premium │ 12 │ Tier 2+ │ 24/7 │ 90/15 │ │ Sales Inquiries │ 8 │ Tier 1 │ 08:00-20:00│ 80/10 │ │ Escalations │ 5 │ Tier 3+ │ 08:00-18:00│ 95/60 │ │ Sales Handoff │ 3 │ Tier 1 │ 08:00-18:00│ 80/30 │ └────────────────────┴────────┴───────────┴───────────┴──────────────┘ IVR CALL FLOW DESIGN: ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ IVR Level 1: Greeting + Language Selection │ │ "Thank you for calling [Company]. Please select your │ │ language: English press 1, Español presione 2, or say │ │ your language." │ │ → Speech recognition (AI-powered) │ │ → Bypass for VIP callers (ANI detection) │ ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ IVR Level 2: Reason for Call (Guided Menu) │ │ "How can we help you today?" │ │ 1. Account & Billing │ │ 2. Technical Support │ │ 3. Order Status │ │ 4. Speak to Sales │ │ 5. File or Check a Ticket │ │ 0. Speak to an Agent │ │ → Speech-to-text for natural language input │ │ → Context passed to agent (reduces handle time) │ ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ IVR Level 3: Authentication (where applicable) │ │ "For security, please verify your identity." │ │ → Voice biometrics (optional, opt-in) │ │ → Account number + last 4 of phone number │ │ → One-time passcode (SMS/email) │ │ → Skip for non-authenticated queues │ ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ IVR Level 4: Self-Service Options (before queue) │ │ "Before you wait, would you like to:" │ │ → Check order status (enter order number) │ │ → Pay a bill (enter account number) │ │ → Reset your password │ │ → Check FAQs on this topic │ │ → Continue to queue │ │ → Deflection target: 30% of calls resolve in IVR │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT: Shrinkage rate: 35% (industry standard for 24/7 operation) Scheduled shrinkage: 20% (breaks, meetings, training, PTO) Unscheduled shrinkage: 15% (sick time, no-shows, admin) Span of control: 1:15 (1 team lead per 15 agents) Shift model: 1st shift (day): 06:00 — 14:00 (peak coverage) 2nd shift (swing): 14:00 — 22:00 3rd shift (graveyard): 22:00 — 06:00 (reduced staffing) Flex pool: 8 agents available for surge coverage Forecasting accuracy target: ±5% (vs. actual volume) Adherence target: > 92% (agents following scheduled activities) ``` ### Call Quality Evaluation Scorecard ``` CALL QUALITY EVALUATION — Scorecard ===================================== Evaluator: [QA Team] | Agent: [Agent Name] | Call Date: [Date] SCORING SCALE: Exceeds (3) — Consistently above expectations Meets (2) — Fully meets expectations Needs Improvement (1) — Partially meets, requires coaching Unsatisfactory (0) — Does not meet expectations N/A — Not applicable to this call SECTION 1: COMPLIANCE & PROCEDURES (Weight: 40%) ┌───────────────────────────────────┬────┬────┬──────────┐ │ Criteria │ Score │ Max │ Weighted │ ├───────────────────────────────────┼────┼────┼──────────┤ │ Proper greeting & introduction │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.0 │ │ Security/authentication completed │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.5 │ │ Active listening & empathy │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.0 │ │ Accurate information provided │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.5 │ │ Proper system/documentation use │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.0 │ │ Hold/transfer protocol followed │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.0 │ │ Closing & wrap-up complete │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.0 │ │ Compliance disclaimer (if needed) │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.5 │ ├───────────────────────────────────┼────┼────┼──────────┤ │ SECTION 1 TOTAL │ _ │ 24 │ 40% │ └───────────────────────────────────┴────┴────┴──────────┘ SECTION 2: SOFT SKILLS (Weight: 30%) ┌───────────────────────────────────┬────┬────┬──────────┐ │ Criteria │ Score │ Max │ Weighted │ ├───────────────────────────────────┼────┼────┼──────────┤ │ Tone & professionalism │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.0 │ │ Empathy & rapport building │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.0 │ │ Clear communication │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.0 │ │ De-escalation (if applicable) │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.5 │ │ Customer education │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.0 │ ├───────────────────────────────────┼────┼────┼──────────┤ │ SECTION 2 TOTAL │ _ │ 15 │ 30% │ └───────────────────────────────────┴────┴────┴──────────┘ SECTION 3: RESOLUTION & EFFICIENCY (Weight: 30%) ┌───────────────────────────────────┬────┬────┬──────────┐ │ Criteria │ Score │ Max │ Weighted │ ├───────────────────────────────────┼────┼────┼──────────┤ │ Root cause identification │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.0 │ │ Solution accuracy & completeness │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.5 │ │ First Contact Resolution attempt │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.0 │ │ Proper follow-up/escalation │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.0 │ │ Call length appropriate │ _ │ 3 │ ×1.0 │ ├───────────────────────────────────┼────┼────┼──────────┤ │ SECTION 3 TOTAL │ _ │ 15 │ 30% │ └───────────────────────────────────┴────┴────┴──────────┘ OVERALL SCORE: ___ / 54 (weighted) ≥ 45 (83%+): Exceeds — Recognize and share as example 38-44 (70-82%): Meets — Solid performance, targeted coaching 31-37 (57-69%): Needs Improvement — Coaching plan required < 31 (< 57%): Unsatisfactory — PIP consideration Mandatory pass (zero tolerance): ✗ Security/authentication skip — automatic fail ✗ Inaccurate information causing customer harm — automatic fail ✗ Abusive language toward customer — automatic fail COACHING NOTES: Strengths observed: Areas for development: Specific action items: Follow-up date: AGENT SELF-ASSESSMENT (optional): How do you rate this call? _______ What would you do differently? __________ ``` ## Integration Points - **Telephony platforms**: Genesys Cloud, NICE CXone, Five9, Amazon Connect, Twilio - **CRM**: Salesforce, HubSpot (customer context during call) - **Workforce management**: NICE WFM, Verint, Calabrio, IEX - **Quality management**: Calabrio, MPulse, MaestroQA, NICE QM - **Speech analytics**: NICE Analytics, Verint Speech, Observe.AI, Gong - **CTI integration**: Computer Telephony Integration for screen-pop - **Ticketing systems**: Zendesk, Freshdesk, Jira Service Management - **Knowledge base**: Guru, Document360, Confluence - **Survey tools**: Qualtrics, Medallia, SurveyMonkey (post-call CSAT) - **Analytics**: Tableau, Power BI, Looker (operational dashboards) ## Edge Cases | Scenario | Handling | |----------|----------| | Call volume spike (2x normal) exceeding capacity | Activate surge protocol: flex pool, overtime authorization, IVR deflection boost, callback option | | System outage affecting telephony | Activate BCP: mobile softphone fallback, email/chat redirect, status page update, customer communication | | VIP customer on hold > 5 minutes | Supervisor callback offer; proactive outreach; compensation authorization | | Agent performance declining (quality < 70%) | Immediate coaching; root cause analysis; training refresh; PIP if no improvement | | Regulatory compliance issue discovered | Immediate process halt; legal review; retroactive audit; remediation plan | | High abandon rate (> 10%) sustained | Queue rebalancing; IVR optimization; staffing review; root cause investigation | | Agent burnout indicators (absenteeism, quality drop) | Manager check-in; workload assessment; counseling referral; schedule adjustment | | Call recording privacy concern | Clear IVR notification; opt-out mechanism; data retention policy enforcement; legal compliance review | ## Output ### Voice Operations Dashboard ``` VOICE SUPPORT OPERATIONS — Live Dashboard ========================================== As of: 2025-01-15 14:00 UTC | Shift: Day (06:00-14:00) SERVICE LEVEL PERFORMANCE: ┌──────────────────┬─────────────┬───────────┬───────────────┬───────────┐ │ Queue │ Calls Today │ SLA Met │ ASA (sec) │ Abandon │ ├──────────────────┼─────────────┼───────────┼───────────────┼───────────┤ │ General Support │ 1,247 │ 83.2% │ 18 │ 3.8% │ │ Technical │ 582 │ 81.5% │ 22 │ 4.1% │ │ Billing │ 394 │ 86.8% │ 14 │ 2.9% │ │ VIP/Premium │ 128 │ 92.2% │ 8 │ 1.2% │ │ Sales Inquiries │ 87 │ 90.8% │ 9 │ 2.1% │ │ Escalations │ 42 │ 97.6% │ 45 │ 0.5% │ ├──────────────────┼─────────────┼───────────┴───────────────┼───────────┤ │ OVERALL │ 2,480 │ 84.1% │ 19 │ 3.6% │ └──────────────────┴─────────────┴───────────────────────────┴───────────┘ SLA Target: 80/20 → 84.1% ✓ Above target Abandon Target: < 5% → 3.6% ✓ Below target AGENT STAFFING: Scheduled: 111 agents Active on phones: 89 agents (80.2%) On break/aux: 15 agents (13.5%) Not yet started: 4 agents (3.6%) Absent: 3 agents (2.7%) ─────────────────────────────── Utilization: 80.2% (target: 75-85%) ✓ Adherence: 93.8% (target: > 92%) ✓ CALL METRICS: Average Handle Time (AHT): 5:42 (target: < 6:00) ✓ Talk time: 3:18 | Hold time: 0:45 | Wrap time: 1:19 First Contact Resolution: 87.3% (target: > 85%) ✓ Calls requiring callback: 12.7% Average calls per agent/hour: 10.4 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: CSAT (today): 4.3/5.0 (234 survey responses) General Support: 4.2/5.0 Technical: 4.1/5.0 Billing: 4.5/5.0 VIP: 4.7/5.0 Net Promoter Score (rolling): +52 QUALITY SCORES: Avg quality score (today): 85.2% (47 calls evaluated) Compliance rate: 98.7% Zero-tolerance violations: 0 FORCAST vs. ACTUAL (Today): Forecast: 2,550 calls | Actual: 2,480 calls | Accuracy: 97.3% ✓ Peak hour: 10:00-11:00 (412 calls — within forecast range) ESCALATIONS & ALERTS: Active escalations: 3 (within normal range) System alerts: 0 Queue alerts: 0 (all queues within SLA) TOP CALL DRIVERS (Today): 1. Password reset / account access: 312 calls (12.6%) 2. Billing inquiry / payment issue: 289 calls (11.7%) 3. Technical troubleshooting: 245 calls (9.9%) 4. Order status / shipping: 198 calls (8.0%) 5. Feature/how-to questions: 178 calls (7.2%) Top driver trend: Password reset ↓ 15% from last week (self-service password reset tool adoption improving) ```