By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. In the years between high school graduation and my first real job, I took on a variety of part-time work while being a full-time student. During one such vocational transition, the placement advisor at school knew of an immediate opening for an audio engineer at a TV station. I arrived […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. On a weekend trip a while ago, my wife and I found ourselves at the local McDonald’s for breakfast. “I’ll have a number 10,” I decisively informed the perky and personable teenage-looking girl at the counter. She acknowledged my request and smiled pleasantly. This encouraged me to make small talk […]
By Peter DeHaan, Ph.D. Voicemail systems have come a long way during their 25-year history. When first introduced in the early 1980s, these systems came in large floor to ceiling cabinets and did little more than match the functions of an answering machine. At that time, many call centers and teleservice companies feared that voicemail […]
By Peter DeHaan, Ph.D. Your call center may be an in-house operation or an outsourcer processing calls and contacts for other organizations. Regardless of the type of call center you work in, there is a common need for increased, positive visibility. This is necessary for two key areas. The first is budgeting; the second is […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. For as long as call centers have been answering calls for doctors, there have been requests to handle appointments, be it to set, cancel, or change an appointment. Although the doctors were serious about these requests and the call centers anxious to assist, the result was, at best, less than […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. A few years ago I bought a new car. Although it wasn’t my practice to take my cars to their respective dealers for maintenance, a new car changed that habit. After all, there was warranty work to be considered and their coupons for low cost oil changes were enticing. It […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. Voice logging, that is the recording of calls in a call center, was once viewed by many as an optional product that was relegated to the annual budget “wish” list, but never important enough to become a “must have” technology and make the approved version of the budget. The original […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. There are many benefits to having remote agents as part of your call center. Remote agents can either reside in a secondary, but connected call center, or work out of their home. Among the many benefits of using remote agents, according to Tom Curtin, president of Amtelco, are reducing or […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. “You need a hobby,” my wife exclaimed in exasperation. I don’t recall the circumstances, but it is safe to assume that I was doing something she deemed a nuisance. Regardless of the cause of her frustration, her impromptu advice gave me pause. Yes, a pastime, a relaxing diversion, would be […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. It seems that seldom a week goes by when I don’t receive a call from someone wanting to interview me. Over time, I realized that the tenor of these interview requests falls into three categories. The first group is those who are trying to better comprehend call centers. The second […]