Transcript Nonprofit Leadership Development Program

Is it time for your staff to
roll out of bed, grab some
breakfast and head to the
office in PJ’S?
Presented by Amy Latzer
211 LA County
IMAGINE!
 Imagine not sitting in bumper to bumper traffic
 Imagine lower car maintenance & gasoline expenses
 Imagine wearing casual clothes…during the week
 Imagine having your pet as your new assistant
 Imagine sitting in the comfort of your home while
providing a greatly needed service to your
community!
Key Problem/Issue
211 LA County is running out of office
space and needs the ability to respond to
county disasters and emergencies in a
more timely fashion.
Goal and SMART Objective
 Goal = Provide an ergonomically sound at-
home work environment that fosters high
quality service with continued training and
support for staff
 SMART Objective = 50% of full-time CRA
(community resource advisor) staff working at
home in a proper ergonomic setting 80% of
their scheduled work time by December 1,
2009
How do we get from A to B?
 Work in phases with current 211 LA County staff
to transition them to work-at-home agents on a
voluntary basis.
 Starting with graveyard shift as pilot and then
expanding to the rest of staff based on seniority,
current at-home set up, and by shift.
 Set up a core group of staff trained and equipped
to respond at a moment’s notice to work from
home in the event of a county emergency.
Why take this path?
 Utilizes already large, long-term investment in
staff
 Financial cost and implications of quality of
service delivery to community to employ new
work force is cost prohibitive and not best for
callers
 Employing new workforce to implement work-
at-home agent model would be in direct
violation of contract with bargaining unit
Ready, Set, Action!
Buy-In
Coaching
Skills
Technology
Work at
Home
Operational
Planning
Training
Basic Remote Agent Technology Architecture
Remote
Agent
Remote Agent allows agencies to route calls to
staff homes. This is a computer based program
that allows specialists to use the computer for
answering phone calls and making referrals, rather
than splitting their time between a telephone and
a computer to complete a transaction. Both the
incoming calls and referrals are computer based.
Example: The specialist at home logs into the PBX
and the database on the home computer. A call
comes into the I&R/211 center. The PBX routes
from the office to the specialist home. The
specialist answers the call and provides referrals.
Remote Agent can provide the same functionality
at home that a specialist uses in the office and
provide a seamless experience for the caller.
PBX
Remote
Agent
VoIP or Centrex….the Great Debate!
VOIP
VoIP is short for Voice Over IP or Voice Over Internet Protocol. VoIP allows you
to use the Internet for your phone calls instead of your traditional land
line based phone line.
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Considerations:
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T1 or digital phone line installation charges.
Monthly line charges and maintenance cost.
Technical staff cost to manage system .
Technology expansion cost.
911 programming for emergency calls.
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Advantages
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Centrex
Centrex Service a Central Office type of phone service offered by telephone
companies that provide PBX like functions without the need of a PBX.
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Considerations:
Cost Savings, no charge to route calls to staff using
VoIP, frees up office space.
PBX functionality , VoIP provides the same
functionality to staff as if they were in the office.
Wherever you are, as long as you have Internet
access, you can make and receive calls.
Staff can telecommute. Work-from-home
opportunities keeps staff connected to office
technology.
Specialist can connect to the phone system from
different locations in disaster.
Expandable to multiple sites. VoIP technology can
connect multiple site regardless of where they are
located.
Go Green! Reduce pollution from driving, energy
needs at the office, and the agencies carbon
footprint.
Disadvantages
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Initial cost for VoIP PBX equipment.
Electricity is required.
Internet access is required .
A high speed internet connection is required at the
home office to ensure quality and reliability.
A high level of bandwidth is required at the office to
ensure quality voice and data connection.
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Advantages
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Cost for equipment
Installation charges
Monthly line charges and maintenance cost
Programming of lines and features (this may be
included in maintenance costs)
Staff cost to manage system
Future expansion cost
No equipment on site to manage or maintain
PBX functionality
Programmable feature such as Voicemail
Phone lines are proportion to agency need
Lines can be re-routed to different location in
disaster
Limited technical staff requirements
Expandable to multiple sites
IP Centrex is available is some areas
Disadvantages
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Least Cost Routing (LCR) for lower cost calls may
not be available.
May not be cost effective for larger organizations
Not all features may be available (i.e. automatic
call distribution, also known as ACD)
Voice and data services are not possible
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http://www.atn-online.com/centrex_calculator.htm
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Centrex Lines
Centrex lines are analog lines provided by the local telephone service provider that
provide programmable features on the line that are typically associated with a private
branch exchange (PBX). Centrex ‘services’ are provided by the central office switching
facility. The cost is based on usage, features programmed for each line and monthly
service fee.
VoIP ( Voice Over Internet Protocol)
County A
Remote
Agent
Host
County
Cloud
Full T1
1.544m
Fractional T1
512k
256k committed rate
384k committed rate
County B
Fractional T1
768k
VoIP – Hardware and software that allows
people to use Internet protocols to make
telephone calls. Also known as Internet
telephony and Voice over the Internet.
6 Best Practices to manage remote
agents
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Document job responsibilities, requirements, procedures, policies and time
frames. This document needs to address ALL standard operating policies plus
specific remote agent requirements.
Establish a three-month trial period to determine whether a new agent or a
premise-based agent who “transfers” to a remote location can properly
perform the job. This minimizes the loss of highly qualified agents who
discover they do not enjoy working from home.
Schedule a daily communication session between leadership and at-home
agents. This will help reduce feelings of isolation and detachment. Part of
each supervisors job should be to ensure that remote agents are kept
informed of all work-related and team oriented social activities.
Use online chat for handling most agent inquires. Leadership should be
available to respond immediately to chat inquires from remote agents. (realtime messaging and broadcasting capabilities are also essential for
communicating issues that require immediate attention. There are several
free technology solutions available.)
Include remote agents in ALL team meetings and trainings.
Design rewards, incentives, recognition and team-building activities to
accommodate both remote and in-house staff.
DMG Consulting LLC 2009
How do you coach and train a remote
agent?
It depends……….on your model!
 If staff will be coming in one day a week, that is when formal
coaching and training can be scheduled.
 More immediate needs for coaching can be done by phone or
instant message.
 Online training tools are available so that they can be scheduled
or pushed to an agent by quality assurance if a need is
identified.
Most important to remember is that coaching is a high value activity
that improves employee satisfaction and enhances skill and
effectiveness. Customized coaching and training to best match
the needs of the employee is well worth the time spent.
Explore the technology that is out there!
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when
you take your eyes off your goal. –Hannah More
Bottom Line Benefits
 Effective way to reduce operating costs without adversely
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impacting the service levels and services provided by an
agency.
Can improve service quality and call experience.
Increased scheduling flexibility and reduction of staff-related
expenses.
Agent retention may increase by as much as 30%.
Improved morale.
Go Green!
Contact Information
Amy Latzer
211 LA County
Chief Operations Officer
626-299-2979
[email protected]
Real People. Real Answers. Real Help.
www.211LACounty.org
INFORMATION AND REFERRAL FEDERATION OF
LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Serving Los Angeles County since 1981