CallFire

by Kimberly Kohatsu

Last year, according to WorldatWork, about 26.2 million people, or nearly 20% of the adult working population, worked from home or from a remote location at least once a month. These “remote locations” included satellite centers, hotels, and while on vacation. But if you’re like me, tethered to your smartphone and laptop at almost all times, that number actually seems pretty low.

Regardless, teleworking and flexible work schedules are becoming mainstream benefits. The ability to perform work remotely is an effective tool “in attracting younger employees who appreciate greater flexibility and to recruite remote workers from a wider talent pool,” Susan Bergman of The Society for Human Resource Management recently told Mashable. And it’s not just the Gen Y’s and millenials who are looking for work flexibility. “It’s attractive to busy parents, workers nearing retirement and workers in metro areas where commuting is very time consuming,” Bergman said.

CallFire, being headquartered in Los Angeles, certainly fits that last category. Last month, the US Census reported that LA commuters on average spend 28.1 minutes getting to work (another number that may seem surprisingly low). But if my fuzzy math is correct, that still means that each year, we spend more time commuting than we do on vacation. Talk about lost productivity. Which brings me to my next point: teleworking is not just attractive to employees, but employers as well.

Employees who telework are generally more productive and report greater job satisfaction, due in large part to advances in technology which give them the same access to information as office-based workers. Intranet sites and shared servers mean employees can focus on work without the distractions of meetings, casual conversations, office politics, and other interruptions which, over time, can prove stressful and infringe upon their work-life balance.

CallFire’s Cloud Call Center is, for many sales teams, another tool in the arsenal that allows employees to work remotely. All a sales agent needs is an internet connection and a telephone. The customer’s data and call outcomes are stored securely on the cloud. CallFire also provides the tools to monitor the employee’s phone activities while on the job.

Last February, I wrote about how Citibank was able to retain 700 of its workers despite closing its physical call center in Albuquerque, by leveraging the power of telework. A month later, Allstate Insurance also closed its Albuquerque claims call center. But because of advanced technology, the adjusters can be supervised out of Phoenix.

More and more, teleworking is being driven by necessity. Angela Baron, an advisor to the UK’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said “whilst technology has enabled remote working, it is more the demands of business that is driving it.” This means that not only do work-at-home employees need the ability to work independently and to self-motivate, but that managers need to develop the ability to manage remotely. Crucial to the task, says Baron, are the “communication skills to keep remote workers connected to the team and ensure adequate knowledge exchange and alignment to team and organizational aims and objectives.”

That’s a fancy way of saying managers must facilitate an environment where, even if you’re working from home, you still feel like you’re part of a company. You’re by yourself, but you’re not alone.

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Dr. Billy Williams mentors clients, especially insurance agents, across the country. He has been a fierce advocate of using CallFire’s Voice Broadcast, Cloud Call Center, and Hosted IVR campaigns for lead prospecting and customer outreach and retention. The following post is a guest blog with some of the tips he has shared with business professionals.

Why Automated Dialing Should be a Marketing Tool All Businesses Use

By Billy R. Williams, Ph.D., President – Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring

Effective marketing is pretty simple:

1. Put your message in front of as many people as possible
2. Build lists of prospects that are interested in you, your product, and/or your expertise
3. Reach out to the lists regularly with timely, effective, problem-solving information
4. Reach out to as many people as possible on days that are important to them
5. Use affordable automation to help you stay consistent with your keep-in-touch campaigns

My partner agencies and the majority of our member agents use a company called CallFire for automated marketing, so I will use their functionality to explain how to target each of the 5 marketing areas I mentioned above.

1. Put your message in front of as many people as possible

• We use the Cloud Call Center to prospect DNC-scrubbed lists of prospects. You can have 1 or 100’s of telemarketers ready to speak live with a prospect.
• We use voice broadcasting to communicate important, non-solicitation, focused messages and announcements to current customers and opt-in prospects
• We also use “Press-1” campaigns to help us accomplish number two on our marketing list:

2. Build lists of prospects that are interested in you, your product, and/or your expertise

• Direct a press-1 campaign to a live person or to a CallFire IVR (message tree, automated survey, or hotline) that can be used to gather or give important information
• Every time someone responds positively to your telemarketer, or presses 1 on your voice broadcast campaign, that is one more person that you just added to your opt-in lists of potential customers

3. Reach out to the lists regularly with timely, effective, problem-solving information

• CallFire gives you the ability to easily schedule follow-up campaigns from calls that were not answered, requested a callback, needed bi-lingual help, etc.

4. Reach out to as many people as possible on days that are important to them

• We create weekly phonebooks in CallFire (Yes, 52 phone books) and each week we run a birthday audit from our database and add the phone numbers into the correct phone book. Then we quickly send out a Voice Broadcast birthday message. We do the same thing for recurring events like upcoming policy reviews, graduations, wedding anniversaries, etc.

5. Use affordable automation to help you stay consistent with your keep-in-touch campaigns

• The more a person hears your consistent message, the more credible you become. By using a low-cost solution like an automated dialer program, you are able to keep a consistent keep-in-touch program operating. You will not benefit long-term from a flash-in-the-pan marketing campaign. Here are my two rules of thumb when it comes to keep-in-touch programs:

1. Don’t send out information that has no real value to the prospect
2. The first time they hear you or your message is an introduction; the second time they can say they know of you; the third time they start to become familiar with you, but it takes four or more times for the prospect to feel like they are developing a relationship with you.

Follow the tips that I have just provided to you when setting up your automated dialer campaigns and you will see an awesome ROI.

Billy Williams, Ph.D., is president of Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring and Williams Family Agency Inc. The group currently has 23 member agencies and produces $360 Million in production annually. He is an expert at helping insurance agents and agencies double or triple their current production using no-cost conversations and processes, low-cost, efficient, marketing and advertising platforms, and technology.

by Kimberly Kohatsu

First, there’s the Mayans. Then, there’s the billboards. And if none of that bothers you, there’s climate change. Whatever is going on, there seems to be a lot of talk about the end of the world in 2012. So, *just in case*, here’s a couple ways CallFire can help you maximize the (limited?) days you have left.

Send a Goodbye Voice Broadcast

You know a lot of people, but you don’t have a lot of time. At least not enough to call them each individually. So get on the phone and record a message just once, and send it out to your whole contact list. This video will show you how. Don’t worry, it’s only 5 minutes. We realize time is ticking.

When you record your voice broadcast, feel free to use this script, or alter it as necessary.

Hello. This is [ your name ].
As a precaution to the world’s end [ on Saturday / in December / when the zombies attack ],
I just wanted to let you know that… [ I love you / I hate you / I'm sorry for... / I haven't forgotten that one time when you... ].
As this may be the last time you hear from me, I hope the one thing you’ll remember is that [ I loved you in this world, and I'll love you in the next / I hope we're not going to the same place / I told you so / I've sent the pictures to everyone ].
I’ll always think of you as [ my one true love / my friend / my partner / my mortal enemy ] even though [ you don't feel the same way / your family would never approve / I've only ever talked to you in internet forums ]
With this message, I bid you a final [ adieu / fond farewell / extended middle finger / goodbye ]

Your message will be sent at a rate of 50 calls per minute, which should be fast enough to reach everyone you know in time.

But what about the people to whom you want to bid farewell personally?

Aha! CallFire has a solution for that too. Because with only a few days left, do you really want to spend them dialing numbers, and trying to remember what you need to say? Of course not. This is a serious matter.

For this, CallFire has an end-of-the-world remedy: the Cloud Call Center. But in case there’s any confusion, we’re not talking about *those* clouds—this isn’t a direct line to the heavens. It’s calling through the clouds, and dialing auto-magically. Watch here:

Now, let’s think about this script a little more carefully. The beauty of the Cloud Call Center is you can customize your scripts with multiple-choice questions and open-answer text fields. So perhaps you’ll want to set something up like this:

Now as you make your calls, you’ll have a guide. And you can take notes should you need to take any follow-up actions, such as offline retribution, or sending a nice bouquet.

But what happens if the world doesn’t end?

Wouldn’t you know, CallFire has a solution for that as well. It’s called an SMS Broadcast, or the “Oops, my bad” text message. Watch how:

Best of all, you can pre-schedule your text, so if you’re locked in a bunker and can’t get to your CallFire account, everything is all set to go… just in case.

* This blog post is meant to be satirical. If you intend to use CallFire, you may only message opt-in clients. Please consult an attorney to familiarize yourself with local, state and federal telecommunications guidelines. More information on Telecom Compliance can be found on our website. Please dial responsibly. Thank you. *

There’s a number of ways to learn about CallFire’s Cloud Call Center, such as joining our twice-weekly webinars or downloading this useful PDF, but if you want a demonstration on-demand, follow these simple steps:

1. Visit CallFire.com, and in the upper right-hand corner, click on “Agents Login.”

2. In the Campaign Name or ID field, type “CallFire demo” and scroll down to the demo most applicable to your business.

3. In the “Your Phone Number” field, type the 10-digit phone number you’d like to use for the demonstration. You can use any phone, like your cell phone or landline.

4. For the Campaign Passcode, type “demo” – all lowercase.

5. Enter your email address.

6. Select the kind of music you’d like to listen to in between calls, or choose “Silence” if you don’t want any.

7. Subscribe to our newsletter if you want more great tips on using CallFire.

8. Click “Next” in the lower right-hand corner. Your phone will ring with a pre-recorded message from CallFire, and once you press #, this message will give you your Agent ID number. Enter that number into the box.

9. The demo will walk you through the rest. You’ll see how each CallFire feature works, including call transfer, SmartDrop, and how to disposition each person’s answers.

by Natalia Klishina

Call centers have increasingly transitioned to hiring at-home agents lately, with roughly 30% of U.S. centers utilizing remote agents already. Some predict this number will grow to 80% by 2013, which may be a bit steep, but the trend is clearly in that direction. Currently, there are 45 million Americans who telecommute to their jobs. Published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, an American Psychologial Association (APA) analysis of 46 studies on telecommuting involving 12,833 employees comes out strongly in favor of the practice, calling it a “win-win” for both employees and employers. The employees are happy to not have to commute and the employers are happy to be getting better results and encountering lower costs.

We know that many of you still remain skeptical, but this is why you shouldn’t be.

You will not lose any control over your agents.

Yep, you read that right. Just because you cannot walk the floor and physically watch your agents doesn’t mean that you will lose any control. In fact, with CallFire’s monitoring capabilities and comprehensive reports, it’s even easier to keep track of your agents online than in person. You can see which agents are currently on the phone, how many calls each agent placed and their duration, and all the notes that they have input for each customer. Still feeling paranoid? You can listen in (or even barge in) on ongoing phone calls, or listen to call recordings at any time (included in the cost). Big Brother at his best.

You don’t have to worry about network security.

All your information is stored on our secure CallFire database, and you — the administrator — are the only one who has access to it. Your agents don’t have any of this information on their own computers, so you can sleep soundly.

Training & feedback is as easy as ever.

We’ve long since entered the Internet age, so there’s nothing you can’t do online. eLearning has become quite prevalent, and it provides a flexible schedule not just for your trainees, but also for you. You can sit down and create training materials and videos whenever it’s convenient for you. As for testing their effectiveness, with all the analytics and recordings right at your fingertips on your CallFire dashboard, seeing results and compiling evaluations is quick and simple. Then just jump on a conference line or a Skype call if you want to have a conversation with your agents.

If you’re still wondering why you should switch, here’s just a few reasons.

Lower costs

You don’t have to rent out real estate to house a call center, or buy all the equipment that’s necessary for it. Most at-home agents have the Internet and phone access required for the job. You’re also probably hiring most of these agents part time, not full time.

Higher productivity

For one, absenteesism and attrition rates decrease: A TelCoa study showed a decrease from 18% absenteesim for in-house agents to 7% for at-home agents; and employee attrition went from 53% to 39%.

On top of that, productivity has been shown to go up by anywhere near 15%. There are a myriad factors contributing to this: employees no longer have to spend time commuting or getting dressed for the office, weather and traffic aren’t issues, costs of fuel and vehicle maintenance are cut, and employees are generally more willing to work longer hours when at home.

Better Workers

At-home agents are of higher caliber: A Frost & Sullivan study found that the average at-home worker is over the age of 35 (vs. 23 for in-house). Also, 80% of at-home workers have some college experience (vs. 30% for in-house), 40% have management experience, and 30% are bilingual. A believer in equal-opportunity? Well, at-home workers are usually 50% male and 50% female.

Higher customer satisfaction

The same TelCoa study mentioned above also found that customers who spoke to at-home agents vs in-house agents were 12% more satisfied with the service. If your customers are happy, they’ll spend more, talk about you more, and generally make your life better.

By now, you should be convinced. The question then becomes not whether this is a good idea, but how to implement it. Here’s some quick advice.

1. Create virtual training materials, whether this be videos, PowerPoint presentations, interactive systems, or simple printable documents. Continue to edit and supplement these as time goes on. Set aside time for individual or group Q & A. Perhaps you may even want to go the route of on-site training if you still plan on all your agents being located in the same city.
2. Compile a list of technical demands: minimum connectivity, hardware and speed requirements, Internet and search engine familiarity, experience with SalesForce, etc. In general, at-home workers should possess higher IT skills than in-house agents.
3. Equipment: what do your agents need, what should they already have, and what are you willing to provide? With CallFire’s cloud call center, all any agent needs is an Internet connection and a phone line (this can even be a cell phone or Skype number).
4. Set clear expectations. How many hours a day do you expect home agents to be dialing? How often do you want them to report back to you? Let them know exactly what working from home means to you.
5. Create a communication structure. Every agent should know how to get in touch with you and be comfortable doing so if they need support. They should also feel like they are part of the company and its community, so make sure they’re included. This may involve occasional events if your agents are located in the same city, or it may be as simple as creating an online conversation forum if your agents are all over the country.
6. Plan out your agents’ schedules. Take advantage of the fact that some people may be willing to wake up and start working at 5am if that means they can end earlier. Also, keep in mind different time zones. This may mean that no one has to get up early or work late.

We are excited to announce the launch of the International Cloud Call Center.  This new product contains all of the features in the previous version of Cloud Call Center, but now enables agents to be located anywhere and call out to anywhere.

Pricing is based on the phone number making calls, and the phone numbers being called.  If an agent is calling from out of the US, they are billed for the time they are logged into CallFire multiplied by the per minute rate for their phone number.  If an agent is Calling out of the United States, they are billed the per minute rate for the number they are calling multiplied by the total time they are connected to the call.  To see the rates for any given country, international telephone provider or phone number, see the rate table.

Cloud Call Center Pricing

Click here to see an example

Click here to see an example

Click here to see an example

CallFire also offers International Voice Broadcast as part of the international portfolio.

The Great thing about a hosted dialer is its capability to help a wide array of people.  From non-profits to financial institutions, Medical centers to schools, the Cloud Call Center helps save them all time.

People don’t always realize how much time a web-based autodialer can save them.  The PTA board member calling for donations to a school, or the doctors office reminding patients that they have an appointment are used to conducting calls they way they are used to:  manually.  However, what they all have in common is falling in love with CallFire’s autodialer.

Do you think you could use an automatic phone dialer ?  Watch the video and see just how easy an autodialer can make your life.

I spent this Sunday afternoon at Eco Fabulous in Newport Coast. My interest in the relationship between tech & sustainability, got me here.  Green conferences like Opportunity Green are pushing businesses to embrace sustainable business practices, while outlining the business benefits of doing so. A homesourcing analysis by IDC forecasts 300,000 ‘homesourced’ workers in the U.S. by 2010. It’s no wonder Cloud Call Center platforms like CallFire are considered serious players in “Green Tech”.

Cloud Call Centers and Hosted IVRs seem to be the #1 way to reduce the overall carbon footprint of your call center or small business workforce.

Reduce emissions by hiring from home

The average US call center agent commutes 24 miles via automobile.
In a 50-week year, this agent will account for 6,000 miles/yr.
The average agent carbon footprint is about 2 tons of C02 each year!

Slash call center startup costs & reduce waste

The average call center requires 130-200 square feet per agent.
Agents require a PC, telephone & high speed internet connection.*
A 100-seat call center can save 168,000 kWh/yr by homsourcing.
*Note: Utilizing idle computing hardware seems to be a green trend.  Watch “The Story of Stuff” with Annie Leonard.

Cloud Call Centers lead to happy agents

Improve employee satisfaction by reducing commuter costs, reducing parking frustration & vehicle wear.
Hire the best agents anywhere in the world, while targeting low-cost geographies.
Increase agent productivity & decrease sick-leave as it did for Holland America Cruise Lines.

Now that Cloud Call Center agents can use their own home office, PC and internet connection, the barriers to develop call centers for the enterprise and SMB markets are reducing quickly.  With $0 hardware and no recurring infrastructure costs, hiring from home is both sustainable & preferable to most US business owners.