Call Center Performance Enhancement Using Simulation and Modeling (Customer Access Management)

The management and design of the modern call center is becoming increasingly complicated due to such technological changes as the growth of the Internet, rising customer expectations, and re-engineering initiatives, including call routing and staffing strategies. How call center analysts, managers, and consultants react to these changes determines whether the call center can fill its potential as a business’s most visible strategic weapon. This book provides managers with an understanding of the role, value, and practical deployment of simulation – an exciting technology in the planning, management, and analysis of call centers. Simulation allows them to make better decisions and virtually eliminate the risk associated with improper implementation. Useful guidelines enable call center analysts, managers, and consultants to make informed decisions in the use of simulation as a vehicle to responsibly manage change. By examining current and future trends in the call center and the simulation software industry, and by exploring the synergy that exists between them, the authors present the different elements of successful simulation strategies.

Jon Anton specializes in enhancing customer service strategy through inbound call centers and teleweb centers using the latest telecommunications and computer technology. He has assisted over 400 companies in improving their customer service strategy/delivery by the design and implementation of inbound and outbound call centers. Dr. Anton is the author of 48 papers and 5 books on customer service and call center methods; and in 1996, Call Center Magazine selecting him as an Original Pioneer of the emerging call center industry.

Vivek Bapat is the Product Manager for Call$im, an award-winning simulation solution for call center planning and analysis at Systems Modeling Corporation that received the 1998 Product of the Year Award from Call Center Solutions Magazine and by Call Center News Service. He has over eight years of broad experience in the simulation field, including the development of special-purpose simulation solutions, consulting, customer support, and sales and marketing, with special focus in the services industry. He has co-authored a number of articles in leading industry journals and magazines.

Bill Hall is a management consultant with Call Center Services, where he assists clients in improving their call center operations and re-engineering major business processes. His specialty is using computer simulation tools to analyze call center performance and to develop strategies to support management decisions that drive call center operations. He has worked in senior information technology management positions for over 20 years in industries such as manufacturing, distribution, insurance, and health care.