Developing a Work from Home Program for Your Contact Center Rep Minneapolis 311 Virtual Agent Pilot

 Opened January 4, 2006  Staffing ◦ Staffed 7 AM – 7 PM, Monday – Friday  20 Customer Service Agents (17 in Winter)  3 Supervisors  2 Analysts  1 Office Support  1 Director  Handled 384,283 calls and 16,638 s in 2010  Average Speed of Answer = 31 seconds  First Call Resolution = 82.5%

 Tele-working is common place in many industries  Benefits of tele-working are well documented  Opens up access to a largely underutilized employee pool

For Minneapolis 311, these may include:  Reduced overhead costs  Space savings, and the costs associated with space  Increased productivity  Help in retaining and recruiting employees  Improved employee morale  Reduced absenteeism  Improved customer service  Improved capabilities for continuing operations, emergency preparedness and disaster recovery  Greater flexibility to meet fluctuating work demands

For employees, these may include:  Reduced and Eliminated travel time and costs  Flexible work hours  More job satisfaction For the community, these may include:  Reduced traffic congestion, air pollution, and fuel consumption  Greater accessibility to services  Improved customer service

 Free consulting from e-workplace which is a state sponsored program that received federal grants to provide these services to Metro Employers committed to Teleworking.  4 Customer Service Agents deployed in July/August 2010  Pilot ran to April, 2011  A final recommendation will be made at the conclusion of the pilot

 We had to address: ◦ Process ◦ People ◦ Technology Customer People Processes Technology

 Customer service is constant. For 311 customers the virtual agent arrangement should be transparent; that is, the customer should detect no difference in the quality or timelines of service rendered from the primary office or the work from home location.

 Bargaining Unit Partnership  Cross functional project team  Communication / Training / Meetings / Events  Supervision / Performance Management  Pilot Guidelines

 Virtual Agent Home Environment  Technical Support  Virtual agent application & selection  Seek out advice and expertise

A 311 Virtual Agent is essentially a 311 Customer Service Agent who works from home. Work from home agents are commonly referred to as “telecommuters” or “teleworkers”.

 311 Virtual Agent (telecommuting) is not a fit for every Service Agent.  311 Virtual Agent is not a substitute arrangement for dependent care or a substitute to accommodate personal or other business endeavors.  311 Virtual agents will be responsible for any costs related to remodeling and maintenance of the home workspace.  The 311 Virtual Agent will provide a work environment free of background noises and other distractions. Must agree to participate in all pilot activities  Work standards are the same  Must have a level of technical ability  Virtual agents will take all necessary precautions to secure and prevent unauthorized access to all data  311 Virtual Agents who work at home agree to provide a safe workspace. This includes complying with City ergonomic policies and guidelines

 Eligibility ◦ All Minneapolis 311 Customer Service Agents (1 & 2) are eligible to be considered for a Virtual Agent position. 311 Management reserves the right to determine how many Virtual Agent positions are available. It is expected that the ratio of CSA1 and CSA2 Virtual Agents will be reflective of total number of CSA1’s and CSA2’s. ◦ For the pilot, up to 5 CSA’s will be considered.

 Objective: Replicate the customer service agents work station capabilities at their work from home site.  Solutions:  Voice  Data / Applications / E Bulletin Board  Furniture

311 Virtual Agent Workstation 311 Office Agent Workstation

 IP phone connectivity to user’s virtual offices allowing for full call center voice application functionality  Data VPN connectivity to all City 311 agent systems and applications  Dedicated voice and data bandwidth to ensure the same or better quality of service as onsite 311 agents.  Business-class IPS connection from third party provider to virtual agent home offices

 Management reserves the right to make inspections of the at home workspace with prior and appropriate notification.  The home work space shall be an area specifically designated and set aside for use by the virtual agent. The size of the space should be large enough to accommodate the equipment and furniture provided by the City.  The home work space will have necessary high speed cable, telephone and power connection points in close proximity of the virtual agent home work space.  City provided desk, chair, wireless headset & chair mat (if needed).  Baseline ergonomic requirements

311 Department Information

 Agent Utilization  User State Available Handled Unavailable Work Ring Other  Contact Handle Time (calls & s)  Contacts Handled / Day  First Call Resolution  After Call Work (seconds)  Adherence to schedule  Absenteeism / Sick / Tardiness  Environmental  Agent Satisfaction

 On the average, each agent saves:  4,147 miles annually  104 hours annually  $2,074 in vehicle expense annually  Impact on the environment:  20,114 pounds of CO2 emissions annually

““All I can say it I love it. There is no long stressful commute on the days I don’t come in. I feel that I am more relaxed and am able to give the customer my undivided attention without any distractions.” – Mary ““Working from home has improved the quality of life in many ways for me. For instance, the money I have saved from having to buy gas to commute to and from work and the extra time I get to spend being around family. I also appreciate the way management has kept me well-informed about what’s going on in the call center through conference-call meetings, over the phone training, updates from and our 311 intranet webpage.” – Harry II am excited to be a part of the Virtual Agent Pilot and for the opportunity to see the positive impact it may have on 311 and City of Minneapolis. Overall, working as a Virtual Agent has allowed me to have more balance in my life. It’s been a positive experience for my family and a great learning experience for me so far. - Gina

“Thank you for calling the City of Minneapolis”