A call center environment is usually very professional and fast-paced. Customers call in to receive help for a specific computer-related problem. The typical workflow of a call center is that calls from customers are displayed on a callboard. Level one technicians answer these calls in the order that the calls arrive. If the level one technician cannot solve the problem, it is escalated to a level two technician. In all instances, the technician must supply the level of support that is outlined in the customer’s SLA.
A call center might exist within a company and offer service to the employees of that company as well as to the customers of that company’s products. Alternatively, a call center might be an independent business that sells computer support as a service to outside customers. In either case, a call center is a busy, fast-paced work environment, often operating 24 hours a day.
Call centers tend to have a large number of cubicles. As shown in Figure 1, each cubicle has a chair, at least one computer, a phone, and a headset. The technicians working at these cubicles have varied levels of experience in computers, and some have specialties in certain types of computers, hardware, software, or operating systems.
All the computers in a call center have help desk software. The technicians use this software to manage many of their job functions. Figure 2 shows some of the features of help desk software.
Each call center has business policies regarding call priority. Figure 3 provides a sample chart of how calls can be named, defined, and prioritized.