At the core of any strong work-at-home offering is the ability to delivery seamless interactions in a manner that’s compliant with data protection norms. While no one is disputing that this is a tough task, consumers expect and deserve nothing less.
What’s key is to have appropriate technology platforms and processes that can efficiently navigate the labyrinth of information security requirements in a work-at-home environment. And it is in this spirit that the Sensée Homeworking Strategic Framework sets out to deliver structure and value to businesses looking to make work-at-home a permanent element of their customer experience (CX) plans.
The Framework assists organisations in both migrating employees to homeworking, and optimising their strategies. The Six Pillars of Sensée’s Framework are: Selection Of Model Homeworkers, Workforce Flexibility and Planning, Data Security and Compliance, Employee Contracts and Policies, Virtual Management and Training, and Employee Engagement and Support.
The proportion of businesses now looking at homeworking as a long term solution is significant. Indeed an April/May online poll of 156 UK contact centre professionals indicated that over half of those who implemented homeworking since the outset of the pandemic feel that it will now be a long-term part of their CX operations. This should come as no surprise. Firms that have taken on work-at-home in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are now realising the clear business benefits realised by existing users of the model for some time: better customer outcomes, improved operational performance, lower costs, greater employee satisfaction, and more.
The question of homeworking data security still frequently comes up in discussion though and, make no mistake, it is an issue that’s of the utmost importance to CX professionals. In a recent Ryan Strategic Advisory survey, ‘data protection’ and ‘information security’ were rated the most important areas of investment for enterprise contact centre managers in the UK, and moving operations to individual home-based units certainly isn’t going to make managing these two critical areas any easier.
This is why the overwhelming majority of enterprises need the assistance of an expert partner to help ensure maximum compliance in their virtual agent strategy, and where the Sensée Homeworking Strategic Framework comes into play.
With 16 years’ experience in providing clients with home-based customer management solutions, Sensée has developed the mindshare needed to help enterprises with their migration out of the contact centre and into agents’ homes.
The security portion of the Strategic Framework is three-fold. The first is about making sure that enterprises deploying homeworking, and the data that they hold about customers, is secure. In the work-at-home environment, this has a great deal to do with the technologies that house information and the tools used to access data points. Sensée will advise on what provisions, solutions and procedures must be in place, alongside the right hardware required for agents.
The second part is about the operational integrity of homeworking once a campaign is off the ground. Sensée works with its clients to make certain that the right analytical tools are in place to detect and protect valuable consumer information from fraudulent activity. This includes monitoring agent desktop behaviour and validating agent identity.
The third part of the Sensée security framework is concerned with compliance. There are understandably more requirements laid out by different levels of government than ever before, and no enterprise is immune. Sensée works with its clients to make sure that home-based campaigns tick all the required legal boxes, minimising the chances of any adverse repercussions.
Homeworking is more common than ever, and this brings security challenges. Working within the Sensée Homeworking Strategic Framework, enterprises can efficiently navigate the security dynamic and ensures seamless interactions in a compliant manner.
by Mark Walton, CEO, Sensée
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