With so many companies moving to remote working as business-as-usual, it can be a daunting prospect for some leadership teams. Will productivity suffer? Will customer satisfaction drop? Well, there’s plenty of research to suggest, that’s just not the case for remote customer service teams.

One thing you CAN do to improve your rate of success is to arm your remote customer service teams with the best tools to do their job effectively and efficiently from home. From ticket systems to culture-boosting tools, we’re going to uncover some of the software you might want to consider. Read on to chart your path to high-performing remote customer service operations.

Case & Contact Management

Start with the bones of the operation. How will the incoming requests be processed and stored? How will this link into your existing CRM? You need a robust solution with flags for priority, timeliness, assignment and reporting. There are loads of options on the market like FreshDesk and Zendesk. Your exact business requirements and scale may be determining factors in what you ultimately choose.

Mobile Call Handling

Without a physical desk, you’ll need to consider how calls will be answered (unless you skip phone support altogether). There are plenty of providers that offer VoIP solutions or forward to mobile support for your inbound phone contacts like Vonage and RingCentral. Weigh the cost with your quantity of calls to determine what’s right for your business.

Collaborative Working

Cloud storage can be a great way to enable collaborative working as multiple users can interact with a single document at the same time, boosting productivity. There are several dominant players in this space including Google and Microsoft, but your organisation’s size and data storage requirements will often determine what is best for your company.

Knowledge Base

Providing a place for both customers and agents to quickly find answers to common questions is a no-brainer. Many solutions exist like Intercom and Zendesk, but more important than the platform is that the information provided is accurate, up-to-date and accessible. Ensure when you roll out a knowledge base project, there is clear and defined ownership of updates post-execution.

Virtual Meetings

While not the same as a face to face in person, virtual meeting and conference software is the next best thing. You’ll want a provider that can scale with your requirements and offers at least the basic functionality of video, voice, screen share and recording options. Popular options include Zoom, GoToMeeting and Skype for Business.

Team Chat

Don’t forget the value of chatter to build an inclusive culture. Popular platforms like Slack, Basecamp and Teams can offer outlets for users to share personal stories, brainstorm and grow together as a team. Great for quick questions and sharing ideas, a great team chat tool will help bring people together.

While some might feel perfectly comfortable navigating these various procurement and integration challenges on their own; if you do need a hand picking the right providers, chat to our helpful team. We can help you negotiate contacts, manage the installation and onboard your team with the tricks and tips they need to get the most out of their new software.