The Importance of a GREAT Call Center Facility!

by Grant Gipe in

Facilities design focuses on ensuring a positive work environment exists for agents. A pleasing environment has a significant impact on worker’s productivity, morale, turnover, absenteeism, health-care costs, and energy costs. In a place where an employee can spend one-quarter of their waking hours, being greeted by a warm, appealing office on Monday morning can do loads for agent morale and productivity. Below are some tips and checklist for lighting, acoustics, air quality and ventilation (HVAC), headsets, health & safety procedures, and workstation ergonomics.

Lighting - Working in poor lighting can permanently affect the eyes and have a detrimental effect on health. Video display terminals (VDT) create their own ‘glow’ and reflect light thus requiring only half the amount of light needed for other writing surfaces. Ceiling-mounted fluorescent fixtures can produce uneven lighting levels that reflect off VDTs, causing eyestrain. Lighting checklist:

  • A typical office a typical office should have ambient light at 200 lux and a minimum of 100 lux.
  • The key is to balance the amount of light distributed to work surfaces. 
  • To minimize excessive pupil dilation, thus resulting in less eyestrain for the user, you should keep the surface contrast low where reading and writing occur.
  • Use the appropriate type of lighting:
    • Ambient - helps to create a mood and feel of a room - this is usually the starting point for lighting a room.
    • Accent - to highlight features within a room such as pictures or objects is the objective of this lighting; it is also restricted to one or two areas of the room.
    • Task - this type of lighting as the title suggests helps us to perform tasks, it improves clarity, helps keep you focused on the job at hand, and prevents tiredness.

Acoustics -  A non-disruptive environment is necessary to guarantee call quality and agent concentration. In an open call center plan, agents and machines can generate noise. Sound waves can be hindered or enhanced by the elements of an open office space. To address this, architectural design, partitions, absorptive ceilings and walls, and noise masking can go a long way to helping reduce call center noise. Acoustics checklist:

  • An inexpensive alternative to reduced noise levels is the use of highly absorbent acoustical ceiling tiles designed to reduce sound reflections over workstation partitions. For example, use large squares of fabric hanging from the ceiling.
  • Use carpeted floors and absorptive walls.
  • In very extreme cases, noise-masking systems should be considered. Noise masking works on the premise that one lightly louder sound can mask another softer sound, provided the frequency content of the sound is similar.

Air quality and ventilation - Proper indoor quality, temperature, and ventilation significantly influence employee health and welfare. Poor ventilation or polluted air can lead to increased stress levels, headaches, fatigue, poor concentration, absenteeism, and turnover. Inadequate ventilation can increase indoor pollutant levels by not bringing in enough outdoor air to dilute emissions from indoor sources and by not carrying indoor air pollutants out of the building. High temperature and humidity levels can also increase concentrations of some pollutants. There are a number of mechanical ventilation devices, from outdoor-vented fans that intermittently remove air from a single room, such as an office, to air handling systems that use fans and duct work to continuously remove indoor air and distribute filtered and conditioned outdoor air to strategic points throughout the building. The rate at which outdoor air replaces indoor air is described as the air exchange rate. When there is little infiltration, natural ventilation, or mechanical ventilation, the air exchange rate is low and pollutant levels can increase. Checklist:

  • Physical parameters:

    • Temperature: Summer 22.7-26.1 C, Winter  20-23.6 C

    • Relative Humidity: 30%-65%

    • Air Movement: 0.8 ft/s or 0.25 m/s

    • Filtration: 25%-30% Dust Spot Efficiency

    • Pressurization: 1-5 Pascals &/or + Press

    • Particulate in Cleaned HVAC Systems: 1.0 mg/100 cm2

  • Biological parameters

    • Fungal Bioaerosols (culturable): 300 CFU/m3 total; 50 CFU/m3 individual (excepting Cladosporium)

    • Bacterial Bioaerosols (culturable): 500 CFU/m3 total; dominated by gram + organisms 

Headsets - Headsets are often overlooked in terms of how they affect overall agent performance and call quality. Proper headsets greatly influence call handling quality, improved agent performance, and general morale. Checklist:

  • Durability and flexibility: If headsets are shared between agents, the headset must be durable and flexible enough to accommodate various agent needs. This includes a flexible voice tube and adjustable earphones.
  • Preference:  Provide a mixture so agents can choose which headset suits them best. Note: Monaural headsets have been found to be more effective in situations where there is agent interaction:
    • Facilitates call handling coaching.
    •  Able to hear feedback from supervisors.
    • Able to hear how other agents handle calls.
    • Helps create a sense of team building.
  • Maintenance and repairs: 
    • Recommend implementing a procedure to monitor the cleanliness of replaceable parts. Regular replacement of dirty or damaged pieces helps improve word quality and reduces the spread of germs.
    • Recommend either washing or replacing the foam over the microphone and earpiece every 6 months.
    • Headsets should be placed back in their original cover after to use.
    •  A typical headset should last from 2 to 3 years.
    • Recommend implementing an inventory management procedure for damaged headsets and providing replacements.

 

  • Noise interference:

    • In open plan type call centers, background noise can be a problem. Certain headsets have features, which help reduce noise such as voice canceling headsets. Customers should feel that they are talking to one agent and not distracted by background noise. 

    • Plantronics (Sound Guard and Call Clarity) technology helps reduce background noises by up to 75%. An acoustic voice tube with flexible boom takes the sound back to the microphone, which has no intrusive wire. The microphone is protected up in the ear capsule so every time the agent puts the headset on and off, they do not move wires.

      • Two types of headsets:

        • binaural: headset covers both ears

        • monaural: headset covers one ear

Health & safety - Communicating, practicing proper health and safety procedures communicates a sense of commitment and concern to employees. In most cases, the law requires following these standards. Checklist:

  • Have Emergency and Rescue Teams formed that are properly trained in first-aid, fire fighting, and emergency evacuation procedures.
  • Fire and emergency exits are clearly marked.
  • Fire extinguishers are available and clearly marked.
  • Fire drills take place at least twice per year.
  • First aid cabinet is available and clearly marked.
  • Some general safety benchmarks include:
    • Companies < 250 employees need 1 trained staff member per 50 employees.
    • Companies > 250 employees need a minimum of 5 trained staff members.
    • Companies < 1000 employees: 2% trained staff members.
    • Companies > 1000 employees: 1% trained staff members.
    • Cabling and wires are protected and out of the way.
    • Perform accident / incident reporting.

Workstation ergonomics - People produce more when they feel better. Call center working conditions at the best of times, can be stressful, noisy, and uncomfortable. Creating a more positive work environment can directly influence employee productivity and efficiency by helping to reduce the physical problems that occur due to excessive sitting or computer work. Ergonomic guidelines for proper posture, chair adjustments, correct position of the monitor and keyboard, and workstation exercises influence improved morale, decreased fatigue, decreased breaks, and reduced absenteeism. Checklist:

  • For normal human heights ranging between 1.57 and 1.77 meters, a workstation height of .71-.76 meters is appropriate.
  • Angles for arms and legs should approach 90 degrees.
  • Agents should use footrests if appropriate.
  • Wrists are more protected on curved keyboards.
  • Chairs should have armrests and contain five casters that are fully adjustable.
  • Monitor heights should be adjusted to met employee eye level, with a minimum of .40 meter distance between the seated employee and monitor.
  • Appropriate workstation benchmarks:

Facility features - A great call center is more than just an expansive open floor plan. You need features including:

  • Personal lockers
  • Kitchen facilities
  • Designated smoking area 
  • Vending machines
  • Quiet room: Suggest it includes large and plush coaches, a water feature/ garden, and/or plants
  • Break room equipped with wifi, internet, TV, refrigerators, cooking facilities, microwaves, storage cabinets, trash bins, bright colors, natural light, and as a bonus, a ping-pong table or game console.