Page 12 - Telecom Reseller May-June 2017

12 Telecom Reseller May/June 2017 The Business Benets of Virtual Desktops for Remote Contact Center Agents
RANUM
by Brady Ranum, VP of Products and Strategy at Dizzion (www. dizzion.com)
ere are many business bene ts to employing remote agents for contact centers – lower overhead, better access to talent, easier sta ng and more. While many business process outsourcers, contact centers and clients may be bought into the idea of remote agents, the question of how to enable these at-home employees while maintaining control and security still lingers. Without guring out a smart
solution for these concerns, contact centers will
see a dramatically decreased ROI for their decision to embrace remote agents. Virtual desktops have emerged as the solution businesses need to allow employees to work from anywhere while protecting data security and meeting other business needs. e solution o ers businesses a range of bene ts, from tighter control to better process management.
TIGHTER SECURITY & COMPLIANCE
Security is the No. 1 concern of any organization employing remote workers – especially for contact centers whose agents o en handle sensitive or protected information. When an employee is working from home, possibly using their own personal computer, you have little control over how they are handling (and maybe even storing) corporate data.
Virtual desktops solve that problem by keeping all systems, data and applications isolated within
a secure, controlled environment. Agents log
into their virtual desktop to access their work environment where their actions are limited to preset computing functions based on their user pro le. is prohibits any information from being copied or stored to the user’s local device and allows organizations to lock down high risk functions like screen capture, printing and USB access.
Some virtual desktop providers take security a step further, o ering veri ed compliant solutions to meet the requirements of highly regulated industries. is allows contact centers to o er compliant services while maintaining the business bene ts of remote agents.
RELIABLE APPLICATION ACCESS
Remote agents o en use their own personal devices – it’s one of the cost-saving bene ts of the remote model and allows contact centers to avoid the labor, time, resource and cost consuming task of mailing each agent a work laptop. However, working with a fairly uncontrolled range of endpoint devices presents challenges for so ware and application compatibility. Work at home agents need the ability to reliably access the necessary contact center platform, uni ed communication systems, so phone integrations and video streaming applications.
Virtual desktops essentially turn an existing device into a shell that runs your chosen operating system with corresponding computing power. is ensures every agent has a consistent experience and the ability to run the appropriate applications without running into compatibility issues.
EASIER IT MANAGEMENT
e business bene ts of remote agents can quickly be outweighed by an increased demand and stress on IT if companies don’t plan carefully. With agents decentralized and using di erent devices, IT teams can have a harder time addressing help desk tickets, implementing proper controls, updating pro les, patching so ware and setting up environments for new users. Virtual desktops allow IT to manage many of these
needs from a central location, quickly and easily provisioning desktops for new users and updating Golden Images with necessary control changes and patches that are subsequently pushed to each desktop upon next login.
SMART DECISIONS = FULL BENEFITS
While there are documented business bene ts of adopting a remote agent model, successful contact centers will have a well thought out plan on how they’ll enable those agents while protecting company and client interests. Making smart solution decisions when it comes to enabling remote agents can be the make or break between
a contact center having a successful and pro table remote agent experience and falling victim to growing pains from a poorly planned transition. ■
Clarity