As the effects of COVID-19 become more widespread and impactful, many credit unions are considering having some, if not all, of their contact center agents work from home.

Shifting to a dispersed, remote workforce comes with unique performance, managerial, and security challenges. This is especially true for credit unions where member experience is a top priority.

What are some best practices in preparing a shift to work-from-home agents? Here are the top five:

1. Create new policy and compliance guides

Set expectations early and often when transitioning to an at-home agent model. Communicate what success looks like.

Consider providing your employees a checklist that outlines the appropriate compliance and security policies that will govern their new working environment.

2. Review, train, and test the skill set of your agents

Some agents may be better suited than others to work from home. Select those that you think would operate best in an at-home model.

Train and test these select agents in a separate at-home area and discuss an optimal place within the agent’s home where they can work.

3. Get the right infrastructure in place for remote work

Determine if your agents have access to high-speed internet and, ideally, a corporate VPN.

However, even without a VPN, agents can work in a modified manner. Review your company’s data access policies and adjust your agent’s desktop exposure accordingly.

4. Ensure agents have the right equipment for at-home work

Send agents home with headsets, laptops, monitors, and any other supplies they may need.

Run several audio quality tests with your at-home agents to simulate what your customers will likely experience.

5. Enable remote call & screen monitoring, scripting, and other quality management tools

This will encourage your agents to stay on script and on task.

Monitor key contact center metrics to understand if performance gaps are emerging so you can quickly address them.

Learn more about shifting to a dispersed, remote workforce from BECU, Tukwila, Wash., and contact center strategists Thursday, April 2, 2020, at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET for a LiveVox webinar, “COVID-19 Guidance for CUs: 5 Tips to Shift to At-Home Agents with BECU.” Click here to register.

LiveVox is a leading cloud communication tools provider for the financial services industry. Learn more at livevox.com.