Survey participants shared input on their work at-home agent workforce as well as some of the processes and challenges they have experienced. Data is provided on demographics, retention, challenges to ramping up, challenges to scaling, training and tools.

1. At-Home Agent
Management
Survey results reported 11/10/2009

2. At-Home Momentum
With regards to at-home agents, are you:
6%
Not using or
considering at- 11%
home agents
7%
25% Nov-09
Considering at-
home agents
41% Sep-09
48%
Apr-09
69%
Using at-home
48%
agents
45%
All of these survey respondents were registered to attend an at-home webinar, but
even so, the growth of those employing this model is substantial between April
and November.

3. Engagement Level
Despite other survey results that show a large amount of daily communication with
at-home agents, 46% still said they are less engaged than in-center agents.
This might suggest more tactics than strategy being employed in this arena.

4. Difficulty Keeping Connected
While most share that they have “average” difficulty connecting agents to various
entities, there seems to be the least difficulty in the Supervisor category. 12%
rank it difficult or extremely difficult, as compared to 30% and 27% ranking
Company and Team as difficult or extremely difficult.

5. Keeping Agents Connected
At-home agents have the most contact with their supervisors, with 65%
communicating at least daily. Team contact is less frequent, with 50%
communicating daily or more.

6. At-Home Tools
The prevalence of email raises some concerns about the accessibility of information that agents may
need to reference later. Chat and web meetings were frequently noted as tools for all sorts of
communication. E-learning and social networking show lots of room to grow, especially as the costs
come down with these methods that have shown to be effective.

7. Processes Adapted for At-Home – Ad-Hoc Meetings
Ad-Hoc Huddles/Team Meetings
Group IM/Chat Room 5
Email 7
IM/Chat 8
In Office 10
Web Meeting 22
Conf Call 37
The next few charts show how respondents are adapting in-center processes with tools available to at-
home agents. Team calls and web meetings are prevalent in ad-hoc and team meetings as two-
way communications. It is interesting that 11% require at-home agents to attend meetings in the
office.

8. Processes Adapted for At-Home – Raising Hand
Raising Hand for Help
Not Done 1
Group IM/Chat Room 2
Web Meeting 3
Dedicated
16
Number/Queue
Email 16
1to1 Phone 24
IM/Chat 49
When it comes to getting help immediately, the majority of respondents use chat/instant message.
While many use phone, a significant number use a dedicated help line for at-home agents.

9. Processes Adapted for At-Home – Teammates Help
Asking Teammates for Help
Intranet 2
Group IM/Chat Room 5
Not Done 7
Dedicated
7
Number/Queue
1to1 Phone 16
Email 22
IM/Chat 46
Again, chat and instant message seem to be the most popular way at-home agents get assistance.
The use of email suggests the types of questions asked of teammates are not immediate.

10. Processes Adapted for At-Home – Supervisor’s Walk
Supervisors Walking Around to Help
Web Meeting 2
Group IM/Chat Room 3
Monitoring 6
Dedicated
7
Number/Queue
Not Done 12
Email 16
1to1 Phone 19
IM/Chat 39
Chat and instant message use are most prevalent in this category, but the use of monitoring comes in
for some supervisors looking to assist. Also, a number of respondents do not have a mechanism
for at-home agents that mirrors the “walk-around” process that many in-center supervisors use.

11. Processes Adapted for At-Home – Training
Classroom Training
Not Done 1
Email 1
IM/Chat 4
Conf Call 12
Self-Paced eLearning 16
Web Meeting 31
In Office 34
The most interesting thing about this in-center process adapted for at-home is that so many have not
adapted it at all. They still require at-home agents to come into the office for training. Of those who
have, web meetings and self-paced e-learning are the most popular.

12. Frequency of Connections
How often do home agents participate in the following once they are initially trained?
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Training Scheduled team Ad-hoc huddles/team Communication updates Coaching sessions
meetings meetings
Daily 2-4 times/week Weekly 2-3 times/month Monthly Less than monthly
Training and ad-hoc meetings happen with the least frequency, with around 40% occurring less than
monthly. The highest frequency events are communication updates, by far, with more than 60%
occurring daily.

13. Supervisor View
With many of these answers hovering around half of responses, it’s clear methods vary when it comes
to managing at-home agents. While 56% receive additional tools, 44% receive additional training on
how to manage them.

14. Supervisor Qualities
What makes a good supervisor of at-home agents?
Knowledgeable
Detail-Oriented
Multi-Tasking
Flexibility
Tech-Savvy
Organized
Team-Building Skills
Communications
0 10 20 30 40 50
This question invited respondents to write-in the qualities they thought made good supervisors of at-
home agents. These answers were categorized into the above answers. Communication skills was
most frequently given and often was described as written and oral communications. Given the
nature of how teams must be managed in this environment, team building and organization were
also highly ranked.

15. More Resources on At-Home Agents
Request free white paper:
More benchmark data:
http://www.knowlagent.com/Resource-Center/Call-
Center-Statistics-Pardot.aspx
Webinar related to these results:
Long Time, No See: How to Keep At-Home Agents
Connected
Contact Debbie Dockery for more info:
ddockery@knowlagent.com

16. About Knowlagent
For 14 years companies
around the world have
reduced labor costs with
Knowlagent’s agent
management software.
Hiring
Training
Coaching
Easy to use, on-demand
software
No capital expenditures
Deployable in 30 days
Accessible via the Web
www.knowlagent.com

17. About the Survey
At-Home Webinar registrants asked to
participate
Online survey
Results originally shared during
webinar 11/10/09
253 participants across industries