Small Call Center Challenges

Many of today's call centers are smaller than they were in the past. Downsizing, IVR and Web self-service, outsourcing (especially offshoring), and teleworking have made them leaner. Some firms are considering small satellite offices to minimize commuting.

The upside of this is that there are many more property choices than there are for larger centers, especially in low labor cost small city markets. It is often easier to find 10,000 square feet to support a 100-workstation center than 100,000 square feet for a 1,000-workstation facility.

The downside is that small call centers may have to pay slightly higher rents per sf than their large cousins are. Property owners may be less willing to fund tenant improvements (TIs) such as better air conditioning to support the increased density of workers in the space that call centers incur.

"Landlords often feel less secure with a smaller call center, unless it is being operated by a larger firm," explains Mark Collmar, president of design firm, DM Communications (New York, NY)

Smaller call centers may have to make design compromises, or put in more money to improve their space. Small spaces may lack adequate voice/data/power for workstations; call centers may have to rewire the rooms. There may not be good quality acoustical tiles in the ceilings. If the call centers do not take up the entire floor, employees may have to share washroom space with other tenants' employees.

Collmar recommends that smaller centers make environmental surveys of tiles, walls, wire and cabling and power to find out where to invest more money to improve their space.

"When you are in a bigger, especially, newer facility, there has already been a lot of investment in it on things such as power," he points out. "Because you have more room it is easier to retrofit than if you have small space."

The Storageless PC Option

If you need to buy computers for your agents consider storageless or thin-client PCs. These units could save facilities costs and provide better security.

Storageless PCs, with flat panel monitors, provide smaller footprints, hence greater density. They can also rest on top of existing monitors, taking up as little as 24 square inches. These PCs are small enough to mount on desk or wall brackets, which gives more space and legroom.

Storageless PCs have other benefits, including lower power consumption and less generated heat, which also means lower HVAC expenses and greater employee comfort.

A study by Thin Client Computing indicates that typical annual savings based on having as few as 100 thin client appliance or storageless PC users can range from $3,000 to nearly $6,000 per year, depending on the power costs paid in a specific region.

Storageless PCs are also more secure: they do not have internal data storage or external user-accessible connections like USB ports. That prevents employees from uploading spyware and viruses and downloading data. There is no data residing in the hardware's local persistent memory.

Some makers' storageless or thin client PCs go further. Neoware's (King of Prussia, PA) Capio and Eon units include customer-controlled setup security, access to which is controlled by password. Users cannot modify the setup.

Also, storageless PCs/thin client devices have no street value, which virtually eliminates hardware theft. "No data, no connection to the server, no use," says Neoware product marketing manager Jim Powell.

Cascade Callworks is an outsourcer based in Vancouver, WA. The service bureau bought 85 Capio storageless PCs in spring 2003. The units, which sit behind the screens, take up less workstation space, which gave more desk area for agents.

"We also avoided damage and scuffing to the PCs with Neoware," says Cascade CEO Shawn Suhrstedt. "They replaced tower units that employees would accidentally kick or rest their shoes on."

The appliances also enabled the bureau to reduce power consumption by 7920 kilowatt-hours per month. That saved the bureau $546 per month plus its share of HVAC expenses -- Cascade shares the building with other tenants.

The Capios provide better security: a key reason why Cascade Callworks choose them.

"It is much easier to backup data in one spot, scan for viruses and firewall with one server," explains Suhrstedt. "With our use of the Windows 2000 Server, we are able to grant very specific user rights to eliminate the threat of users downloading/installing/browsing/deleting non-approved files. It has lessened the burden on our operations staff greatly."

Carving a Center in The Big Apple

There are, believe it or not, many small call centers located in high-cost and older big cities like New York City.

Call centers that sell securities, provide customer service to unions, local government agencies and HMOs, and/or which require access to a huge multilingual labor base can justify locating there. Agents have invaluable local knowledge that customers come to expect. But selecting property and designing call centers have unique challenges, reports Mark Collmar, president, DM Communications (New York, NY).

Many but not all of the buildings within the budgets of call centers are older, which may require extensive retrofits. Mold is sometimes an issue in older buildings.

One common problem is that many of these buildings lack sufficient riser capacity to bring cabling to upper floors; the floors are solid concrete. In response, firms must do core drilling between floors to ruin conduits; fire stairs are a popular area.

Some structures are designated landmark buildings. There is a lengthy and not always guaranteed to be successful process by which you need to gain approvals to extensively renovate them, such as changing walls, floors and ceilings.

"Landmark building landlords don't even like you touching the walls," says Collmar.

Almost inevitably, your call center will depend on elevators, which the building management is responsible for. In some buildings the elevators will be in good shape, others they may be slow and prone to breakdowns. Avoid leasing in a building with only one elevator.

"If you're a small call center with say 25 agents, and the tenant knows growth is possible, sign a short-term lease agreement. One to three years," Collmar advises. "If the elevator service doesn't meet your requirements, you have the opportunity to find better space to accommodate your growth.

Whether in new or older buildings chances are good that you will have to use union contractors to do the remodeling. Unions, and their higher costs, are an accepted fact in large cities. The landlords or the building management firm will let you know if you have to use union labor.

Rodents can be a problem in some older buildings. While the rats stick to the basement, mice often head to upper floors. Collmar recommends that you ask existing tenants if there are any pest problems within the building, check enclosed areas like bathrooms and hidden closets and ask management how they control and exterminate all pests.

Once you set up your call center, establish a policy forbidding eating and drinking at desks to reduce attracting potential pests. Always call an exterminator to help combat the problems.

"Mice, and other pests, are a fact of life in a city like New York," he says.

Infonxx (San Antonio, TX)

Call centers have been located in some very interesting buildings and under extremely tight timeframes.

Directory assistance outsourcer Infonxx (Bethlehem, PA; www.infonxx.com) has done both by opening a new 500-workstation call center in a former movie house and in less than four months over the Christmas holidays.

Infonxx opened a new call center in March 2003 in a former 1960s-vintage movie house that had been converted into a two story office by the landlord.

Infonxx's agents head to the center's break room to relax and recharge. Photo courtesy of lauckgroup.

The movie house has landmark status. It is located in an older suburban part of San Antonio near a pair of major expressways.

Infonxx picked San Antonio because it found the metro area had an excellent labor market. The outsourcer has a 250-workstation call center there.

The movie house has several first-run features: it had been recently renovated as an office, it is well known and visible so potential employees could easily find it, there is plenty of parking, and there are restaurants and shopping nearby.

Equally important, Infonxx's first call center is close by. That call center is in a conventional single-story office building.

"We needed 500 workstations to be ready quickly," explains John Chell, director of real estate and facilities services, Infonxx. "We looked at many different buildings and we found this one met our needs. Because it was near our existing call center we were able to save time and money by not duplicating administration functions in the new call center."

Infonxx needed every edge it could get; the firm had a tight deadline to meet client needs. It decided on December 1, 2002, that it needed a new center and the facility was open on March 14, 2003.

To expedite the project the company split it into two phases, with two separate permitting processes: the computer and training room, and the primary work floor. It hired lauckgroup (Dallas, TX) to undertake the design work.

Infonxx paid a professional expediting service to get the permitting achieved faster; expediters are professionals who know how to prepare, file and track building permits.

Infonxx also ordered long-lead time components like HVAC systems, switch and electrical gear including a 90kW backup generator at the get-go.

It hired Schmidt & Stacy Engineers (Dallas, TX) because of their in-depth expertise with highly technical call center projects.

The project splitting paid off. The training room received its certificate of occupancy in February; the center had agents trained when the rest of the center got their certificate in March.

Infonxx was able to make an attractive looking call center quickly and for a tight budget, explains Brigitte Preston, design principal, lauckgroup.

The call center outfitted the work areas with Herman Miller (Zeeland, MI) Equa chairs. And the outsourcer's design team used colors to brighten up the atmosphere and to give it a sense of youth and playfulness. It also kept the break room ceilings exposed to keep a cutting edge, warehouse feel to the space.

"We wanted to give the agents a sense that they were going on a break so they could relax and recharge," says Preston. "So we created a trendy, hip looking room that had a completely different feel to the employees."