Calabrio is a trusted company building the foundation of a customer-centric contact center, the Calabrio ONE workforce performance suite helps enrich and understand human interactions, enabling your contact center as a brand guardian. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Calabrio Product Evangelist Dave Hoekstra to learn more about the company.
Dave Hoekstra’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Hoekstra said:
“I have a great deal of experience in contact centers; I started as an agent in the ’90s and went on to hold nearly every role in a contact center, eventually finding my way into my current position as Product Evangelist for Calabrio. This is one of my favorite roles because I can share my knowledge and history with other contact center professionals. Combining 20+ years of industry and life experience, I have a unique perspective on the tools, technology and challenges that modern customer experience (CX) organizations face, and I enjoy these conversations.”
Core Products
What are Calabrio’s core products and features? Hoekstra explained:
“Calabrio offers a comprehensive suite of products and technologies tailored to improve customer-centric contact centers. The Calabrio ONE Workforce Performance Suite seamlessly integrates workforce optimization (WFO), agent engagement and business intelligence solutions into a true-cloud, fully integrated system that meets the demands of any business.”
Calabrio ONE connects data, analytics powered by artificial intelligence (AI), automated workforce management, and tailored coaching to enrich and understand human interactions.
By leveraging these advanced tools, Calabrio helps leading brands optimize their contact center operations, engage their employees, and delight customers.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Hoekstra and the team worked on in building the company? Hoekstra acknowledged:
“The contact center sector has dealt with difficulties that require planning, creativity and flexibility to keep up with evolving technology and customer needs. In Calabrio’s State of the Contact Center Report, we found several major challenges—helping agents adapt to AI innovations and developing continuous learning and critical thinking skills. AI is making agents’ jobs easier by handling some tasks–it is not replacing, but rather changing and enhancing their roles.
Keeping agents engaged and providing ongoing training is essential to the contact center industry. Our Report showed that 22% of contact center managers think adaptability and continuous learning are vital for preparing agents for the future. And 23% believe critical thinking skills are essential for keeping agents productive and engaged.
However, it also notes that nearly 50% of agents lack the skills needed to be effective at their jobs and many remote workers are falling short of productivity goals. This highlights the importance of training to ensure agents can effectively meet productivity standards and adapt to their changing roles, which helps contact centers succeed in the ever-evolving customer service landscape. As AI ramps up to help customers with ‘easier’ questions, agents’ preparation becomes even more critical, so training should be at the forefront of any contact center’s strategy.”
Recovering From the Pandemic
How has the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the priorities and strategies within the contact center industry, and what role does Calabrio play in this transformation? Hoekstra replied:
“The industry has changed a lot due to the pandemic, which increased the demand for remote work and cloud solutions. Call volumes rose sharply, especially for travel and healthcare, which impacted key performance indicators (KPIs) like Average Handle Time (AHT) and abandonment rates.
Due to social distancing mandates, about 90% of global contact center agents moved to work from home. This was easier for developed countries rather than developing ones. Contact centers increasingly turned to automation technologies like chatbots, AI and natural language processing to resolve issues on the first contact and reduce the volume of calls, emails and chats.
Other hurdles included quickly setting up hotlines for global crises, managing huge call surges and following regulations from remote locations. Cloud solutions have proven crucial for efficiently setting up remote agents, automating customer service, and scaling operations. It is predicted that 71% of contact centers will remain remote. In this transformed landscape, Calabrio helps contact centers manage increased call volumes, optimize remote work setups, and effectively use cloud-based platforms, making sure they continue to provide high-quality customer service despite these changes.”
Significant Challenges
What are the most significant challenges that contact centers face today, and how does Calabrio’s suite of solutions address these challenges? Hoekstra cited:
“Some of the big challenges that contact centers face today are agent burnout, high turnover rates and managing remote work. Calabrio’s suite of solutions tackles these issues with its WFM technologies.
Agent burnout is a major concern, with many agents feeling overwhelmed by their jobs. Calabrio’s Workforce Management (WFM) tools help contact centers make sure the right agents are where they need to be before it becomes a problem, promoting on the job support and decreasing agent stress.
Another persistent issue is high turnover rates. Calabrio’s solutions, like virtual call center functions, offer flexible work schedules and locations, which helps expand the recruitment pool and improve talent retention by meeting agents’ needs for work-life balance. Additionally, by using historical data for optimal agent scheduling, Calabrio helps prevent understaffing and ensures KPIs are met.
I’m excited that employee well-being is a key focus for Calabrio. Calabrio ONE helps managers create a real-time feedback loop with agents, where agents can then view completed evaluations and make real-time adjustments. Not surprisingly, this immediate feedback is one of the top drivers of employee satisfaction and retention. Last, our WFM technologies remove geographic barriers, making it easier to attract and select the right talent, who can maintain high service standards and operational efficiencies from various locations.”
Empowering Agents To Deliver Better Customer Experiences
Considering the rapid changes in contact center operations, how does Calabrio’s approach to technology empower agents to deliver a superior customer experience? Hoekstra replied:
“Calabrio helps agents deliver great customer experiences. They can use our AI-powered analytics to adjust interactions as needed. They also have automated workforce management to ensure proper staffing properly and reduce customer call wait times. Agents get personalized coaching and integrated data to understand each customer’s journey. And with Calabrio’s true-cloud platform, they can scale, adapt easily and maintain service quality. We support agents to do their best and keep customers happy.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates Calabrio from its competition? Hoekstra affirmed:
“In a nutshell, I would say contact centers choose us because of our superior value, ROI and capabilities. Our position as the Cloud Native, CCaaS agnostic, best-in-breed WEM provider is our greatest strength.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of Calabrio’s future company goals? Hoekstra pointed out:
“Calabrio is excited for the future. We are using AI and machine learning to boost our analytics and to provide customers with smarter insights. Our true-cloud platform, which is flexible and scalable everywhere, supports our strategic focus on global expansion.
Finally, we are dedicated to improving the customer experience for more detailed insights. We are a trendsetter committed to meeting our customers’ needs.”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics you would like to discuss? Hoekstra concluded:
“Calabrio’s best recognition comes from our users. Calabrio continues to receive industry recognitions and awards. The company was recently recognized as a Contact Center Workforce Software Leader in G2’s Summer 2024 Report, receiving 83 report listings—a record amount for the company. Calabrio ONE received 21 awards and badges, with G2 stating that 91% of users rate Calabrio 4 or 5 stars and highlighted the quality of support, ease of use, and agent availability as above average.”
