Challenges ahead for remote call centre agents

The remote agent model continues to gain traction in the contact centre as companies are increasingly discovering the economic and operational advantages of home agents.

A report from analyst firm Datamonitor predicts the number of home-based agents in the US will increase by 37% per year over the next five years, reaching more than 224,000 agents by 2012. This is a conservative estimate. A 2006 report from IDC put the number of home agents in the US at around 115,000, increasing to more than 300,000 by 2010.

Other market researchers have estimated the current number of remote call centre workers to be as high as 300,000 or 400,000 (of course, it all depends on your definition of "home agent"). While many companies are just now dabbling in remote agents, some embraced the model completely and offer 100% remote agent services.

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