design of a webchat assessment framework for contact centres in Asia

Abstract

In the global contact centre industry, workplaces are rapidly replacing phone customer support with written webchat exchange. This means that webchat agents use their computers, phones and other mobile devices to communicate synchronously through texting, when serving customers. As with voice assessments in the previous decade, there has been an urgent need for webchat communications assessment solutions in the outsourced and offshored sites in China, India and the Philippines, where English is the second language. Such webchat assessment requirements range from recruitment benchmarking to diagnostic communications profiling of webchat agents leading to coaching solutions that enhance business performance. An assessment solution for diagnostic profiling is the specific subject of this article. Whilst some scholarly research has been carried out on webchat exchange, there is little on assessment processes. This article therefore describes a diagnostic assessment to appraise and diagnose webchat communication competency to underpin webchat coaching.