Developing a Work from
Home Program for Your
Contact Center Rep
Minneapolis 311 Virtual Agent Pilot
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Opened January 4, 2006
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Staffing
◦ Staffed 7 AM – 7 PM, Monday – Friday
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20 Customer Service Agents (17 in Winter)
3 Supervisors
2 Analysts
1 Office Support
1 Director
Handled 384,283 calls and 16,638 emails in 2010
Average Speed of Answer = 31 seconds
First Call Resolution = 82.5%
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Tele-working is common place in many industries
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Benefits of tele-working are well documented
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Opens up access to a largely underutilized employee
pool
For Minneapolis 311, these may include:
 Reduced overhead costs
 Space savings, and the costs associated with space
 Increased productivity
 Help in retaining and recruiting employees
 Improved employee morale
 Reduced absenteeism
 Improved customer service
 Improved capabilities for continuing operations,
emergency preparedness and disaster recovery
 Greater flexibility to meet fluctuating work demands
For employees, these may include:
 Reduced and Eliminated travel time and costs
 Flexible work hours
 More job satisfaction
For the community, these may include:
 Reduced traffic congestion, air pollution, and fuel
consumption
 Greater accessibility to services
 Improved customer service
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Free consulting from e-workplace which is a state
sponsored program that received federal grants to
provide these services to Metro Employers
committed to Teleworking.
4 Customer Service Agents deployed in
July/August 2010
Pilot ran to April, 2011
A final recommendation will be made at the
conclusion of the pilot
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We had to address:
◦ Process
◦ People
Customer
◦ Technology
Technology
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Customer service is constant. For 311 customers
the virtual agent arrangement should be
transparent; that is, the customer should detect
no difference in the quality or timelines of service
rendered from the primary office or the work from
home location.
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Bargaining Unit Partnership
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Cross functional project team
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Communication / Training / Meetings / Events
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Supervision / Performance Management
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Pilot Guidelines
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Virtual Agent Home Environment
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Technical Support
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Virtual agent application & selection
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Seek out advice and expertise
A 311 Virtual Agent is essentially a 311
Customer Service Agent who works from
home. Work from home agents are
commonly referred to as “telecommuters”
or “teleworkers”.
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311 Virtual Agent (telecommuting) is not a fit for every Service Agent.
311 Virtual Agent is not a substitute arrangement for dependent care or
a substitute to accommodate personal or other business endeavors.
311 Virtual agents will be responsible for any costs related to
remodeling and maintenance of the home workspace.
The 311 Virtual Agent will provide a work environment free of
background noises and other distractions. Must agree to participate in
all pilot activities
Work standards are the same
Must have a level of technical ability
Virtual agents will take all necessary precautions to secure and prevent
unauthorized access to all data
311 Virtual Agents who work at home agree to provide a safe
workspace. This includes complying with City ergonomic policies and
guidelines
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Eligibility
◦ All Minneapolis 311 Customer Service Agents (1 & 2) are eligible to be
considered for a Virtual Agent position. 311 Management reserves the
right to determine how many Virtual Agent positions are available. It is
expected that the ratio of CSA1 and CSA2 Virtual Agents will be
reflective of total number of CSA1’s and CSA2’s.
◦ For the pilot, up to 5 CSA’s will be considered.
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Objective: Replicate the customer service agents
work station capabilities at their work from home
site.
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Solutions:
 Voice
 Data / Applications / E Bulletin Board
 Furniture
311 Office
Agent
Workstation
311 Virtual
Agent
Workstation
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IP phone connectivity to user’s virtual offices allowing for
full call center voice application functionality
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Data VPN connectivity to all City 311 agent systems and
applications
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Dedicated voice and data bandwidth to ensure the same or
better quality of service as onsite 311 agents.
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Business-class IPS connection from third party provider to
virtual agent home offices
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Management reserves the right to make inspections of the at home
workspace with prior and appropriate notification.
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The home work space shall be an area specifically designated and set
aside for use by the virtual agent. The size of the space should be large
enough to accommodate the equipment and furniture provided by the
City.
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The home work space will have necessary high speed cable, telephone
and power connection points in close proximity of the virtual agent
home work space.
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City provided desk, chair, wireless headset & chair mat (if needed).
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Baseline ergonomic requirements
311
Department
Information
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Agent Utilization
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User State
Available
Handled
Unavailable
Work
Ring
Other
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Contact Handle Time (calls & emails)
Contacts Handled / Day
First Call Resolution
After Call Work (seconds)
Adherence to schedule
Absenteeism / Sick / Tardiness
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Environmental
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Agent Satisfaction
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On the average, each agent saves:
 4,147 miles annually
 104 hours annually
 $2,074 in vehicle expense annually
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Impact on the environment:
 20,114 pounds of CO2 emissions annually
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“All I can say it I love it. There is no long stressful commute on the days I don’t come in. I
feel that I am more relaxed and am able to give the customer my undivided attention
without any distractions.” – Mary
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“Working from home has improved the quality of life in many ways for me. For instance,
the money I have saved from having to buy gas to commute to and from work and the
extra time I get to spend being around family. I also appreciate the way management has
kept me well-informed about what’s going on in the call center through conference-call
meetings, over the phone training, updates from email and our 311 intranet webpage.” –
Harry
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I am excited to be a part of the Virtual Agent Pilot and for the opportunity to see the
positive impact it may have on 311 and City of Minneapolis. Overall, working as a Virtual
Agent has allowed me to have more balance in my life. It’s been a positive experience for
my family and a great learning experience for me so far. - Gina
“Thank you for calling the City of Minneapolis”