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"Our Take"

(Past Editions by: Date, Title, Topic)

 
About "Our Take" 
"Our Take" is a collection of daily vignettes covering a wide range of CRM topics. It's an attempt to add our own spin to the world of CRM. We will use the column to share our perspectives, opinions, epiphanies, web nuggets, or quite frankly anything that moves us. Get ready to expect the unexpected. And, don't be shy about sharing your thoughts.
 
 
10/3/06 - If Field Service Ran Like a Call Center
One reader wrote a somewhat humorous, but pointed, example of why field service is different from a call center. Consider this:
 
"Think of a giant call center with 1500 agents but each agent can only handle a narrow slice of the calls (geographic limitations). Each 'call' can take 1-4 hours and it is not reasonable to work on multiple calls in parallel - you need to finish before you go to the next one. Now, you need to tell each caller how long they will wait for someone to start working their call."
 
That would be one of the most complex call centers and that's what we're dealing with in a field environment. The combination of variable travel times, unknown scope of service times, and the inability to help multiple clients in parallel add a level of complexity that gives businesses fits. Do you agree?
 
Gary Lemke, Publisher
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