Implementing even 6 of more than 100 usability improvements paid dividends in increased call center customer handling efficiency and payroll savings, ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT CHALLENGES in the usability field is getting clients to realize how much of a difference usability can make. But every so often, a project comes along that provides the opportunity to demonstrate immediate, tangible savings. I was commissioned to perform a task analysis in 2003 after a new customer information system (CIS) had been in use for 18 months. In observing call center representatives, it became clear to me, based on task times recorded before the new system was installed, that the new CIS had increased the time required to perform routine tasks. In fact, call times were taking almost 2 minutes longer than with the previous mainframe system. The result was longer hold times and transaction processing times for customers, which had a negative effect on service goals at the contact center. In this article, I demonstrate how reducing the average call-processing time by 1 minute saved several thousand hours per year, which allowed representatives to answer more calls per day and thereby reduced the need for new hires to keep up with increasing call volume.
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