Contact Center: Unplugged

Step Up To The Plate – It’s Time To Go Green

Author:  Gary Barnett

With the presidential elections just around the corner in the U.S., both parties are making their case for how we can best resolve our energy issues. You’re probably thinking to yourself right about now – “what does this have to do with customer interactions.    Does Gary fancy himself a green expert?”  Certainly not, but I do know there are some things that the call center can be doing to help reduce energy consumption and lower energy costs. 

Here are five ways that your contact center can help minimize its impact on the environment, while saving some money in the process:

1. Employ home-based agents – Heating, cooling and powering office space are responsible for almost 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. and more than 70 percent of total electricity usage.  In addition, commuters spew 1.3 billion tons of CO2 a year. If you haven’t already done so, now might be the time to begin employing home-based agents.  Not only will you be helping the environment by cutting employee commuting, you’ll be cutting facilities-related costs, gaining access to a broader talent pool, and increasing your center’s ability to quickly and efficiently respond to unexpected spikes in traffic.
2. Use virtualization software – Globally, IT contributes to 2 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions: as much as all of the airlines combined.  Considering the costs of powering and cooling servers, using virtualization software can result in big savings on power bills. It can also save money on future hardware investments and spare the environment the greenhouse gas emissions that would have gone into running and chilling those extra machines. 
3. Send less paper – The average employee wastes $85 worth of printer paper and ink each year through unnecessary printing.  Why not automate your paper procedures?  Use electronic media whenever possible in place of mailing or faxing information to customers and business partners. You’ll reduce paper waste and decrease costs.
4. Power down/power smart – Computers in the office burn $1 billion worth of electricity annually – that’s when they’re not producing any work. Turn off computers and monitors at the end of the workday.  You’ll lower carbon emissions, but also save $25 to $75 per computer annually.  Also, think about replacing your agent’s desktop computers with laptops – laptops use up to 90 percent less energy. 
5. Improve lighting – Lighting accounts for almost one-third of the energy used in commercial buildings.  Swap incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent lights. According to the EPA, compact fluorescent light bulbs use two thirds less energy and last up to 10 times longer.

Gartner says that environmental issues will rise up on political, media, enterprise, investor and consumer agendas through 2012. Have you started the “greening” of your contact center?

Author: Gary Barnett
Catergories: Contact Center Technology

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