Busylight: Custom Statuses Everyone Can See

In all customer service situations, call centers in particular, everyone involved in an interaction has a vested interest in efficiency.

On one side, the customer wants their situation handled quickly and efficiently, with as little wait time as possible.

On the other side, a call center’s profitability requires taking the maximum number of calls and producing the highest number of positive outcomes possible within a given period of time.

The busylight is a tool that can increase call center efficiency by visually indicating a customer service representative’s status, simultaneously improving both workflow and customer satisfaction.

How the Busylight Works

The busylight is a golf ball sized, USB light that’s placed at the top of a customer service agent’s monitor or cubicle. It displays different colors and pulse patterns that signal the agent’s current working status, including the following basic statuses:

• Available
• On a call
• After-call work
• Away

Customized statuses can be incorporated to meet your operations’ specific needs.

How Visual Statuses Make a Difference

Let’s examine the benefits that utilizing the busylight can bring to your staff, customers, and management.

Reducing Unwanted Interruptions

One of the major obstacles to expedient customer service and efficient workflow is both simple and avoidable: interruption.

When utilizing a headset in the busy call center environment, it can be difficult to tell whether a customer service representative is currently taking a call, urgently occupied in follow-up documentation after a call, or whether they are available to assist with another matter.

Unintentionally and unnecessarily interrupting a busy agent can disrupt the call flow, increase the customer’s wait time, or even lead to human error in documentation, all of which detract from overall operational efficiency.

One look at the busylight custom status would clearly communicate an individual agent’s availability, reducing interruptions, shortening call time, and reducing confusion on the service center floor.

Getting Immediate Help to Escalate or Resolve a Situation

The opposite situation can also occur — trouble arises during a call, and the agent needs immediate assistance to resolve the situation with the greatest expediency and salvage a positive outcome.

A quick change of the readylight status would visually signal another customer service agent to assist with basic questions, or it could signal a supervisor to intervene in an escalation situation.

In any number of circumstances, an agent being able to signal for needed support in a time-sensitive situation reduces customer wait time and employee stress, and could potentially turn a negative outcome into a positive customer experience.

Improving Workflow on the Floor

When every agent is utilizing his or her busylight, whether manually or integrated into their software platform, the management team will be able to quickly look around the room and make a general assessment of his or her team’s current situation, including the following:

• What is my current floor strength?
• What is a ballpark estimate of available agents?
• Who’s immediately available to take care of any urgent matters?

The ability to visually grasp the call center’s overall availability allows managers, supervisors, or team leads to make agile, on-the-spot operational decisions to achieve peak workflow.

JBHworks: Custom Call Center Solutions

Does the busylight sound like a tool that could smooth your workflow and improve operations at your call center? If so, we can help.

Our years of call center experience make JBHworks the experts in custom solutions that can help you meet all your customer service needs.