Workforce cross training in call centers from an operations management perspective

Abstract

Call centers, also known as telephone, customer service, technical support, or contact centers constitute a large industry worldwide, where the majority of customer-firm interactions take place. There are thousands of call centers in the world, with sizes in terms of full time employees ranging from a few to several thousand. Datamonitor estimates that the 2.5 million agent positions in the United States today will increase by more than 14% by 2005 (Datamonitor, 2002). Call centers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) are expected to swell to 45,000 by 2008, with 2.1 million agent positions (Datamonitor, 2004).