Yammer just put out a press release announcing that they hit the 1 million user milestone.  This news bring up an interesting question:

What techniques are call centers using to effectively communicate internally?

The question is interesting because, while call centers are often “experts” at communicating with customers, it is also often true that call centers are lacking in internal communications.

Yammer is an interesting product. It is essentially Twitter for internal corporate communications.  It allows companies to communicate internally in a quick and informal way.

Here are 3 ways call centers could benefit from using Yammer:

1. Knowledge base: Often call center managers need the ability to update a script or provide client specific instruction on the fly. Yammer allows for the creation of a knowledge base that is searchable and readily available to all agents.
2. Social Network: Call center can be fairly anti-social due to the transient nature of the workforce, but being open to internal communication can help raise moral. An internal social network can allow employees to get to know their co-workers, helping build a better sense of team.
3. Team communication: Yammer would allow for easy team by team communication. Contests, up to the minute KPI information and other mission critical data could be shared for all to see.

Often, call center communication is a top-down only affair – with the call center manager dictating to the supervisors who carry out the instructions with the staff.  It could be very beneficial in many cases to open up the lines of communication so that the managers can get direct feedback from the agents as to what is working, etc.

So, the question remains – what techniques does your call center use to effectively communicate internally?