It’s a central challenge confronting CX operations: how to economically retain the most qualified and experienced talent when single client support demand fluctuations may not justify their year-long employment? This is an especially thorny mess to untangle when working to retain notoriously difficult-to-recruit licensed agents whose certifications are indispensable, though maybe only a few months at a time.

Businesses around the world are beginning to cautiously open up, welcoming their people to a new way of working. As a people-first company dedicated to incubating innovation, Everise approached this challenge by conducting a test-and-learn pilot program in our Austin, TX Experience Center, in order to measure the sentiment and performance of those returning to an environment transformed by pandemic. 

Since Everise quickly transitioned to a home-based support model in March, our people have now had time to adjust to a work-from-home environment. We've gathered internal data and learnings to review our work-from-home operations and see how it has affected our employees and overall performance.

It’s one of those business stories that needs to be documented.

As the year 2000 approached, then Microsoft CEO Bill Gates -- who at the time enjoyed near-Nostradamus status --  was asked about the most important technology developments to anticipate in the new century. One thing Gates described seemed highly improbable at the time: the idea that as internet bandwidth approached computer processing speeds, actual data computation and storage would take place farther and farther from the user.

As the novelty wears off, the realities that come with remote working are sinking in. The pandemic has forced people to adapt their daily routines and change their habits to accommodate a new way of working. 

Businesses have to adapt to cyclical changes and prepare themselves for a changing world. When operations are being disrupted, a solid business continuity plan (BCP) is essential to ensuring that systems and workflows remain intact. 

After having to completely transform overnight, the BPO industry now finds itself poised at its next impasse. Is work-at-home simply a business continuity plan, or is it the new table stakes for the industry. It's at these moments it's good to take a measured review of how ready the industry was and what it's doing to prepare for the future.  

Everise provides premium customer support for many vital industries, but our sector of deepest domain expertise is undoubtedly healthcare, where our primary specialty is member and provider support for health insurance companies. Within the insurance space, we specialize in serving Medicare patients – precisely the group at highest risk for complications caused by COVID-19.