The holiday season can be hecticwherever shoppers are swarming and cash registers ringing. But evencredit union contact centers, working behind the scenes of consumerspending, can feel the pinch of the holiday shopping season.

Members start calling to check balances in the midst of shoppingsprees. Others overdraw their accounts in the holiday bustle,leading to an increase in fee disputes over non-sufficientfunds.

Plus, sudden spending spikes can trigger potential fraud alerts,along with calls to verify the charges – which just elicit morequestions from members.

Meanwhile, as call volumes increase, employees are takingvacation time, leaving the credit union contact center busier thanever. But it's important not to let the member experience lapseduring the holiday rush.

Prepare your customer service agents with these best practicesthat will keep your credit union's contact center running smoothlyto deliver excellent member service during the holidays.

• Simplify with a Single Interface.

As communication channels have evolved, many credit unions addedchat systems that work separately from their voice systems. Thatmeans agents are split into a group of reps logged into chat, andanother group of reps answering the phone. If one queue gets backedup and agents start asking for help, then the supervisor must makea manual decision whether to log reps out of one interface intoanother.

A single decision-making engine can streamline queues from phonecalls and chats, as well as other multi-channel contacts likeemail. It's easier for reps to manage one integrated system than tobounce around multiple applications, and streamlined multi-channelcontact frees supervisors to spend time managing instead ofmanually allocating staff.

• Avoid Runarounds with Skills-BasedRouting.

In a credit union, answering basic calls about share draftbalances is very different than addressing complex questions aboutthe loan application process. The first may go to a member servicerep, and the latter to a loan officer. The worst thing a contactcenter could do is bounce members around until they find someonequalified to answer their question.

Skills-based routing can match up calls to the agent with skillsets best suited to the query. So a credit union may identify fiveagents who take all the credit card questions. And if they're allbusy? Skills-based routing is set within parameters, so once thewait time reaches a threshold (say one minute) then the queue rollsover to the next group of five agents who aren't quite experts inthe topic, but can handle the call to keep wait times down.

Next Page: Monitor Quality

• Monitor Quality through Efficiency andAccuracy.

The longer agents take on a call, the more they impact waittime. But it's crucial that agents are giving proper, accurateinformation during the call to resolve the issue. If, in a rush toanswer the next call, they give misinformation, it only causesrepeat calls, inflating volume while worsening your servicelevel.

Instead of putting time limits on interactions, urge first-callresolution by encouraging reps to take as long as they need to doit right. You need tools to effectively monitor this, because ifyou're just overhearing the conversation without seeing whatinformation agents access on their screens, you might be able todetect accuracy but not efficiency. The best quality monitoringincludes call recording and screen captures so you can observewhether agents are digging through transactional data or justbrowsing Facebook.

• Invest in the Right Tools.

As member-focused financial cooperatives with not-for-profitstatus, credit unions are traditionally frugal when it comes tomanaging costs. It can be contrary to realize that sometimes youhave to spend a little money to save a lot of money.

Upgrading your contact center with technology that enables thesebest practices can be costly, especially if your credit union hasoutdated systems. At first, it might seem more cost-effective tojust lease a separate chat system, but you're only addingobstacles.

Invest in the right technology for seamless multi-channelinteraction. You'll actually save more in efficiency and improvedcost of operations, reducing labor while improving service.

• Review the Holiday Rush.

After the holiday rush subsides, the best thing you can do isreview what you did right, what could have been done better, andhow you can improve before the next holiday season rolls around. Ifyou don't make any changes, you'll face the same struggles nextyear.

Having shared these best practices, it's important to note thattechnology will not magically fix your credit union's contactcenter. Software doesn't fix bad management or operation practices.The proper software and systems can help, but it only givesmanagers the technology tools to manage the contact centerbetter.

The good news is: Once you apply these best practices, theydon't just serve you during peak holiday volume. They can improveyour contact center into 2014 and beyond.

TomFarquhar is a contact center specialist withZeacom, (www.Zeacom.com) inIrvine, Calif.