Traditional contact center software – expensive, tied to specific hardware, requires on-site agents. That doesn’t exactly scream flexibility or ease-of-use. Apparently, neither Avaya nor Google thought so either.

As Chromebooks have become more popular, their advantages (and limitations) have become more important. A major advantage to the Chromebook is that it’s cost-effective and is built to perform very specific tasks, all mandated by the Chrome web browser. A major limitation is that it severely limits a user’s application usage outside of the Chrome store. When you couple Google’s suite of applications with a cheap, lightweight device, though, you open up the door for a lot of possibilities and flexibility.

A few months ago, Avaya and Google decided to tackle the problem of costly contact centers with this: Avaya Agent for Chrome, a Chromebook application designed to populate your contact centers with virtual remote agents.

Avaya Agent for Chrome allows a Chromebook to be preconfigured to work with a deployment of Avaya’s contact software hardware and software, turning what was a static agent into a mobile one. You could conceivably setup a Chromebook, mail it to an agent anywhere in the world, and so long as they had internet, they could start taking calls immediately.

There are three configuration options for Avaya Agent for Chrome:

• Customer service agents working on-site, with an Avaya phone
• Customer service agents working remotely, with their own landline
• Customer service agents working remotely, taking calls directly through their Chromebook

With any of these configurations, whether singular or blended, your contact center is no longer static, but mobile and agile.

Some of the advantages of deploying Chromebooks and Avaya Agent for Chrome are:

• Low cost of entry and expansion – Chromebooks sell for a couple hundred dollars generally
• Mobility – your agents are now fully mobile, able to work from anywhere at any time
• Disaster recovery – with your agents everywhere, it’s unlikely they all will be affected by a disaster at once
• User device control – with Chrome Management Console, IT departments can restrict which apps a Chromebook can use
• Secure – no native application to install, no VPN security risks, everything is handled directly between your agent’s device and your contact center hub

With such a low barrier for entry and upkeep, and the added advantages of mobility and response, Avaya Agent for Chrome will have a possibly major impact on the way Chromebooks are used in business.

Image provided courtesy of artemisphoto via FreeDigitalPhotos.net