ALLISON ANDERSON

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

When Green Mountain Energy Co. opened up shop in Austin in 2000, the electricity provider found itself searching for a cost-effective method for handling customer calls.  The startup could not afford to buy call center equipment such as an automated call distributor or an interactive voice response system, says Agnes Barard, former vice president of customer care at Green Mountain.

Green Mountain’s dilemma is not uncommon.

Plenty of businesses find that establishing an in-house call center simply is not in the budget. But some companies say the alternative — outsourcing — can deplete an even more precious asset, customer confidence.

Choosing a method for handling customer calls can be particularly daunting for small or newly established operations, for companies with complex or rapidly evolving products or for those that experience seasonally fluctuating business cycles.

Barard says Green Mountain considered working with vendors, but did not want to trust customer service to unaffiliated telephone agents working from a potentially remote location.

“We wanted the employees to be our own,” Barard says. “Your staff has a vested interest in your company.”

After doing some research on the call center industry, Green Mountain opted for a less-familiar option offered by Austin-based E Communication Advantage Inc.  

ECA offers a leased-seat alternative that supplies businesses with equipment and technical support, but not with agents. The clients bring in their employees to work the phones.

“It’s a real ‘plug and play’ for companies that don’t want to invest in real estate,” says Jack McElaney, ECA’s vice president of sales and client services. He says the ideal customer is an emerging company that needs up to 20 seats.

McElaney says the leased-seat arrangement allows startups to present the face of a larger company without making a sizable investment.

“During the dot.-com craze, some companies started their own call centers,” McElaney says. “The burn rate on capital was high.”

ECA operates two properties in Northeast Austin. Outsourced seats run $29 per agent per hour. Leased seats cost $10. Charges increase if companies request equipment. 

ECA estimates that operating an inhouse call center costs around $45 an hour per agent. At that rate, capital expenses could run another $150,000.

Green Mountain leased between four and 38 seats from ECA, depending on fluctuating needs, McElaney says. 

“We can throttle it up or down,” he says.

Green Mountain has outgrown its need for ECA, and by early next year will finish moving into a new call center downtown.  Leasing seats off-site did present some logistical challenges, Barard says, particularly in the beginning.

“ECA is on the north side. Green Mountain was leasing office space on the green belt,” Barard says.

“In the early days, getting the staff used to a no-frills business park was a bit tough, compared to a corporate environment.”

Jason McWhorter, membership chairman of the Austin Contact Center Alliance, says leasing seats can work for small companies that need a disaster contingency plan.

McWhorter manages a call center for GTECH Corp., a gaming services company with a branch in Austin whose clients include various state lotteries.

Businesses in Austin that operate call centers with perhaps six employees could cross-train and share workers with other companies using a leased-seat office space, McWhorter says.

According to McWhorter, potential disadvantages could include call center reporting that’s incompatible with the client company’s system.

Or, a company that finds it impossible to renew a lease could be left suddenly scrambling for space.

The arrangement worked for Green Mountain, ECA’s primary leased-seat client.

“The management team at ECA creates a partnership with their clients,” Barard says. “They helped us as if we were part of their business structure.”

This article is reprinted from the Austin Business Journal, Volume 28, Number 25, Sept. 30 - Oct. 5, 2005, page 19.