With remote work being more prevalent, this presents new challenges regarding ensuring consistent and reliable connections outside your regular office/headquarters, where you may not have control over the network infrastructure.
One of the most commonly reported difficulties with remote work is call quality. If you are receiving consistent feedback from your Agents regarding call quality, we can help you with a process to diagnose and isolate the root cause of the issue.
Basic requirements #
Ensure that your Agents are using hardware and software tested and approved for use with Gladly. We cannot vouch for the performance and reliability of any hardware or software that is not supported.
- See hardware requirements
- See software requirements
- Agents should run a network test and pass all the tests.
Diagnosis strategy #
To work towards isolating the root cause of call quality issues, we suggest using this template to gather intelligence around the hardware, software, and network environment of your Agents where they work, which plays a crucial role in preserving call quality. This can help you make qualitative decisions with your Agents’ tools to work from home.
We encourage you to send this survey to all of your Agents, not just those who have complained about call quality issues.
Interpret survey results #
Your survey results may return a wide range of possible reasons, but you can hone in on the findings by considering the points below.
Local network details (ISP) #
- ISPs can have varying reliability and speed down to a neighborhood level. Look out for Agents reporting issues within the same area and with the same ISP. You may need to look into and monitor their provider’s outage or service information website.
- Are Agents meeting the minimum speed requirements to handle network traffic? Besides Gladly services, their internet speed/bandwidth will also be affected by the number of devices in their home network.
Agent network details (home network) #
- Are Agents using an ethernet cable to connect to the internet, or are they on wifi? Wifi is more susceptible to interference and connection quality issues. They should connect to their router (or switch if they have one) whenever possible.
- How far are they from the access point if they are on wifi? The distance can also degrade the speed and quality of their connection. They should sit as close as possible to their access point.
- Are Agents (or household members) running streaming services while working? Speed and bandwidth play a significant role in maintaining a quality connection to Gladly Voice services. The more devices streaming/downloading, the more effect it will have on voice calls.
- If bandwidth sharing is unavoidable, look into providing other connection methods like a hotspot.
- Confirm that your Agent(s) passed the network test.
Hardware (computer) #
- Are you finding that some Agents are not using tested/approved hardware in Gladly? You may find that certain Agents have computers that do not meet the minimum hardware requirements to handle Gladly services properly.
- RAM is crucial, especially for using Gladly over a browser. Browsers and any open tabs quickly use up RAM. The more tabs an Agent has open, the more RAM is used. If the minimum RAM specifications are not met, this can cause performance issues.
Hardware (headset and microphones) #
- If you find Agents are using headsets or microphones that are not up to your standards, look into providing higher-quality headsets from Jabra, Plantronics, or other well-known office headset manufacturers.
- Are Agents using wired or wireless headphones? If you rule out hardware (computer) and network-related issues, call quality issues could be tied to their talking devices. Look into supplying adequately tested and vetted talking devices to your Agents.
