AstraQom Assists Entrepreneurs and Organizations to Harness the Power of Remote Agents with IP Communications

Online, July 12, 2012 (Newswire.com) - AstraQom Incorporated, an IP communications and technologies company with headquarters in Canada's Silicon Valley, Ottawa, announces new technologies that empower remote agents and the corporations and entrepreneurs who contracted with or employed them. A remote agent is a person who works for a company usually either via a consulting contract or as an employee on the business payroll. Chat, video and voice over Internet (VoIP) tools such as streaming, supervisor-monitored call whisper; phones and software (apps) with video, voice, chat, high definition; and even ability to integrate computer integrated communications where no actual phone is required.

"Implementing a virtual workplace via remote agents empowers the team, makes available time previously spent traveling, combats inflated gas prices, and even reduces the carbon footprint. Recruiting can be even international which will increase the number and quality of potential agents. Expenses at the headquarters can be reduced, there is no need to move to larger properties, and let's face it. Most of us do not meet face to face with our customers, but we do interact with them regularly online, so why not embrace that space, the cloud, and the remote agent team strategy? I will never forget my first experience with training in the Call Whisper feature of the AstraQom unified communications business solution. Company trainers and supervisors and those who they mentor learn how the feature works by practicing use of it. Next, the agents receive real incoming sales and customer service calls. The supervisor is listening in. At any point where there is an uncomfortable pause or moment of stress, the supervisor can send a short text message of advice, or he can use voice to advise the agent. Only the agent and the supervisor know this is going on. Amazing! That is just one of many ways that Internet protocol based communications beats traditional methods in working with remote agents," Suzanne Bowen, vice president of marketing at AstraQom.

In a survey by Elance, 54 percent of 1,500 business owners said they expect the majority of their workforce to be working online by 2017. In addition, Chan Ngee Key, founder of the career consultancy firm YourOwn360, said, "Remote online working will spike in Asia not only due to sophisticated Web communication technologies, but because employers are also now more comfortable doing evaluations based on results and completed tasks from remote workers who do not physically report in an office."

The research on the experiences, attitudes and effects of virtual workers (remote agents) and those who employ them or who buy their services. is thought-provoking. For example, Gary Swart, CEO‎ of oDesk, a platform that enables people and organizations to buy professional services from others who provide them, once estimated that by 2020, one-third of the global workforce would be online workers. In a Telework Research Network report, 72 % of employers believe that virtual work has a positive impact on reducing employee turn-over. In fact, 61 % of employees who do not currently work at home say they would be even willing to give up some pay in exchange for a remote work opportunity.

"Another encouraging statistic is from Gartner, Inc. research. Compare home agents with 80 % having completed some college and only 34 % of on-premise agents. To discuss the possible reasons why, join that topic on a Linkedin forum and a TelecomYou discussion. Aside from statistics, the flexibility that our Internet protocol based communications solutions for companies who want to hire and manage remote agents make it easier for them to work odd or even split hours to cover heavily busy hours as needed. By hiring agents from around the globe, it is easier to make support and sales available 24/7. What we are most excited about is our ability to help businesses stay close to their remote agents via video, voice and chat such as the Call Whisper function that Ms. Bowen mentioned. Regular contacts between the agents and supervisors in this manner help to keep everyone feeling included and a part of a team," notes Jonathan Sowah, President of AstraQom.

AstraQom offers an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) which is a system that distributes incoming calls to a specific group of Internet end-points that remote agents use. Some call this computer telephony integration (CTI) system. As the number of remote agents working for a business increases, this type of Internet protocol-based business phone system becomes essential to be competitive. AstraQom services are technology agnostic, meaning not tied to one technology vendor. The company has experience with PSTN, SIP, and TDM-to-SIP. The company has highly respected VARs who can easily assist clients anywhere to integrate with existing architecture to help make hiring and contracting with remote agents a successful experience.