Member Programmes
Standards and Accreditation Program
The ATA launched the Contact Centre Standards and Accreditation program (CCSA) in November 2008. The Standards program recognises attainment and adherence to core Contact Centre industry processes.
CCSA is a program that provides a framework of guidelines, principles and disciplines that cover a centres operations. The program looks to meet the various business, staff and customer drivers and provides public recognition of centres that operate at a high level.
The program builds on the existing professionalism and high performance of the Australian Contact Centre industry and provides a point of difference between Australia and other international destinations.
The CCSA program also publicly announces to the general and business communities that as an industry, we are prepared to operate in a manner that not only meets their needs but looks to exceed them.
The CCSA delivers:
• A benchmark of attainment and adherence to core Contact Centre Industry processes
• Local and international Recognition
• A comprehensive assessment and audit of operational practices and offers a framework for improvement and ongoing development
• A public rating of operational attainment
• A marketing edge against competitors and for recruitment
Framework
CCSA contain five categories which define the cornerstone of Contact Centre management:
Planning
Infrastructure & Environment
People
Process
Achievement & Performance
The five categories are further broken down into 41 sub-categories to define the processes, policies and procedures that need to be in place to allow a Contact Centre to achieve its goals.
Given the variations in size, function and complexity of centres in Australia, it is clear that the ATA Standards need to have a broad reach. To ensure they can be applied to all centres the ATA Standards are applied in a tiered manner i.e. Bronze, Silver and Gold Accreditation. To provide clarity as to the expectation for each of these levels a set benchmark or standard has been established for each level.
In its simplest form, the standard levels could be defined as:
Bronze Level: having something
Silver Level: doing something with it? or checking it happens
Gold Level: reviewing and keeping it alive and current
STANDARDS or AWARDS
Several members have asked for clarification on the overlap between the Standards and the existing ATA National Awards Program.
The Standards program recognises attainment and adherence to core Contact Centre industry processes. It is a quantitative measurement.
The Awards program recognises excellence and achievement regarding practice and performance. It is a qualitative assessment.
The standards is an audit on the existence of core processes, the Awards identifies how well these processes perform
Benefits of Organisation Participating in the Standards Programme
• Benchmark of attainment and adherence to core Contact Centre Industry processes
• Local and international Recognition
• Provides a comprehensive assessment and audit of operational practices and offers a framework for improvement and ongoing development
• Delivers a public rating of operational attainment
• Can provide a marketing edge against competitors and for recruitment
Benefits of Individuals and Organisation Participating in the Awards Programme
• Award for excellence and achievement
• Provides reward and recognition for the best centre and individual practitioners
• Provides a tool for feedback and review and internal benchmarking
for Centres and Individual KPIs
• A source of personal and centre kudos
• A method to raise staff engagement
Attaining Accreditation
Given that centres within an organisation can differ in their performance and operations, accreditation is centre based rather than organisational. Centres seeking accreditation will need to present themselves for inspection by ATA auditors. Bronze nominees will be required to submit to the ATA a folder of documentation to demonstrate that they have the basic processes in place to manage their Contact Centre and achieve their business goals. Gold and Silver accreditation will also be required to submit a folder of documentation as well as present themselves to a site visit from the Standards Auditors.
Centres will be scored against the Standards benchmarks and will be accredited at the level reached against the benchmarks. ATA Accreditation will last for a maximum of 2 years.
The cost of accreditation is
BRONZE - $3900 (+GST)
SILVER - $13900 (+GST)
GOLD - $13900 (+GST)
The steps to seeking accreditation are as follows
1. Centre to complete the Standards Nomination Form, the form and the appropriate fee are to be sent to the ATA.
2. The ATA will then forward to the centre the "Request for Information" (RFI) document.
3. Once the centre has collated the RFI material it is then sent back to the ATA for assessment.
4. For Bronze Accreditation, an assessment will be made from the RFI material
5. For Silver and Gold Accreditation, the ATA will arrange a suitable site visit by the Standards Auditors, it is expected that the site visit will last approximately 4 days.
6. The Standard Auditors will make a preliminary assessment report based upon the RFI and the site vist (where applicable)
7. The preliminary assessment report is made available to the centre who will have 30 days to respond to any shortfalls through the provision of additional data.
8. On receipt of the additional data and/or completion of the 30 days a final assessment will be made.
For documentation on the the Standards please click on the relevant section below
CCSA Introduction 2008
ATA Standards - CCSA
ATA Standards Nomination Form
CURRENT CCSA ACCREDITED CENTRES
The ATA is pleased to promote the following centres who have achieved accreditation under the ATA's Contact Centres Standards Australia program. These centres have displayed operations and performance at the levels indicated:
GOLD
TNT Brisbane - November 2007
SILVER
Australia Post Customer Service Centre Brisbane - November 2007
BRONZE
Fair Work Ombudsman - QLD - September 2009
Fair Work Ombudsman - NSW - September 2009
Fair Work Ombudsman - Vic - September 2009
Fair Work Ombudsman - WA - September 2009
