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With only days to go until the first kick-off and World Cup excitement at its highest, how will your call centre cope with staffing levels as employees stay at home to watch the football?

Every four years the world stops and watches as thirty-two teams of 11 men, compete to win one gold trophy and what some call the greatest title of them all: World Champions.

Fedration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) claimed that worldwide, 284 million people watched the world cup in 2006. A survey of more than 400 England fans by betting website Betfair has revealed that around a third (32%) would consider calling in sick to watch a crucial game this summer. Among those who regularly attend football matches this figure rises to 68%.

Thousands of call centre managers throughout the UK are preparing backup plans to maintain their customer service levels in case there is a drop in staff levels. All of this years games in the tournament will be shown at 12.30, 15.00 or 19.30 BST which places them in the middle of most call centre opening hours.

Stopping employees from taking part in an event like the World Cup which only takes place every four years is not good for staff morale and is completely unnecessary, says Netcalls Chief Technical Officer, Richard Farrell.

Previous World Cup statistics have shown Netcall that call volumes drop during the match while people are watching the game, but as soon as it is over there is such an enormous peak in demand that many call centres cannot cope with the increase in volume.

By simply having the right technologies and practices in place, call centres can adapt to reduced staff levels and still provide a world- class service to their customers. Hosted queue management solutions like Netcall's QueueBuster can be set up within 24 hours, offering an ideal solution for call centres which have left World Cup preparations until the last minute." continues Richard.

QueueBuster gives people an alternative to waiting in a lengthy phone queue, by offering them an automated call back. The process is simple, and means that the customer can leave their details and carry on with their day. The call will be held in the queue as if the caller was still on hold. Once the call reaches the front of the queue, and, more importantly, reaches an agent, the call back is returned.