The qualifications

 

National qualifications are made up of unit standards, which are set at different levels to indicate the degree of difficulty. Once a trainee completes a unit standard, they earn credits for that particular unit. Once all the required credits have been achieved for that qualification, a national certificate is awarded. There are currently three national qualifications for the contact centre industry.

 

National Certificate in Contact Centre Operations [Level 3]

This is the first qualification in the pathway for people working in contact centres. Completion of this National Certificate demonstrates that individuals can work effectively in a contact centre environment and communicate with customers and/or the public on the telephone for the purpose of:

  • Customer services
  • Marketing
  • Information gathering
  • Operating a help desk or similar functions

Specific skills recognised include occupational health and safety, time and stress management, computing and communication.

 

 

National Certificate in Contact Centres with strands in:
 - Senior Customer Service Representative [Level 3], and
 - Team Leader [Level 4]

For those working as, or training towards a senior CSR or team leader role in a contact centre, this qualification covers a wider range of skills including:

  • Operations
  • First-line management
  • Staff coordination and development
  • Computing
  • Communication skills

 

 

National Diploma in Contact Centre Management [Level 5]

The culmination of the qualifications pathway, the level 5 diploma is for people who are working as or training towards management roles above first-line management in contact centres. It offers contact centre professionals recognition of their existing skills and knowledge as well as the opportunity to develop and strengthen other areas of expertise, including:

 

Contact centre skills and knowledge

  • Planning and allocating work
  • Use of technology
  • Awareness of technology developments
  • Managing operations
  • Preparing business plans and budgets

 

Generic management skills and knowledge

  •  Developing and coordinating people
  •  Organisational direction and strategy
  •  Management systems and resources, including change management