ChatDeskOps / Onboarding and ramp
Section 08Fifteen days to go-live
Shorter than the voice processes Akontec places, because there is no licensing gate — but the concurrency ramp that follows is six weeks and cannot be compressed.
| Window | Service provider | Akontec | Client |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days 1–2 | Execute agreement and confidentiality pack. Nominate the four named owners. | Issue contracting pack, open the partner record, assign owners. | Confirm queues, coverage bands and platform access list. |
| Days 2–7 | Hiring drive. Screen for written English and concurrency tolerance in a live-chat simulator. | Provide the assessment pack and moderate the concurrency exercise. | — |
| Days 3–8 | Bay readiness: access control, endpoint lockdown, no personal devices, night-shift facility contracts in place. | Readiness audit and gap list. | — |
| Days 4–9 | Roster build to the coverage plan. Bench sized. Night transport and security contracted. | Approve the roster against minimum staffing for every band and hour. | — |
| Days 6–12 | Product and platform training. Knowledge base, escalation matrix, tone guide. | Deliver the product module and moderate certification. | Provide product training and platform provisioning. |
| Days 11–13 | Practice contacts against a sandbox queue. Every response reviewed before sending. | Verify routing, citation logging and escalation end to end. | — |
| Day 14 | Final certification. Only agents at or above the product threshold are released. | Sign the go-live gate. | — |
| Day 15 | Wave one live — agents on email only, at 50% of the email standard. | Daily hypercare for the first 15 business days; 100% contact audit for two weeks. | Escalation desk on standby. |
Go-live does not mean full concurrency. Wave one
starts on email only and reaches full concurrency in week six. A partner who plans revenue on the
assumption that day fifteen is full production will be short by roughly a month.
The bar
Eligibility criteria
| Criterion | Requirement | Verified at |
|---|---|---|
| Legal standing | Registered entity, at least two years of continuous operation, statutory filings current | Contracting |
| Capacity | Minimum 12 seats with headroom to 60, in a dedicated bay | Readiness audit |
| 24/7 operating history | Demonstrated experience running an overnight floor, or a credible plan with contracted transport and security before go-live | Readiness audit |
| Workforce management | A dedicated workforce-management analyst, named before go-live | Readiness audit |
| Night-shift facility | Transport, security, catering and statutory compliance for night shift, including for women on night shift | Readiness audit |
| Supervision | Team leadership present on every band including overnight | Readiness audit |
| Security posture | ISO/IEC 27001 certified, or a written commitment to implement the equivalent control set within 90 days | Readiness audit |
| Infrastructure | Two independent internet service providers with automatic failover; minimum 8 hours of power backup | Readiness audit |
| Screening | Background verification completed for every person before access, without exception | Ongoing audit |
| Financial | Working capital sufficient to fund payroll for two months independent of receipts | Contracting |
Governance
Named owners and the escalation ladder
Four roles are named on each side at contracting. Names, not titles — and a change is notified in writing within two business days.
| Owner | Responsible for |
|---|---|
| Account manager | The commercial relationship, scope changes, invoicing disputes |
| Delivery manager | Service level, composite score, recovery plans, client review |
| Workforce-management owner | Roster, coverage evidence, bench and shrinkage planning |
| Billing owner | Seat register and coverage report accuracy, invoice preparation |
| Level | Owner | Response |
|---|---|---|
| L1 | Team leader | Within the shift |
| L2 | Delivery manager | 4 business hours |
| L3 | Account manager | 1 business day |
| L4 | Function head | 3 business days |
| L5 | Director | 5 business days |
Four situations that skip the ladder entirely
- Any hour at risk of being uncovered, raised before it happens rather than after.
- Any suspected data-protection incident or unauthorised access, however small.
- Any legal threat, regulator contact or press enquiry reaching the desk.
- Any approach to your organisation by the client to contract directly.
Raise a coverage risk early. An uncovered hour flagged eight
hours in advance can usually be solved. The same hour reported the next morning is a credit and a
conversation about whether the roster function is working.
Next step
Twelve seats, a real night floor, and a named roster owner.
If you can meet that, the rest of onboarding is a fifteen-day process we run every quarter.
Apply to deliver this process Read the partner FAQ