Customer Interaction Solutions articles from April 2008

Customer Interaction Solutions archives from April 2008

Managing contact/CRM centers in a slowing economy.(Publisher's Outlook)
April 1, 2008... To be sure, managing any business entity during slowing economies is extremely challenging, to say the least. And managing call centers or CRM centers is no exception. Having said the above, once again, we have decided to conduct a survey...

What's plantronics up to?(from the TMCnet[TM] BLOGS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... In his VoIP blog, Rich Tehrani writes: Plantronics is planning something big. I have discussed this before and they are staying pretty quiet about what they are working on. Moreover whatever they are doing has been in development for over a...

Cable company customer service: an improbable phrase.(from the TMCnet[TM] BLOGS)
April 1, 2008... In her "Call Center/CRM" blog, Tracey Schelmetic writes: I got my online version of the ASRNews and was interested to read about two cable giants: Charter and Comcast, and the fact that ASRNews tested their IVRs and found that the data...

A debut in the IP-PBX game.(from the TMCnet[TM] BLOGS)
April 1, 2008... In his VoIP & Gadgets blog, TMC CTO Tom Keating writes: Aastra Telecom has entered the IP-PBX game with the AastraLink Pro 160. This is a very interesting move since Aastra Telecom is known for their IP phones used by various IP-PBXs,...

Social networking needs more socialization.(from the TMCnet[TM] BLOGS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... In his "First Coffee" blog, TMCnet's David Sims writes: First Coffee likes Louis Columbus's "very scientific approach" (see www.tmcnet.com/1831.1) to defining his own CRM predictions: "Putting Post-It notes of all predictions on the...

Canadian call center woes.(from the TMCnet[TM] BLOGS)
April 1, 2008... In his "Making Contact" blog, TMCnet's Patrick Barnard writes: Government officials in the various provinces of Canada which are highly reliant on the call center industry to keep the economy afloat are no doubt scrambling to try to come...

Your car keys are in the freezer.(from the TMCnet[TM] BLOGS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... In his VoIP Authority blog, Internet Telephony's Greg Galitzine writes: The UK's Daily Mail has a report (www.tmcnet.com/1832.1) on intelligent glasses that help wearers locate frequently mislaid items like car keys, cell phones, and the...

Fusing agents with better workflow and processes for better customer service.(High Priority)(Interview)
April 1, 2008... Jacada is a provider of unified desktop and process optimization solutions for customer service operations. The company's solutions, Jacada WorkSpace and Jacada Fusion, are designed to simplify, automate and optimize a call center's work...

www.tmcnet.com/1739.1: ShoreTel launches ShoreWare Contact Center 4.66.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... ShoreTel, a provider of Pure IP Unified Communications solutions, has announced ShoreWare Contact Center 4.66. This suite of applications was designed to improve customer service while reducing the cost of deploying and maintaining...

www.tmcnet.com/1740.1: aspect brings unified communications to the contact center.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Aspect's unified communications solutions bridge the divide between the contact center and the rest of the organization in a way that allows every person in an organization to become an integral part of the contact center in a manner that...

www.tmcnet.com/1741.1: Merced Systems intros new service to Sales Best Practice and Benchmarking Study.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Enterprise performance management solutions provider Merced Systems has launched the Merced Systems 2008 Service to Sales Best Practice and Benchmarking Study. The goal of the study is to assist organizations which are considering changing...

www.tmcnet.com/1743.1: Microsoft CRM vendor tectura partners with SalesCentric.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Tectura Corporation, a vendor of Microsoft Dynamics products, has chosen to partner with SalesCentric in offering Relationship Charts to their mid-market companies and large enterprise division CRM customers. Relationship Charts is an add-on to...

www.tmcnet.com/1744.1: Salesforce.com named to Forbes tech growth list.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Salesforce.com has, once again, been named to Forbes' "Fastest Growing Tech Companies" list. With annualized sales growth of 85 percent over the last five years, Salesforce.com ranked second only to Google on the list of technology innovators....

www.tmcnet.com/1745.1: SAP AG, Intel announce expansion of partnership.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Building upon its recently announced fast-start program for SAP Business All-in-One products, SAP AG has announced plans for an expansion of its partnership with Intel. SAP and its long-term technology partner Intel intend to introduce a...

www.tmcnet.com/1746.1: SaaS adoption 'rising steadily' among SMBs, AMI partners finds.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)(Software as a Service)(Small and Medium Businesses )(Access Markets International )(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Among U.S. small businesses (1-99 employees) and medium businesses (100-999 employees), SaaS adoption is "rising steadily," according to the Access Markets International Partners report, 2008 U.S. Small and Medium Business Applications &...

www.tmcnet.com/1747.1: Pegasystems announces new versions of business process management solutions.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Healthcare systems vendor Pegasystems, which sells business process management products, has announced new versions of its Customer Process Manager solutions for healthcare. Built on Pegasystems' SmartBPM platform, the product uses customer...

www.tmcnet.com/1748.1: Google Maps for CRM tool.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Sydney-based CRM Works, in collaboration with Web site development company iCatchIT, has announced SMaps, described by company officials as "a mapping tool that connects customer relationship management systems to Google Maps in real time." The...

www.tmcnet.com/1749.1: Holly Connects and telisma bring speech solutions deeper into Europe and India.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... In a bid to further expand it speech offering in Europe and India, Holly Connects, a provider of next-generation infrastructure for telephony and speech solutions to carriers, hosted providers and large enterprises, has announced a partnership...

www.tmcnet.com/1750.1; CRM software: the benefits of Salesforce automation systems.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... CRM software is without a doubt crucial to the everyday functions of field sales professionals. With CRM software, field sales professionals are able to easily track and attain information about customers, leads and other necessary information....

www.tmcnet.com/1752.1: Astute Solutions patents virtual agent technology.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Astute Solutions has announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USP-TO) issued a Notice of Allowance for the company's RealDialog patent. The patent covers automated customer service via an intelligent virtual agent that is trained...

www.tmcnet.com/1753.1: InfoCision's Taylor named to power 100 list.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)(Gary Taylor)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Akron, Ohio-based InfoCision Management Corporation announced recently that its chairman and founder, Gary Taylor, was named to the Power 100 list in the February issue of Inside Business Magazine that lists the 100 most powerful individuals in...

www.tmcnet.com/1754.1: Customer Care Institute names new fellow.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)(Dr. Frederick C. Van Bennekom)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... The Customer Care Institute announced that it has named Dr. Frederick C. Van Bennekom a Fellow of the Institute. As a Fellow, Van Bennekom will develop new tools and techniques to assist customer care professionals with their customer...

www.tmcnet.com/1755.1: Vonage plus SaaS CRM equals high functionality for SMBs.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Software-as-a-Service CRM provider CRM ASP announced the availability of Vonage VoIP services fully integrated in the CRM platform. Available immediately, Vonage integration brings small businesses full integration with Free CRM and CRM ASP...

www.tmcnet.com/1756.1: five tips for picking a virtual call center solution.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... There are so many claims floating around about virtual call center on-demand contact center solutions (sometimes referred to as "on-demand" solutions) that it can be quite confusing to know what actually matters and how to pick a vendor that...

www.tmcnet.com1757.1: Five9 becomes corporate member of ATA.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)(American Teleservices Association )(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Hosted contact center services provider Five9 has become a corporate member of the American Teleservices Association (ATA). "We are pleased to welcome Five9 into our membership," said Tim Searcy, ATA CEO. He emphasized that its companies like...

www.tmcnet.com/1813.1: Really Simple Systems debuts white label CRM.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Really Simple Systems, a British hosted CRM vendor, has announced general availability of their white label product, Really Simple OEM. Company officials say it allows marketing, sales organizations and traditional CRM resellers to offer a...

www.tmcnet.com/1814.1: LiteScape and Spanlink announce reseller partnership.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Unified communications applications provider LiteScape Technologies, Inc. announced recently that Spanlink Communications will resell LiteScape's Unified Communication (UC) applications. The partnership is expected to enable Spanlink to provide...

www.tmcnet.com/1815.1: The Exchange launches call center CRM solution.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... E-commerce solutions provider The Exchange announced the launch of its new call center CRM system, based on its Officeweb back-office solution. The new system is now live with the first client, Click Group, a fast-growing, U.K.-based secured...

www.tmcnet.com/1817.1: PerSay releases new version of speaker verification platform.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Tel Aviv-based advanced voice biometric solutions provider PerSay has announced the official release of its Version 6.0 speaker verification platform. The new version features enhanced security to address the evolving challenges of delivering...

www.tmcnet.com/1816.1: Calabrio renames its Unified Interaction Suite.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Workforce optimization and unified desktop software provider Calabrio, Inc. has announced a new architectural direction for its software that will be built in an Enterprise 2.0 framework. According to the company, the new approach is expected...

www.tmcnet.com/1823.1: NEC's suite of IPTV solutions for carriers; partnership with Alcatel-Lucent.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... NEC Corporation, a global provider of network solutions to enterprises, service providers and government agencies, is getting in on the IPTV market in a big way: The Japan-based, multinational conglomerate, which has been a key player in the...

www.tmcnet.com/1824.1; Objectworld: unified communications without VoIP.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Objectworld Communications announced in March that its Unified Communications Server now enables businesses to reap the benefits of unified communications as an adjunct to existing PBX systems. President and Chief Executive Officer of...

www.tmcnet.com/1821.1: Digium widens reach with new version of Switchvox IP-PBX.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Asterisk company Digium has released Switchvox SMB 3.5 and the AA60 Switchvox Appliance for small to midsized businesses. Switchvox is the most widely used communications system based on Asterisk, the open-source project headed by Digium and...

www.tmcnet.com/1825.1: Nortel Government Solutions delivers for USPS.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... The U.S. Postal Service has recently awarded a one-year, estimated six-million-dollar IT services contract extension to Nortel Government Solutions to support the PostalOne! automated mail handling system. Chuck Saffell, CEO, Nortel Government...

www.tmcnet.com/1826.1: power for excellent call center service.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Customer satisfaction should be a key focus within each and every call center. As the key interaction point between the customer and the organization, the call center should be the first place the customer can be guaranteed an excellent...

www.tmcnet.com/1827.1: research focuses on Asian Contact Center Industry.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... The Indian contact center industry is one of the most competitive in the world, offering high-skilled talent, low wages, low overhead and an ample supply of educated individuals. The area still poses its own challenges and many are not...

www.tmcnet.com/1822.1: Zeacom communications center 5.0 offers new applications for mobile UC.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Zeacom, which offers unified communications solutions for the SMB market, recently demonstrated the new capabilities of its Communications Center 5.0 platform during VoiceCon Orlando 2008. This latest version of the company's flagship UC...

www.tmcnet.com/1828.1: non-profit organizations turning to MPower for CRM.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Not-for-profit organizations are recognizing the benefits of customer relationship management solutions. According to MPower, more than 200 charitable organizations, as well as consulting firms and professionals working in the philanthropic...

www.tmcnet.com/1829.1: Tech Data unveils IP communications services for SMBs.(CUSTOMER INTER@CTION NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Tech Data Corporation has unveiled a comprehensive suite of IP communications services resellers can use to deliver onsite or hosted voice and data connectivity to small-to-midsized businesses (SMBs). This suite of IP communications services...

CallCenterComics.com.(Comic)(Cartoon)
April 1, 2008... WE HAD INVITED A GROUP OF REPS TO THIS MEETING SO THEY COULD TELL US WHY ATTRITION IS SO HIGH IN THE CALL CENTE, BUT...... THEY HAVE ALL QUIT. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [c] 2007 By CallCenterComics.com

Customer service suffering for certain contact centers.(CRM, BPO & Teleservices)
April 1, 2008... Customer service departments often get a bad rap. While most are put in place to actually improve the customer experience, many fail to do so by ignoring processes or taking a complacent approach to customer deliverables. For those that really...

Newton's Third Law of customer service e-mails.(CRM, BPO & Teleservices)
April 1, 2008... Newton's Third Law of Physics, as you well know, states that for every e-mail, there is an equal and opposite e-mail. And we live in the parallel universe where we get those equal and opposite e-mails. We also get to hear what's really on...

CRM is not "one size fits all".(CRM, BPO & Teleservices)(Interview)
April 1, 2008... CDC Software calls itself a "customer-driven company," and its product line reflects this. They offer solutions that help companies "understand, attract and keep valuable customers," which, of course, is the goal of business (or should be,...

Identifying, knowing & retaining your customers: the "prosumer".(CRM, BPO & Teleservices)
April 1, 2008... Today's consumer, a/k/a the Global Professional Consumer, or Prosumer, might rightly be regarded as fickle; some may even say disloyal. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Coined by futurist author Alvin Toffler in his 1991 book Third Wave, the...

Murder at the SMB: the CRM autopsy report.(CALL CENTER Technology)(Short story)
April 1, 2008... The sheet is pulled back from the corpse on the gurney in the examination room. The CEO's stomach clamps up. "It's... it's him," he says as his knees buckle. "It's our CRM." His secretary helps him to a chair. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

The power of SaaS: VoIP call centers for a fraction of the cost.(CALL CENTER Technology)
April 1, 2008... The software as a service (SaaS) trend is revolutionizing the call center industry, as companies of all sizes are now discovering the advantages of going with hosted versus on-premise solutions. With SaaS for the call center, applications such...

An update on the federal do-not-call registry.(CALL CENTER Technology)
April 1, 2008... In February, U.S. Congress passed two bills, S. 781 and H.R. 3541, that individually and collectively affect the federal do not-call registry. Together, the bills will extend the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) ability to collect fees to...

Ten things you didn't know about acoustic shock.(CALL CENTER Technology)(Interview)
April 1, 2008... Sennheiser (www.sennheiserusa.com) recently introduced its BW900 model, a business-class wireless office headset which includes a feature called Active-Gard designed to protect wearers against acoustic shock, a common but not well understood...

Making more with less: contact center industry executive recommendations for operating a call center in an economic downturn.(CALL CENTER Technology)(Company overview)
April 1, 2008... The call center, as an entity, has often been tasked with "making more with less." Customer expectations are rising, labor costs are rising, competition is rising. So what's going down? Budgets, frequently. But in the past, companies could rely...

The yesterdays, todays and tomorrows of call routing: a talk with aspect.(WORKFORCE Optimization)(Interview)
April 1, 2008... Call routing is something most people (except those in charge of keeping the calls flowing) take for granted. The phone rings, you pick it up, and that's it. That, however, is not "it." The invention of the ACD, an event which launched the...

Harnessing speech solutions with minimal up-front investment.(Innovative SOLUTIONS)
April 1, 2008... Speech automation solutions can be an integral part of a contact center. By letting callers interact with the center using their most natural form of communication--their voice--speech automation enables the contact center to handle more calls...

Customer Interaction Solutions magazine's 23rd annual top 50 inbound teleservices agencies ranking.(AWARDS & Recognition)
April 1, 2008... This is the twenty-third year Customer Interaction Solutions magazine brings you its "Top 50" Teleservices Agency Ranking. In this issue, we're presenting the "Top 50" inbound portion of the ranking. (The outbound portion of the ranking was...

Identity protection and the contact center.(Insider's Report)
April 1, 2008... Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America and the world. According to an exhaustive study funded by the Federal Trade Commission, 8.3 million people--or about one out of 25 adults--were victimized by identify theft in 2005....

Preventing the dreaded "diaper coupon identity theft".(Last Call)
April 1, 2008... We all have pet peeves. I have a few more than most people. But the runaway madness with the number of online functions requiring unique alphanumeric passwords peeves me at least once a week. Never write passwords down, they tell us. Create a...

Giving the appropriate response.(Ask the EXPERTS: A Special Editorial Series Sponsored By Interactive Intelligence)
April 1, 2008... Q I'm not sure how it is for guys who work in call centers, but as a woman we have to listen to inappropriate comments more often than we'd like. How would you handle someone who steps over the line if you were in our position? A I'm...