Customer Interaction Solutions articles from February 2006

Customer Interaction Solutions archives from February 2006

The crystal ball: visionaries offer compelling outlook for 2006 and beyond; Industry leaders speak out on the future of contact centers, CRM and teleservices.(Publisher's Outlook)
February 1, 2006... From our vantage point, as the preeminent publication of the industry since 1982, it has always been our paramount responsibility to offer our valued readers reliable information about call/contact centers, teleservices, CRM and customer...

This commentary on outages was interrupted ... by an outage.(High Priority)
February 1, 2006... Recently, Salesforce.com, the world's most popular hosted CRM provider, had system problems that prevented customers from accessing the service. I had planned on writing a story about the outage. I had also planned to get feedback from some...

West Interactive: maximize the value of every customer interaction.(The Boardroom Report, Technology Marketing Corp., Nadji Tehrani, Todd Strubbe)(Interview)
February 1, 2006... The Boardroom Report provides the CRM, customer interaction and call center industry's view from the top, featuring the sector's first in-depth, exclusive CEO-to-CEO interviews with leading executives regarding industry news, analysis, trends...

The TMC Seal of Approval.(Recommended Vendor List)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... The following Recommended Vendors have distinguished themselves by winning one or more of TMC's coveted awards, earning them the TMC Seal of Approval. CRM/Contact Center Software/Hardware Amae Software Aspect Software ...

Aspect announces general availability of EnsemblePro 6.0.(Aspect Software Engineering Inc.)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Aspect Software, Inc. has announced the general availability of Aspect EnsemblePro 6.0. The latest release from Aspect Software's Unified Product Line offers new features and functionality, including hosted services capabilities, enterprise...

Comarch launches Loyalty Management System.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)
February 1, 2006... Comarch, a Central European IT business solutions provider, recently announced the global launch of its Loyalty Management System--a comprehensive suite of business applications for managing both simple and advanced loyalty programs that can be...

Empirix extends OneSight.(OneSight Call Statistics Monitors)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Empirix Inc. recently announced the launch of a new extension to its OneSight contact center monitoring solution. OneSight Call Statistics Monitors was designed to help contact centers measure and reduce the impact of technology issues on...

Microsoft releases Customer Care Framework 2005.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)
February 1, 2006... Microsoft Corp. recently announced its Microsoft Customer Care Framework 2005, a software solution for contact center operators created to deliver consolidated data from core business systems such as billing, CRM and order management to the...

Longwood Software updates TagTeam.(TagTeam 3.3)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Longwood Software, developer of the TagTeam marketing materials management system, has announced TagTeam version 3.3. The new version of the TagTeam system automates sales support functions and makes it easier to provide a more effective...

Smoothstone offering managed IP communications to the midmarket.(Smoothstone IP Communications)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Smoothstone IP Communications recently announced the launch of its managed IP communications solution for the medium-sized enterprise market. Using a professional services approach, a proprietary, centralized IP communications platform and an...

Talisma Knowledgebase available on AppExchange.(development of a new software)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Talisma Corporation, a provider of customer interaction management solutions, and on-demand CRM provider salesforce.com recently announced Talisma Knowledgebase for salesforce.com's AppExchange. Built on the AppExchange on-demand platform,...

Telrex introduces call recording solution for hosted IP-PBX services.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)(CallRex)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Telrex, a developer of call recording and monitoring software for small and medium businesses using IP-PBXs or hosted PBX services, has announced CallRex support for hosted IP communications platforms from BroadSoft, Sylantro and VocalData....

Alcatel acquires GMK for its Genesys subsidiary.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Alcatel recently announced it has acquired GMK, a provider of contact center voice self-service solutions in Brazil. Building on Alcatel's position in contact center solutions, led by its Genesys subsidiary, the acquisition is expected to...

Sage Software rolls out ACT! Premium for Web.
February 1, 2006... Sage Software has announced the availability of the new ACT! by Sage Premium for Web 2006 contact and customer management solution. ACT! Premium for Web can be installed on a company server and deployed easily to remote and on-premises users,...

PRC integrates Access Direct and Hancock Information Group.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)
February 1, 2006... Outsourced customer care provider PRC has announced the integration of its two subsidiaries, Access Direct and Hancock Information Group. As part of the integration, all PRC services will be marketed under the PRC brand. Additionally, PRC has...

Mercado announces on-demand e-commerce search and merchandising.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)
February 1, 2006... Mercado Software, a provider of e-commerce search and merchandising solutions, recently announced the release of Mercado bFIRST, an ASP offering that enables businesses to more quickly and cost-effectively deploy enterprise quality e-commerce...

The AnswerNet Network acquires Unicall International.(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... The AnswerNet Network, a provider of outsourced contact center and telemessaging services, announced recently that it has acquired the assets of Unicall International, Inc., an outbound and inbound contact center outsourcer based in Fairlawn,...

Lathem offering PayClock Pro Version 4.(Lathem Time Corp.)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Lathem Time Corporation, which designs and manufactures time and attendance products for small businesses, has announced the release of PayClock Pro Version 4, a complete time and attendance system for multi-faceted organizations. PayClock Pro...

Saratoga Systems announces Saratoga CRM 6.5.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)
February 1, 2006... Saratoga Systems, a provider of CRM solutions, has released Saratoga CRM 6.5, the company's latest version of Saratoga Systems' Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software (formerly iAvenue). The new release includes a number of...

Latigent offers BlueVue II.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Latigent LLC, a provider of business intelligence and call center management software, has announced the release of BlueVue II, the latest version of its business intelligence suite. According to the company, BlueVue II Business Intelligence...

Call Compliance delivers new suite of services.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)
February 1, 2006... Call Compliance, Inc. has announced a new program to deliver a complete suite of compliance services to the teleservices sector. This new suite of services, Compliance Sentinel, combines existing compliance technology with new initiatives, all...

Mercom releases MIQ version 2.0.(Mercom Systems Inc., Mercom Interaction Quality)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Mercom Systems, Inc. recently announced the release of version 2.0 of Mercom Interaction Quality (MIQ). Mercom's MIQ software is a browser-based call evaluation and quality monitoring system designed to advance the correlation of quality and...

InfoCision announces promotion to VP of marketing.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)
February 1, 2006... InfoCision Management Corporation has announced the promotion of Nate Drushell to vice president of marketing. The Copley, Ohio resident was previously director of marketing in the company's nonprofit division. Senior Vice President of...

Toshiba hires VP/General Manager for Telecom Systems Division.(Brian Metherell joined Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. Telecommunication Systems Div.)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. (TAIS) recently announced that Brian Metherell has accepted the position of Vice President/General Manager of the company's Telecommunication Systems Division (TSD). Toshiba's telecommunications division...

Customer care: how to build relationships that last a lifetime.(Innovative Solutions From The Contact Center Experts: A Special Editorial Series Sponsored By Infocision)
February 1, 2006... Customer service has a stronger impact on consumer loyalty than price, brand or even product quality. Consumers remember their conversations with customer service representatives and base future purchasing decisions on those experiences. That's...

Building your customer relationships with good agents.(Innovative Solutions From The Contact Center Experts: A Special Editorial Series Sponsored By Infocision)
February 1, 2006... Not very long ago, each customer interaction, whether it was inbound or outbound, via telephone, e-mail or the Web, was considered a disparate customer interaction. The customer sends an e-mail? Reply to the e-mail, transaction finished. You...

Driving value from every online customer interaction: the power of intent-driven personalization.(CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT)
February 1, 2006... As more people become accustomed to using the Internet, they demand that companies provide increasingly capable Web self-service options. Once upon a time, navigation was the primary method for uncovering information. Today, search has become...

13th annual MVP Quality Award winners.(OUTSOURCING)(Marketing Via Phone)
February 1, 2006... This is the thirteenth year Customer Inter@ction Solutions has brought you the winners of its MVP (Marketing Via Phone) Quality Awards. In the ensuing years since we introduced the awards in 1993, we have been impressed by the growing...

Ideas At Work: an excerpt; Bob Furniss and Scott Thomas share chapters from their new book "Ideas at Work," providing perspectives on improving the frontlines of call centers. Having both started as online agents who made their way through various levels of management, they offer solutions to real problems based on real experience.(WORKFORCE OPTIMIZATION)
February 1, 2006... Over the past several years, contact centers have become the customer interaction hub for most companies. In order to handle the influx of calls, emails and chats, calls centers now have some of the most advanced technology in the world....

2005 product of the Year awards.(MANAGEMENT SCOPE)
February 1, 2006... Each year, Customer Inter@ction Solutions[R] magazine bestows its Product of the Year awards on companies that have demonstrated excellence in technological advancement and application refinements. Listed here are products and services that...

Intervoice wraps up acquisition of Edify.(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Intervoice, Inc. recently announced that it has completed its acquisition of Edify, a global supplier of interactive voice response solutions, from S1 Corporation, Edify's parent company. Under terms of the definitive agreement announced...

Envox announces new VP of professional services.(SPEECH-WORLD[TM])
February 1, 2006... Envox Worldwide, a global provider of voice solutions, has announced that it has appointed Christoph Mosing as vice president of professional services. Based in the company's Westborough, Massachusetts headquarters, Mosing will manage all...

Soren Kierkegaard.(SPEECH-WORLD[TM])
February 1, 2006... "How ironical that it is by means of speech that man can degrade himself below the level of dumb creation--for a chatterbox is truly of a lower category than a dumb creature." --Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Danish philosopher

Blind Source Separation (BSS).(Definition Du Jour)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... An algorithm-based process used to separate different sound sources in a recording or a speech-recognition system. BSS becomes particularly important when speech recognition is being used when there is background noise surrounding the speaker....

Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries.(customer service management)
February 1, 2006... If you had a physical store... let's say you sell kitchen gadgets... would you decide it was in your best interest to pelt customers entering your doors with rotten vegetables and insults? (I borrowed the titular insult from Monty Python, but...