Customer Interaction Solutions articles from March 2006

Customer Interaction Solutions archives from March 2006

Effective hiring and keeping "the right people": 44 characteristics of "the right people".(Publisher's Outlook)(Editorial)
March 1, 2006... Successful managers are those who surround themselves with "the right people," give them direction and then get out of the way. The vitally important question to ask is, "Just how do you define "THE RIGHT PEOPLE"? In Table 1, I have...

Keeping up with uptime.(High Priority)(Interview)
March 1, 2006... As you may recall, last month I set out to interview a number of on-demand CRM vendors on the topic of service reliability. As with the case of Salesforce.com's outages, many customer relationship management decision-makers were left wondering...

Interior Concepts: we provide solutions that fit.(THE BOARDROOM REPORT[TM])(Interview)
March 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...

CEO Spotlight.(Nuasis Corp)(Interview)
March 1, 2006... For this month's Executive Spotlight, Customer Inter@ction Solutions speaks with Ed Lauing, President and CEO of Nuasis Corp. (www.nuasis.com). Ed Lauing President and CEO Nuasis Corp. CIS: What do you see as key dynamics...

NuContact Center solution: breakthrough solutions often require a whole new company.(Nuasis NuContact Center, Nuasis Corp., Tuition Management Systems )(Company overview)
March 1, 2006... The Nuasis NuContact Center[R] is a new approach to routing and responding to customer inquiries. It combines the best capabilities of self-service applications with live agent assistance to provide companies with the greatest flexibility when...

The TMC Seal of Approval.(2006 Recommended Vendor List)(Brief article)
March 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 ...

FrontRange Solutions unveils GoldMine IP Voice Suite.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)
March 1, 2006... FrontRange's newly announced customer communications product, GoldMine IP Voice Suite, combines two business technologies: IP telephony and customer relationship management (CRM). The offering delivers an enterprise-class VoIP telephony...

Teleperformance USA and CallTech Communications merge.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... SR. Teleperformance, a Paris-based provider of outsourced customer care, has announced the merger of its two most significant U.S. business entities: Teleperformance USA and CallTech Communications, LLC. Teleperformance USA operates in five...

Product of the Year Award winners.(Correction notice)
March 1, 2006... In the January and February issues' announcements of the Product of the Year Award winners, Amae Software (www.amaesoftware.com) was inadvertently miscategorized under the "CRM" heading. The correct category for Amae's product, the Amae...

Richardson launches Selling Diagnostic Tool.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)
March 1, 2006... Richardson, a sales training and consulting firm, has announced the launch of a new Web-based Consultative Selling Diagnostic Assessment Tool as a part of its sales, service and sales management performance improvement solutions. Richardson's...

Salesnet introduces 25th Anniversary edition.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)
March 1, 2006... On-demand CRM provider Salesnet has announced the launch of the 25th Anniversary Edition of its enterprise on-demand CRM product, which offers 250 new features and heralds Salesnet's CRM venture into marketing automation, including lead...

Convergys merges CRM and billing with Infinys CSM.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)
March 1, 2006... Convergys Corporation, a provider of outsourced customer care, human resources and billing services, has announced a new upgrade to Infinys that makes it the first modular, convergent billing solution to link the worlds of customer relationship...

Business Objects to acquire Firstlogic.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Business intelligence solutions provider Business Objects recently announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Firstlogic, Inc., a global provider of enterprise data quality solutions and services....

NICE and Avaya extend alliance.(NICE Systems Inc.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... NICE Systems and Avaya Inc. have announced they have signed an agreement that extends their scope of collaboration to deliver the benefits of IP contact centers to businesses. Building on their existing partnership and a shared vision for...

Verint expands ULTRA actionable intelligence suite.(Verint Systems Inc. acquires CM Insight Limited., ULTRA IntelliScreen)
March 1, 2006... Verint Systems Inc., a provider of analytic software-based solutions for communications interception, networked video security and business intelligence, has announced ULTRA IntelliScreen, a new analytical solution for generating actionable...

ATSI warns of toll-free fraud.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)
March 1, 2006... The Association of TeleServices International (ATSI), the international association for the owners of telephone answering services and small call centers, has issued a fraud warning to all businesses that use toll-free numbers for advertising....

Amcat wins contract with German outsourcer.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)
March 1, 2006... In a three-way contest against rival vendors, Amcat, a provider of call center technology solutions, has announced the win of a major contract to supply an inbound/outbound contact center solution to walter TeleMedien-Group, one of Germany's...

Inova introduces OnTrack.(Inova Solutions introduces LED displays)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Inova Solutions recently introduced Inova OnTrack, the company's next generation of LED displays. OnTrack displays combine an energy-efficient design with new features for easy installation, simple operation and fast troubleshooting, helping...

Merced Systems launches version 2.7.(Performance Suite 2.7)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Merced Systems Inc., a provider of contact center and operational performance management applications, has announced the release of Merced Performance Suite 2.7. The Merced Performance Suite was designed to increase the efficiency of contact...

Interactive Intelligence to launch hosted notification service.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Interactive Intelligence Inc. has announced it will offer a hosted notification service, branded under the name icNotify. icNotify was designed to cut costs associated with outbound customer interactions by automating traditional manual...

Talisma announces Talisma Professional Edition.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Talisma Corporation, a provider of customer interaction management solutions, has announced the immediate availability of Talisma Professional Edition for small and midsized companies and departments within large enterprises. Leveraging the...

eStara launches "Click-to-Chat" application.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... eStara, a provider of multichannel communications solutions, has announced the launch of its real-time text chat solution. The new product was designed to enable eStara customers to offer Click-to-Chat service in addition to eStara's flagship...

Eloqua to offer Conversion Suite Winter 2006 release.(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Automated demand-generation software provider Eloqua Corporation recently announced the launch of Eloqua Conversion Suite Winter 2006. The latest version of the company's integrated demand-generation platform offers marketers new capabilities...

Telrex announces IP call recording for Covad's hosted PBX service.(Covad Communications Co., Private branch exchange)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Telrex, a developer of call recording and monitoring software for small and medium-sized businesses using IP-PBXs or hosted PBX services, and Covad Communications, a provider of integrated voice and data services, have jointly announced the...

LSSi's national database named "most accurate".(Customer Inter@ction NEWS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... For the fourth year running, The Paisley Group has determined that LSSi's national database of "telco-fresh" telephone listings is the most accurate in the industry. The Paisley Group is the telephony industry's leading measurer of directory...

TCIM Services names EVP/COO.(J. Bryan Gross appointed as executive vice president and chief operating officer )(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... J. Bryan Gross, a long-time senior executive in the teleservices industry, has been named the new Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of TCIM Services of Wilmington, Delaware, the industry's first ISO 9002-certified firm and...

Exstream launches Dialogue in Japanese.(Exstream Software Inc.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Exstream Software, Inc. has announced the general availability of Dialogue in Japanese. Dialogue is the company's enterprise software designed to allow companies to create and manage higher quality, fully personalized communications of all...

The new rules of compliance: combining performance management and compliance to solve the regulatory puzzle, simplify management and reduce costs.(Innovative Solutions From The Multimedia Contact Center Solutions Experts: A Special Editorial Series Sponsored By INTERACTIVE INTELLIGENCE)
March 1, 2006... The word "compliance" can make any business cringe, especially public companies and contact centers in teleservices, healthcare, banking, insurance and other regulated industries. And it's no wonder. Governing agencies seem to issue new...

The neverending story of the consequences of failing to self-regulate.(Innovative Solutions From The Multimedia Contact Center Solutions Experts: A Special Editorial Series Sponsored By INTERACTIVE INTELLIGENCE)(Editorial)
March 1, 2006... Most fables start like this: "Once upon a time..." Being unwilling to break with tradition, I'll continue it. Once upon a time, there was a U.S. teleservices industry with little to no competition, few regulations and a lot of room to grow....

Four pitfalls to avoid when choosing CRM software.(CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT)
March 1, 2006... What is customer relationship management software, exactly? The answer to that question is different depending on whom you ask. For many companies, CRM equals sales force automation (SFA). Others use the term CRM to describe customer support...

Customer Inter@ction Solutions[R] magazine's twenty-first Annual Top 50 outbound Teleservices Agencies Ranking.(OUTSOURCING)(Cover story)
March 1, 2006... This is the twenty-first year Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine brings you its "Top 50" Teleservices Agency Ranking. In this issue, we're presenting the "Top 50" outbound portion of the ranking. (The inbound portion of the ranking will be...

Hiring and training for the call center: developing the "universal agent" and beyond.(WORKFORCE OPTIMIZATION)
March 1, 2006... If you asked most CEOs what the most important aspect of a call center is, you will likely get a quick response: "low cost." In today's competitive landscape, however, smart executives are beginning to reevaluate their call centers and turn...

Providing the ultimate customer care: the solution recipe for success--multi-blending.(Innovative Ideas From The Customer Contact Experts: A Special Editorial Series Sponsored by West Corporation)(Editorial)
March 1, 2006... All companies like to offer their customers personalized service, particularly when it comes to answering inbound calls. Every customer interaction--from the first call to the last call--deserves the highest quality customer care to maintain...

Looking beyond the call center: preventing erosion in your customer base and profits.(CONTACT CENTER TECHNOLOGY)
March 1, 2006... Today's competitive business environment has driven the need for higher levels of service quality. Even with huge leaps in service technologies, companies struggle to meet customer expectations while reducing contact center costs. For...

North American contact centers: why are we falling behind?(MANAGEMENT SCOPE)
March 1, 2006... Results from Dimension Data's recent Global Contact Center Benchmarking Report indicate that North American contact centers are lagging in several critical areas, including call response times, disaster recovery preparedness and security. This...

CallMiner reduces hardware for speech analytics.(SPEECH-WORLD[TM])(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... CallMiner, a developer of enterprise class speech analytics software, has announced the commercial release and deployment of its Virtual Server Room (VSR) technology. VSR, combined with CallMiner's speech processing and analytics suite, can...

VoiceGenie and Convedia partner.(VoiceGenie Technologies Inc.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... VoiceGenie Technologies Inc., a supplier of standards-based media controller software, and Convedia Corporation, which produces IP media servers, have announced that their Multimedia Resource Function (MRF) component for IP Multimedia...

Robin George.(SPEECH-WORLD[TM])
March 1, 2006... "The written or printed book is only a series of hints, as elliptical as the neumes of Byzantine music, from which the reader thus works out for himself the speech-gestures which alone have the gift of expression." --R.G. (Robin George)...

Voxeo announces Prophecy.(a versatile voice-over-IP platform )(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Voxeo Corporation, a provider of voice application platforms, has announced Voxeo Prophecy, a new platform designed to make it easier and more affordable for enterprises to create and deploy speech applications. Voxeo Prophecy was designed to...

Artificial Neural Network (ANN).(Definition Du Jour)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... An Artificial Neural Network is a basic, computerized model of the pathways and network of the human brain, or a "biologically inspired" method of computing. The process of storing information as patterns and utilizing those patterns, as the...

Two sides of the same IVR.(Interactive voice response)
March 1, 2006... You've probably heard of Paul English by now. He's the guy who put together the increasingly famous "IVR Cheat Sheet," a sort of step-by-step "how-to" guide for customers who hate automated systems and want a fast way to be connected to a...