Customer Interaction Solutions articles from September 2004

Customer Interaction Solutions archives from September 2004

Publisher's outlook.
September 1, 2004... LOOKING AT THREE IMPORTANT TOPICS: 1. TMC LABS AWARD... The Crown Jewel Of Tech Awards In CRM And Contact Centers 2. Some Teleservices Companies Report "Sold Out" Situations 3. The ICCM Show: A Business Perspective This...

A view of the industry through ICCM's window.(High Priority!)
September 1, 2004... If you were there, you'll know that the recent ICCM in Chicago was smaller than in previous years. It was not, however, lacking in new solutions, and I'd like to offer my impressions of several of them. (Tracey Schelmetic, the Editorial...

Introducing.(Speech-World[TM])
September 1, 2004... Speech applications are revolutionizing today's call centers just like the ACD and predictive dialer once did. Applications of speech are now moving from IVR and contact centers into our cars, PCs, PDAs and even common household items like...

Conference info keynotes.(Speech-World[TM])
September 1, 2004... Chris Gravett Director Chris Gravett was appointed to the board of Aculab in 1997. His responsibilities have been twofold. First to introduce a sales and marketing function, the second to transition Aculab from its small company roots...

Session descriptions.(Speech-World[TM])
September 1, 2004... Developing Voice IVR Applications Using Host Processing Most of us have heard the term "host media processing" used as a possible alternative to DSPs; but have all developers of voice IVR established what this technological shift could mean...

Conference info.(Speech-World[TM])(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... On-Site Registration Hours Tuesday-November 30 7:00 am-5:00 pm Wednesday-December 1 7:00 am-5:00 pm Thursday-December 2 7:30 am-12:00 pm Exhibit Hall Hours Tuesday-November 30 5:00 pm-7:00 pm Wednesday-December 1...

The CEO spotlight.(Interview)
September 1, 2004... This month, the editors of Customer Inter@ction Solutions[R] magazine spoke with Vinod Gupta, the founder and chairman of infoUSA, Inc., a provider of sales and marketing support for products for all types of businesses, from small...

Amae Software sows the seeds of customer loyalty.(Technology Highlights)
September 1, 2004... I've always thought it would be gratifying if customer-facing companies had the customer commitment equivalent to the loyalty of Manchester United fans to their English soccer club. United is oft called the best-supported sports team in the...

Rockwell FirstPoint announces field trial of FirstPoint Enterprise v10.0.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Rockwell FirstPoint Contact Corp., a provider of call and contact center solutions, has announced its FirstPoint Enterprise v10.0 is currently in field trial with customers. The product now provides system-wide monitoring to manage components...

IEX TotalView version 3.6 to enhance supervisor ease-of-use and simplify ACD connectivity.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... IEX Corporation, a provider of contact center workforce management and business optimization solutions, has announced the availability of version 3.6 of its TotalView Workforce Management system. The purpose of the new feature enhancements: to...

Primus Knowledge Solutions announces availability of Primus KnowledgeCenter 6.0.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Primus Knowledge Solutions has announced the availability of Primus KnowledgeCenter 6.0, its next-generation software platform designed to help companies leverage knowledge and deliver precise answers to customers' questions via self- and...

Vodavi releases second generation Telenium IP system.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Vodavi Technology, Inc., a provider of business telecommunications solutions, has announced expanded capability on its flagship LAN-based phone system, the TeleniumIP, and the introduction of PathFinderIP, a pure-IP solution for advanced voice...

Zultys announces Advanced ACD for MX250 IP PBX.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Zultys Technologies, a designer and manufacturer of products that merge telecommunications and data communications for businesses, has announced Advanced ACD, a software enhancement for the MX250. The software option permits businesses and...

Mercom integrates EMC Centera with Audiolog recording platform.(New Products)(content addressed storage (CAS) solution)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Mercom Systems, Inc., a provider of multimedia recording and agent evaluation tools for contact centers, has announced its completed integration of Mercom's Audiolog recording platform with the EMC Centera content addressed storage (CAS)...

salesforce.com upgrades customers and subscribers to 16th generation CRM service for free.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... salesforce.com, a provider of customer relationship management (CRM) on demand, has announced the release of its Summer '04 product line to all 10,700 customers and 161,000 paying subscribers worldwide. The 16th generation of salesforce.com's...

emailtopia offers improved Response Manager 4.0 for high-volume call centers.(New Products)(e-mail response management software)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... emailtopia, a provider of e-mail response management software, has announced the availability of Response Manager 4.0. The new version enables customers to respond to e-mail inquiries by providing increased performance and scalability. Response...

Blue Pumpkin Solutions extend Workforce Optimization Suite.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Blue Pumpkin, a provider of workforce optimization solutions, has announced the availability of Blue Pumpkin Learning Express and Blue Pumpkin Time Record Manager, two additions to the company's Workforce Optimization Suite. With Learning...

Salesnet launches on-demand CRM learning center.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Salesnet, a provider of on-demand CRM software for driving sales effectiveness, has announced the launch of mySalesnet, an online resource that offers customers a centralized location for accessing tools and information to help leverage...

Interactive Intelligence makes three announcements.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Interactive Intelligence Inc. has released version 2.3 of its Customer Interaction Center (CIC) software, a bundled communications application suite designed for contact centers and customer-driven enterprises. Enhancements include...

WatchIT and ROS announce lifecycle outsourcing education series.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... WatchIT, a provider of rich media, on-demand learning solutions and ROS Incorporated, an outsourcing consultancy and education company, released a new education series to help organizations understand and implement a framework for outsourcing....

Best Software delivers expanded SalesLogix 6.2 CRM suite.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Best Software, a provider of business management products and services, has announced delivery of its expanded SalesLogix 6.2 CRM suite that now integrates customer service features to provide SpeedSearch, issue tracking and resolution tools...

Voice Print offers business analytics and eLearning solutions.(New Products)(Voice Print International)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Voice Print International, a provider of digital voice, data and screen recording and quality management solutions, has unveiled Activ! Analytics and Activ! eLearning to enhance contact center performance. The new applications extend the...

Dictaphone launches recruiter module for ContactPoint WRM and announces agreement with Lucent.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Dictaphone Corporation's Communications Recording Systems (CRS) Group, provider of workforce relationship management solutions and of recording and monitoring systems for contact centers, has launched its ContactPoint Recruiter module as part...

Voiceglo introduces GloPhone 2.0.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Voiceglo, a global, full-service Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications company, has announced the release of its GloPhone version 2.0, offering users new feature enhancements. GloPhone, a Web- and PC-based phone service, offers...

Bezeq Online launches CosmoCom-powered Contact Center On-Demand services.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... CosmoCom, provider of an all-IP, universal access contact center system, has announced that Bezeq Online Ltd. has added Contact Center On-Demand (CCOD) services based on the CosmoCall Universe platform to its suite of outsourced solutions....

Austin Logistics launches Valeo for call centers.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Austin Logistics Inc., a provider of analytic software and solutions that predict customer value and behavior, has announced the availability of Valeo for inbound call centers. By adding Valeo's predictive analytics and value-driven queuing to...

Sivox announces RealCall 4.0 for the enterprise call center.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Sivox Technologies Inc., a developer of employee performance applications used as agent lifecycle support tools, has announced the release of SIVOX RealCall 4.0 Enterprise. Among the latest improvements to the SIVOX RealCall training suite are...

Inova Solutions announces version 5.0 of performance optimization suite.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Inova Solutions, a provider of real-time business intelligence solutions for the contact center, has announced the general availability of the Version 5.0 Suite of Inova performance optimization products. The new release further enhances the...

Acxiom unveils Personicx LifeChanges to recognize consumer changes.(New Products)(household-level segmentation system )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Acxiom Corporation, a provider of customer and information management, has announced the release of Personicx, allowing marketers to target receptive customers as they move through life variations that affect their purchase behavior. Personicx...

Witness Systems enhances IP recording software.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Witness Systems, an IP recording company and performance optimization software and services provider, has announced enhanced functionality for its recording software for Internet Protocol (IP) telephony environments. The eQuality ContactStore...

Stratasoft launches application for Cisco IP communications infrastructure.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Stratasoft Inc. (a subsidiary of I-Sector Corporation), a contact center solutions provider, has announced the launch of Strata WFM (Work Flow Manager), targeting the education and government vertical markets. It was designed to leverage a...

Opus Group launches analytics technology solution.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Opus Group, a provider of operational performance management solutions, has announced the availability of Opus Suite 2.0, enabling organizations to apply analytics tools and work planning and assignment techniques from front-office customer...

SER releases latest automated quality assurance solution.(New Products)
September 1, 2004... SER Solutions, Inc., a provider of software solutions to improve customer service and efficiency and productivity of contact center operators, has announced the release of SERTAINTY 2.2. The newest release of the automated quality assurance...

Active Voice announces new embedded visual messaging solution.(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Active Voice, LLC (a subsidiary of NEC Unified Solutions, Inc.), a provider of unified messaging, computer telephony and voice messaging solutions, has announced the latest addition to its suite of embedded visual messaging solutions. The new...

Singlefin introduces IM and Web Filters for blocking viruses and SPIM (IM Spam).(New Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Singlefin, a provider of enterprise-class managed protection services, has announced the availability of the its new managed Instant Message (IM) and Web Filters. The introduction is intended to provide business owners and network...

NSC and David Yoho form exclusive partnership.(Happenings)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Noble Systems Corporation (NSC), a contact center technology solutions provider, has announced its exclusive partnership with David Yoho, president of Professional Educators Inc., a consulting and training organization for the contact center...

VoiceLog offers short-term call monitoring/recording for the holiday season.(Happenings)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... VoiceLog LLC, a provider of hosted call monitoring and recording services for call centers, is offering short-term contracts for call center recording, monitoring and quality control services in the critical and staff-challenging winter holiday...

FrontRange moves HQ to Northern California.(Happenings)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... FrontRange Solutions, a provider of service management and customer relationship management (CRM) solutions, is moving its headquarters from Colorado Springs, Colorado to Pleasanton, California. The move will gradually continue as the $75...

Verint Systems partners with consulting firm to launch enterprise quality workshop.(Happenings)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Verint Systems Inc., a provider of analytic software-based solutions for communications interception, networked video security/surveillance and business intelligence, has announced a new enterprise quality workshop, entitled Actionable...

ATG to acquire Primus Knowledge Solutions, Inc.(Happenings)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Art Technology Group, Inc. (ATG), a customer service software provider for high-end consumer-facing companies, and Primus Knowledge Solutions, Inc., a customer service software provider, have announced a definitive agreement for ATG to acquire...

Teleperformance USA acquires VOICE FX.(Happenings)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Teleperformance USA (subsidiary of the SR. Teleperformance Group), provider of outsourced CRM and contact center solutions, has announced the acquisition of an 80 percent interest in VOICE FX, LLC, a provider of hosted interactive voice...

QAS QuickAddress signs eight new catalog/mail order companies.(Happenings)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... QAS, a provider of address management software, has announced the signing of eight top catalog and mail order companies as new customers. The companies are: Hammacher Schlemmer, C.Crane Company, Inc., Journey Education Marketing, KellyCo...

Exstream Software partners with Blue Turtle Technologies in South Africa.(Happenings)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Exstream Software, Inc., a provider of personalized customer communications delivered by mail, e-mail and the Internet, has announced an agreement with Blue Turtle Technologies of South Africa that gives Blue Turtle distribution rights to the...

A view from the top: providing a unified view of your customers.(Customer Relationship Management)
September 1, 2004... In an age where companies are constantly campaigning for new customers and striving to sustain the loyalty of existing customers, every resource must be fully leveraged. After all, customers can always elect to go elsewhere, and sometimes it's...

Integrating SMBs for a customer-centric view.(Customer Relationship Management)(small and medium sized businesses)
September 1, 2004... As technology continues to streamline the ways companies do business, customer expectations continue to rise to dizzying new heights. Accustomed to online ordering systems devoted to their every preference, consumers today automatically expect...

CRM across the enterprise: integrating the channels.(Customer Relationship Management)
September 1, 2004... Even the best CRM implementations will fail to meet expectations if the underlying data that feed the CRM system have inaccurate, duplicate data streaming in from all levels of the enterprise. A centralized data repository is a critical...

Data synchronization unifies the customer view.(Customer Relationship Management)
September 1, 2004... What do John Doe, Johnathan B. Doe and J.B. Doe all have in common? Aside from a first initial and last name, the answer may be absolutely nothing. They may be the same person. Confused? You're not alone. This scenario illustrates the...

Headset roundup 2004.(Call Center/CRM Management Scope)(directory of headset suppliers)(Directory)
September 1, 2004... The humble headset: is there any other technology so heavily used but so consisently ignored in discussion? If you've not seen what the market has to offer lately, there's news--the "humble" headset is no longer the Plain Jane of the contact...

Wizzard Software to distribute AT & T's TTS engine.(Speech-World News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Wizzard Software has announced the expansion of its relationship with AT & T with the addition of distribution rights for the Telephony Server version of AT & T's Natural Voices text-to-speech (TTS) engine. In addition to adding the Telephony...

VoiceObjects joins the SALT Forum.(Speech-World News)(Speech Application Language Tags)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... VoiceObjects AG, a software provider that develops voice-operated telephone services, has announced it is joining the SALT Forum and adopting the Speech Application Language Tags (SALT) 1.0 standard. VoiceObjects Factory now supports both...

Definition Du Jour.(Speech-World News)(what is a voice browser)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Voice Browser Working in the same manner as a standard browser, a voice browser allows the user to interact with Web pages using speech. Instead of using HTML, like a standard browser, a voice browser uses VXML (Voice Extensible Markup...

Speech automated self-service solutions: from sidelines to primetime.(Speech-World[TM])
September 1, 2004... Automated Voice Service, Then: Your oven goes on the fritz and you call the number listed in the user's manual. You reach an automated line. "To reach sales, say one..." Ten prompts later, you still aren't sure which number to say, nor do you...

TMC Labs Innovation Awards, Part I.(TMC[TM] Labs)
September 1, 2004... The TMC Labs Innovation Awards were created to honor products that help carve a new market niche or start a new trend. The award also recognizes products that stand apart from their competitors due to one or more unique and innovative features....

Business school basics: evaluating technology purchases using net present value.(Managing by the Numbers)(Illustration)
September 1, 2004... Most call centers acquire new technology and fund new initiatives with capital dollars. The smart call center manager knows how to develop an effective business case to gain approval for the use of these funds. This article will provide an...