It's been a long time since anyone referred to call centers as "boiler rooms," but this was, in fact, a very apt description of them in the early 1980s. Call center work was a job one took when the alternative was starving. "Technology" meant push-button phones rather than rotary dials, and when a call center worker was asked at parties what he or she did for a living, the better response was, "I break legs for loan sharks." It sounded more desirable.

Things are, obviously, much different nowadays. Call centers provide meals, transportation, day care, entertainment and ergonomic work environments. Many compete with one another to be the better workplace...in the 1990s, someone figured out that if you treat your call center employees well, you keep the good ones, and eliminate the enormous costs associated with turnover.

The Contact Center Employer of Choice (CCEOC) organization is a research group which oversees call center certification and consulting. Canadian company Neteller has announced today it has secured the Contact Center Employer of Choice gold-level award for call center excellence for providing an "outstanding work environment" to call center employees.

Full release is below.

TES

NETELLER Awarded Prestigious "Contact Center Employer of Choice™" Certification... First CALGARY Call Centre to achieve designation

(Calgary, Alberta, TBD, 2005) Neteller, a global on-line funds transfer service provider is pleased to announce it has achieved the prestigious Contact Center Employer of Choice™ (CCEOC) Gold level award for its Calgary based customer service centre. This award distinguishes the Neteller customer service centre as one of the best contact center operations to work for in North America.

“This is Neteller’s first attempt at achieving the Contact Center Employer of Choice™ designation. Attaining the Gold (second) level on the first assessment is an outstanding accomplishment and a testimonial to the hard work, dedication and commitment to excellence exhibited by all front line, support staff and management personnel,” said CCEOC President Jeff Doran.

Colleen Boyer, Manager, Customer Service, added: “We care passionately about our company, our employees and our customers. We want to provide the best quality service and we work together as a team to make sure that happens. This award validates the fact that we are an outstanding work environment, gives recognition to the employees, and positions us for substantial growth over the next few years.

"The CCEOC assessment methodology was practical and very effective” says Ms. Boyer. “The detailed reporting is excellent. It will allow us to objectively analyze our operation and work on the areas of employee satisfaction that will have a long lasting affect on our organization. We also like the value added extras like the quarterly Peer 2 Peer Education Exchanges. These sessions are great for connecting to other call centers that are dealing with the same issues we are.”

Neteller participated in the CCEOC program to gain industry-wide recognition as a great place to work, to improve their ability to attract the best talent, to identify areas of opportunity to improve employee satisfaction, and to elevate the performance of its operations.

The CCEOC Award is fast becoming an industry standard for recognizing people-centric contact centers. The Award enables call centers to enhance public perception, promote exceptional work environments, and attract, retain and engage high-performing, culturally-aligned employees.

About Neteller

NETELLER, one of the leading service providers in the industry, operates a secure online funds transfer service. A NETELLER account acts as an e-wallet that enables members (individuals who open NETELLER accounts) to load, withdraw and transfer funds. Members can instantly transfer funds to/from any merchant website that supports NETELLER's online payments system, and to/from other NETELLER members.

The firm has been providing secure online transactions since 1999. Over 1,500 online merchants accept payments through the NETELLER system. With a user base of over 1,500,000 members, NETELLER processed over $3.4 billion in transactions in 2004. The company employs over 450 people and growing. Corporate headquarters are located in Douglas, Isle of Man with regional offices in Calgary, Canada, London, England, Hong Kong, China and San Jose, Costa Rica.

About CCEOC

The Contact Center Employer of Choice (CCEOC) organization is an assessment, research and consulting organization. We are an experienced team of contact center experts, academics and research analysts who oversee the CCEOC certification program for regional, national and international contact centers. Contact centers from 20 to 2000+ seats have benefited from our unique program. CCEOC experts also work with corporate clients to assess, develop, maintain and promote high-morale, performance based call center cultures. For information on the Contact Center Employer of Choice™ certification program or to find out more about CCEOC training and consulting services, please email info@ccemployerofchoice.com or call 416 886-7007.

Got this e-mail (below) from AT&T CallVantage this morning, according to FCC rules. Some high-profile incidents involving Vonage service necessitated this...one well-publicized incident that resulted in a child's death because the mother had to stop CPR to run to a neighbor's house to dial 911...

TES

It is important to understand that there are some critical differences between your 911 service with AT&T CallVantage and the 911 service that accompanies traditional wireline phone service. AT&T always recommends that you have an alternate means of accessing 911 from your home or travel locations via a traditional phone line or wireless phone. There are certain circumstances in which you will not be able to use 911 service, including, but not limited to, the following:

You will NOT be able to dial 911 IF:

Your broadband connection is down, or Your electrical power is out, or You move your Telephone Adapter to a location where 911 service has not been deployed for the traditional wireline network. The physical location from which you are dialing 911 needs to match the address of record for your service. The 911 operator will use the service address of record as the dispatch address. If you do not provide us with an accurate service address, AT&T reserves the right to disconnect your service. If you move your Telephone Adaptor, you must update your service address on record with AT&T CallVantage Service via your Account Management and Setting web page or by calling 1-866-596-8464. An address update can take up to three business days to become effective in the system. Additionally, E-911 service may not be available at other locations to which you request to move your Telephone Adaptor.

How cool is this?

Packet8 has announced that the Sci-Fi Channel's "Stargate SG-1" and "Stargate Atlantis" will be implementing new characters in their new seasons...Packet8 IP VideoPhones.

I'll tell my guy friends this exciting news, but I'm sure they already knew about it...they've all been particularly eager to watch this new season in which "Farscape" alumna Claudia Black joins the cast, wearing tight leather outfits. It must be because of those video phones they're so eager to watch...

TES

Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis to Feature Packet8 VideoPhones in Upcoming New Episodes

SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, two of television's most popular science fiction shows, kicked off their seasons last week with a sleek, new communications device on the set -- the Packet8 VideoPhone from voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and videophone communications service provider 8x8, Inc. .
In addition to featuring the Packet8 VideoPhone during upcoming episodes, Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis will be the center of a national consumer sweepstakes that gives fans an opportunity to win a trip to the Stargate sets along with Packet8 VideoPhones and Freedom Unlimited residential service plans. And as an added bonus, winners will be able to make videophone calls to the set and have video visits with the shows' main characters.
"The Stargate placement is perfect for the Packet8 VideoPhone from both an application and audience demographic standpoint," said 8x8 Vice President of Marketing & Sales Huw Rees. "We think that when Stargate fans see how great the Packet8 VideoPhone works on their favorite show, they will be motivated to purchase one of their own to feel more connected with the program as well as with their family and friends."
The Packet8/Stargate sweepstakes invites fans to participate by answering a few trivia questions about the Stargate series and submitting an online entry form. Additional contest details can be found at http://www.packet8.net/.
Previously, Packet8 VideoPhones have been placed on the sets of many prime time television shows including: Alias, 24 - The Series, King of Queens, Law & Order SVU, Will & Grace, Stargate Atlantis, Medical Investigation, Eyes, and Navy NCIS. Product Integration and Promotions firm, Eclipse Worldwide, coordinated these appearances, as well as the promotion.
Available direct to consumers at http://www.packet8.net/, the $99 Packet8 VideoPhone is being sold with a two year service plan, which includes unlimited voice and video calls worldwide to another Packet8 VideoPhone as well as unlimited local and long distance voice-only calls to any phone number in the U.S. or Canada. The Packet8 VideoPhone uses a standard broadband internet connection to transmit high quality audio and crisp instant-on video communications. Previous videophone technology has been limited by bandwidth capabilities of the PSTN (public switched telephone network), which hampered the delivery of crisp real-time video images. Because it is based on SIP, an international internet protocol standard, the Packet8 VideoPhone achieves a level of technology and performance sophistication previously not possible.
About 8x8, Inc.
VoIP (voice over internet protocol) service provider 8x8, Inc. offers internet-based telephony solutions (http://www.packet8.net/) for individual residential and business users as well as small to medium sized business organizations. In addition to regular Packet8 VoIP service plans, priced as low as $19.95 per month for unlimited anytime calling to the U.S. and Canada, 8x8 now offers the $99 Packet8 VideoPhone, the industry's first stand alone broadband consumer videophone with worldwide video calling for $19.95 per month. Packet8 Virtual Office, 8x8's VoIP solution for small to medium sized businesses, is a hosted PBX service comprised of powerful business class features. For additional company information, visit 8x8's web site at http://www.8x8.com/.
About Eclipse Worldwide
Based in Menlo Park, CA, and with offices in Los Angeles, Eclipse Worldwide is a brand marketing company that specializes in product placement, entertainment marketing and other highly leveraged marketing vehicles. For additional information, please visit their website at http://www.eclipse-worldwide.com/.

ChoicePoint Inc., whose large database of consumer information was accessed by thieves posing as legitimate customers, reported today that its Q2 earnings were going to remain essentially flat compared to a year ago despite a 15 percent increase in operational revenue. 

Full article at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/20/AR2005072000395.html

So I wonder...before everyone who maintains a database of customer information is reporting losses despite increased sales, what do we do about it??

TES

OK, without resorting to exploiting the stereotype suggested by the rather high instances of cross-over between IT people and "Star Trek" fans, I think I can safely go ahead and say that technology personnel worldwide have had a sad loss today.

After all...who now is going to get us more power to the warp drive next time we need it?

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/20/obit.doohan.ap/index.html

Turns out, the Unocal board made a decision to accept Chevron's $17 billion bid rather than a higher offer by China's third-largest oil company. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8462749/ 

Could it be that a large U.S. company is finally putting wisdom over profit?

Get out...soon we'll have departing CEOs saying, "No, I can't take that 32 million just to go away. No one's worth that kind of money, particularly not someone like me, who actually left the company poorer than when I started."

I think there's more chance of Big Foot showing up in Times Square, sipping a frappacino.

TES

When doesn't international outsourcing work for call centers? When transfer of the call to a foreign agent becomes obvious to the customer. The only companies that can turn a model of an internationally distributed call center organization into reality are those companies with the resources to provide seamless transfers between locations.

Today, MCI announced a new solution called Global ECR (Enhanced Call Routing) designed to make it easier for companies to accept, forward and route customer calls to different locations throughout the world, without losing the seamless feel of the call. Solutions like these strive to take the traditional call routing methods and turn them on their ear, while remaining economical to the company that implements them (perhaps even more economical than traditional methods). The full release is below.

TES

MCI, Inc. (NASDAQ: MCIP) today announced the launch of its Global Enhanced Call Routing (ECR) service which allows companies to accept, forward, and route contact center calls from their customers internationally. This network-based solution helps customers decrease end-user wait times, reduce overall management costs and increase customer satisfaction.

MCI, Inc. (NASDAQ: MCIP) is a leading global communications provider, delivering innovative, cost-effective, advanced communications connectivity to businesses, governments and consumers. With one of the most expansive global IP backbones and wholly-owned data networks, MCI develops the converged communications products and services that are the foundation for commerce and communications in today's market. For more information, go to www.mci.com.

There is probably not a technology in the call center that could potentially cause more problems and red faces if it's improperly implemented than speech/voice technology. It's frustrating being misrouted by an IVR, but not quite so obvious. After all..."maybe I pushed the wrong button? Perhaps I didn't listen to the choices carefully?" Testing, testing and more testing is vital before deployment of any self-service system; with speech it becomes more critical. Monday morning brings us an announcement that Genesys and Empirix have been busy as of late and have completed testing of Genesys' Voice Platform, it's VXML-based IVR product. TES

EMPIRIX AND GENESYS LAUNCH FIRST INTEGRATED TESTING AND MONITORING SOLUTIONS FOR GENESYS VOICE PLATFORM Companies jointly offer solutions to speed quality rollouts and integration of GVP in contact centers BEDFORD, Mass. and SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - July 18, 2005 - Today Empirix® Inc., the leader in helping organizations strengthen customer loyalty through assured Web and voice application performance, and Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc., an Alcatel company (NYSE: ALA, Paris: CGEP.PA), jointly announced the first integrated testing and monitoring solutions for Genesys Voice Platform (GVP) environments. This announcement builds upon an existing relationship between Empirix and Genesys. Genesys Voice Platform is an advanced software-only product that brings Internet technologies to the world of voice enabling a new breed of voice self-service applications based on Voice XML (VXML). Empirix testing and monitoring solutions ensure that GVP seamlessly interoperates with existing contact center components and applications. Pre-deployment testing ensures that the contact center is running smoothly and efficiently before the official technology launch date, while monitoring ensures that technology components continue to work properly once in production. VXML-based IVRs provide new application and architecture advantages, however, they are part of a complex infrastructure requiring new deployment and maintenance techniques and tools. "When using these new technologies, companies have to get their house in order first, and ensure that it stays in order," says consultant Lori Bocklund, president of Strategic Contact Inc. "Buyers need to make smart technology purchase decisions that consider integration and compatibility with the rest of the infrastructure. Good testing and monitoring practices should be applied at implementation and ongoing these steps will ensure end-to-end performance is acceptable under normal and heavy call loads." Specific Empirix solutions for GVP include Hammer Performance Assurance for Genesys voice self-service, which is used for diagnostics and automated load and functional testing of GVP. A second solution, OneSight Telephony Monitors for GVP, enables organizations to proactively monitor and manage GVP, and correlate performance with data on related components, voice and VXML transactions, and the underlying infrastructure quickly and easily. Combined, they enable organizations to manage GVP across the lifecycle from pre-deployment through production. "Genesys and Empirix share a firm commitment to ensuring customer success," said Dan Nordale, Director of Voice Services at Genesys. "These testing and monitoring solutions are designed to ensure that Genesys customers are getting maximum performance out of their Genesys investments by helping to quickly identify the source of potential problems wherever they lie in the contact center infrastructure. Our experience with Empirix to date has been terrific, and we're excited to be working with them to effectively test new and existing deployments of the Genesys Voice Platform." "Genesys solutions are nearly ubiquitous in contact centers," said Larry Timm, Vice President of Business Development at Empirix. "In developing solutions specifically for the Genesys platform, we can help our joint customers provide better quality service to their customers, less expensively. We look forward to working with Genesys in the future to further expand this suite." For more information on Empirix testing and management solutions, call 1-866-EMPIRIX or e-mail info@empirix.com. About Genesys Genesys, an Alcatel company is 100 percent focused on software for contact centers. Leading companies in the Global 2000 and Fortune 1000 use Genesys to deliver interactions that drive better business. With 3000 customers in 80 countries, Genesys directs more than 100 million customer interactions every day. Genesys allows enterprises to achieve key business objectives by tying together customer interactions, people, and customer information in both traditional telephony and IP environments. Sophisticated routing and reporting across voice, e-mail, documents and Web interactions, coupled with integrated self service, ensure that customers are quickly connected to the right resource the first time. Genesys solutions stop customer frustration and allow enterprises to deliver superior customer satisfaction and improved business results. For more information visit us at www.genesyslab.com. About Alcatel Alcatel provides communications solutions to telecommunication carriers, Internet service providers and enterprises for delivery of voice, data and video applications to their customers or employees. Alcatel brings its leading position in fixed and mobile broadband networks; applications and services, to help its partners and customers build a user-centric broadband world. With sales of EURO 12.3 billion and 56,000 employees in 2004, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet: http://www.alcatel.com About Empirix Empirix Inc. helps organizations strengthen customer loyalty through assured Web and voice application performance. Based on patented technologies, Empirix solutions are known for providing the deepest, most accurate insight into what customers actually experience, and enabling organizations to be proactive about identifying and addressing potential technology problems before customers are impacted. Empirix has thousands of customers around the world, with operations throughout North America, Europe and Asia. To learn more, visit www.empirix.com or call 1-866-EMPIRIX.

The magic number is 70 for the board of directors at Cisco Systems, Inc.

The Internet networking giant announced Friday that its board of directors decided that beyond the age of 70, no person would be eligible to be nominated or re-nominated for election to the board.

And what does this mean for the chairman of the board, 71-year-old John P. Morgridge?

The policy goes into effect for nominations at next year’s annual shareholders meeting that is expected to occur in November 2006.

However, vice chairman Donald T. Valentine and board member James F. Gibbons will be ineligible for re-nomination for the 2005 annual shareholders meeting in November. Both are remaining on the board through the date of the annual meeting with the company expected to cut the number of directors from 13 to 11.

By Glenn J. Kalinoski

Executive Editor, Customer Interaction Solutions

Next week should bring plenty of pain at HP.

Layoffs well above the 10,000 mark are expected at Hewlett-Packard Co. as part of a restructuring that could come as early as Monday or Tuesday. In fact, reports place the layoff total between 15,000 and 25,000, with a published estimate placing the annual savings at $1.5 billion.

In what was described as a “good first step” by the head of HP’s printing operation, the Palo Alto, Calif., company provided a voluntary severance package offering in May that drew approximately 2,000 workers from the firm’s imaging and printing sector.

By Glenn J. Kalinoski, Executive Editor

Customer Interaction Solutions

Siebel today announced its plans to debut its new customer/user industry conference, called Siebel CustomerWorld. The conference will be held at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center from October 16th to 19th. The plan is to expand the success of the company's existing Siebel  User Week conferences and turn them into a more broadly targeted and accessible event.

Though no keynoters have been yet announced, it's expected that the event will feature high-profile speakers and "expert practitioners". The conference will be dual in its focus: it will aim for both IT and business people, and offer two tracks to serve the needs of both communities.

More info and registration details can be found at www.siebelcustomerworld.com.

TES

In an article written this morning for TMCnet by David Sims, he notes he'd lay his money on India, not China, to be the Next Great Thing. He write, "The three main reasons, of course, are that India is a) a widely Anglophone democracy operating under the rule of law, b) serious about protecting property and intellectual rights, and c) highly entrepreneurial. China is none of those nor ever will be, and you can’t name a significant long-term world economic power in the last hundred years who’s not at least two out of those three."

All I can say is "Right on, David."

In casual talks about business with colleagues and friends, when the topic of China comes up, I feel like I'm howling at the wind. Does anyone remember that China is still a communist country with a dismal human rights record? Remember? Communism? Chairman Mao and all?

India is a democratic nation. It operates under English Common Law. Its court system makes sense to Westerners. It likes us. 

In terms of call centers...you think your customers can't understand Indian agents? Do you really believe that Chinese agents are going to be an improvement? How, exactly?

What if the political situation between the U.S. and China (always touchy) deteriorates in the next 10 years? What's going to happen to U.S. investments there? You think you'll get them back?

Things to think about.

TES

If you're a space geek like me, you may be hoping to watch the 3:51 pm EST launch of the shuttle Discovery/STS-114. (I've still never seen one in person...it's a tricky prospect to plan to travel to Florida to witness one, as launches so often get delayed and rescheduled.)

NASA is currently running their "NASA TV" live feed, covering pre-countdown happenings. You can find the link to it here: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html and choose to run it in either Windows Media or RealPlayer.

Just try not to get in trouble with your IT department, hogging all that bandwidth, as I'm sure I'm going to get into with mine (sorry, guys).

TES

Can you imagine inventing something that, when it debuts to the marketplace at nearly $30 per unit, can move off the shelves of a single store chain at a rate of 50,000 per hour?

Welcome back to Hogwarts, kids.

Barnes & Noble CEO Steve Riggio has stated that the bookstore chain expects to sell just that many in the first days (weeks?) of this weekend's release of "Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince."

The only books that sell anywhere near as well as J.K. Rowling's international phenomenon (intergalactic, maybe? Are beings from Alpha Centauri eagerly awaiting the release as well? It wouldn't surprise me) are the Bible, and that ever-popular best-seller, "Quotations From Chairman Mao".

I'll admit to being a fan. OK...maybe "addict" is a more appropriate term. If you haven't read these books, understand they're like bibliophilistic crack. I read the first Harry Potter book many years ago, shortly after its release. My then-11-year-old niece bought it for me for my birthday. I read it, initially, to humor her and see what she was reading at the time. I remember that I finished the book around 9:00 pm, and ran out to the bookstore, wearing my sweatpants, to buy the second book.

"Just a few days to go," say the fans excitedly.

"Just a few days to go," says JK Rowling to her editors, publishers, financial advisers, tax accountants and public relations team.

"Just a few days to go," say bookstore owners and executives eagerly.

"Just a few days to go," groan bookstore clerks and security guards despondently.

TES

In case you have a scrap of sympathy left over after you finish regretting having to relocate those slugs from your garden last weekend, spare a moment for poor Bernie Ebbers, former CEO and Chief Robber Baron of WorldCom. According to the New York Times today, a federal judge refused his request for a new trial, opening the path for Bernie to go hop, hop, hopping off to jail.

Bye, Bernie!

All those people whose livelihoods you stole are right behind you...waiting to push you into your cell. Is there room for Dennis Kozlowski next door?

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-WorldCom-Ebbers.html?hp&ex=1121227200&en=c3bd3e114eb5f652&ei=5094&partner=homepage