August 2007 Archives

Each year, Customer Interaction Solutions magazine publishes a comprehensive list of both domestic and foreign teleservices agencies. This list, which will be published in the October 2007 issue, is considered the definitive source for shopping for outsourced customer services. (Please note: This listing is for companies that offer call/contact center services to other companies on an outsourced basis.)

To get on the list, please send an e-mail to CIS Associate Editor Patrick Barnard (pbarnard@tmcnet.com) with “Who’s Who” in the subject line and provide the following information:

--Company name

--Company contact person

--Postal address

--Phone number

--E-mail

--Web address

--Type of service (using key below):

 

A: Inbound

B: Outbound

C: Multilingual services

D: Interactive (IVR, Automated Agents)

E: E-mail capabilities

F: Other Web-based communications (text chat, co-browsing, videoconferencing, etc.)

 

This is a great opportunity to give your teleservices company exposure in the leading and longest running trade publication focused on the call center industry, Customer Interaction Solutions.

Submissions must be received no later than Sept. 14.

Westcon Group, Inc., a leading specialty distributor in networking, security, mobility and convergence, is now distributing the call recording software from Verint Systems’ Witness Actionable Solutions business line on a multi-national basis, the companies reported last week.

The deal enables Westcon Group to expand its portfolio with robust call recording software designed for small businesses and mid-sized organizations. It also extends worldwide presence and availability of the Verint Witness Actionable Solutions, which are now available through Westcon’s global VAR network of resellers and customers.

The deal is a natural progression of the already-established relationship between the two companies, as Verint Witness Actionable Solutions is a member of Westcon’s Affinity Partner Program.

Verint Witness Actionable Solutions mid-market call recording software helps companies address compliance, liability, dispute resolution and quality management within contact centers. In addition to its application in contact centers, the software is also leveraged in the command and control, and public safety markets.

Nancy Treaster, senior vice president and general manager of Verint Witness Actionable Solutions, pointed out that in today’s highly competitive business world, “enterprises of all sizes are seeking actionable intelligence to enhance the performance of their customer-focused operations, and we are expanding our channels to address this need.”

“We’ve seen a shift in organizations recording calls not just for regulatory and compliance reasons, but because they want the opportunity to positively impact the quality and accuracy of transactions, as well as the ability to improve workforce performance,” Treaster said in a press release. “Westcon Group, through its solutions programs and convergence expertise, is positioned to help us further extend the reach of our mid-market offering, making it even more widely available to a highly-focused customer base.”

“Call centers are becoming much more important as the primary touch point for customers – and not just in ‘service oriented’ segments,” added Anthony Daley, executive vice president and general manager, Westcon Group. “According to Datamonitor, over $200 million will be spent by call centers with less than 100 agents in 2007. Therefore a genuine need exists to provide analytics in these environments both from a compliance and quality improvement perspective. Verint’s solutions work seamlessly in both TDM and IP environments, and the solution can sit literally anywhere on the network.”

Robert Pullman, president of Teledynamics, a leading Westcon Group VAR, said the deal means his company can now provide its customers “with an industry-leading solution for call recording and quality monitoring” with advanced features and capabilities which, up until recently, were only available to larger sized centers.

For more information, visit www.westcongroup.com and www.verint.com.

Here’s yet more proof that you can buy all the fancy technology you want, but your agents are what really make the difference in your call center:

 

BPO provider Affiliated Computer Services Inc. announced on Monday that is Cary, North Carolina, call center - which handles millions of telephone, e-mail, and live online customer interactions every year - has been recognized for customer satisfaction excellence under the rigorous J.D. Power and Associates Call Center Certification Program.

 

According to ACS officials, agents working in the in the Cary call center scored “well above average” and “were rated at or near the outstanding range across all measurable attributes, indicating and resulting in exceptional customer satisfaction and reflecting the company's courtesy and concern for its customers.”

 

To achieve certification, ACS had to pass a detailed audit of its recruiting, training, employee incentive, management roles, management responsibilities, and quality assurance capabilities. To measure its level of success and determine it worthiness for the recognition, J.D. Power and Associates conducted a random survey of ACS customers who had recent contact with the call center.

 

To be certified, a call center must perform within the top 20 percent of customer service, based on J.D. Power and Associates’ cross-industry customer satisfaction research.

 

ACS is a global FORTUNE 500 company with 58,000 people supporting client operations reaching more than 100 countries. It provides business process outsourcing and information technology solutions to world-class commercial and government clients.

 

"At ACS, our people really do make the difference,” said Tom Blodgett, group president, Business Process Solutions, ACS, in a press release. “They are the strength of our Cary call center and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to outstanding customer service.”

 

This is a case where proper and thorough training played a key role in developing a highly skilled workforce. Obviously, this call center’s agents are motivated and well-trained -- and this in turn has paid off in high customer satisfaction. At the same time, however, it would be interesting to learn how much the center’s agents are paid, what types of technology they are using, and what methods are being used to train and motivate them, and whether or not any of this factors into the J.D. Power criteria for certification.

 

For more information about ACS visit www.acs-inc.com.