Saying that they’re helping with “defining new ways to communicate with people through unlocked phones,” Cellhut officials have announced what they say are “the latest products on the market at some of the lowest prices available.”

This combination makes Cellhut “the site to go to for the latest in unlocked gadgets,” company officials say, adding that “the accessories sale also makes a great way to produce stocking-stuffers for other people.”

In one of the better quotes we’ve heard from a tech vendor in quite some time, Cellhut officials note that “staying up-to-date isn't an easy feat to accomplish, but somebody has to ensure that the products in stock are worth the customers' time.”

Indeed. By “searching through all the tech review website and message board to stay up to date, Cellhut makes sure that the only phone in stock are worth the customers time. This promise has been the motto of Cellhut for years and years.”

And we thank them for it.

Read more here.

…

Akron, Ohio-based Virtual Hold is trying to help establish a new meme.

Yes, we all know Black Friday, the day of shopping mall hell following Thanksgiving. “Now known as Cyber Monday, November 29 is the start of the online holiday shopping season,” company officials said recently. “People shop online for a variety of reasons, but ease of use is always a top reason.”

But, they say, when a customer needs to talk to a company representative, "easy" is often the last word a customer would use to describe the process: “Between busy signals, long hold times and disconnections, sometimes it's easier for a customer to just go somewhere else.”

And they do, believe us. In droves. Where they’re subjected to yet more terrible customer service. Transitioning from the self-service environment of a website to live customer service, say Virtual Hold officials, “can leave customers confused and discouraged, resulting in poor customer experiences, reduced customer loyalty and lost sales.” That’s why company officials are touting the Virtual Hold WebConnect web application.

Read more here.

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A Caller Bill of Rights sure sounds good, doesn’t it? Thanks to Angel.com for proposing one.

A quick look at a few of its proposals and excerpts from their reasoning:

Number one: The right to clear expectations about what the IRV can and can’t do. Make it clear to callers what your IVR system can help them with. If the system has a single purpose, introduce that purpose to callers clearly, upfront. If the system can do several different things, create a clear and concise menu structure that quickly educates callers about their automated choices. Whether intentional or not, many IVR systems seem to trap callers within layers upon layers of nested menus, without making it clear to callers whether or not the issue they called about is addressable by the system. While this design practice might temporarily increase containment rates, callers will eventually become frustrated and learn to distrust the IVR.

Read more here.

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A recent study by Volt Delta, titled “Outsourcing for Outsourcers Contact Center OnDemand and Voice Self-Service for a Competitive Edge” looks at issues challenging contact center outsourcers.

Some highlights from their findings:

Delaying investment. The recent state of the economy is partly to blame. The recession has caused many outsourcers to delay capital investment. Many call distribution and agent infrastructures installed in the past 20 years have become obsolete or do not have capabilities outsourcers require to remain competitive. In many cases, upgrades have been skipped in the interest of short-term cost savings. As a result, they are prevented from taking advantage of newer technology to achieve multi-channel support and/or cost savings attained from a ubiquitous IP Infrastructure.

Growth in mobility. A notable example is the “mobilization” of the world with cell phones and other wireless devices, presenting tremendous implications for contact center outsourcers. Mobile callers expect anytime and anywhere support with multi-channel options such as SMS messaging. Outsourcers ignoring the special concerns and opportunities to better serve mobile callers will find themselves at a distinct disadvantage. 

Read more here.