Contact Center Industry News

April 2010

Professional Teledata's PInnacle Freedom Negates Weather's Fury

Launched just one year ago, Professional Teledata's hosted solution, PInnacle Freedom, has already proven itself, especially in light of the recent snowstorms and outages in the eastern U.S.  "We are excited about the success of our hosted product as a viable alternative for premise-based equipment," said Allen Kalik, president of Professional Teledata.  "As VoIP and carrier services continue to evolve, we are there at the forefront of that technology with the expertise and infrastructure to bring these advantages to our customers."

The Freedom product includes PInnacle software licensing and use of hardware hosted in the Manchester, New Hampshire headquarters of Professional Teledata.  DID (or DNIS numbers) are routed to the eOn eQueue switch, and call center staff can access the system using a high-speed Internet connection 24/7.  Hosting has proven particularly effective in integrating multiple locations, as well as for relocations.

"With the recent weather issues in the East causing outages and transportation issues, the ability of Freedom offices to continue operation has really proved the effectiveness of hosted solutions," said Dale Schafer, VP of engineering at Professional Teledata.

To learn more, contact at Karen Black 800-344-9944 x112. 

Amtelco Goes "Pink"

Amtelco has launched a "You Click - We Donate" fund-raising campaign for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.  For every new fan on Amtelco's Facebook page, Twitter, or those with a unique login to Amtelco's customer support websites (Techhelper, Amtelcopedia, and resource library), Amtelco will donate towards this far-reaching cause.

The "You Click - We Donate" campaign starts at the National Amtelco Equipment Owners (NAEO) conference in Newport Beach, California, March 21, 2010, and continues through October (which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month), 2010.

Tom Curtin, president, said, "The ‘You Click - We Donate' campaign is a great way for our customers and everyone in our industry to benefit an organization whose core objective is to find a cure for a disease that has touched so many of our friends and relatives."

For more information, contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148 or email to info@amtelco.com.

The Connection Adds Another Contact Center in Western New York

The Connection, a U.S.-based outsourced contact center, announced the addition of a new 340-seat contact center to be located in Penn Yan, New York.  The facility is expected to be up and running in March of 2010 and will bring up to 450 new jobs to the area.  The Connection is expanding in order to meet the needs of its growing client base in the areas of wireless telecommunications, healthcare, financial services, and retailing.  Services that will be supported in the Penn Yan facility include live operator inbound voice, email response, live Web chat customer service, sales, and tier-one and tier-two customer/help desk support.

Over the last four years, The Connection has opened two other contact centers in the western New York area.  The first was a 300-seat facility that opened in Jamestown, New York, in 2006 and the second was a 350-seat facility in Olean, New York, in 2008.

InfoCision Announces Corporate Restructuring

InfoCision Management Corporation announced a strategic corporate restructuring, asking three members of the company's executive team to take on additional responsibility with newly created roles.  Even in this down economy, InfoCision has maintained its twenty-seven-year history of growth, and this tactical shift will ensure the company continues that growth.

Steve Brubaker moves from senior vice president of corporate affairs to chief of staff.  In this role, Brubaker will continue to oversee InfoCision's regulatory compliance and internal and external communications efforts.  In addition, he is taking on the added responsibility of supervising interdepartmental communication and teamwork to ensure that special projects and important operational processes are implemented properly and efficiently.  Brubaker started as a communicator with InfoCision nearly twenty-five years ago.

Michael Van Scyoc moves from his position as chief information officer to chief strategy officer.  He will be responsible for creating and executing new strategic initiatives and helping to define and manage the company's long-term strategy.

InfoCision's information technology team will now be overseen by chief technology officer Michael White.  White will lead all technology programs to ensure the company stays on the cutting edge of industry technology practices.

Novo Technologies Turns Fifteen

Novo Technologies, a provider of call recording solutions used for compliance and quality monitoring, is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary.  Novo Technologies has delivered hundreds of recording solutions for customers worldwide. 

"Looking back on our first fifteen years, I have to thank our employees and partners for their essential contribution," said Louis Turmel, president of Novo Technologies.  "I also want to thank our customers for the trust they have put in Novo and in our solutions.  Aligned with our corporate mission, we will keep on building our future around values of innovation and customer service excellence."

Several landmarks were met during these fifteen years.  In the past year, Novo deployed their solution in one of the largest multisite Cisco IP deployments in Canada and finalized the delivery of a multisite emergency call recording solution in Malaysia, while releasing version 5.2 NovoLog with enhanced IP recording support.

Compliance Planning Is Critical When Debt Collecting

Michele Shuster of the law firm MacMurray, Petersen & Shuster LLP notes that while most businesses may not be booming, debt collection is.  Debt collection is mainly governed by federal and state Fair Debt Collection Practices Acts (FDCPA) which prohibit debt collectors from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices in debt collections.

If collecting on behalf of third parties, many states require registration and specific disclosures in the collection message.  Penalties for violations can cost you more than the amount you're trying to collect - including fines up to $1,000, plus actual damages and reasonable attorney fees determined by the court.  Make sure your outside agent doesn't go too far either.  Vicarious liability can lead to liability even without specific knowledge of your vendor's violations.  There are many traps for the uninformed in this area; therefore, retaining legal counsel prior to initiating any collections efforts is recommended.

AnswerNet Acquires Assets of Exchange Network

AnswerNet, a provider of inbound, outbound, and e-bound contact center services, announced the addition of the Exchange Network of Billerica, Massachusetts, to its growing family of call centers.  "We are extremely pleased to bring Exchange Network and its employees on board with AnswerNet," said AnswerNet president and CEO Gary A. Pudles.  "Exchange Network has done a great job of providing premier telephone answering and call center services to its clients throughout the Merrimack Valley and New England for over sixty years."

Exchange Network principal Alan Hamer added, "This is an excellent opportunity for Exchange Network employees and clients.  AnswerNet is well known throughout the call center industry as a company with one of the broadest suites of services.  Our clients will be able to benefit from their access to these services."

Global Contact Services Earns Self-Regulatory Certification

Global Contact Services (GCS) has earned certification as a Self-Regulatory Organization.  The certification process is conducted by the American Teleservices Organization.  It requires that all policies and procedures of a teleservices company must comply with federal and state telemarketing statues and regulations, along with consumer protection rules.  To achieve this level of compliance, every department at GCS must document that the requirements are being followed.  GCS is one of only five companies to earn the certification.

GCS is a provider of integrated customer care solutions and business process outsourcing (BPO) for many industries, including insurance, banking, financial, telecommunications, and fulfillment.  It operates contact centers in the United States and the Philippines.

"The SRO certification establishes to clients and to the Federal Trade Commission that GCS is a self-regulated business following state and federal call center rules," said Connie Staunton, director of licensing and compliance with GCS.  An independent certified auditor reviewed processes and monitored activity at GCS contact centers.

GCS also recently earned certification for PCI-DSS - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard - for its acquisition and fulfillment services for clients requiring payment processing.

Telecom Growth Sputters While Broader Technology Sector Recovers

In 2009, while the broad Communications, Media, and Technology (CMT) sector recovered almost half the market value lost in 2008, the communications sector's recovery sputtered; even traditional sources of growth like consolidation, customer demand, and globalization showed signs of drying up.  The five-year-long growth enjoyed by mobile telecom operators, especially those operating in emerging markets, slowed in 2008 and reversed in 2009.  For many telecom companies, the search for new sources of value growth has never been tougher.

These are the key findings of Oliver Wyman's "Communications, Media, and Technology: State of the Industry 2010" report.  The report analyzes the top 450 publicly quoted companies worldwide in CMT.  "There are still opportunities to generate profit from new services, but operators need to be more flexible, 'double-betting' to increase the chances of success," said Robert C. Fox, a partner in Oliver Wyman's CMT practice.  "Beyond this, intensively managing individual customer value to slow down the pace of revenue decline and aggressively restructuring the cost base will remain critical levers for many operators," he added.

To receive the report, contact Liz Egan at 617-424-3721 or elisabeth.egan@oliverwyman.com. 

U.S. Ambassador Kenney Congratulates Convergys for Growth in the Philippines

Marife Zamora, Convergys vice president and country manager, and other senior executives welcomed U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney to the Convergys One facility in Makati City.  The Convergys executives also took the ambassador on a tour of the building, highlighting Convergys' specialized communication training tools and career opportunities available to employees.

During her visit, Ambassador Kenney visited several production floors, where she spoke with contact center agents about their experiences working for Convergys and their future aspirations as participants in Convergys' Talent Management program.

Recently, Her Excellency, President Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Ambassador Kenney were the guests of honor as Convergys celebrated the opening of its largest contact center facility in the Philippines, which will bring approximately 3,500 new jobs to metro Manila.  Convergys has twelve contact center facilities in the Philippines - seven located throughout metro Manila, three in Cebu City, one in Bacolod City, and one in Santa Rosa, Laguna. 

In other news, Convergys is working with IBM to help provide contact center support in handling the five million estimated telephone calls expected to support the validity and accuracy of the 2010 Census data.

CAM-X Leadership Training

CAM-X has announced the dates of their annual spring training seminars.  The first will be held in Toronto on April 13 and repeated in Calgary on April 15.  This is ideal for call center supervisors, team leads, and managers.  Topics include "Out of Site, Not Out of Mind:  Everything You Wanted to Know about Remote Agents" with Tom Sheridan; "Training Best Practices and Performance Management" with Barbara Bradbury and Dana Lloyd; and "HR Software Demonstration and Social Networking" with Ron Guest of TwoGreySuits. 

Screen Capture/Screen Recording from Revcord

Revcord, offering a full-featured voice recorder without extra cost options, announced that software version 7 now includes screen capture/screen recording.  Revcord's screen recording enables an agent's computer screen to be recorded, synchronized with voice, and then transferred to a database on the server. 

The screen recording capture works in either of two modes: "record on demand" (ROD) or continuous record.  Playback is performed on the search screen, allowing voice or voice and screen playback.  Revcord's screen recording is a useful investigation tool and can be used in conjunction with the quality monitoring and agent evaluation capabilities, also included at no additional cost.

DMG Consulting Releases 2010 Outbound Dialing Report

DMG Consulting LLC, a provider of contact center and real-time analytics market research and consulting services, released its "2010 Outbound Dialing Market Research Report."  The fifty-page report explores outbound market trends, projections, best practices, the competitive landscape, and profiles the leading vendors.  The report reveals that the outbound industry is entering a new era ripe with opportunity.  DMG Consulting projects that the traditional dialing market will grow by six, seven, and eight percent respectively between 2010 and 2012, while the outbound IVR notification market will grow by twenty, eighteen, and sixteen percent over the same three-year period. 

"Despite regulations limiting outbound calling to unwelcoming prospects, dialing is not going away so long as consumers continue to invite companies to reach out to them with useful information," said Donna Fluss, president of DMG Consulting.  "The new era of dialing brings with it opportunities for enterprises to build dialing strategies that help them achieve a competitive advantage through proactive customer care, notification, and early-stage collections." 

Synergy Solutions Appoints Lynne Jacoby as VP of Healthcare Solutions

Synergy Solutions, Inc., a provider of outsourced customer contact solutions, announced the appointment of Lynne Jacoby to the newly created role of vice president of healthcare solutions.  The creation of this position is evidence of Synergy's strategic commitment to grow and enhance its service offerings for the healthcare industry.   

As a fifteen-year veteran of the healthcare industry by way of UnitedHealth Group and formerly PacifiCare Health Systems, Ms. Jacoby brings to Synergy Solutions a breadth and depth of experience in the healthcare vertical.  Ms. Jacoby has worked in a myriad of roles supporting large-scale project management efforts, accelerated operations, process development and automation, quality improvement, and product implementation.

"Lynne's deep knowledge and expertise in the healthcare industry will be a huge advantage for Synergy as we continue to aggressively grow our healthcare business," said Synergy CEO Mark McGrath.  Ms. Jacoby will operate from Synergy Solutions' corporate headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Synergy Solutions provides customer contact solutions on behalf of Fortune 500 companies in a variety of industries, including healthcare, insurance, financial services, telecommunication, and publishing.

AnswerNet Promotes Josue Leon to VP of Operations

AnswerNet, a telemessaging firm and full-service provider of inbound, outbound, and e-bound contact center services, announced that Josue Leon has been promoted to vice president of operations.  Mr. Leon has been with AnswerNet and its predecessor companies for over twenty-three years.  He began as a site manager and has held various operations management positions within the company. 

As vice president of operations, Mr. Leon will be responsible for all of the call center and client-facing operational activities, including client services, quality control, and measurement and service delivery.  "Josue is a creative and thoughtful executive who embodies AnswerNet's core values," said AnswerNet president and CEO Gary A. Pudles.  "He has repetitively proven himself as an excellent leader and is the right person to lead AnswerNet into the future."

Convergys Names Jeff Fox President and CEO

Convergys Corporation announced that Jeff Fox has been named president and chief executive officer.  Fox has agreed to serve in this position for at least one year and will remain on the Convergys Board.  Fox, a board member since February 2009, and previously COO of Alltel Corporation, succeeds David F. Dougherty.  Dougherty will serve as a consultant to help facilitate a smooth transition.

Philip A. Odeen, chairman of the board, noted, "Jeff Fox is a talented and proven leader with deep expertise and strong operational experience in the telecommunications and technology industries.  Having worked with Jeff as a member of our board for the past year, I am confident that his values and priorities are closely aligned with the board and our commitment to build a strong Convergys and deliver meaningful long-term shareholder value."

Fox added, "Convergys is a solid company with a strong foundation in global relationship management that delivers excellent value for clients worldwide.  I look forward to working closely with Convergys' talented management team and employee base to leverage the company's strengths, provide outstanding service to clients, and enhance value for shareholders."

CAM-X 2010 Convention News

This year's CAM-X Convention will be a joint conference held with the WSTA.  The partnership will increase the pool of vendors and member participants, allow for a better program, and provide a better economy-of-scale to hold down costs. 

The convention will be in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Casino Hotel on October 3-6, 2010.  "This hotel has been fully renovated," said CAM-X Convention chair Tom Sheridan, "and even the ‘economy' rooms are wonderful.  Airfare, registration costs, and hotel rates will all be affordable.  Vegas is easy to get to from just about everywhere."  It is hoped that the location will be one more attraction for international attendees.

"This year our theme is ‘The Future of Our Industry,'" he continued.  "Our agenda will focus on marketing, comprising a full day of ‘boot camp' seminars broken down into seven subtopics.  In addition, we're holding sessions on ‘social networking,' a second Profit Enhancement Group (PEG) meeting, and roundtable discussion groups, and we're working on signing up a guest speaker to talk about search engine optimization.  The last session will be a panel discussion entitled ‘Evolution: The Future of Our industry.'  Additionally, there will be the banquet and CAM-X Award of Excellence presentations."