Call Center Industry News

September 2010

Szeto's Call Linx Offers Automatic Email Encryption

Szeto Technologies released their new "auto encryption" service, a security feature for delivering email messages in its Linux-based Call Linx TAS system.  This feature complies with HIPAA requirements, and the ability to encrypt messages in the email delivery process ensures privacy and confidentiality.  The new service increases the level of security in online communications, and it is especially essential for call center operations that are involved with medical professions.

Auto encryption in Szeto's Call Linx TAS software is programmable on a per account basis.  All subscribers who have auto encryption enabled will have their email messages delivered in a secure fashion.  This same security also applies to email messages sent to voice/data mobile devices.

Encryption is completely automatic and transparent within Call Linx.  When sending email to subscribers who have the auto encryption service enabled, Call Linx will process the messages just as it normally does but will automatically encrypt the messages before delivering them, without any agent intervention necessary.

Encryption and the certificate authority are based on industry standard specifications widely supported by popular email programs like Thunderbird and Outlook; service setup is via a user-friendly dialog box. 

Amtelco's iPhone and iPad Apps Now Available at iTunes

Amtelco's miOnCall app is available for Apple's iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch; it can be downloaded from the iTunes store.  These popular Apple products provide great opportunities for new call center revenue.  The miOnCall App is an essential mobile tool, enabling clients to view and manage their Infinity IS Web-based On-Call Schedules. 

Other apps that are available for download at the iTunes store include an iPhone version of miOnCall and a miDash app for iPhone, which enables supervisors to view Infinity IS dashboard gauges and charts in order to monitor system traffic from virtually anywhere.  These apps also are compatible with the iPod Touch.

Amtelco president Tom Curtin said, "These iPhone and iPad apps provide not only our customers but also their clients with the convenience of accessing vital information from wherever they need it.  We are extremely pleased to offer our call center customers these powerful productivity apps."

For more information about Amtelco's iPhone and iPad applications, call 800-356-9148 or 608-838-4194.

CenturiSoft Joins Sangoma's Global Partner Program

CenturiSoft has joined Sangoma's Global Partner Program as a Certified Application Partner.  Sangoma Technologies Corporation is a supplier of voice and data communication applications.  CenturiSoft will integrate its Centuri Messenger with Sangoma's NetBorder Express.

Centuri Messenger, CenturiSoft's unified communications system, will support NetBorder Express by integrating TDM and VoIP networks seamlessly with existing switch and enterprise customers.  NetBorder Express communicates with IP-PBXs, speech-enabled IVRs, conferencing servers, contact centers, and trunking gateways, using SIP to reduce deployment time, complexity, and cost.  The solution fills a void in the call center marketplace for VoIP and TDM integration with additional capabilities, such as Centuri Messenger's preannounce, logging, and unified communications features.

As a result, CenturiSoft customers will benefit from cost-effective intelligent gateway capabilities at a very competitive price point for both TDM and VoIP networks.  The functionality between Centuri Messenger and NetBorder Express will also provide customers with the flexibility to add new features and enhancements over traditional trunking gateways that would otherwise not be possible.

Call Center Leaders to Map Out Contact Center Strategies for 2011

The International Contact Center Expo and Conference - being held October 25-27, 2010, at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami - provides an opportunity for industry operations, technology, and customer care executives from companies around the world to meet, exchange ideas, and network.

Joseph Morrisroe, deputy commissioner and executive director of the Office of the Mayor for the City of New York is scheduled to deliver the keynote address on Tuesday morning, October 26.  The 311 Customer Service Center, which launched in 2003, now serves more than 8 million residents of New York.  Morrisroe plans to share some critical insights about the continuously evolving call center, which receives more than 53,000 calls every day.  "This is an incredible story of how revolutionizing the contact center improved the overall citizen experience of living in New York," said Ian McRae, director of conference production at IQPC.

The conference spans three days and includes over sixty-five sessions, keynotes, panels, case studies, and workshops covering customer satisfaction, speech analytics, IVR performance, home agents, outsourcing customer care, efficiency measurement, technology trends, social media, and regulatory updates.

855 for Toll-Free Services to Be Implemented

The Wireline Competition Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorized opening the 855 toll-free code on October 1, 2010.  The announcement was made on June 25, 2010.

The 866 and 855 NPA (Numbering Plan Areas) codes for toll-free service were assigned in 1999, supplementing the 800, 888, and 877 NPAs.  The 866 NPA code went into service in July 2000, but implementation of the 855 NPA was deferred until now.  The Database Service Management Inc. forecasted that the current supply of toll free numbers was expected to reach the 90 percent threshold in the fourth quarter of 2011, serving as the impetus for this action.

Earlier this year, the 544 NPA was assigned for personal communication services (PCS), and overlays were announced for Western Quebec (873 to overlay 819), Oklahoma (539 to overlay 918), New York (929 to overlay 718/347), Quebec (579 to overlay 450), and Arkansas (327 to overlay 870). 

An overlay means that a new area code is assigned to the same geographic region as existing code(s).  With an overlay, no one needs to change area codes; however, ten-digit dialing becomes required for all calls.

Connie Donohue Joins Total Support Solutions

Total Card, Inc. announced the addition of Connie Donohue as vice president of business development for its newly formed division, Total Support Solutions.  Connie will be responsible for developing business partnerships and designing customer support programs for new outsource clients.

Connie is a business development executive with over twenty years of experience, specializing in new business acquisition and customized live agent support programs for multichannel merchants.  For the past thirteen years, Connie held the position of business development executive with Midco Connections in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  She assisted numerous companies throughout the United States with the growth of their business through the support of Midco's after-hour, overflow, and disaster recovery customer contact support.  Connie also served as the marketing director for Midcontinent Communications, a cable television, Internet, and local/long distance service provider.

Greg Ticknor, president of Total Card, Inc., stated, "With Connie's experience and knowledge in the outsource customer contact business, we are pleased to have the opportunity to expand our business base, and we look forward to the new opportunities that will be made available through the establishment of this new division."

Taction Clients Win Big

Three companies that are clients of Taction - The Contact Center were recently awarded medals by Multichannel Merchant, the industry's voice on catalog and Internet merchandising.  The three were among thirty-six 2010 MCM Awards honorees announced at the Retail Marketing Conference in Orlando, Florida, in May.

Vital Choice took a gold medal for its glorious "Wild Pure Delicious" Holiday 2009 catalog.  La Tienda won silver for its mouthwatering "The Best of Spain" Holiday 2009 catalog.  Both won their medals in the contest's print category for food and gift companies with sales under $20 million.  Century Novelty won silver for their website, CenturyNovelty.com, in the consumer specialty products division for websites with sales under $20 million.

So how does a small contact center attract winning catalogers?  Karen Long, customer relations manager at Vital Choice, sums it up, saying that her company sought "hospitality rather than mere effective processing; a contact center, not just a call center."  Additionally, Taction's flexibility and lower pricing were the lure.  Of the contact centers Century Novelty considered, Taction was happy to use their order entry system in real time without charging a premium.

Taction continues to seek like-minded innovators who care about excellence.

Amtelco Infinity's Expanded Logins Meet HIPAA Security Requirements

Amtelco's Infinity software version 5.6 meets HIPAA requirements for application access security with expanded logins.  The HIPAA requirements affect any call center with medical clients.  Infinity software version 5.6 features thirty-two-character login names and passwords for more flexibility.  Previous versions of the Infinity platform allowed up to eight upper case letters for agent login names and up to seven numbers for agent access codes.  With Infinity 5.6, operator login names can be up to thirty-two upper case letters in length.  Access codes have been replaced with passwords that can be up to thirty-two characters in length and contain both upper and lower case letters.

For more information, call 800-356-9148 or 608-838-4194.

Nicor National's Call Center Recognized for Fourth Year

Nicor National's Call Center has been recognized for excellence in customer satisfaction for a fourth consecutive year under the J.D. Power and Associates Certified Call Center Program^SM.  The Certified Call Center Program distinction acknowledges a strong commitment by Nicor National's call center operations to provide "an outstanding customer service experience."  Nicor National is a provider of home warranty, energy efficiency, and energy management plans, which are offered to homeowners and customers of its utility and business partners. 

"In achieving certification for a fourth consecutive year, Nicor National has demonstrated its commitment to delivering high-quality service to its call center customers," according to J.D. Power and Associates.  "Call center customers are particularly pleased with the concern and knowledge displayed by customer service representatives."

Nicor National annually handles more than one million telephone, email, and fax inquiries.  To become certified, the call center successfully passed a detailed audit of its recruiting, training, employee incentives, quality assurance capabilities, and management roles and responsibilities.  As part of its evaluation, J.D. Power and Associates conducted a random survey of Nicor National customers who recently contacted its Naperville, Illinois, call center.

Convergys Hiring 3,600 New Employees in the Philippines

Convergys Corporation, a global leader in relationship management, and the largest private employer in the Philippines, announced that it has added additional capacity to five of its existing facilities in the Philippines and will hire over 3,600 new employees.  Citing the performance of its 20,000 existing employees in the Philippines and high client demand for Philippines-based services, Convergys expanded its UP TechnoHub, Nuvali, San Lazaro, Cebu i3, and Bacolod facilities to include 2,300 additional workstations.

"The additional capacity will help us meet the needs of our global customers.  I thank our 20,000-strong workforce, as our continuous expansion in the Philippines is the result of their hard work and dedication to provide our clients and their customers with the best possible service experience," said Philippines country manager and managing director Marife Zamora. 

In March, Convergys won top honors as "BPO Company of the Year" at the 2010 International ICT awards ceremony in Manila.  Convergys agents in the Philippines handle thousands of inbound calls every day for clients in a wide variety of industries, including financial services, collections, retail, healthcare, and telecommunications.

Influent and PCCW Teleservices Complete Merger

Influent, a provider of outsourced customer sales and service solutions, announced that all aspects of its merger with PCCW Teleservices have been completed, with PCCW Teleservices making a significant investment in Influent.  This merger will provide Infuent's clients with a low-cost labor pool to support non-voice business process outsourcing (BPO) work from China.  It will also provide for market entry and growth in the growing Chinese market.  This merger will allow both companies to provide a broader contact center service offering, increase efficiencies, expand language support, and ultimately deliver a better experience for all customers.

Influent has been one of the nation's largest providers of outsourced customer contact solutions with contact center sites in the U.S., the Philippines, and Panama.  This merger expands capacity in the Philippines, while offering clients support opportunities in Hong Kong and China. 

TRG to Open New Facility in Elkins, WV

TRG Customer Solutions, a business process outsourcing (BPO) provider of customer management solutions and technologies, announced that it secured a contract for the provision of inbound customer services for a leading telecommunications company.  As part of the agreement, TRG will be opening a new, state-of-the-art facility in Elkins, West Virginia.  TRG Customer Solutions is already one of the largest private employers in West Virginia. 

In order to fulfill the workforce requirements for its new operations center, TRG Customer Solutions will be conducting a large-scale recruitment campaign in Elkins and anticipates hiring up to seventy associates immediately and another 200 in the next few months.  The company is offering attractive compensation packages and employee benefit plans that include hourly or fixed monthly salaries, performance-based incentives, full health benefits for all employees, retirement benefits, and other advantages.

Primas Addresses First Call Resolution Issues

The Primas Group, a provider of contact center services and products, launched Evolution FCR software, a new approach for handling repeat callers and retaining customers.  The new software provides a cost-effective and simple solution, with unified steps to process and handle repeat callers.  Although First Call Resolution (FCR) is a key measurement of success in the customer contact industry, it can be difficult to achieve because there are so many variables; even the best call centers struggle to overcome them all. 

"Evolution FCR lets our clients give their customers a high-touch, personal experience, almost like being remembered at your favorite neighborhood store, when they have to call back into your center for whatever reason," said Mike Mastro, president of Primas.  "This is an approach that customers who demand better service for their continued loyalty want and appreciate."

Evolution FCR identifies repeat ANIs and provides a different experience when repeat customers are greeted by IVR.  It can also eliminate the IVR menus from the repeat callers' initial experience and transfer them directly to either the agent or the department they selected the last time.

Employee Tina Young Earns Certification

Tina Young of Global Contact Services (GCS) recently earned Professional in Human Resources certification through the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI).  Ms. Young is employed in GCS's human resources department; she earned a bachelor's degree in business management from Concord University in 2005 and has been with GCS since 2001.  GCS is a leading provider of integrated customer care solutions and business process outsourcing (BPO) for the insurance, banking, financial, telecom, energy, and political industries.

The Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification requires the successful completion of training in strategic management; workforce planning and employment; human resources development, compensation, and benefits; employee and labor relations; and workplace health, safety, and security.

GCS is headquartered in Salisbury, North Carolina.  The company, one of the top five providers of direct insurance programs in the U.S., has 2,000 employees at thirteen contact centers.  Employees make more than 2 million customer contacts per month.