Connections Magazine News
October 2005

WSTA to Meet "On Top of the Mountain"

The Western States Telemessaging Association (WSTA) Annual meeting, scheduled for Nov. 6-8, 2005 , is themed "On Top of the Mountain."  It will be held at the Hotel Zoso in Palm Springs , and will feature a Tram ride to the "top" of Mountain for dinner, cocktails, and featured presentations.

At the meeting, speakers will be presenting a forward look featuring expert insight into what your call center may look like in five years, 2011.  Topics will include virtual receptionist and remote agents, SQL and VoIP applications, advances in automation to reduce labor costs, message delivery and retrieval, and telemessaging system stability, as well as how Microsoft will impact the call center systems.

For more information, visit www.WSTAonLine.org or call Dan L'Heureux at 877-754-4103.

2005 ATSI Call Center Award of Distinction Winners

The Call Center Award of Distinction program focuses on Customer Relationship Management ( CRM ), courtesy, etiquette, and proper call techniques of the call center agents handling the application.  This program assists outsourcing call centers and teleservice companies in assessing and controlling the quality of service provided to call center clients.

This year's Call Center Award of Distinction winners are:

FineLine Solutions, Winnipeg ,

Tel-Us Call Center, Inc., Beverly Hills , CA

24-7 INTouch, Inc, Regina , SK

Extend Communications Inc., Brantford , ON

Spectrum Communication Services Inc., Brookfield , WI

Answer Plus, Hamilton , ON

Cross Country Automotive Services, Medford , MA

Answer 1 Communications, Phoenix , AZ

Telelink Call Centre, St. John's , NL

Fallon Communications, , TX

For more information about ATSI 's Center Award of Distinction, contact

 ATSI Award of Excellence Winners 2005

The ATSI Award of Excellence."

The program was started in Canada in 1989 and has been slightly modified every year since to remain relevant to our changing industry.  ATSI adopted the program as a member service in 1995 with great success.  Over 20,000 calls have been made to participating companies.

The Award of Excellence is a cumulative program, with many call centers earning recognition for multiple years, which is a testament to their provision of consistently high quality.  This year's Award of Excellence winners are:

Year 1

DCAS, Tuscaloosa , AL

Spectrum Communications Services, Inc., Brookfield , WI

Acena Group, Lake Success , NY

Extend Communications Inc., Cambridge , ON

Answer Center , Virginia Beach, VA

Focus Telecommunications, Inc., Burtonsville , MD

Communications Network, Inc., Muncie , IN

Physicians Answering Service, Clearwater , FL

Statcall/Optimum Information Svcs, Alexandria , VA

Central Communications, Inc., Norwalk , CT

Concorde Communications, Los Angeles , CA

Finger Lakes Answering Service, Auburn , NY

Commercial Telephone Exchange, Inc., Reno , NV

Appletree Answering Service, Inc, Wilmington , DE

Crocker Communications, Inc., Greenfield , MA

Telecom Answering Service, Homewood , IL

A Superior Call Center , Conyers , GA

Affiliated Communications, Inc., Ventura , CA

Communications Group, Auburn , NY

Pronto Connections, Inc., Chicago , IL

Answertel of Athens, Inc., Athens , AL

Bennett Answering Service, Flint , MI

All-Ways Communications, Hagerstown , MD

Year 2 Bronze

Alliance Wireless Communications, Kingston , ON

Extend Communications Inc., Brantford , ON

Appletree Answering Service, Inc., Westbrook , ME

A Better Answer, Fort Worth Hurst , TX

24-7 INtouch, Inc., Regina , SK

Personalized Communications, Duncanville , TX

Answering Service Professionals, Inc., Valparaiso , IN

Contact One Call Center , Tuscon , AZ

Answer-1 Communications, Phoenix , AZ

Quality Telemessaging Services, Inc., Anaheim , CA

Bay Area Medical Exchange, Inc, Saint Petersburg , FL

Dexcomm, Lafayette, LA

Telelink Call Centre, St. John's , NL

MASCO Services, Inc., Boston , MA

Medfone, Inc., Wantagh , NY

Antietam Call Center , Hagerstown , MD

Port City Communications, Inc., Port Huron , MI

Callnet Call Center Services, Bloomington , IN

Call Star, Saint Petersburg , FL

Year 3 Silver

Corporate Message Services, Inc., Savannah , GA

Answer Quick, Louisville , TN

A Better Answer, Houston , TX

Tab AnswerNetwork, Santa Ana , CA

Berkshire Communicators, Inc., Pittsfield , MA

Year 4 Silver Plus

Direct Line Tele Response, Berkeley , CA

Answer Connecticut Inc./ACT Teleservices, Newington , CT

Anser Services, Green Bay , WI

AAMCOM, Redondo Beach , CA

Continental Message Solution, Inc., Columbus , OH

Answer Midwest, Inc., Alton , IL

Omni Communications, Carrollton , GA

Year 5 Gold

Answer-All Secretarial Service, Inc., Westminster , CO

Year 6 Pearl Award

Tel-Us Call Center, Inc., Beverly Hills , CA

Combined Communications, Inc., Bowling Green , KY

T.A.S. Communications, Inc., Madison , WI

Pro Phone Communications, Inc., Muskegon , MI

Year 7 Emerald Award

On Call Message Centre, Inc., Ottawa , ON

A Better Answer Dallas , Plano , TX

Year 8 Ruby Award

Medcom Professional Services, Inc., Levittown , PA

Hastings Communication Services, Inc., Austin , TX

Business Connections, Salem , OR

Year 9 Sapphire

Rochester Telemessaging Center , Rochester Hills , MI

Michigan Message Center , Kalamazoo , MI

For more information about ATSI Award of Excellence, contact ATSI at 866-896-2874 , admin@atsi.org, or visit www.atsi.org.

Telescan Introduces Desktop Activity Monitor

The Spectrum Messenger, Telescan's desktop communications tool, can now include the Desktop Activity Monitor.  This new optional software feature scans all desktops using the Messenger and delivers a visual representation of those desktops to authorized personnel.  Coupled with Spectrum Messenger's existing features, the Desktop Activity Monitor makes Telescan's desktop communications tool the ideal solution for any teleservices call center interested in instant desk-to-desk communications, email delivery, file transfers, and reminder notifications.

To find out more about Telescan's new Desktop Activity Monitor, call 800-770-7662 or visit their Website at www.telescan.net. 

Professional Teledata Announces Extended VOIP Capabilities  

Jack Dienno of eOn Communications introduced the availability of a new 32-channel VOIP add-on card for PInnacle Millenium users at the recent PInnacle Users Group meeting.  The new card is a low cost, single board solution that extends full communications functionality for remote agents.  "This is a VOIP solution that supports all of the features of agent and administrative phone on low cost SIP," said Dale Schafer, Vice President of Engineering for Professional Teledata.  "A remote agent is provided a complete ‘virtual extension' with voice communication, patching, transferring – the complete set of telephony capabilities – as if they were resident in the call center."

Professional Teledata will make the new VoIP upgrade available to existing Millenium PInnacle users starting the fourth quarter of 2005. 

For more information, contact Karen Black at 800-344-9944 x112, kblack@proteledata.com, or visit www.professionalteledata.com. 

Business Solutions Honored for Outsourcing Services

Business Solutions was honored recently for its contribution to outsourced sales revenues.  An award winner for several years, Business Solutions topped its previous record by gaining recognition in every award category.  Business Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of OnviSource, Inc., that offers contact center outsourcing services for sales, customer support, and order processing.

"We are honored by this award from an important and strategic partner," said Ray S. Naeini, Chairman and CEO of OnviSource.  "This award is another demonstration of our success in executing our strategy that is centered on offering innovative contact center-oriented software products and outsourcing services."

Performance-based business outsourcing services provided by Business Solutions equip companies with greater flexibility and speed in responding to changing market trends and in deploying new sales, services, and support to customers. The company's outsourcing services include sales, marketing, customer support, and business operations.

Business Solutions offers telecom voice, data, Internet, and enhanced services, as well as performance-based outsourcing solutions.  For more information, see www.onvisource.com.

Telescan Wins TAM Awards

The Business Marketing Association (BMA) of St. Louis ) for their 2005 marketing programs.  The awards were presented to Telescan and their agency, Marketing Alliance, at a ceremony in September. Telescan and Marketing Alliance received the awards for an article that appeared in Connections Magazine and for their ad titled, "How Well Does Your TAS System Fit?" which also appeared in Connections. This is the third year in a row that the BMA has recognized Telescan and Marketing Alliance for marketing excellence.

"We are delighted that the Business Marketing Association has chosen to recognize our marketing efforts," said Robert Riggs, Jr., Telescan's Director.  "We believe that a strong marketing program is critical to business success."

To find out more about Telescan, call 800-770-7662 or visit their Website at www.telescan.net.

InfoCision to Expand Jobs in Tri-State Area

Sales growth and new job creation were the goals behind the announcement of three new executive positions by InfoCision Management Corporation.  President Carl Albright said part of the company's strategic plan is to create a foundation for future growth as InfoCision continues to maintain unprecedented success.

The new hires include Senior Vice President of New Business Development, Steve Boyazis, who left a 15-year career with Honeywell International to oversee sales for all five divisions at InfoCision.  Boyazis works directly with two new Vice Presidents of New Business Development, Rick Lawson and Brad White.

Albright said the creation of new positions is a proactive approach to enhance the company's continuous growth.  "We already had a dedicated account staff with very impressive professional and educational backgrounds," said Albright.  "That group is now complimented with executives from diverse backgrounds and all three have proven success."  Generating new business not only helps create jobs in the company's call centers, but also account staff, IT, and other positions.  InfoCision provides customer care services, commercial sales, and marketing from 23 call centers at 13 locations in Ohio , Pennsylvania and West Virginia .

For more information, visit www.infocision.com.

Marketing Pro Joins AnswerNet

Amy Balderose has joined the AnswerNet Network as its new National Marketing Manager.  Amy is a marketing professional with over six years of experience with traditional marketing, design, and online/offline advertising. 

Balderose is managing AnswerNet's yellow pages and Web marketing programs.  She is responsible for optimizing corporate Websites and sales lead tracking systems.  In addition, she assists the national sales team and the network with creating and distributing marketing collateral.

In addition to her duties with AnswerNet, Balderose is dedicated to lifelong learning. She is also studying for her M.A. in Speech and Interpersonal Communications at New York University and will graduate in May 2006.

"Amy has hit the ground running for the AnswerNet team," said AnswerNet President and Chief Executive Officer, Gary A. Pudles.  "She's an invaluable player who is assisting us in racking up our sales and market presence."

The AnswerNet Network is the world's largest telemessaging call center business and a leading provider of inbound, outbound, and ebound voice and text-based customer contact and fulfillment services.  For more information, visit www.answernet.com.

Miami-based Callzilla Announces New Hires

Callzilla, LLC, the Miami-based contact center solutions provider is pleased to announce the hiring of Neal Topf as President and Andres Otero as Managing Director.  Topf and Otero will lead Callzilla's near-shore centers in Latin America to continue to provide inbound and outbound service to US and European companies and their English, Spanish, and Portuguese speaking customers and clients.

For more information, contact Neal Topf at ntopf@callzilla.net.

Customer Relationship Metrics and ICMI to Deliver Surveying Classes

Customer Relationship Metrics, L.C. has entered into an agreement to create and deliver best-practice surveying training for ICMI (Incoming Calls Management Institute) Inc.  ICMI and Customer Relationship Metrics will periodically present a two-part Web seminar series, "Customer Satisfaction Surveying." 

ICMI has been providing Webinars to the contact center industry since 1999 and holds more than 100 Web seminars each year.  Dr. Jodie Monger and Dr. Cherie Keen of Metrics will be the course instructors and will create the learning material for the two-part series.

"Having proven content delivered by experts in fields that support the contact center is key to our leadership in contact center learning," said Debbie Harne, ICMI's Director of Educational Services.  "For that reason, we're delighted to have Customer Relationship Metrics as our partner in delivering the science and know-how for surveying in the contact center."

According to Dr. Jodie Monger, President of Customer Relationship Metrics, "Metrics has always been focused on education.  We see too many contact centers performing survey malpractice.  By teaming up with ICMI, we hope to stop this from occurring."

Visit Metrics at www.metrics.net or call 877-550-0223 ; visit ICMI at www.icmi.com or call 800-672-6177.

Study Shows Growth in Toll-Free Numbers

A July 2005 research report by 800response revealed that the use of toll-free numbers in television advertising continues to grow.  Key findings include:

• Thirty-five percent of TV ads include a phone number.

• Eighty-two percent of those phone numbers are toll-free.

• Sixty-four percent of those toll-free numbers are vanity numbers.

The report also shows how much the Internet has grown:

• In 1998, only 19% of television commercials included an Internet address.

• Today a URL is included in 51% of television commercials.

• Seventy-five percent of TV ads with toll-free numbers also include a URL.

The most frequent users of vanity toll-free phone numbers are in the lodging, computer, and auto industries.  Furthermore:

• All television commercials for the lodging industry that feature toll-free phone numbers use vanity toll-free numbers in TV ads. 

• In the computer industry, 90% of phone numbers used in TV ads are vanity toll-free. 

• The automotive industry features vanity toll-free numbers in 87% of TV ads with phone numbers.

• Telecom and hygiene industries both feature vanity toll-free numbers in 86% of TV ads with phone numbers.

The full report is available at: www.800response.com.

Concerto and Aspect Merger to be Named Aspect Software

Concerto Software and Aspect Communications announced that upon closing of their intended merger, the combined company will be named Aspect Software.  Given the broad market awareness of the Aspect brand, the name Aspect Software was selected to lead the new company's growth in markets around the world.

In addition, the companies have passed several milestones along the path to approval of the transaction.  The most recent was the termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino ( HSR ) antitrust merger review waiting period.  The HSR Act prohibits the closing of certain mergers and acquisitions prior to the expiration or termination of any applicable waiting periods.  Aspect is finalizing its proxy statement for distribution to shareholders.

The executive team of the new company, led by Jim Foy, President and CEO of Concerto Software, is expected to include individuals from both companies' management teams.  Gary Barnett, current CEO of Aspect, will be named Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Worldwide Support Services.

For more information on the Concerto/Aspect merger, visit www.aspect.com.

CRMI Launches Rewards Program for Customer Service Professionals

Professionals involved in all aspects of customer interaction within their organizations can "earn as they learn" by joining the new CRMI Membership Rewards Program, a membership program announced today by the Customer Relationship Management Institute (CRMI).  CRMI is a one-stop source of information, training, and services needed to assist organizations in increasing customer loyalty. 

Members of the CRMI Membership Rewards Program earn points as they participate in various training programs, seminars, Webinars, CRMI's annual SCORE Conference, plus selected services offered by CRMI and its business partners.  Similar to how airlines, hotels and credit card companies reward their best customers, CRMI members can redeem their points for rewards, such as merchandise and discounts on shopping, dining, travel, and entertainment nationwide.  Members can manage their accounts and redeem points online.

For more information visit email info@crmirewards.com or call 877-839-8761.

Avaya Announces IP Self-Service Solutions

Avaya Inc. announced the next generation of its Internet protocol (IP)-based speech self-service solutions.  The new Avaya Voice Portal software platform integrates within a service-oriented architecture (SOA), providing a way to speech-enable Web services across highly-distributed enterprises.

Avaya also introduced a new speech application development tool, Avaya Dialog Designer, which enables designers to speed development of speech self-service applications.  Created for integration with Web services or in traditional environments, Avaya Dialog Designer supports both Avaya Voice Portal and Avaya Interactive Response.

"A growing number of businesses are adding speech applications to enhance customer experiences and contact center functionality.  This coincides with the shift to service-oriented architectures that employ Web-based technologies to leverage a company's existing call processing, voice response, and customer support systems," said Dan Miller, senior analyst, Opus Research.

For more information, visit the Avaya Website at www.avaya.com.

Gravity vs. Momentum Advances Training Effectiveness

In a new interactive Web-based sales training program, Gravity vs. Momentum, the Sales Sage speaks to each learner in the way they are most receptive to hearing.  Instead of a conventional trainer speaking to participants, the participant selects the voice, character, and delivery they want to hear.  This new learning method, Alternative Cognition, heightens potential for learner retention and involvement.  Selections are tracked, providing managers with learning preferences and possible directions for future training.

Program creator, Robert S. Burns, said, "Many trainers say the fundamentals of communicating are based in telling them, telling them what you told them, and then telling them again.  But what about telling them in different voices?  An alternative way to hear information provides participants with the power to learn on their own terms – which promotes buy-in."

Alternative Cognition is only one facet of a learning system designed to reach participants on different levels.  Core sales competencies are presented in engaging animated lessons, couched in the Gravity vs. Momentum metaphor – where all events create or are created by Gravity or Momentum.

For more information or to schedule a demo, contact Robert Burns, at 888-876-7780, robert@gvsm.com, or visit www.gravityvsmomentum.com.

Monet Unveils WFM On Demand

Left Bank Solutions announced Monet WFM OnDemand, a hosted version of Monet Workforce Management System.  Contact centers can harness the benefits WFM without the large upfront investment for hardware, software licensing, and installation. Customers will pay a small upfront cost and then will be billed monthly or quarterly, based upon service usage and the number of agents and supervisors.

"Monet WFM OnDemand will do the same for workforce management as Salesforce.com did for and WebEx did for Web conferencing," said Charles Ciarlo, President and CEO of Left Bank Solutions.  "As well as providing the software on demand via Web browser, we are also offering on demand professional services.  Those who don't wish to incur the overhead of a full time workforce planner can call us as often as necessary to utilize expert professional services that ensure they precisely match agent availability with demand."

For more information, visit www.leftbanksolutions.com or call 310-207-6800.

Genesys Announces IP-Enabled Voice Platform

       Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc., an Alcatel company, announced an IP-enabled version of the Genesys Voice Platform ( GVP ) to serve enterprise customers.  It supports Genesys' strategy to expand Internet Protocol (IP) capabilities throughout the Genesys Voice Platform product portfolio.  Enterprises actively considering migrating to IP can do so without an extensive system overhaul because the new IP-enabled version of GVP allows for time-division multiplexing (TDM) and IP to coexist within the same environment. 

"Enterprise customers that are actively moving forward with IP initiatives will find value in the self-service and ROI deliverables of the IP-enabled Genesys Voice Platform," said Elliot Danziger, Chief Technology Officer, Genesys. "With this new offering, Genesys presents flexible IP migration solutions to enterprises of all sizes."

For more information, visit us at www.genesyslab.com and www.alcatel-lucent.com.

LumenVox Announces Version 6.0

LumenVox released version 6.0 of their Speech Recognition Engine and Speech Platform.  The new features include server-side grammars, n-best results, and MRCP support.  Server-side grammars, offers clients a more efficient way to support large grammars, by pre-loading grammars onto the server.  Thus, the grammar will be ready prior to the decode requests themselves, reducing inefficient network traffic.  Returning n-best results from LumenVox's Speech Engine allows for flexible error handling – the engine can confirm several likely results instead of only the top-scoring one.  The final feature, MRCP (Media Resource Control Protocol) will allow developers to work with a common language for seamlessly managing diverse media resources including text-to-speech, voice verification, and speech recognition engines. 

LumenVox can be reached at 877-977-0707 or www.LumenVox.com.

Empirix and Genesys Launch Integrated Testing and Monitoring Solution

Empirix® Inc. and Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc., an Alcatel company, announced integrated testing and monitoring solutions for Genesys Voice Platform ( GVP ) environments.  Genesys Voice Platform is a software-only product that brings Internet technologies to the world of voice-enabling self-service applications based on Voice XML.  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.

Contact Empirix at 866-367-4749 or info@empirix.com.  For more information on Genesys, visit www.genesyslab.com and www.alcatel.com.

Avaya IP Contact Center Applications Enhance Customer Service

Avaya Inc. announced Internet protocol (IP) based applications to link a company's entire workforce, including contact center agents, branches, and knowledge experts in any location – to serve callers with greater speed, accuracy, and efficiency.  The new applications use intelligent communications to connect workers and processes with callers across the globe.  New capabilities include advanced Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) capabilities, a new Web browser-based interface, enhanced analysis capabilities, and survivability features.

"After years of slowed capital spending, businesses are actively seeking new ways to drive higher levels of personalization and efficiency in their customer service operations," said Sheila McGee-Smith, principal analyst, McGee-Smith Analytics.  "By bringing IP technology – specifically the presence capabilities of SIP – into the contact center and then marrying it to the functionality available for all enterprise users, businesses can dramatically increase first call resolution."

For more information, visit www.avaya.com.

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