Call Center Industry News

June 2007

FTC Supportive of Self-Regulation for Contact Center Industry

The American Teleservices Association (ATA) released the first public draft of self-regulatory standards for the contact center industry at their annual Washington Summit in April.  The standards were compiled by ATA's Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO).

A keynote speaker at the Summit was Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch.  "The FTC strongly encourages self-regulatory efforts that provide clear guidance to industry and create effective enforcement mechanisms to protect consumer rights," stated Rosch.  "I would like to compliment [ATA] on the thoughtful and thorough job [it] has done in undertaking this comprehensive self-regulatory initiative."  Commissioner Rosch acknowledged that professionals within an industry have the "inside knowledge on how best to craft best practices" and said that self-regulation provides a "critical complement to the FTC's law enforcement actions."

Tim Searcy, chief executive officer of ATA, is optimistic about the future of these standards.  "The ATA continues its commitment to a balanced approach of consumer driven contact delivery and business encouragement through self regulation."  Questions concerning the standards should be directed to ATA.

ATA represents 4,000 contact centers employing 1.8 million professionals.

Amtelco Ships the 600th Infinity System

Amtelco announced that it has set a milestone by shipping more than 600 Infinity systems to customers since 1998.  In addition, there are approximately 300 non-Infinity Amtelco systems currently in use.

Amtelco is a leader in the call center system market and has provided innovative solutions for over thirty years.  "The numbers don't lie.  Customers are clearly turning to Amtelco as their trusted partner for call center solutions," said Tom Curtin, president of Amtelco.  "Through our strong commitment to research and development and customer service, Amtelco makes the experience of preparing your call center for the future a positive one."

Amtelco is focused on increasing the scope of its 5-Star After-the-Sale Service program.  This includes the unique online TechHelper and Resource Library.  By investing heavily in their research and development and field engineering departments, Amtelco has provided its customers with greater expertise and guidance on planning and building the latest technology into their call centers.

For more information on Amtelco's Infinity system, contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148 or info@amtelco.com. 

Professional Teledata Releases PInnacle 2.1 and PI2000 6.1

Professional Teledata announced the latest release of its PInnacle Telemessaging System and PI2000 Inbound Call Processing Program.  "We are excited to include so many items on our customers' wish list," said Jim Graham, vice president of development.  "We strive to make the changes our customers request a reality, and in this release we were able to introduce forty-five product specific enhancements to the systems."  Jim explained that the development team has catapulted the PI2000 and the PInnacle product to new heights.  "The applause around the room as we introduced these improvements is a true testament to our customer focused development."

The president of Professional Teledata, Allen Kalik, states, "The enhancements cover all aspects of operation - from facilitating account setup to the reporting of statistical data.  The new features bring our products to yet another new level of functionality."  Some of the new features include enhanced dispatch sequencing, enhanced conditional script branching, and a DNIS inventory and management program.

The new releases are available at no charge to all PInnacle and PI2000 users as part of their standard support agreement.

Contact Karen Black 800-344-9944 x112.

CenturiSoft Releases ACD Call Queuing and Routing Module

With over two years of design and development and testing with several customers, the rollout of CenturiSoft's ACD call queuing and routing module has been released.  Implemented as a stand-alone solution or as a complementary switch configuration, it allows additional functionality to existing call control.  "Customers have been asking to be integrated seamlessly into the Centuri Messenger by having full ACD call queuing and routing functionality," remarked Mark Schaeffer, vice president of development at CenturiSoft.  "We are now able to deliver on that request."

With features that rival many switches on the market, CenturiSoft is able to provide stand-alone customers with full voice communications functionality without resorting to stand-alone ACDs or switches.  Some of the features include scheduling of call routing and queuing based on time of day, queue overflow, queue timeouts and termination, and options for callers; it works with all the features the Centuri Messenger has today.  When operated with an existing switch, the Centuri Messenger uses the capabilities of the switch and provides new live voice messaging applications.

For more information: 800-866-1929 or sales@centurisoft.com.

Szeto Offers "One-Touch" Call Termination & Form Rules

Expanding the technology in Linx Wizard Scripting, Szeto's Call Linx TAS has incorporated the "one-touch" call termination approach for its traditional message form processing.  It only requires a simple "click" from the agent on a programmable button when finishing the call.  The system will automatically guide the received message to the proper dispatching actions based on individual account's requirements.  Whether the message requires "immediate or scheduled delivery," "automatic or manual," or is sent to a supervisor for "review and dispatch," it is completely transparent to the agent that answered the call.

Integrated into this is the new "form rules" feature.  Based on the nature of the call, Call Linx automatically determines the proper disposition of completed messages.  The "form rules" will also automatically adjust the proper closing phrase.  The call answer process is consequently less stressful, and chances of dispatch errors are much reduced.  This shortens training time and helps inexperienced agents ease into the more complex parts of their job incrementally.  Szeto Technologies will be demonstrating Call Linx's "one touch" and "form rules" at the ATSI Convention in Colorado Spring this June.   

Contact Szeto at 888-421-3737 or info@szeto.ca.

Study Shows Contact Centers Lack Focus on Quality

Contact center team leaders spend more than three times as many hours on breaks as they do addressing external quality issues, according to a long-term analysis of some fifty contact centers.  This lack of attention to quality underscores a fundamental problem with how contact centers are managed and helps account for why, according to a recent consumer survey, 97 percent of contact center customers are dissatisfied with some aspect of their experience.

"Simply put, contact centers focus on all the wrong issues," said John Sansbury, who headed the analysis and is global director of Compass' service management practice.  "They're typically concerned with reducing call length and idle time per shift, or increasing the number of calls fielded.  These measures are worse than irrelevant - in many cases, enhanced contact center ‘efficiency' can result in a decrease in the quality of customer service."

Other findings show that team leaders spend about half their time observing and coaching agents, and 13 percent taking or placing calls.  "Other" activities accounted for 28 percent of their time.

Compass is a global management consulting firm specializing in business and IT performance.

An*ser Services Earns Gold Certification

An*Ser Services has qualified for the Gold 24/7 Call Center Certification Award for the second time in the renewal process.  The certification indicates that An*Ser Services, based in Green Bay, WI, has met or exceeded high standards in the areas of business practices, life safety, operations, including both normal and emergency procedures, personnel hiring, training and ongoing evaluations through a peer review program focusing on 99.9 percent annual run time.

An*Ser president Allan Fromm has been active in the call center industry for over thirty-five years.  He has served as president of NAEO and WSTA and is now president-elect of ATSI.  

For more information, visit An*Ser Services.  The certification is awarded by ATSI (Association of Teleservices International.

Paul Orvis Joins AnswerNet

Paul W. Orvis IV, a seasoned teleservices industry executive, has joined The AnswerNet Network, a provider of 24/7 contact center solutions, as business development executive, Indirect Channel.  Paul had been vice president, sales and marketing of Central Communications, Inc. (CCI), a Norwalk, CT-based telemessaging and contact center firm.  Paul will help grow AnswerNet's indirect sales channel, which draws business through other solutions providers, vendor referrals, and independent representatives.  Paul will tap his extensive industry knowledge, experience, and contacts.

"Paul is well known in the industry and has a great reputation in the industry," said Gary A. Pudles, president and chief executive officer, The AnswerNet Network.  "Paul will help us identify additional opportunities, strengthen those relationships we have, and drive in more sales from other service providers, consultants, and independent reps."

In related news, Joyce Howard now oversees Signius's Denver (Aurora), CO contact center, and Rita W. Mortenson now manages Signius's Baltimore, MD contact center.

ATA Raises Money for BBB Foundation to Promote Ethical Business Practices

The American Teleservices Association's (ATA) Great Lakes Chapter, in conjunction with The Better Business Bureau Foundation, on March 21 provided an in-depth workshop on the rules and regulations for businesses that utilize the telephone to market their products and services to consumers.

In developing a workshop that would benefit Better Business Bureau members, the two organizations realized that many small businesses do not have the resources to identify all of the requirements for conducting business by phone safely.  The workshop was a fund-raising event, netting $2,300 to support the Better Business Bureau Foundation.  A portion of the proceeds will help fund the Students of Integrity Scholarship Fund and support other foundation programs.

Presenters Michele Shuster of MacMurry, Cook, Peterson, and Shuster, New Albany, OH and Jim Beuoy of Ameridial Inc, North Canton, OH led the workshop on behalf of the ATA. 

The BBB Foundation educates consumers and businesses about marketplace ethics and wise decision-making, awarding up to six annual $1,000 Students of Integrity Scholarships. 

The ATA is a nonprofit trade association dedicated to advocacy of the teleservices and legislative compliance. 

CAM-X Launches CSR & Supervisor Certification

The Canadian Call Management Association (CAM-X) unveiled their CSR and Supervisor Certification programs to an enthusiastic crowd at the recent Call Centre Coaching Clinic in Calgary, AB.  Eighteen supervisors, senior agents, and managers took the CSR exam and were given an oral interview by a certifier on site.  All eighteen successfully passed the exam.

Over two days, mentors and coaches worked with the supervisors to complete the supervisor exam, which consists of general questions, management questions, equipment specific questions, and twelve in-depth case studies.  All attendees completed their exams on-site and are anxiously awaiting their results. 

This new member service was in response to member requests for a standardized industry training program which would demonstrate a level of competence.  CAM-X congratulates all attendees of the Western Conference.  Their professionalism and resourcefulness was evident throughout the sessions.

CAM-X is a Canadian based trade association for the call management industry.  For any additional information about certification, contact Linda Osip, executive director at 800-896-1054 or linda@camx.ca.