Call Center Industry News

June 2009

Telescan Receives First ATSI Industry Standards Certification

ATSI (Association of TelesServices International) announced that Telescan is the first vendor to be certified under their Industry Standards Certification program.  Telescan's Prism switch and Telescan's Data Manager both have been certified.

ATSI's goal in developing this certification process is to define and establish a core set of metrics that are universally accepted and adhered to by the vendors who support ATSI members.  ATSI hopes that by developing such a set of metrics their members will be able to compete for contracts via a leveled playing field and utilize a consistent set of terminology when communicating across platforms and vendors.

Nine metrics make up ATSI's Standards Performance Measurements.  In order to facilitate these standards, Telescan has integrated these measurements into their system.  "By incorporating these nine ATSI metrics into our standard reports, we feel we have made the testing and standard comparisons easier for users," said Patty Anderson, director of sales and marketing.  "Telescan applauds ATSI's effort in establishing a uniform measure of testing for industry vendors.  We hope it will make vendor comparisons easier."

For more information, contact Telescan at 800-770-7662, Patty at 314-616-2445 or patty@telescan.net.

Professional Teledata Launches PInnacle Freedom

Professional Teledata officially launched PInnacle Freedom, the newest addition to its comprehensive suite of technology solutions.  After eighteen months of development, it has its first clients on this new platform. 

The Freedom product includes software licensing and use of the hardware that is hosted in the Manchester, New Hampshire headquarters of Professional Teledata.  DID or DNIS numbers are routed to the Eon eQueue switch, and agents, managers, and administrators can take calls and access the system from any high speed Internet connection 24/7, using the industry leading PInnacle scripting software. 

 "We are elated to bring this new product to the industry.  We've made a tremendous investment in the infrastructure to support this product, and also in the time required to integrate the solution in this hosted environment.  The initial clients are encouraged by the flexibility and affordability this option offers," said Allen Kalik, president of Professional Teledata. 

The pricing structure for the product can be likened to a leasing alternative, without the long-term commitment.  In addition, the product features built-in disaster recovery and the flexibility to easily expand or contract for fluctuations in business and/or seasonality.   

Contact Karen Black at 800-344-9944 x112 for more information.

OnviSource Announces Explora Speech Analytics for Call Centers

OnviSource announced the availability of highly Explora Speech Analytics solution for call centers and enterprises.  Explora Speech Analytics is integrated with the OnviCenter 6 workforce optimization (WFO) software suite that includes call recording, quality assurance, screen capture, coaching, workforce management, and agent transaction automation.  Explora audio mining delivers value for customer experience requirements, sales, marketing, and business intelligence gathering across the enterprise.

The Explora speech technology is a phonetic engine that provides fast and accurate search, permitting the analysis of 100 percent of recordings in near-real time with industry standard servers.  With Explora Speech Analytics, call centers can perform analysis of recording for clients or permit Web access to clients so they can conduct their own search and analysis of recordings pertaining to their business only.  Clients can analyze and identify "hot topics" and areas of interest without complete reliance on the call center itself.  Intelligence gleaned from recordings allows call centers and clients alike to instantly uncover actionable knowledge that can be used to both their advantages.  Explora's low price makes it economical for call centers to offer this value-added service to their clients.

For more information, contact Deborah Cromwell at 800-311-3025 or deborah.cromwell@onvisource.com.

Szeto Announces Additional Switching Features in Call Linx TAS System

Szeto's newest release of Call Linx TAS offers additional capabilities to increase income streams and operational efficiencies.  These are switching features in found in Two B Channel Transfer (TBCT) and in single-number call forwarding.

TBCT in PRI is now programmable either per client or per out-dial number.  Selection of the patching style can also now be based on individual telephone numbers and according to individual subscriber's preferences.  When call patching is conducted internally within the built-in digital switch, the call can be reverted to Call Linx TAS system.  When patching is conducted externally by utilizing the TBCT feature from the telephone central office, the call will not tie up the trunk lines.  This flexibility increases service offerings to clients.

Additionally, single-number call forwarding has been enhanced to allow multiple redirections for the same call.  This enhancement identifies all the forwarding nodes when a call is chain-forwarded due to "no-answer," "forward," or "busy-forward" before reaching the answering service.  This same feature can also identify calls from organizations, such as hospitals, whose calls are forwarded to the answering service via outbound calls from their in-house PBX systems.

Startel Sponsors Independent Industry Experts Discussing Winning Technologies

Startel will offer a free seminar on Wednesday, June 17, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the ATSI convention.  Independent industry experts will be discussing technologies that will increase your business's revenue and provide unlimited growth potential.  These technologies include:

Soft Switch Technology: Hardware-dependent solutions can stagnate your call center and prevent you from stepping into the future.  Soft switch technology is already in use today and can provide you with:

• Decreased total cost of ownership

• Scalability: the opportunity for unlimited, unobstructed growth

• Open-source switch technology, such as Asterisk, Freeswitch, or Yates

Hosted Services: Learn how to take advantage of the latest technologies that provide cost reduction and increased revenue for your business.

Messaging Solutions: See how call centers can use messaging solutions to enhance communication efficiency and increase profitability.

The seminar will take place in the Cambria East & West Room at the Westin Hotel, preceding the ATSI Conference, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  A continental breakfast will be provided, and all attendees will receive a free copy of renowned author Clayton M. Christensen's book, The Innovator's Dilemma.

RSVP to Myrna Nunez at myrna.nunez@startelcorp.com or call 949-863-8738.

Amtelco Introduces Infinity Dashboard

Amtelco introduced a new stand-alone system monitoring application called Dashboard, which helps supervisors and managers monitor activity and control call center business.  Dashboard graphically monitors the Infinity Intelligent Series system with easy-to-read gauges and charts.  Real-time information is constantly refreshed and displayed to give a current snapshot of important system information, including Infinity call traffic information such as average time to answer, agents, system waits, and port usage.

Dashboard can be displayed in the call center on a flat screen LCD or taken on the road on mobile smartphones like the Apple iPhone or iPod, the Palm Treo or Centro, a Blackberry, or a similar handheld device from Kyocera, Motorola, Qualcomm, or Samsung.

For more information about Amtelco's Dashboard, contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148 or email info@amtelco.com.

Business Connections Re-Qualifies for Gold Certification

Business Connections, Inc. has recertified for the Association of Teleservices International (ATSI) 24/7 Call Center Certification Gold Award, originally qualifying in 2002 and again in 2005.  This certification indicates that Business Connections has met or exceeded high standards in the areas of business practices, life safety, operations (including normal and emergency procedures), personnel hiring, training, and ongoing evaluations.

Business Connections manager Dirk Moeller said, "We have won awards for Excellence and Outstanding International Service for eleven consecutive years in the ATSI Award of Excellence (AoE), where an independent panel of judges scores call-handling skills such as courtesy, response time, accuracy, and overall service to their clients.  This 24/7 Call Center Certification program is a great compliment to the AoE program, as it documents our state of readiness to continue to provide excellent service.  In addition to the Call Center Certification Gold Award, we also subscribe to Agility Recovery Solutions.  In the event of a fire or natural disaster Agility Recovery Solutions, within forty-eight hours of an interruption, will deliver any or all of our four key elements of recovery: power, technology, space, and connectivity." 

ATSI is an international trade association for the TeleServices industry.

Connections Communication Services Purchases A Better Answer

Connections Communications Services, located in San Francisco and owned by Gary Whalen, has purchased A Better Answer located in Hesperia, California, owned by Dee Cunningham.  The transaction was handled by TAS Marketing.

For more information, contact Steve Michaels at 800-369-6126, tas@tasmarketing.com.

TASterix Announces 100 Percent Hosted Contact Center Solutions Deployed through Infradapt

TASterix, a provider of contact call center solutions for the answering service industry, and Infradapt, a provider of integrated voice and data platform solutions, announced the immediate availability of Hosted Contact Center Solutions.

"Hosted solutions are inevitable," stated Vince McGlone, CEO of TASterix.  "And with Infradapt's voice and data infrastructure, as well as their telephony expertise, TASterix will be able to provide a myriad of hosted applications inclusive of twenty-four-hour business continuity, with real-time fail-safe mechanisms in place throughout Infradapt's national network.  Our relationship with Infradapt is what separates us from other vendors since we are providing a true unified telecom solution which merges voice, data, and software."

Infradapt maintains operations at several Tier-1 carrier facilities throughout the United States, with applications including voice, data, and network virtualization, as well as disaster recovery and business continuity solutions.

GLTSA Secures Jack Daly as Conference Speaker

The Great Lakes TeleServices Association (GLTSA) announced that Jack Daly of Professional Sales Coach, Incorporated, will be the premier speaker for GLTSA's Fall Conference Oct 26-28, 2009.  "Our annual conference has come to be known as a national-wide success story," said Jim Wagner of Wagner Communications, Danville, Illinois.  "Our plan to revive our Great Lakes Regional association has exceeded our expectations; we are not only drawing existing members, but last year 30 percent of our participants were from outside our membership area."

"Jack Daly is by far one of the most powerful and informative speakers I personally have ever experienced.  I had the pleasure of first meeting Jack at the ATSI Owners Forum, and after that day my entire world changed.  Jack inspired me and ACA to take an entirely new look at how our sales department was set up," said Michael McMillan, VP of sales at Answer Center America of Chicago, Illinois.  "I was able to add four new salespeople and turn our Q1 into the largest grossing quarter ACA has ever seen."

Report Addresses Migration to All-in-One Communications Software Suites

BenchmarkPortal has published a report showing how contact centers can protect existing investments while making a phased migration to all-in-one communications software suite solutions.  The report, "Technology Adoption Strategies for All-In-One Contact Center Solutions," was gathered from more than 100 contact centers and includes six migration case studies based on interviews with survey respondents.  Key findings include:

• There is a sizable experience base of contact centers that have migrated to all-in-one communications software suites over time.

• Migration to all-in-one communications software suites is generally no more difficult, and is frequently less difficult, than other contact centers IT initiatives.

• Approximately four out of five feel that a gradual migration strategy would make adoption of an all-in-one communications software suite more attractive.

• There isn't a unique roadmap, but there are several considerations to take into account, including the age of existing multipoint solutions, the degree to which multipoint solutions are embedded into existing infrastructure, management's knowledge and resources for handling technology migration, human and cultural factors, budget, number of remote offices, and overall technology road map. 

OnviSource Announces Expansion for BPO Services Division

OnviSource announced the expansion and acquisition of new contracts for its business process outsourcing services, OnviServ.  As a result, efforts to rapidly recruit and hire call center customer service and sales representatives to fulfill the required positions are under way in OnviSource's Plano, Texas, and Enid, Oklahoma, facilities.

OnviSource estimates that forty-one new full-time and part-time call center positions will be added between the two locations over the next few months.  To accommodate the requirements, OnviSource is extending business hours to include nights and weekends.

OnviSource offers a professional environment to energetic individuals with a strong work ethic who would like to be part of a team committed to excellence in both internal and external customer relations.  Business process outsourcing services are supported by OnviSource's own workforce optimization and automation products, training, and competency management programs, effective business process management, and a variety of employee recognition and career development programs.

For more information, contact Deborah Cromwell at 580-249-5722, deborah.cromwell@onvisource.com.

Ryla Selects Mobile Alabama for Regional Expansion Project

Ryla Inc., a provider of outsourced call center and customer contact solutions has selected the Mobile County community of Saraland, Alabama as the site for its Gulf Coast expansion plans.  Ryla will make a capital investment of approximately $8.5 million in establishing a regional headquarters, a corporate data center, and a regional customer contact center.  This project is anticipated to create approximately 1,200 full-time positions with an average base wage of $21,754 plus bonus and benefits.  Ryla anticipates the first 400 jobs to be created by early summer 2009 and the remaining 800 jobs to be created by the end of 2011.

Mark Wilson, who cofounded Ryla with his wife, Shelly Wilson, in 2001, serves as the company's president and chief executive officer.  Wilson said significant growth created the need to increase operations outside of the Georgia area.

"We are proud to be expanding into the Mobile area by hiring and creating more than 1,000 jobs over the next few years," said Wilson.  "Ryla applauds Governor Bob Riley, as well as state and local leadership, for approving incentives that fuel economic development and create employment opportunities domestically."

Multi-Industry Benchmarking Data

COPC Inc. (Customer Operations Performance Center Inc.) and SOCAP International (Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals) released results of their first multi-industry benchmarking study for customer care.  Participants in the survey include forty companies across five verticals (household/personal care, food/beverage, retail/consumer goods, pharmaceutical/medical devices, and travel/hospitality industries).  Key findings reveal:

• 98 percent provide customer service and/or post sales support
• 80 percent-plus utilize more than one support type
• 21 percent don't measure customer satisfaction
• 24 percent measuring customer satisfaction do not consistently achieve defined performance targets
• 65 percent have an external customer service center
• 95 percent have a quality monitoring process
• 89 percent do not utilize offshore support sites
• 33 percent use "temporary" agents to reflect the degree of seasonality in their business

"These survey results show that even during a down economy, companies are still finding value in monitoring quality and supporting the customer experience," said Matthew D'Uva, president of SOCAP.  "The investments that companies are making to support their customers underscore the value of customer care professionals to businesses." 

For more information about the benchmarking results, contact Marjorie Bynum of SOCAP at 703-519-3700.