Amtelco News

Amtelco Releases Pro Show Appointment Reminder (6/08)

Call centers can help their clients eliminate “no shows” with Amtelco’s Pro Show appointment reminder application.  Pro Show allows call centers to offer enhanced notification services that are completely automated or require minimal agent involvement.  In addition to appointment reminders, Pro Show can send meeting reminders, class reminders, or any type of notification needed.  In addition, Pro Show can help with generating mailing lists for reminder letters or postcards. 

Pro Show features seamless integrations and importing capabilities with existing appointment-taking software; it works with other applications that can supply information in the form of a file, a database connection, XML, CVS, or HL7 notification.  Pro Show can notify appointment holders as many times as needed, by a variety of methods: phone call, email, and pager.

The Pro Show scheduler automates the notification process by analyzing the data it receives to determine when to initiate the reminder service and what method should be used for each reminder.  It keeps track of the outcome of each notification attempt and includes message reporting based on call and message statistical data.

For more information Pro Show contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148 or send an e-mail to info@amtelco.com.

Amtelco Announces VoIP Board (6/08)

The latest release of the award-winning Infinity supports the Amtelco XDS Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) board, which eliminates the need for a third-party VoIP gateway.  The XDS VoIP Board provides native VoIP switching directly within the Infinity server.

Agent audio can be migrated from traditional analog connections to VoIP.  Remote stations can connect an audio path to their home or remote offices using VoIP, eliminating the need for and cost of a separate dedicated phone line.  Office telephones can also be based utilizing VoIP.

The XDS VoIP Boards are available in multiple configurations, ranging from 100 to 600 VoIP channels.  Each channel is the equivalent of an agent audio port or telephone. 

The XDS VoIP Board supports connections to VoIP carriers.  The connection is established using the VoIP protocol called Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking that enables Infinity software version 5.5 to handle incoming and outbound calls.  With SIP trunking, Infinity-based call centers can offer nationwide local DID service and outbound dialing, allowing them to have a local telephone presence anywhere.

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

Amtelco Training Opportunities at ATSI Convention (5/08)

Amtelco will offer several training seminars on Wednesday, June 18, 2008, at the 2008 ATSI Convention in St. Louis, Missouri.  Attendees may participate in basic and advanced Infinity Intelligent Series (IS) scripting courses, Client Management Intelligence (CMI) training, and Telephony 101 and 201 courses prior to the convention.

Infinity IS training will have morning and afternoon sessions, coordinated with the National Amtelco Equipment Owners (NAEO) group, open to all ATSI attendees, and held in the NAEO meeting room.  Basic and advanced scripting demonstrations will show laborsaving techniques and explain how call centers can add revenue marketing IS capabilities.

The CMI client management and marketing tool seminar starts at 3:00 p.m. in the Amtelco suite and demo room.  Amtelco’s CMI works with all call center systems, allowing it to manage in-house communications and client relations.  Infinity Intelligent Series users can use CMI Diamond to automatically turn each message into a Web contact.

Telephony 101 and 201 sessions will be held each morning and early afternoon in the Amtelco suite and demo room.  These courses are designed to provide information applicable to all system platforms.

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

Amtelco University Opens New Training Center (5/08)

Amtelco has completed work on a new training center for use by its trainers, customers, and salespeople.  The new center incorporates high-tech training tools like the Smart^TM board, an interactive, electronic whiteboard that can enhance instruction and learning, making it possible for trainers to create content-rich, dynamic lessons.

Amtelco University encompasses the ongoing educational programs that Amtelco system users have at their disposal to learn about using the latest call center technology to increase their profits and reduce labor expenses.  Amtelco customers enjoy access to an online resource library and Tech Helper, as well as trainers, seminars, and research and support staffs. 

Amtelco University seminars and Webinars are hands-on, interactive sessions geared towards supervisors, client account programmers, managers, and owners.  The next seminar is Telephony 101 and 201 and will be held on Wednesday, May 5, 2008, at the Ramada Inn Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. 

The Telephony 101 curriculum provides an in-depth explanation of telephony and interfaces from early analog up to and including T1.  The Telephony 201 curriculum covers from T1 up to and including VoIP and SIP. 

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

Amtelco Users Set Attendance Record at Conference (4/08)

The recent NAEO 2008 Conference set an attendance record with more then 250 attendees from over 100 call centers.  Amtelco provided educational presentations and announced their latest innovations.  Kevin Beale, Amtelco’s director of R&D Software, presented new releases; items generating the greatest interest included:

• Unity Voice Logger: an integral solution, using Infinity voice processing and conferencing resources for call recordings

• Infinity Real-Time Backup: allows the entire Infinity database to be replicated on a real-time basis to a backup Infinity Server, ensuring a current backup server if it is ever needed

• VoIP Technology: adds native VoIP services to Infinity with Amtelco’s new XDS VoIP Board.  Uses include local and remote operator audio and SIP trunking to VoIP telephone carriers and PBXs

• Client Management Intelligence (CMI): integrates with Intelligent Messaging to automatically build a contact database of callers

• ANI Behavior: streamlines call screening and automated forwarding and caller lookup

• Contact-Based Dispatching: ensures message delivery

The day before the conference, Amtelco University hosted a well-attended seminar by Gary Kerner and Susan Kirkpatrick who presented the latest “Work Smarter, Not Harder” tips and tricks. 

Contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148 or info@Amtelco.com.

Amtelco University Announces Technical Seminars (4/08)

Amtelco University upcoming seminars, Telephony 101 and 201, will be held in Columbus, OH and Hartford, CT.  These hands-on, interactive sessions are held on a regular basis throughout the year.  Different levels are provided for beginning, intermediate, and advanced Amtelco product users. 

Telephony 101: Provides an in-depth explanation of telephony and interfaces from early analog up to and including T1.  It includes a hands-on lab demonstrating the use of the tools of the trade; workbooks are included.

Telephony 201: Covers T1 up to and including VoIP and SIP trunking/networks, providing a better understanding of how and when this interface benefits call centers.  Workbook and handouts are included.  T101 is a prerequisite for this course.

The purpose of these courses are to educate personnel that have more recently joined the industry and not gone through the progression of analog circuits to digital interfaces.  Courses also serve as a great learning aid to a better understanding of newer interfaces. 

For more information about Amtelco University seminars, contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148 or AmtelcoU101@Amtelco.com. 

Amtelco Announces Greg Strehlow as Sales Rep for Western States (4/08)

Amtelco announced that Greg Strehlow has been added to its sales representative force.  Greg will be covering the west coast locations of Amtelco’s 1Call Hospital and Higher Education division and assisting Nora Farber with the Call Center division.

Greg received a degree in nuclear physics with a minor in technical communications from the University of Wisconsin.  Previously, he played a major role in the development of the Infinity Intelligent Series (IS) scripting capabilities and was an Amtelco trainer.  He has been with Amtelco for five years. 

Gary Kerner, director of Call Center Sales, stated “Greg was the primary IS trainer for many installations on the west coast.  Greg’s insider knowledge of the IS benefits and familiarity with existing customer’s operations has already proven to be a great asset to Amtelco and its west coast customers.”

For more information Amtelco, contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148 or 608-838-4194, or visit http://callcenter.Amtelco.com. 

Amtelco to Provide Advanced Training at Conference (1/08)

Amtelco will provide educational presentations during the upcoming NAEO conference to be held in Savannah, Georgia, on February 3-6, 2008.  Amtelco’s lineup includes:

• Sunday, Feb. 3, 1:00–4:00 p.m.: Amtelco University – Gary Kerner and Susan Kirkpatrick present the latest “Work Smarter, Not Harder” tips and tricks.  Attendees will learn the best ways to tap into the power of Infinity and IS.

• Monday, Feb. 4, 1:00–2:30 p.m.: Infinity Intelligent Series, Version 5.5

• Tuesday, Feb. 5, 9:15–10:45 a.m.: Kevin Beale presents the latest innovations in Infinity software, version 5.5

• Tuesday, Feb. 5, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.: Basic and Advanced Intelligent Series Workshop

For more information about Amtelco’s NAEO presentations, contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148 or info@amtelco.com.

Amtelco’s Infinity Provides High Reliability (12/07)

Amtelco’s Infinity is providing call centers with unprecedented levels of system availability.  Many Infinity users, including Medical City Dallas Answering Service in Dallas, TX and Medical Exchange in Merrillville, IN, have gone over a year without having to restart the system.  That equals 100 percent uptime, with uptime over the life of the system over 99.99 percent.

Today, business continuity efforts at many call centers are shifting from recovery mode to resilience.  Proactive business continuity assures that the system will not go down and disrupt business.  It also supports customer satisfaction by ensuring information integrity.

Amtelco consistently anticipates the rapidly changing business environment to ensure that the system, which is the backbone of the business, is protected and always running.  With Amtelco’s Five Star Service, call center owners and managers have peace of mind knowing that their business will operate continuously and seamlessly and that the system infrastructure is delivering value to their clients.

Call centers can use the proven record of accomplishment of the Infinity system stability in their marketing campaigns to demonstrate their reliability to prospective clients and increase client satisfaction.

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

Amtelco’s Op See Feature Adds Supervisor Control  (10/07)

Amtelco’s Infinity Op See feature allows supervisors to monitor an operator’s screen and audio while the agent is processing calls.  Amtelco has added a new capability to the Infinity Op See feature.  Supervisors can now take over the keyboard from the agent they are monitoring.  This allows a supervisor who sees a problem with a call to take over completion of the call and then return control to the agent afterward.  Call centers can use this new capability to help train new staff, reduce agent errors, and increase client satisfaction.

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

Amtelco to Offer Free Telephony 101 Course at GLTSA Meeting  (10/07)

Amtelco University is offering a no-cost, platform neutral Telephony 101 course in conjunction with the Great Lakes TeleServices Association (GLTSA) Fall Annual Meeting.  “This class is a great addition to the seminar” said Gary Kerner, Amtelco sales manager. “It will contain a review of some widely used telephone and CTI terms and abbreviations, with an overview of past, present, and future telephony interfaces.  The class will be held Monday, October 22, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm.

The GLTSA meeting will be held with a two-track program: sales & marketing and supervisor training.  It will be October 22-24 in Oak Brook, IL.  In addition to the Amtelco training preceding the meeting, ATSI and NAEO will present additional sessions afterwards.

The ATSI (Association of TeleServices International; www.atsi.org) will be hosting a Grassroots Lobbying Boot Camp on Monday, October 22, from 1:00 to 6:00 pm.  NAEO (www.naeo.org) will conduct an equipment specific supervisors training October 24-25, following the conclusion of the conference.

For more information, go to www.amtelco.com or email info@amtelco.com; GLTSA’s Website is www.gltsa.org.

Amtelco Launches Amtelco University (9/07)

Amtelco announced the formal naming of its ongoing educational programs: Amtelco University.  For over thirty years, Amtelco system users have benefited from many opportunities to learn about how to use the latest call center technology to increase their profits and reduce labor expenses.  Amtelco customers enjoy access to an online Resource Library and Tech Helper, trainers/teachers, seminars, and large research and support staffs. 

Amtelco University Classes will be held at the fall meetings of WSTA, GLTSA, STA and CAM-X.  Topics include: Telephony and Your Call Center, Order Entry and Help Desk Applications, and Marketing Advanced Messaging.

Amtelco University Seminars and Webinars are hands-on, interactive sessions are geared towards supervisors, client account programmers, managers, and owners.  They are held on a regular basis throughout the year.

Amtelco University Resource Library provides many tools to simplify account set-up, reduce training time, and get great programming ideas.  The Resource Library includes a Training Library, a Webinar Library and Script Libraries for the Infinity Intelligent Series and eCreator. 

Amtelco University TechHelper provides seminar schedules, the Google search engine, Tips and Tricks, software downloads, and reference guides.

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

Amtelco Innovates with Timesaving “Push-to-Talk” Feature (7/07)

Amtelco announced the new Infinity Push-to-Talk feature, which gives agents fast access to overhead paging or radio connections.  This eliminates the need for staff to move to a specific location to access security radios or mobile dispatch radios, saving time and increasing efficiency.  To activate the connection, operators press and hold a key on the keyboard, which remains active until the button is released.  Agents see a visual indication on the screen that they are currently connected to the overhead paging system or to the radio.  The Push-to-Talk button can be assigned to any function key on a standard keyboard or any key on the Infinity KB163 keyboard.

“The new Infinity Push-to-Talk feature makes it possible for our customers to offer overhead paging or multichannel radio communications to their clients, as well as providing an instant communication link with security personnel and staff throughout their client’s businesses in urgent situations,” stated Tom Curtin, president of Amtelco.

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

Amtelco Ships the 600th Infinity System (6/07)

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, info@amtelco.com, or www.amtelco.com. 

Amtelco Introduces Contact-Based Dispatching (5/07)

Amtelco announced a new concept to simplify message handling – contact-based dispatching.  Contact method information, included in Intelligent Directory listings, now drives the dispatch process.  This allows the listings to provide contacts for Infinity Intelligent Series applications.  This includes the new Intelligent Directory On-Call Scheduling as well as Intelligent Dispatching and Intelligent Messaging.

Intelligent Directory Contacts: The process of dispatching messages is greatly enhanced using Intelligent Directory Contacts, which allows users to enter information related to dispatching as part of a directory listing.  Intelligent Messaging and Dispatching can then utilize the contact information to script and control the dispatch process. 

Dispatch Rules: Each directory listing can have dispatch rules that define the steps that should be presented to agents for dispatching.  These rules allow agents to script the dispatch process for a given contact.  They can be used to determine which contact methods to present to agents in the form of dispatch steps, the order the steps should be presented, any retries that should be scheduled, escalation options, detailed instructions for the agents, and disposition choices that should be presented to agents.

For more information on Amtelco’s Intelligent Series, contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148 or info@amtelco.com

Amtelco Unveils Intelligent Dispatching (5/07)

Amtelco launched the next generation of messaging: Intelligent Dispatching.  Infinity 5.5 provides the platform for significant enhancements to the dispatch process.  These enhancements were introduced at the NAEO (National Amtelco Equipment Owners) 2007 conference. 

The focus of the enhancements is the dispatch list and dispatch jobs, which allows dispatchers to select jobs to work on rather than pushing jobs to them via “call park.”  This is accomplished by presenting the dispatch list to agents who are enabled as dispatchers whenever they are not on a call.

The dispatch list provides dispatchers with a placeholder for pending dispatch jobs.  As agents take messages using intelligent messaging, dispatch jobs automatically appear to dispatchers in the dispatch list.  The dispatch jobs have properties defining when they are due, descriptive names, special instructions, priority levels, custom colors, and dispatch group assignments.  The dispatcher is given the highest priority dispatch job at the top of their list and simply follows the script. 

The dispatch steps presented to the dispatcher are actually an active part of the message script, allowing the dispatch steps to be scripted.

For more information on Amtelco’s Intelligent Series, contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148 or info@amtelco.com.

Amtelco Launches Discovery Forum (4/07)

Amtelco launched their online Discovery Forum, consisting of webinars conducted by Amtelco customers sharing techniques and ideas for users of Amtelco software. Jamy Williams from Phonepower, Inc led the first Discovery Forum topic, “Styles and Fonts in Amtelco’s Infinity Intelligent Series.”  Amtelco customers can access recordings of the webinars located in the Resource Library. 

The online Amtelco Resource Library provides tools to simplify account setup, reduce training time, and get programming ideas.  This is the first such library in the industry and is a benefit for Amtelco customers.  Training agents is easy with detailed videos available to watch anytime, night or day. 

The Amtelco Resource Library also includes script libraries for the Infinity Intelligent Series and eCreator.  Using the Script Library, Amtelco system users have the opportunity to share their application scripts with other users for their mutual benefit. 

A new Wish List is now available on Amtelco’s TechHelper Web site for customers to communicate their needs and ideas to Amtelco’s software developers.  TechHelper has been enhanced with a bulletin board for up-to-the-minute news and a Google^® powered search engine.

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

Amtelco’s E-mail Confirmation Ensures E-mail Delivery  (3/07)

Amtelco introduced an innovative way to ensure that e-mail messages reach their intended recipient: e-mail confirmation.  Amtelco Infinity users have long been able to confirm that clients have received pages using Infinity’s page confirmation feature, which allows a client to confirm receipt of a page without speaking to an agent.  This same capability is now possible with e-mail messages.  Clients can confirm the receipt of an e-mail message by replying to the e-mail with a configurable keyword such as “confirmed” or “declined.”  Infinity receives the reply and updates the message that generated the e-mail with the replied status of confirmed or declined.

If a message is confirmed, subsequent automated dispatch steps are cancelled, the message is marked delivered, and the message history is updated with the confirmation.  If a message is declined or there is no reply, the message history is updated, and the message is either returned to an agent for further action or subsequent automated dispatch steps continue in an attempt to reach the client using other means.

For more information on Infinity and e-mail confirmation, contact Amtelco (www.amtelco.com) at 800-356-9148 or 608-838-4194.

Amtelco’s Intelligent Series Provides “Return Caller Message Fill In”  (3/07)

Amtelco’s Infinity Intelligent Messaging uses Amtelco’s patent-pending dynamic linking method to provide Return Caller Message Fill In capabilities for busy agents.  The feature reduces labor costs and call-handling time by automatically providing agents with information about callers who have called in the past.

A component of the Infinity Intelligent Series, Intelligent Messaging uses call scripts to lead agents through calls and to ensure that the correct information is solicited during every call.  Call and caller information is stored in a Microsoft^® SQL database and is immediately accessible for future use.

The Return Caller Message Fill In capability can use the call ANI (Automatic Number Identification) to perform a keyword search to retrieve information from previous calls and present it to agents as soon as they answer calls.  Alternately, searches can be conducted using other keys, such as names and postal codes that agents insert into message forms after answering calls.

Amtelco’s dynamic linking eliminates the need for agents to manually search directory listings, on-call schedules, and other sources of client information during call handling.

For more information on the Infinity Intelligent Series, contact Amtelco (www.amtelco.com) at 800-356-9148 or 608-838-4194.

Amtelco’s Solutions Now Rated Avaya Compliant  (1/07)

Two of Amtelco’s innovative solutions, eCreator and Red Alert, have received compliance certification with Avaya, a leading provider of communications systems.

The eCreator Web-based scripting solution helps call centers increase agent productivity by creating scripts to simplify call processing; it is compliance-approved by Avaya for compatibility with their Proactive Contact 3.0.  The Red Alert notification solution helps organizations quickly perform crisis communication; it is compliance-approved by Avaya for compatibility with their Communications Manager 3.

“All of us here at Amtelco are delighted to receive certification from Avaya for our event and notification product, Red Alert and our Web-based scripting solution, eCreator.  These certifications signify the benefits of partnering with innovative, forward-looking technology companies with the common goal of providing open platforms and proven applications to the best companies world wide,” said Amtelco president, Tom Curtin.

Avaya Inc. designs, builds, and manages communications networks worldwide, including over 90 percent of the Fortune 500^® companies.  Avaya is a leader in secure and reliable Internet protocol (IP) telephony systems and communications software applications and services.

For more information on eCreator and Red Alert, contact Amtelco at 800-56-9148 or 608-838-4194, or email info@amtelco.com.

Amtelco Announces Billing Link Software Version 4.0  (12/06)

Amtelco announced an upgrade to its billing application, BillingLink.  With this new version, BillingLink allows users to link directly to the raw statistics database in either SQL Server or Access format.  Billing Link Version 4.0 features a full suite of all the customizable capabilities, plus a long list of new features and enhancements.  Many of these new features have been developed with the input of current users, such as:

• Unlimited invoice layouts

• Additional invoice printing and export methods

• New charge options like night, weekend, and holiday multipliers

• New master options – up to 100 custom formulas

• Increased recurring charges

• Unlimited one-time charges, plus new options for aging, finance charges, statistic rounding and charge parameters

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

Amtelco Hosts a Free Seminar on Infinity Tips, Tricks, and Techniques  (12/06)

Amtelco invites Infinity system users to a free seminar at the Holiday Inn Santa Ana-Orange County Airport on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  Lunch will be provided.  The seminar will cover the benefits of the Infinity features that have proven to be the most valuable to users.  This one-day seminar is designed for call center agents and marketing personnel. 

Learn how to unleash the profitable potential of the Infinity system.  The “Tips, Tricks, and Techniques” seminar is the latest in a series of popular seminars held all over the country.  To reserve a spot at this free Amtelco seminar, send an email to t3@amtelco.com. 

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

Amtelco Announces Gary Kerner as National Sales Manager (10/06)

Amtelco announced that Gary Kerner is being promoted to national sales manager, effective August 31, 2006.  Kevin Ryan is retiring as national sales manager to pursue his other career as owner of a call center.  Kevin said, “I have had twenty-one great years with Amtelco, and it has been my pleasure to have worked with so many terrific people in this industry.  My wife and I recently started up an answering service here in our hometown of Austin, Texas.  I’ll be putting my time and energy into growing that business.  I look forward to being your colleague in this incredible business.”

Amtelco Releases On-line Client Management Intelligence  (9/06)

Amtelco announced the release of the on-line Client Management Intelligence (CMI).  Call centers can use CMI to keep track of communication with clients and prospects and to establish a system of measuring, monitoring, and increasing client satisfaction.  One of the major advantages are the collaborative elements, which allow on-line viewing and scheduling client contact activities for call center staff and provide easy access to phone calls and email messages sent to clients.

With CMI, clients can access their data at anytime through a Web interface.  The real-time reporting tools allow clients to see the recorded and scheduled activities, the call history, the call history of a specific operator or time, and the recorded email history.  As an interaction with a client is completed, it can be easily recorded as completed.  CMI can send scheduled activities to an Outlook calendar.  When an appointment is scheduled, an email message will be sent to the appropriate person.  The Outlook calendar creates a pop-up reminder of the scheduled activity.

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

Amtelco Announces Disaster Planning Tools (9/06)

Amtelco announced several options to keep call centers up and running.  These options include both on-premise and hosted solutions. 

Infinity Virtual Solutions: Amtelco can provide a hosted Microsoft^® Virtual Server to host a call center’s SQL server and Infinity Intelligent series server.  This solution is installed on a cluster of servers at Amtelco’s secure hosted facility providing 100% uptime by automatically activating an alternate server if the primary server fails.  Amtelco handles Windows^® patches, Infinity updates, data backup, and 24/7 monitoring. 

Infinity Emergency Access: provides an Infinity server at a secure site that supplies the call center service within minutes.  Call centers can access the back-up Infinity accounts via the Internet.  A block of toll-free 800 numbers is included. 

Securing Your Infinity Data with Infinity Back-up Operator: allows data from the Infinity server to be exported over the network to a Microsoft^® Access database on each operator’s desktop computer or on a central file server. 

Infinity Back-up Server: The Infinity database can be backed up to another Infinity server, providing the ability to have a live stand-by Infinity server in place with a current database.

Contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148, 608-838-4194, or visit http://callcenter.amtelco.com. 

Amtelco Announces New Intelligent Messaging Features (6/06)

Call center clients are demanding fewer errors, flexible call handling, and message dispatch. Intelligent messaging guides agents through the message-taking process, using scripts created to meet the needs of each client.  To increase the labor savings and accuracy of message handling, Amtelco has added new features to intelligent messaging including:

• Easy Script Editor: streamlines the script writing process and reduces complex programming tasks.

• Script Styles: changes the color of scripts’ background, foreground, description, button, and font.

• Actions: Allows supervisors to define what should happen when a button is pressed, a list item is selected, or a screen is accessed or closed.  Actions perform functions like dialing, changing information pages, popping directories and on-call schedules, and connecting to an external database.

• Message Branching: allows the flow of each message to be controlled by selections made by agents.

• Dynamic Linking: interfaces to other sources of information to ensure agents accurately complete a message.  Agents receive instructive information from sources such as intelligent directory, on-call schedule, external databases, Websites, and Microsoft^® MapPoint^® maps.

For more information on the Infinity Intelligent system, call 800-356-9148 or email info@amtelco.com.

Amtelco Adds New Features to Infinity V5.4 (4/06)

Amtelco announced several new features for the Infinity Software Version 5.4 release.  Several enhancements have been made to allow agents to answer calls with a more accurate answer phrase for every situation.  Some of these highlights include:

• Enlarged answer phrase on a new call to focus agent attention on the answer phrase.

• Dynamic answer phrase can reflect the current time of day and other changing factors.  Supervisors can program command codes into answer phrases to have the answer phrases automatically adjust.

• Dynamic perfect answer to prerecord the answer greeting that a caller hears when an agent answers a call.

• Expanded bulletin board provides supervisors with a tool to provide more information to all agents.   

• Automatic agent setup updates allows supervisors to change agent call distribution on-the-fly, without requiring the agent to log out and back in.

• Client list eliminates the need for agents to remember client numbers.

For more information on the Infinity system, call 800-356-9148, or email info@amtelco.com.

Amtelco Announces New Dispatching Features (4/06)

Amtelco customers have reported that by using Infinity intelligent messaging, they have greatly decreased the number of errors in the message-taking process.  The same improvement is now possible in the dispatch process by using Infinity intelligent dispatching. 

To increase the labor savings and accuracy of dispatching, Amtelco has added new features, including:

• Dispatch scripting: The dispatch process can now be scripted.

• Dispatch groups: Dispatch jobs can be assigned to specific groups of agents.

• Dispatch window: Agents can monitor all pending and current dispatch jobs. 

• Dispatch agents working on a job are taken into a script that controls what dispatch steps should be performed and the order they should be performed.

• Dispatch reminders can be set to remind agents to follow up after some period of time.

• Client check in: Agents will see a list of the pending dispatch jobs for the client. 

• Dispatch supervision: Supervisors can monitor and interact with dispatch jobs using the intelligent series supervisor dispatch window.

For more information on the Infinity system, call 800-356-9148, or email info@amtelco.com.

RED Alert Receives “Product of the Year” Award  (3/06)

Amtelco announced that its RED (Rapid Emergency Deployment) Alert system has received the 2005 “Product of the Year” Award from Technology Marketing Corporation. “We are pleased that RED Alert was selected as the Product of the Year,” said Tom Curtin, Amtelco President.  “RED Alert offers an innovative and comprehensive package for handling everything from staffing shortages, to emergency situations, and even routine meeting reminders.”

RED Alert is a notification system for call centers and their clients’ business continuity needs.  It offers a number of methods for quickly contacting personnel to meet a wide variety of specific disaster and event notification needs:

• Helps call centers and their clients react quickly to emergencies, disasters, outages, threats, severe weather, urgent meetings, and alarms.

• Send alerts via pager, email, mobile phone, home phone, or SMS device.

• Scheduled notifications for meetings, recalls, and staff shortages.

• Monitor progress in real time.

• Supports conferencing and recording using Amtelco’s Conference Bridge.

• Available as a hosted or purchased solution.

• Can be implemented with any major telephony system.

For more information on RED Alert, call 800-380-7345, email redalert@amtelco.com, or visit www.redalertsystem.com 

NAEO Members Launch Hurricane Relief Efforts  (11/05)

After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the National Amtelco Equipment Owners (NAEO) group stepped up to offer assistance for the Gulf Coast area and the many teleservice employees left jobless.  NAEO set up an Operator Relief Fund “to help those that say ‘May I help you?’ hundreds of times a day.”  According to Marci Imes, NAEO President, “As an industry, we immediately recognized that many call center staff members were impacted by Katrina and we needed to find a way to help those who have helped so many over the years.”  Although contributions are not tax-deductible, over $100,000 has already been contributed.

Betty Bouchie, the NAEO Operator Relief Fund Coordinator, stated, “We have a number of call centers who have offered to re-locate agents, often including housing as well as a paycheck, while the details of their new lives can be planned.  We have a team working closely to contact and locate call centers in the area.  We hope to reach as many call center workers as possible.”

For more information on NAEO, and the NAEO Operator Relief Fund, email NAEO at donations@naeo.org, visit www.naeo.org, or call 800-809-6373, x2.  For more information on Amtelco, call , email info@amtelco.com, or visit www.amtelco.com.

Amtelco Announces Infinity ANI Auto Routing  (9/05)

Amtelco announced ANI auto-routing for Infinity v5.3.  For telemessaging call centers, morning check-in and evening check-out times are extremely busy.  To save agent time, Infinity can now route calls, based on the caller’s ANI.

Based on the ANI data received, if the call is forwarded from the call center client, the call is routed to an agent.  If the call is coming in directly from the client, the behavior will change and the call goes to the Infinity voice processing to give the client choices.  The client hears a recording (which can be customized with their name) then plays a recording such as “Our system has detected that you are calling us from your office.  If you are calling to forward your calls, press 1 now.  If you need to speak with us, press 0 or stay on the line.”  If they press 1, they hear another message such as “You have successfully forwarded and may hang up now.”  This feature can also be used for routing calls from on-call personnel directly to a specific Infinity account.

Contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148info@amtelco.com.

Amtelco Announces Scripting Prize Winners  (9/05)

Amtelco announced the winners of the scripting contest held for users of the Infinity Intelligent Messaging scripting software.  The winners of each category are: Best Script: Tory Johnson of ACT Teleservices, Most Complex Script: Joe Adam of Athens Regional Medical Center, and the Most Scripts Entered: Mercedes Kristal of World Class Communications.  Intelligent Messaging is being used by call centers to reduce operator errors and training time, as well as simplify difficult call processes.  Winners receive gift certificates and the Best Script wins an iPod mini^® MP3 player.

The contest was launched to encourage users sharing of scripts in the online Amtelco TechHelper Resource Library. The Resource Library is a unique compendium of training videos, Webinars and PowerPoint^® presentations, and scripts available to Amtelco product users as a major benefit of their support contracts.

For more information on Amtelco’s Infinity Intelligent Series and the Resource Library, contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148

Amtelco to Host Infinity Intelligent Series Seminar  (7/05)

Amtelco announced a seminar about the Infinity Intelligent Series and call scripting.  The seminar will be held on August 23-25, 2005 in Madison, WI at the Fluno Center for Executive Education.  The Fluno Center was recently rated by the Financial Times of London as number one internationally for food and accommodations in the category of custom programming.  It is part of the University of Wisconsin campus.

Members of the Amtelco software engineering team will conduct a hands-on presentation on the benefits and applications of the Infinity Intelligent Series.  Participants will learn by using the software themselves.  The demonstrations will include how to reduce errors and operator training time, two benefits frequently mentioned by Intelligent Series users.  The seminar also includes hands-on workshops on call scripting to guide operators through each call, using the Infinity Intelligent Series features to insert photos, Web site links, scrolling banners, and custom colors to direct the operator’s attention.

Seating is limited and registration will be on a first-come basis.  The seminar will be of greatest value to those who have already implemented the Intelligent Series, or are considering the upgrade.

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

New Version of Amtelco’s World of Innovation Demo CD to be Released  (6/05)

Amtelco announced a new version of the World of Innovation demo CD will be released for the conference on June 22-25, 2005.  The CD contains movies with audio showing the desktop actions of the operator and supervisor.  The movies allow the viewer to listen in and look over the shoulder of an expert while they handle calls, dispatch messages, and create advanced scripts using many of the Infinity Intelligent Series features.  A virtual tour movie of Amtelco’s facility is included on the CD, allowing viewers to take a virtual walk through all the departments that collaborate to deliver service to Amtelco’s customers.

To receive a free copy of the World of Innovation demo CD, contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148 or info@amtelco.com.

Amtelco’s Infinity Intelligent Series Installations Exceed 30  (6/05)

Amtelco announced the 34th installation of the Infinity Intelligent Series.  Call centers using the Infinity Intelligent Series report being amazed at how quick and easy agent training has become.  Training time can be reduced by 50 percent or more because of the built-in guidance that guides each agent through the complex call processes. 

Also, there is no need to use expensive IT staff to do advanced message scripting.  It can be done by call center supervisors and managers.

Agent errors are significantly reduced with the use of the Infinity Intelligent Series.  This is accomplished by automatically validating all of the information entered by agents and guiding them through the entire messaging and dispatching process.  All of the information and tools agents need to complete each call is available to them, including Websites, database information, photos, directories, and on-call schedules.

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

Amtelco Celebrates 30 Year Anniversary  (5/05)

Amtelco is celebrating 30 years serving the telecommunications industry.  Bill Curtin founded Amtelco in 1975, who embodied the company’s spirit of innovation.  He invented the Telesignal, the first phone line concentrator/identifier, in 1951.  The Telesignal identified which customer’s phone was ringing and reduced the number of lines between the telephone company and the TAS, cutting line costs by over 90 percent.  Curtin received a US patent in 1954 and a Canadian patent in 1956.  In 1991 Curtin was inducted into the ATSI National Hall of Fame. 

Today, Amtelco equipment is in operation in all 50 of the United States and in more than 20 other countries.  Millions of telephone calls a day are processed by Amtelco systems throughout the world.

Amtelco has three divisions:

• The Call Center Innovations Division is a leading provider of telemessaging equipment and systems to the TAS and call center industry.
• The 1Call Division specializes in offering communication solutions for healthcare and higher education facilities.
• The Amtelco XDS Technologies Division designs, manufactures, and markets several lines telecommunications switching boards. 

For more information on Amtelco’s 30 year history, contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148 or send an email to info@amtelco.com.

Amtelco Introduces Online Client Management Intelligence  (5/05)

Amtelco announced the launch of the Amtelco online Client Management Intelligence (CMI).  Call centers can use CMI to keep track of communication with clients or prospects and establish a system of measuring, monitoring, and increasing client satisfaction.  Major advantages include the collaborative elements, which allow for viewing and scheduling client contact activities for call center staff and give access to phone calls and email messages sent to clients.

CMI offers two software products: CMI Call Center and CMI Infinity.  CMI Infinity allows call centers to provide marketing services to their clients, such as phone or direct mail campaigns.  CMI Call Center provides a tool for call centers to control their own business development.

CMI Call Center and CMI Infinity both track contact activities including: phone calls, quote activity, meetings, service calls, billing inquiries, information requests, brochure mailings, emails sent, and training sessions or calls.  CMI contact history can be searched by date, salesperson, sales territory, and company.  CMI is available as a purchased or hosted client management solution.

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

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