Professional Teledata News

Enjoy Breakfast with Professional Teledata at ATSI Convention (6/08)

Professional Teledata will host a series of solutions seminar breakfasts at the annual ATSI convention in St. Louis.  “Each year, we strive to give our clients the best experience possible at the annual ATSI conference and expo,” said Pat Kalik, vice president of Professional Teledata.  “This year, we are once again offering solutions seminars to teach our clients new ways to use their system to improve profitability.” 

“Our clients have always embraced the system and the additional training we provide, and it has helped a lot of our clients to experience tremendous growth,” added Kalik.  “We are hopeful that our clients and anyone interested in learning about our system will join us at one or all of these breakfast seminars to see how they can use the Professional Teledata product lineup to improve profitability.”

The solution seminars will be held Thursday, June 19, Friday, June 20, and Saturday, June 21 at 7:30 a.m. at the 64th Annual ATSI Conference & Expo in the Texas Boardroom.  All are encouraged to attend, and breakfast will be served.

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

Professional Teledata Celebrates Twenty-Five Years (6/08)

Professional Teledata will celebrate twenty-five years in the industry at the upcoming ATSI Convention in St. Louis.  “I am pleased to find ourselves reaching this milestone.  It doesn’t seem like that long ago when I attended my first ATSI Convention in Bal Harbor, Florida twenty-five years ago.  The first Billing and Collections System aka BCS (which evolved into today’s Total Billing System, or TBS) was signed that year, and we have seen so many advancements since then,” stated Alan Hartmann, vice president of Professional Teledata.  “Tele-Data Systems was working on mini-computers the size of a small refrigerator, and the new ‘state-of-the-art’ personal computers came with a whopping 64K of memory and enormous dual 360 kilobyte floppies for storage,” he joked. 

Allen Kalik, president of Professional Teledata added, “It’s amazing to see that our company has evolved so very much and that we are still forward-thinking to this day.  The industry has seen many shifts and turns, and we’re so very proud that our company was built and continues to stand on such a strong TAS foundation.”

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

Professional Teledata Releases PInnacle v2.1 (5/08)

At the recent PIN conference, Professional Teledata released PInnacle version 2.1, which includes over fifty features and enhancements, many of which were “wish list” items from previous PIN conferences.  Some of the major features and enhancements include: multisite license, DNIS setup, and dispatch procedures to improve the power and ease of use of the PInnacle system. 

“We are excited to introduce the latest developments of the PInnacle product,” said Allen Kalik, president of Professional Teledata, as he addressed conference attendees.  “We’ve put a tremendous amount of energy and effort into improving our products and are proud to have been able to improve the programming aspect of the system so that less technical users will be able to navigate through the system with greater ease.  We strive to constantly incorporate our clients’ requests to improve the performance of our systems, and we’re quite proud of these latest developments.”   

“Our customers expressed overwhelming excitement when we introduced PInnacle 2.1,” added Jim Graham, vice president of development.  “We’re looking forward to servicing all of our new customers with its new features.”

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

Professional Teledata Announces Record Sales of Their TBS Product (5/08)

Professional Teledata announced record sales in the first quarter of 2008 for the Total Billing Solution (TBS) product.  “We have always been known for the strength in our lineup of products.  We are especially proud of the consistent development of our TBS product, and we’re not surprised that the industry has responded favorably to it,” said Alan Hartmann, vice president of Professional Teledata.   

In a Windows environment, TBS integrates billing, contact management, and inventory control for DIDs, pagers, and voice mailboxes.  The system is easy to use and supports multiple users and offices.  Furthermore, TBS imports, manipulates, and archives usage statistics from most call center equipment.  In addition, it interfaces to popular credit card authorization programs and to the ACH network for direct debiting.  It can also integrate client information, account setup, task assignment checklists, and an expanded account manager.

“We’ve seen a strong response this year from both our existing customers seeking to upgrade to TBS and from new prospects.  I attribute our recent success to the true strength of the product,” commented Karen Black, TBS product specialist.

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

Professional Teledata Unveils Redesigned Website (3/08)

In another phase of a strategic branding initiative, Professional Teledata has launched a redesigned Web site.  The freshly designed site, www.professionalteledata.com, provides expanded information about the company’s products, personnel and history, training schedule, user group information, and other related subjects.

Prospects will be able to directly download product information, request specific information, view a promotional video, or schedule a direct remote demonstration.  Current customers, through a secure login procedure, can report or request technical support, download manuals and release notes, or access a FAQ/knowledge database section.

Headquartered in Manchester, NH, Professional Teledata provides innovative software solutions to call centers around the world for transaction processing, inbound/outbound program design, and billing management.  

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

Professional Teledata Announces Multisite Licensing for PInnacle (1/08)

Professional Teledata announced optimized multisite configurations for its PInnacle Telemessaging System.  A multisite license allows several sites to share a single telephony installation and server-based database.  Remote sites consisting of only agent workstations can operate as complete, independent operations or dynamically share operational and dispatch responsibilities.  For example, sites can handle their respective first and second shift calls and reassign all third shift calls to a single, designated centralized site.

The benefits include:

• Operation of multiple sites or groups of agents as separate entities, each with their own assigned accounts, dispatchers, and procedures

• Reallocation of traffic and dispatching assignments from site to site on an automatic or manual basis

• Migration of individual accounts from site to site as required

• Maintenance of global management functions across all sites simultaneously

“As the industry experiences continued consolidation and absorption of geographically distant services into single operations, a new paradigm or business model is emerging,” said Allen Kalik, president.  “PInnacle’s multisite license eliminates the duplication of costly, unnecessary equipment and capacity, yet it maximizes the allocation of human resources.”

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

Professional Teledata’s Jim Graham Addresses International Conference (12/07)

Professional Teledata announced that Jim Graham, the company’s vice president of software development spoke at the 4th Xbase++ Developer’s Conference in Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany, November 14-16, 2007.  The conference was sponsored by Alaska Software Technology AG of Germany.

Jim addressed incorporating Xbase++ generated software code in various application products, as well as efficient integration into software products addressing vertical markets.  Jim said, “Xbase++ proved to be a powerful and efficient tool when Professional Teledata migrated their products from a DOS to a Windows platform.  The company developed close working relationships with Alaska Software and several independent contractors during the transition period.  We are pleased and honored for this opportunity to contribute to the success of their conference.”

Based in Frankfurt, Germany, Alaska Software (www.alaska-software.com) markets flexible, scalable software development tools for migration of enterprise-wide data processing infrastructures to future-oriented systems and platforms.

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

Professional Teledata Announces Availability of SNPP Paging Capability (11/07)

Professional Teledata announced the availability of the SNPP (Simple Network Paging Protocol) format for the PInnacle Telemessaging System.  “SNPP is emerging as a reliable and especially timely delivery method for various pagers and other receiving devices,” said Allen Kalik, president.  “The telemessaging industry is dependent upon the relay of data and information to clients in an assured and timely manner.  While voice communications are immediate and, by definition, verifiable, the entire paradigm of contacting clients is shifting to electronic, device-dependent contact methods.  The industry has always been quick to embrace and provide the latest technology to their clients, and the SNPP protocols are the most modern of these communication methods.”

The SNPP enhancements are being made available currently to all PInnacle users at no charge as part of their standard support package.

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

Professional Teledata Enhances PInnacle Message Ticket Options  (10/07)

Professional Teledata announced the availability of expanded formatting capabilities for the delivery of emails, faxes, alpha pages, and printed message tickets to clients from the PInnacle Telemessaging System.  The new options permit multiple formats to be sent to the same device depending upon any variable in a scripted response (“Is this urgent?”) or any system variable (time-of-day, day-of-week, on-call individual, and so forth).

“Account setup personnel can design multiple message tickets, and PInnacle automatically selects the most appropriate format when forwarding messages,” said Alan Kalik, president of Professional Teledata.  “This is another way the PInnacle System delivers customized solutions to our customer’s clients.  Telemessaging services are being required to handle ever-increasing complex applications that far exceed the simple ‘name-number-message’ data collection requirements of the past.  Today’s collected data must be delivered in a logical, coherent format optimized for interpretation by the client, and PInnacle now satisfies that requirement.”

The message ticket formatting enhancements are being made available currently to all PInnacle users at no charge as part of their standard support package.

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

Professional Teledata Initiates Credit Card Security Compliance (9/07)

Professional Teledata announced revised data handling routines to make PInnacle Telemessaging and PI-2000 Inbound Call Processing Systems compliant with revised standards and requirements as established by the payment card industry.  “The security surrounding credit card data has been made prominent in the news by several high-profile failures involving national retailers,” said Jim Graham, vice president of software development.  “The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard was established to improve security of all aspects of collecting, handling, storing, and transferring credit and debit card information.  Since our PInnacle and PI-2000 products have the ability to collect, validate, and optionally authorize credit card charges, Professional Teledata responded quickly.”

“We are committed to ensuring top-level security with any and all data that is stored through any of our products,” said Allen Kalik, president, “so becoming compliant with these standards was an initiative that we immediately embraced.”

The PCI compliance enhancements are available to all PInnacle and PI-2000 users at no charge as part of their standard maintenance agreement.

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries.  Contact Karen Black at 800-344-9944 x112.  Information regarding the PCI DDS compliance is available at www.pcicomplianceguide.org.

Professional Teledata Announces New PInnacle On-Call Scheduling Capabilities (9/07)

Professional Teledata announced new on-call scheduling procedures and capabilities.  “Maintaining accurate on-call schedules has always been a time-consuming but absolutely necessary task required for accurate dispatching to occur, said Pat Kalik, vice president of operations.  “PInnacle now has additional automated input and maintenance features to eliminate tedious, error-prone, repetitious tasks when entering on-call schedules.”

Unlimited future scheduling is made easy by entering date ranges, using screen-displayable calendars, or using find-and-replace capabilities.  Administrative personnel can enter reoccurring on-call cycles or delete old schedules with only a few keystrokes.

Clients can access their password-protected schedules via the Internet in a view-only or edit mode and be able to maintain their own schedules.  Informational displays for agents regarding clients’ on-call schedules have been improved and expanded.  Schedule descriptions and instructions and are now imbedded and associated with each schedule for quick, single stroke access by operators.

These enhancements will be included in the latest release of the PInnacle telemessaging system and will be available to all users under their standard maintenance agreements.

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries.  Contact Karen Black at 800-344-9944 x112 for more information.

Professional Teledata Launches New Versions of PInnacle and PI2000 (7/07)

Professional Teledata officially released PInnacle Telemessaging System 2.1 and PI2000 Inbound Call Processing Program 6.1 at the sixty-third annual ATSI Conference and Expo.  “We’ve put a tremendous amount of energy and effort into improving our products and are proud to have implemented a variety of new enhancements, many from our customers’ wish lists,” said Allen Kalik, president of Professional Teledata as he addressed many attendees at the conference.

“In this release we were able to introduce forty-five product specific enhancements to the systems, a true testament to the dedication our team has to making PInnacle the strongest product in the industry,” added Jim Graham, vice president of development.  The newest releases of the PInnacle and PI2000 systems span a wide spectrum of enhancements and new features including: improved account setup, advanced reporting of statistical data, catalog features and functions, and many more.  As is standard with the PI2000 and PInnacle purchases, the new releases have been made available at no charge to all users as part of their standard support agreement. 

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

Professional Teledata Hires Marketing Professional (7/07)

 To increase market share and to ensure long-term growth for the company, Professional Teledata has hired Diana Holland of Outstanding Marketing Solutions to develop and implement the company’s marketing strategy.  “We are excited to have Ms. Holland on our team,” said Allen Kalik, president of Professional Teledata.  “She brings a refreshing level of energy and enthusiasm to the table, and we are confident that her marketing background will assist us in meeting our long-term goals.  We’ve always been so focused on developing the products that we have sometimes struggled with letting our audience really know the strengths and value that our product lineup holds.  Ms. Holland will guide our marketing team with those goals in mind.”

Holland’s firm, Outstanding Marketing Solutions, specializes in strategic marketing planning and implementation of marketing goals through effective advertising methods.  “I’m proud to be the newest member of the Professional Teledata team.  I am so impressed by the products that the company offers.  Their focus truly is on developing the best products for the industry, and that makes my job so much more rewarding,” said Holland.

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

Business and Professional Exchange Recertifies with PInnacle System (7/07)

Business & Professional Exchange, Inc. (BPE) has requalified for the ATSI (Association of Teleservices International) Gold 24/7 Call Center Certification Award; it is the first PInnacle system to be awarded.  The certification indicates that BPE, Inc. has met or exceeded the high standards set for call center site certification.

Business & Professional Exchange, located in Beverly, MA, operates a twenty-six-position call center employing fifty agents.  The company was founded in 1977.

For more information about Business & Professional Exchange, Inc., visit www.bpeinc.com.  PInnacle is produced by Proteledata (www.professionalteledata.com); ATSI (www.atsi.org) is an international trade association for the teleservices industry.

Professional Teledata Releases PInnacle 2.1 and PI2000 6.1 (6/07)

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 for more information or visit www.professionalteledata.com.

Professional Teledata Announces Remote Traffic Monitoring Capabilities (5/07)

Professional Teledata announced the availability of its remote traffic monitor.  This capability permits any Web-enabled computer or handheld device to display the current call traffic activity being handled by a Millennium-based PInnacle telemessaging system.  This feature improves the flexibility and management controls for PInnacle users.

The remote traffic monitor reports include a call queue detail display, an agent detail display, and a summary display.  Information displayed for each call group includes:

• Number of calls in each queue

• Time of longest call in each queue

• Agent availability for each queue

Additional call traffic information includes account name, ANI, and DID, as well as agent ID, activity, and duration of activity.  “The remote traffic monitor is yet another key feature of the PInnacle system providing a convenient management tool for our users,” said Allen Kalik, president of Professional Teledata.  “The appropriate people are now instantaneously informed of current system traffic conditions regardless if they are in the next office, at home, or across the country.”

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries.  Contact Karen Black 800-344-9944 x112 for more information.

Professional Teledata Announces New Voicemail and Voice Logger Features (4/07)

Professional Teledata released new voicemail and voice logger features for the PInnacle telemessaging system. The Message Status Voicemail Update automatically updates the status of messages depending upon clients’ access. Clients checking messages via voicemail control whether their messages are “delivered off” or “held for future delivery” by simply listening to, saving, or deleting a voicemail message. This status change is customized on a per client basis and requires no special action on the part of the client.

“This is another step towards our goal of automating any process we can,” said Allen Kalik, president of Professional Teledata. “Operator time should be maximized for interactive conversations with clients’ callers, and automated operations should perform repetitive, rules-oriented tasks.”

Professional Teledata also announced the availability of an interface between the PInnacle TAS System and CenturiSoft’s Digital Voice Logger (DVL). This logger enables the recording of analog, digital, and VoIP calls. Additionally, agents can copy recorded calls from the logger into voicemail boxes using PInnacle’s Logger Recording Copy (LRC) feature.

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for telemessaging companies and call centers. Contact Karen Black 800-344-9944 x112 for more information.

Professional Teledata Adds Payment Option to Billing Program (4/07)

Professional Teledata announced a new payment option for users of their Total Billing Solution (TBS) program. TBS-based call centers can now offer their clients an option of paying monthly or periodic charges through an automatic direct transfer of funds from a designated bank account. Transfers can occur on a prescheduled basis coinciding with a variety of billing cycles.

Jeff List, senior product developer, said, “This is yet another feature in the program to facilitate prompt payments from customers and timely notifications of any potential payment problems. Developed in response to a customer request, it accelerates payments by eliminating errors when using checks, credit cards, or other payment methods.”

The new feature is an optional add-on to the TBS program and is available for immediate installation.

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries. Contact Karen Black at 800-344-9944 x112 for more information.

PInnacle Adds One-Step Copy Capability  (3/07)

Professional Teledata announced the PInnacle capability to copy an entire customer account, including script and associated data, to a new account with a single command. “This is part of our ongoing project to simplify account setup and accelerate conversions from other systems,” says Allen Kalik, president of Professional Teledata. “Having the ability to quickly and flawlessly copy an account facilitates the use of PInnacle’s starter accounts to add new clients. It also assists agents and reduces training when handling scripted calls of a similar nature.”

Professional Teledata attributes the ease of account replication to the inherent design of its database. Jim Graham, vice president for software development stated, “From the very early days of our PI-2000 product, it was decided to always give our customers direct access to their databases; i.e., an “open” system. Our databases are simple, unlinked, yet comprehensive, thereby making features such as copying simple and straightforward.”

The copying capabilities are part of the standard PInnacle program and are available to all licensed PInnacle users.

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries. Contact Karen Black 800-344-9944 x112 for more information.

Professional Teledata Announces Training Offerings  (3/07)

Professional Teledata announced the training schedule for its users of the PInnacle Telemessaging System and PI-2000 Inbound Call Processing System. An advanced class in PInnacle setup and operation will be offered on March 21-23. Topics will include advanced scripting techniques and implementation of new PInnacle features.

In addition, a two-day course in the programming and operation of the company’s Millennium digital switch will be offered on March 19-20. This course will convene immediately prior to the advanced PInnacle class for those looking to economize on travel expenses and attend both classes in one trip.

The complete current schedule is:

• PI-2000 Basic Administration March 12-14

• Millennium Digital Switch March 19-20

• PInnacle Setup and Operation March 21-23

• PI-2000 Advanced Administration May 7-9

All courses are conducted at the company’s headquarters in Manchester, NH.

For registration information, contact Karen Black at 800-344-9944 or visit www.professionalteledata.com.

Professional Teledata Enhances Spell-Checker with Multiple Dictionaries  (1/07)

Professional Teledata has enhanced their PInnacle Telemessaging System spell-checking capabilities.  The PInnacle spell-checker is an internal English version that is delivered with each system at no additional charge.  Spell-checking is enabled on an account-by-account and field-by-field basis.  Different accounts can access foreign language dictionaries, including Spanish and both Canadian and European French.  All dictionaries have the ability to append user-defined entries.

Jim Graham, vice president of software development for Professional Teledata, also pointed out the availability of both medical and legal volumes that can be appended to language-specific dictionaries.  Jim added, “The current medical dictionary contains over 125,000 entries, and periodic updates are available at a very reasonable cost.”

Allen Kalik, president of the company, stated, “Spell-checking, once considered an exotic luxury, is becoming a necessity considering the increased sophistication of the nature of incoming calls.  Medical and legal accounts especially benefit due to the absolute need for accuracy within their communications.”

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries.  Contact Karen Black at 800-344-9944 x112 for more information.

Professional Teledata Sells Milestone 30th System  (1/07)

Professional Teledata announced the 30th order for a PInnacle System since its introduction in 2003 to The Answer 2 (formerly ADS Communications).  “This represents a significant milestone in the growth of the company,” says Allen Kalik, president of Professional Teledata.  He continues, “We entered the telemessaging market with caution and some concern.  Some claimed it was an over-saturated market with an abundance of competitors.  It was the users of our PI-2000 Inbound Call Processing System that encouraged us, both emotionally and financially, to forge ahead.  We now find ourselves substantially ahead of even our most optimistic projections.”

Dick Huffer, owner of The Answer 2, said, “We are pleased to be part of this eventful occasion.  We looked at the PInnacle System several years ago and decided it was a ‘not if, but when’ decision to become part of the PInnacle family.  It was evident that the designers of the PInnacle System had hands-on experience in running a successful call center.”

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries.  Contact Karen Black (800)344-9944 x112 for more information.

Professional Teledata Expands Message Formatting  (12/06)

Professional Teledata announced the expansion of message formatting capabilities on the PInnacle Telemessaging System.  “PInnacle allows a message to generate an unlimited number of destinations based upon responses to scripted questions (“Is this an emergency?”) or system/account variables (time-of-day, day-of-week, person-on-call, etc.),” explained Allen Kalik, president of Professional Teledata. “Now each destination within an account that generates readable output can automatically invoke a pre-designed format varying in layout and can include or exclude information as required. The screen image of the message can have its own unique format for optimal operator use.”

Allen explained that transmissions to noncompliant HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) destinations can exclude sensitive information without any decision making required by the operator. Alpha pages will usually be a subset of information collected on a call, and multiple dispatched emails can be customized for each recipient. This multiformat messaging environment satisfies the most demanding client requirements.

Contact Karen Black 800-344-9944 x112 for more information or visit www.professionalteledata.com. 

Professional Teledata Expands Support Staff  (12/06)

Professional Teledata today announced the expansion of its support staff for PInnacle Telemessaging System installations.  Effective immediately, Wendy Comella and Matt Salvas have joined the company in providing both technical customer support for existing users and account transfer services for new customers of the PInnacle Telemessaging System.

“We are pleased to have Wendy and Matt join the staff, especially since they have experience with both the company’s products and the telephone answering industry,” said Jim Graham, vice president of software development.  “We look forward to them making a substantial contribution to Professional Teledata’s excellent reputation for providing timely and efficient assistance to our growing customer base.”Wendy and Matt will be based at the company’s Manchester, NH headquarters. 

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries.  Contact Karen Black at 800-344-9944 x112 for more information. 

Professional Teledata Makes 2-Way Emailing Available (10/06)

Professional Teledata announced the availability of two-way email communications on their PInnacle Telemessaging System.  Agents can send emails to desktops, cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), or any device capable of receiving emails.  Recipients may reply with instructions or any other communication back to the agent.  The contents of the replies are automatically linked to the original transmission to facilitate further communications and to act as an audit trail.

Jim Graham, vice-president of software development, added that initial email communications may be accepted by the PInnacle system.  He cites the example of a malfunctioning piece of self-monitoring equipment automatically generating an email and, based upon its content, an agent contacting the appropriate on-call individual to address the problem.  “The advantages to clients are numerous and varied and create new markets and applications for the call center.” 

The two-way emailing capabilities are being made available currently to all PInnacle users at no charge as part of their standard support package. 

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries.  Contact Karen Black at 800-344-9944 x112 for more information.

Professional Teledata Releases Folio Reports for PI/PInnacle  (9/06)

Professional Teledata released Folio Reports for users of their PI-2000 and PInnacle Telemessaging systems.  A Folio Report is a flexible documentation tool used to present account information to clients.  Folio Reports is being provided at no charge to PI-2000 and PInnacle sites under Professional Teledata’s standard support agreement.  Based on Crystal Reports, the product allows for easy selection, display, and output of settings and entries including:

• Account configuration and settings (time zone, colors, etc.)
• Script utilized for generating message ticket
• Screen shots of script pages
• Account specific Help topics
• Client instructions
• Contact information
• On call information
• Answer phrase

Information can be output to a screen, local printer, remote fax, or an email address.  “Maintaining and conveying current account information is often a neglected task in many call centers,” said Alan Hartmann, product developer.  “Folio Reports accurately reflects stored account setup information and can be easily reviewed by the client on a periodic basis.”

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries.  Contact Karen Black at 800-344-9944 x112 for more information.

Professional Teledata Releases TBS v3.0  (7/06)

Professional Teledata announced the availability of the Total Billing Solution (TBS) Version 3.0.  “This new version incorporates several new features and enhancements in response to requests from both our current users and from market requirements,” said Jeff List, Senior Software Engineer for the TBS product line.

Major new features include:

• Items Due Reminder: A “To Do” list generated from Contact Management notes.
• ProfitFinder: Allows users to model the effect of rate adjustments on account profitability and apply changes as desired.
• Email Attachments: Send “billing stuffers” with emailed invoices and statements.
• Enhanced Customer Lookup: Lookup by invoice number, payment, or resource with user-selectable lookup fields.
• Flexible Proration of recurring and periodic rates when starting service, stopping service, or adding a new service to an account.
• Updated Documentation: Online help for any function using the F1 key.

An upgrade to TBS 3.0 is available to all current TBS users at no charge under existing maintenance contracts.  Users will be notified by Professional Teledata when a TBS 3 update is available for their system.

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries.

Professional Teledata to Début PInnacleNET at ATSI (6/06)

Professional Teledata will demonstrate its new PInnacleNET product at the 62nd Annual ATSI Convention & Expo in Portland, ME on June 21-24.  PInnacleNet provides seamless integration of call handling across multiple PI-2000 or PInnacle sites.   Messages and orders can be taken at multiple remote locations and immediately returned to the originator for dispatching and other post-processing tasks.  Alternatively, calls can be handled entirely by the remote site.  PI-2000 and PInnacle customers benefit from load sharing, agent scheduling efficiencies, and disaster recovery.

“PIinnacle agents are typically trained in a fraction of the time of competing systems, so handling calls on unfamiliar accounts is not an obstacle,” said Jim Graham, Vice President of Software Development.

“The sharing of high volume accounts and disaster recovery are obvious implementations of PInnacleNET,” added Allen Kalik, President of Professional Teledata.  “Multi-site services will utilize PInnacleNET to create a flexible, configurable, secure operation acting as a single system.”

PInnacleNet is currently being tested and will be available for general distribution by July 1, 2006.

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries.  Contact Karen Black at 800-344-9944 x112 for more information.

Professional Teledata Hosts PIN User Group Meeting (6/06)

Professional Teledata hosted the annual Professional Inbound Network (PIN) meeting in Manchester, New Hampshire on May 1-3.  The meeting was preceded by a dedicated pre-meeting session of PInnacle users.  In addition to company and product updates, sessions included:

• reporting and account documentation capabilities
• recent changes in the credit card industry
• monitoring quality of service
• disaster recovery
• marketing of services

A multi-station system was available throughout the meeting for attendees to try out the newest enhancements and improvements.  The meeting concluded with the usual lively wish list session.  Professional Teledata also included a preview of their new PInnacleNET product that will be officially announced at the 2006 ATSI Convention & Expo in Portland, Maine on June 21-24.

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries.

Professional Teledata Expands Training Offerings  (5/06)

Professional Teledata announced new training courses for its users of the PInnacle Telemessaging System. An advanced class in PInnacle setup and operation will be first offered on July 24-26. Topics will include advanced scripting techniques and implementation of new PInnacle features.

In addition, a two day course in the programming and operation of the company’s Millennium digital switch will be offered on May 4-5. This course will convene immediately following the annual Professional Inbound Network conference to be held earlier that week. Other scheduled classes are: 

• May 17-19: PI-2000 Basic Administration 

• June 5-7: PI-2000 Advanced Administration

• July 24-26: PInnacle Basic Administration 

All courses are conducted at the company’s headquarters in Manchester, NH. 

For registration information contact Karen Black at 800-344-9944 or visit www.professionalteledata.com. 

Professional Teledata Expands Support Staff  (5/06)

Professional Teledata announced the expansion of its support staff.  Elaine Senecal has joined the company as a Product Support Specialist.  Elaine has extensive experience in the teleservices industry and has the unique experience of being a Senior Supervisor at the site of Professional Teledata’s first installation of its PI-2000, PInnacle’s predecessor product.  “Elaine has exactly the experience we were seeking – working with PI-2000 and PInnacle, both as a customer and an industry consultant,” said Allen Kalik, president of Professional Teledata.  “Elaine will be a huge asset in assisting new users to implement their new PInnacle System.” 

Also joining the company is Dale Goulette, Applications Engineer.  Previously with Sprint and eOn Communications, Dale’s primary responsibility will be the on-site installation and programming of system hardware at new PInnacle sites. “Dale’s expertise with digital telephone switches is directly applicable to our immediate needs and we look forward to his joining our team.” says Dale Schafer, VP of Engineering.

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries.  

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

Professional Teledata Releases Audio Training Tutorial  (4/06)

Professional Teledata released the PInnacle Audio Tutorial (PAT).  Designed and written by teleservices and teaching specialists, the interactive audio tutorial is synchronized with a live account file on the PInnacle system for self-instruction by new agents.

The professionally recorded, 100 minute program contains hundreds of exercises divided into 12 lessons covering all agent related aspects of the PInnacle system in a step-by-step manner.  The audio program and scripted starter account will be made available at no charge to all existing PInnacle users.

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries.  

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

Professional Teledata Releases New PI-2000 Version 7.0  (1/06)

Professional Teledata announced the release of a new version for users of its PI-2000 Inbound Call Processing System (Oe-main version 7.0). Version 7.0 is available at no charge to all PI-2000 users under their current support and maintenance agreement. 

Account setup procedures have been modified and reorganized to improve navigation both between and within accounts and data input. Data representing account information was formerly limited to large table-like displays but users can now view all required fields of any table in a single display. In addition, fields not requiring input are automatically "grayed-out." 

"As the PI-2000 product grew more powerful and capable over the past 12 years, we were constantly adding new and larger tables to contain account information," said Jim Graham, Vice-President of Software Development. "We reached the point where the original scheme of data management was becoming inefficient. Version 7.0 directly addresses the need for quick satisfaction of client's needs." 

Professional Teledata (www.professionalteledata.com) provides systems and software products for the telemessaging and call center industries. Contact Karen Black at 800-344-9944 x112 for more information.

Professional Teledata Announces PinnFax for PInnacle Users  (12/05)

Professional Teledata announced the introduction of PinnFax, a new fax and alpha paging system for PInnacle users. Based on the Linux open source operating system, the new system is capable of up to 48 simultaneous alpha/fax transmissions. PinnFax is an integrated module that is currently delivered with each new PInnacle Telemessaging System from Professional Teledata. 

"The existing FMDS systems are rock-solid and the current industry standard for faxing and alpha-paging." said Rick Moore, chief developer of the new system. "However, PinnFax is a completely re-engineered product retaining the best of the existing system while taking advantage of current developments in hardware and software." 

For more information, call Professional Teledata at 800-344-9944 or www.professionalteledata.com. 

Incoming Call Data Available to PInnacle Agents  (12/05)

Professional Teledata announced a new feature to the PInnacle agent interface. Agents and customer service personnel have immediate access to all incoming call data from the eOn Millennium digital switch. The new upgrade is being provided at no charge to all Millennium-based PInnacle sites under Professional Teledata's standard support agreement. 

With a single keystroke, agents can view information regarding all calls received by the PInnacle Telemessaging System. Call records include date, time, client ID, caller ID, calling party name, queue time, if answered, and assigned agent station. Stored in chronological order, search and sort capabilities are included to quickly isolate an individual call. "Written in direct response to our customer's requests, this new capability further improves the efficiency of operations and customer service of PInnacle installations," said Allen Kalik, president of Professional Teledata. 

For more information, call Professional Teledata at 800-344-9944 or www.professionalteledata.com.

Professional Teledata Announces Extended VOIP Capabilities  (10/05)

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. 

Professional Teledata Adds Profitability Analysis to TBS Billing Program  (9/05)

Professional Teledata announced the release of Profit Finder, a profitability calculation and analysis tool that operates in conjunction with their TBS (Total Billing Solution) program. The effect of various changes to a rate structure or billing methods may be input to discover the optimal setting for any particular client. Inputs may be considered retroactively to not only model future "what-if" scenarios, but also "what-if-we-had" scenarios. Profit Finder is included in the TBS 3.0 upgrade as part of Professional Teledata's software maintenance program.

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

Professional Teledata Compliant with New Security Standard  (7/05)

At the beginning of the year, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover each had their own methods and standards to deal with the secure handling of cardholder information. In December, 2004 they announced a plan to align all programs under a single standard of commonly accepted industry tools and measurements resulting in a single validation process. The resulting PCI (Payment Card Industry) Data Security Standard was scheduled for full implementation by June 30, 2005.

Professional Teledata announced the immediate availability of upgrades to users of their PInnacle telemessaging system, PI-2000 Inbound call processing system, and TBS billing systems for compliance with the new standard. “In a world under constant siege by unlawful and criminal elements, it is imperative that participants in commerce of all types have the strongest of safeguards in place,” said Jim Graham, VP of Development at Professional Teledata. “We are pleased to offer our users the latest and best tools to ensure data integrity.”

Contact Karen Black 800-344-9944 x112 for more information or visit www.professionalteledata.com.

Professional Teledata, the manufacturer of the PInnacle TAS and call center system, will offer CenturiSoft's voicemail and unified message system to their new and existing PInnacle users effective immediately.  The two systems will be fully integrated for live and stand-alone voicemail messaging, announcement, and message relay functions. Already installed in five centers, it is planned that the two products undergo progressively tighter integrations including bi-directional text/voice message tracking and notification. PInnacle is a telemessaging platform with a reputation for flexibility and ease-of-use; CenturiSoft is a feature-rich voicemail system. 

According to Professional Teledata's president, Allen Kalik, "Our customers have been asking for the CenturiSoft as the number one voicemail solution in our industry. It has always been our philosophy to integrate the best products available into our system whenever possible and this was a logical move for us." 

John Pope, President of CenturiSoft agrees, "I have the highest regard for the PInnacle product and their technical staff. I see a strong synergy between our companies and our products." 

For more information about Professional Teledata, contact Karen Black at 800-344-9944 x112 or visit www.professionalteledata.com. For more information about CenturiSoft, call 800-866-1929 x1 or visit www.centurisoft.com. 

Professional Teledata Releases Account Setup Program  (5/05)

Professional Teledata announced a new program to input and maintain telemessaging accounts on the PInnacle Telemessaging System, Pinnacle Management Program Ver. 7.0. The new program is designed to facilitate the inputting and setup of new and existing accounts to take advantage of the advanced features the PInnacle offers. Improvements include the ability to work on multiple accounts simultaneously, ease of navigation within an account, and an improved and consistent user interface. 

"Except for startup operations, any purchaser of a new telemessaging system from a different vendor is faced with the task of inputting their entire account base in to the new system," said Allen Kalik, President of Professional Teledata. "To date, because PInnacle was originally conceived as an extension of the PI-2000 system, navigating between and within accounts was neither always intuitive nor painless. Therefore, we decided to start with a clean slate and re-wrote the entire user interface from the ground up. We anticipate the new program will yield a 25 to 35 percent reduction in the time required to setup and enter data for a new account." 

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

Professional Teledata Releases End-User Internet Access for PInnacle  (5/05)

Professional Teledata released PInnacle Web Interface (PWI) for the PInnacle Telemessaging System. PWI permits telemessaging clients to access messages and on-call tables (schedules) using a standard Web browser. The displayed page may be customized to include the call center's logo and other marketing related information. Access and security is strictly controlled by username and password requirements as well as configurable timed logouts.

With PWI, clients can access their account within the PInnacle System, view or print messages and message history, and optionally change the message's status to "delivered." On-call schedules (PInnacle permits multiple schedules per account) may be created, accessed, viewed, or modified based upon the security level of the client.

In addition, clients can generate custom reports with full access to their message database. Custom report development, using standard reporting tools such as Crystal Reports, may be done by the client, call center staff, or Professional Teledata. PInnacle Web is scheduled to be delivered to all PInnacle installations as part of their standard monthly maintenance program.

Contact Karen Black 800-344-9944 x112 for more information or visit www.professionalteledata.com.

Professional Teledata announced the availability of enhanced digital paging capabilities in their PInnacle Telemessaging System. Only a single agent keystroke is required to initiate and complete dispatches including up to 99 retries within 1-99 minute intervals. 

Also, a series of conditions determine whether a dispatch is to be sent, to whom, and under which circumstances. "This new feature extends PInnacle's design philosophy of accurate, pre-programmed operations with minimal operator intervention," said Professional Teledata's President, Allen Kalik. "Teleservice companies can offer their clients highly customized notification and data delivery options without incurring the usual training and error-prone procedures." 

The improved dispatch capabilities are being delivered to all existing users as part of Professional Teledata's standard support program. Professional Teledata provides solutions to the teleservices and call center industries including TBS billing systems, PI-2000 inbound call processing systems, and FMDS faxing solutions. 

For more information, call Professional Teledata at 800-344-9944 or www.professionalteledata.com.