| [View Past Issues] | March 01, 2011 |
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Cut costs and improve service, a 7 Point Plan for Proactive ITSM
Thursday, March 10, 2011 / 10:00am PT
Hornbill with guest speaker from Forrester Research, presents 7 proactive and progressive steps to lower cost through service optimization. Topics to be specifically addressed include:
- proactive problem management
- effective knowledge management
- standardized service offerings
- automated process & repetitive tasks
- empowering the customer with Self-Service
- shared service opportunities
- service desk consolidation economies
Calabrio's Workforce Optimization Suite Breaks New Ground with Personalized Widget-Based Dashboards
Calabrio, Inc., a provider of contact center workforce optimization software, released an all new design of its Web 2.0-based Calabrio ONE enterprise software suite. A hallmark of the Calabrio ONE suite is the personalized dashboard, which is presented as a series of widgets, in an OpenSocial framework embraced by popular social media sites. Each user can choose from the widget library of performance graphs and activities, then position and configure the dashboard according to their own needs and preferences.
CosmoCom Technology to Help Remove Language Barriers for Hospital Patients
CosmoCom announced that MasterWord Services has chosen their CosmoCall Universe contact center suite to provide the backbone for their voice and video interpretation service. This service will assist patients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) to communicate more effectively with health care providers, giving those patients an opportunity to play a more active role in their treatment. MasterWord's new service will facilitate communication by giving medical center staff the ability to connect remotely - via voice and/or video - to interpreters from around the United States through their CosmoCom based Contact Center.
CTI Group to Launch Interactive Communications Management Suite for Contact Centers
CTI Group (Holdings) Inc., a provider of enterprise communications management software and services, announced that it will be launching the SmartInteraction Suite for contact centers. Engineered to meet the needs of VoIP and premised-based contact centers, CTI Group extends its SmartRecord solution with the release of their SmartInteraction Suite. The SmartInteraction Suite provides organizations of all types and disciplines with a comprehensive platform for recording, evaluating and taking action on valuable phone based customer interaction.
Support for Mobile and Social Media Environments -- Survey Results
Thursday, March 24 - 11:00am PDT/ 2:00pm EDT
How are support operations evolving to assist customers on their mobile devices and in social media environments? A new survey from SupportIndustry.com reveals that these two factors are forcing a major paradigm shift in the customer support industry.
Join this webinar with industry expert Rich Gallagher as he explores the survey results and key trends in customer support. Gallagher will detail how mobile support environments and social media have quickly become very real issues for service providers and how these factors will fundamentally transform support in 2011 and beyond.
Attend this interactive webinar to discover:
- Why most support operations will adopt a mobile support strategy in 2011
- Directions for social media support
- The future of web chat as a support channel
- And more....
Gartner Survey Shows CRM Software Spending Is Expected to See the Largest Increase of all Application Software Markets
Spending on customer relationship management (CRM) software is expected to see the largest increase of all the application software markets worldwide in 2011, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. Overall, 31 percent of respondents expect an increase in application software spending in 2011.
In comparing their 2011 fiscal budgets with 2010, 42 percent of survey respondents indicated that they expect to increase spending on CRM in 2011, compared to 39 percent on office suites and 36 percent on enterprise resource planning (ERP), which ranked second and third, respectively.
Gartner conducted an expansive primary research survey of more than 1,500 IT leaders of organizations in 40 countries, which concluded in July 2010. The goal was to determine software spending allocations for IT budgets in 2010 and predictions for 2011.
Gartner added that buyers of CRM continue to focus on investments that promote customer retention and enhance the customer experience, and they are increasingly interested in technologies that encourage development of customer communities and social networks. SaaS adoption continues to be a key driver. SaaS within the CRM industry is expected to exceed $4 billion in total software revenue in 2014, representing more than 32 percent of the overall CRM market. Marketing automation remains the market segment with the strongest growth, with the greatest demand coming from campaign and lead management and analytics.
Worldwide application software spending is expected to increase 31 percent in 2011, up 9 percent from last year, and emerging markets are planning for higher budget growth. Asia/Pacific is expected to have the largest increase, at 37 percent in 2011, up from 14 percent growth last year, followed by Latin America and EMEA showing an increase of 35 and 27 percent in 2011, respectively.
More...
Survey Indicates Renewed Improvement in Senior Executives' Economic Outlook; Anticipated Growth Driven by Increase in Consumer Confidence, Hiring and Capital Investment
The Corporate Executive Board released results from its quarterly Business Barometer survey, which pointed to several signs of economic improvement in the fundamentals of U.S. businesses. Driven by anticipated increases in consumer confidence, hiring and capital spending, the collective optimism of the more than 400 senior executives who participated in the survey boosted its sentiment index by 1.5 - to 50.6 in Q1 2011 from 48.9 in Q4 2010 - marking the second consecutive quarter of executives' improved economic outlook.
Notably, 82 percent of senior executives expect their firms' revenues to increase, up from 76 percent in Q4 2010, with 50 percent expecting meaningful growth of five percent or more. Additionally, 69 percent of senior executives expect their industries' revenues to grow in the next 12 months (compared to 62 percent in Q4 2010).
One of the most significant improvements in the Q1 Business Barometer was senior executives' sentiment regarding consumer confidence, with 56 percent of senior executives expecting consumer confidence to improve (compared to 39 percent in Q4 2010 and 38 percent in Q3 2010). This quarter's survey also saw a significant improvement in sentiment among executives about their companies' hiring practices, with 58 percent of senior executives expecting overall staff headcount to grow in the next twelve months (compared to 50 percent in Q4 2010).
Additional notable findings from CEB's Q1 2011 Business Barometer include:
- Growth prospects in the U.S. and E.U. improved dramatically, with 50 percent of executives seeing stronger economic growth in these industrialized economies (compared to 32 percent in Q4 2010 and Q3 2010).
- The percentage of executives expecting an increase in R&D spending increased to 56 percent, compared to 43 percent in Q4 2010.
- In the next twelve months, 57 percent of executives expect more M&A deals, up from 53 percent in Q4 2010.
- Sixty-six percent of surveyed executives expect to introduce a higher number of new products (compared to 53 percent in Q4 2010) and 94 percent expect to maintain or somewhat increase existing capacity levels (compared to 45 percent in Q4 2010).
Top Ten Call Center Best Practices to Improve FCR
When you improve your First Call Resolution (FCR), not only do you achieve operational savings, you also reduce customers at risk, which is typically a savings opportunity that is 5 to 10 times greater than the operational FCR improvement savings. Most importantly, improving the call center's FCR performance creates a positive impact on CSAT (customer satisfaction), operating costs, and the call center's ability to retain customers for the organization. Given these operational factors, here are the top ten best practices for improving FCR.
Full Article...
Mobilizing Enterprise Apps: The Next Big Leap
It's time to take the next step in your strategy for mobilizing enterprise applications--that is, if you have one. We're not talking about giving e-mail access, instant messaging, or personal contact management to mobile workers. That's the easy stuff. A mobile apps strategy is about connecting employees and customers with core systems and e-commerce capabilities. With the latest generation of smartphones, those interactions can be a wholly different experience, and the pioneers are pushing new boundaries.
Full Article...
The Evolution of CRM Communication Channels
A good brand/product/service, when offered through social networks, receives positive feedback; on the other hand, if it is not good, it receives severe criticism. Both positive and negative feedback spread quickly through social networks to a larger prospective customer base that can influence purchase decisions either in favor or against an organization.
Full Article...
An Agile Approach to Change Management
Organizations can leverage enterprise change management practices in conjunction with their agile development teams to foster IT delivery adoption.
Full Article...
The Benefits of Simulation-Based Call Center Training
Using simulation technology to train customer contact agents can improve their productivity and effectiveness, according to a research study by the Georgia Institute of Technology. The project, compared conventional training vs. a simulation based training approach. Simulation training uses the agent's actual working environment -- telephone, computer, system and workspace -- to teach agents to effectively listen, think, talk and type at the same time. The research shows that contact centers can benefit from by using simulation-based training to build new hire skills.
Full Article...
The Thank You Economy
by Gary Vaynerchuk
The Thank You Economy offers compelling, data-driven evidence that we have entered into an entirely new business era, one in which the companies that see the biggest returns won't be the ones that can throw the most money at an advertising campaign, but will be those that can prove they care about their customers more than anyone else. The businesses and brands that harness the word-of-mouth power from social media, those that can shift their culture to be more customer-aware and fan-friendly, will pull away from the pack and profit in today's markets.
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Free Research on the Service and Support Industry
Are you looking for the latest research available (for free!) on the service and support industry? Then check out the research section of SupportIndustry.com. Some of the current offerings available to members are:
- 2010 Service and Support Metrics Survey Result
- Research Insight: Self-Service Support
- Research Insight: Average Speed to Answer, Wait Time and Handle Time
- 2010 Service and Leadership Trends in Customer Support
- Research Insight: Effectively Measuring Customer Loyalty
- Research Insight: Cost Per Contact (Phone & E-Mail)
- Research Insight: First Contact Resolution
All of these reports can be accessed by clicking here...
Visit the SupportIndustry.com Blog
The SupportIndustry.com Blog is another way stay on top of the service and support industry. Our blog, updated at least once a week, is dedicated to covering the latest topics related to service and support, call center management, customer experience management, web-based support, help desks, workforce optimization and more.
Check it out today
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Editorial suggestions, feedback & comments:
Carolyn Healey, Editor - chealey@supportindustry.com
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