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Voxify Supports Genesys to Deliver the "Intelligent Customer Front Door" Solution
Voxify, a company that enables contact centers to offer self-service for customer phone calls, announced that it will provide critical speech applications in support of the Genesys "Intelligent Customer Front Door(TM)" (iCFD) solutions. The integrated speech solutions will deliver a virtual front door for all incoming calls to enhance the customer experience and deliver a consistent brand image by applying business logic to each transaction that considers caller identity, intent, preferences and call context to enable personalized interactions.

Telrex Announces Expansion of "Pay-as-You-Grow" Licensing for CallRex Call Recording and Call Center Optimization Suite
Telrex, provider of the CallRex(TM) suite of IP call recording and call center optimization solutions, announced the availability of a subscription-based pricing model for all CallRex solutions. The subscription-based licensing model allows companies to simply pay a monthly fee for the number of users being recorded. The CallRex suite includes IP call recording and monitoring, agent evaluation, training and eLearning, speech analytics, workforce management, and hosted IP recording solution designed for service providers using softswitches.

CallMiner and Aspect Empower Evanston Northwestern Healthcare to Enhance Overall Patient Care
CallMiner, a provider of advanced speech analytics, and Aspect Software, a company focused solely on unified communications for the contact center, announced that Evanston Northwestern Healthcare (ENH), an integrated system of hospitals and a 500-physician medical group, will be deploying Aspect Unified IP coupled with CallMiner Eureka. The implementation of Aspect’s unified contact center platform that offers automatic call distributor (ACD), voice portal, dialer, quality management, and unified reporting, routing and administration capabilities, and CallMiner’s sophisticated speech analytics functionality, will enable the organization to greatly enhance overall patient care.

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• Never having to manually recharge devices: Today, the ubiquity of portable computing and communications devices powered by battery means that many people would find it highly desirable to either have their batteries charged remotely or their devices powered by a remote source, bypassing the use of batteries altogether. However, any commercial application of wireless powering still seems a long way off.

• Parallel Programming: The challenge with parallel computing is to create applications that fully exploit a “multi-core” architecture by dividing a problem into smaller individual problems addressed by individual processors. To overcome this, key issues will need to be addressed, including effectively breaking up processes into specific sub-processes, determining which tasks can be handled simultaneously by multiple processes, scheduling tasks to be processed simultaneously and designing the architecture of the parallel processing environment.

• Non Tactile, Natural Computing Interface: The idea of interacting with computers without any mechanical interface has long been a desirable goal in computing. Some of the many challenges that remain in this area include the ability to detect gestures, developing a gesture dictionary and the need for real-time processing. Another set of challenges relate to natural language processing, which include speech synthesis, speech recognition, natural language understanding, natural language generation, machine translation and translating one natural language into another.

• Automated Speech Translation: Once the many hurdles of natural language processing are overcome to yield human-to-computer communications in one language, the complexity extends further when translation and output is required to a target language that is understandable to a human. Some rudimentary systems have already been created to accomplish basic speech translation, such as one-way and two-way translations.

• Persistent and Reliable Long-Term Storage: Current technologies are hard-pressed to perfectly preserve Dr. Francine Berman’s 2006 estimate of 161 Exabytes (x10 to the 18th power) of digital information on digital media for more than 20 years. The barriers to long-term archiving (in excess of 100 years) that must be overcome include format, hardware, software, metadata, information retrieval, just to mention a few.

• Increase Programmer Productivity 100-fold: As business and society's demand for software development increases, and the apparent decline of students pursuing software engineering and computer science degrees intensifies, removing uncertainty from meeting future demands will have to be met by increasing the output, or productivity, per programmer. While the exploration and development of tools to enhance productivity continues to capture attention, it would appear that effectively and efficiently exploiting reusable code is one of the most encouraging rays of hope to yield more output per programmer.

• Identifying the Financial Consequences of IT Investing: One of the most perplexing challenges faced by IT leaders has been to convey the business value of IT in terms readily understandable by business executives. Unlike financial accounting measurements which are standard across public companies, the particular management accounting metrics could be different for each company. This Grand Challenge would be considered conquered when a request for an IT project was argued with the following certainty: "If you invest in our IT proposal, you will see an additional $0.03 earnings per share directly attributable to this project by the third quarter of next year."

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Mobile SFA: Empowering the 24/7 Road Warrior
Empowering the sales force with tools to work remotely has evolved dramatically since the first wave of smart phones hit the streets nearly ten years ago. Sales reps have grown adept at basic applications such as email and web browsing, but often still wait for an end-of-day laptop session to access their CRM system. A recent study conducted on mobile SFA conducted by Aberdeen reveals that companies are increasingly turning to mobile SFA tools in order to boost sales force productivity, shorten customer response time, and increase executive insight in sales activities. Best-in-Class companies are 3.8 times more likely than Laggards to reduce the amount of downtime for field personnel through the use of mobile SFA devices.

The top pressure causing all organizations to focus resources on mobile SFA stems from the most fundamental sales goal: to increase sales productivity. Best-in-Class companies indicated that they currently perform on-the-spot customer demos (63%) and have access to centralized repository of accounts, history, contacts, tasks, inventory, and pipeline (53%).

The report demonstrates the value of collectively leveraging organizational practices in process, performance measurement, knowledge management and technology to provide a foundation for sales effectiveness. By utilizing mobile access to sales management tools and linking customer records with incoming correspondence, Best-in-Class companies are able to positively affect both sales productivity and customer satisfaction.
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Banks Set the Customer Satisfaction Standard for Online Financial Services
Customer satisfaction with online banking far surpasses other online financial services like credit cards and investment, according to a new study conducted by ForeSee Results and Forbes.com. According to the Online Financial Services Study, which employs the methodology of the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), online banking scores 82 on ACSI’s 100-point scale. Credit card websites and investment websites both score 75.

In banking, the online channel (up 12% from 2003) significantly outperforms overall retail banking in terms of customer satisfaction, which scored 78 when measured by ACSI in 2007. This is the first year the study surveyed credit card and investment website customers.

Credit cards struggle to move beyond commodity status, and the low score for credit card websites indicates that credit card companies are not maximizing the value of the online channel to overall business operations. Credit card companies do not tend to have strong relationships with their customers, but the study suggests that investments in improving website performance and the site experience would improve loyalty.

For investment websites, customers are more likely to use the online channel than any other channel, so it is imperative that the website meet customer needs. Highly satisfied customers are 37% more likely to increase online transactions and 51% more likely to purchase more services than dissatisfied customers, which clearly demonstrates the value of online customer satisfaction.
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Cutting Back on Green PC Initiatives Leads to False Economies
Organizations that are tempted to cut back on green PC initiatives as part of wider IT cost-cutting efforts may find themselves out of pocket in the near- to mid-term, according to Gartner, Inc. For most companies, being green actually saves money and alleviates some of the pressure on IT budgets.

Companies should continue to move forward with green PC initiatives that began in 2007 and accelerate certain programs, particularly those that deliver power savings, so that organizational efficiencies can have an impact on the budget as soon as possible.

Gartner’s has identified four key areas where green PC initiatives can lead to cost savings:

• 1. Look for Eco-Friendly Labels on New PCs
  Switching to a more eco-friendly model can reduce power consumption by 20 percent or more and usually carries only a very small premium (typically less than $20 per desktop). If an organization cuts back on new PC procurement, then switching the remaining new purchases to systems carrying these new eco-credentials will usually have no negative impact on operations but will lower energy costs.

• 2. Green Really Can Save Money
  Putting machines into a low power state when not in use is a low risk, but a highly effective change to a PC fleet because it costs little or nothing (typically less than $10 a year) to implement and reduces energy costs from more than $75 a year to approximately $18 a year. Concerns about patch installation are easily addressed by modern power-state management tools.

• 3. There’s Gold in Old Machines
  Good PC disposal programs become even more critical in the event of a business downturn. When properly disposed of, older equipment has value that can help pay for newer, more-efficient systems. System recycling is the preferable solution but even machines beyond refurbishment will have value based on parts and embedded recyclable materials.

• 4. Efficient Users Tend to Be Green Users
  The most-efficient way of fulfilling a business process can often be the "greenest." Programs that encourage the reduction of travel and commuting may require a minor uplift in technology spending, but are also likely to improve workers’ productivity and attitudes. Reducing the printing and distribution of paper will not only reduce environmental waste but typically will speed up business processes.

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Misrepresented Items, Lack of Customer Support Sabotage Online Shopping Experience
Nearly one quarter (24 percent) of respondents participating in the latest Ouch Point survey from Opinion Research Corporation (ORC), an infoUSA company, cited purchased items having no resemblance to their image on the Internet as their biggest online shopping frustration. Following close behind (23 percent) was the inability to speak to a customer service representative at an online store to address any purchasing questions or concerns.

Nearly nine in 10 of the 1,092 respondents surveyed indicated they shop online. On average, over one-fifth of these consumers buy over the Internet. This incidence is highest among the following populations: women, those 25-44 years old, residents in the Northeast and households with incomes of $75,000 or more.

While Amazon.com was named as the company offering the best online shopping experience by more than one-quarter (27 percent) of online shoppers, more than one-fifth (21 percent) could not identify a company that offers the best online shopping experience.

The list of online shopping frustrations ranked as follows:

• Receiving an item that doesn't look anything like it did on the Internet - 24%
• Not being able to speak to anyone to answer questions - 23%
• Learning that items are back-ordered or out of stock after they are in the cart - 19%
• Websites that malfunction as the payment is being processed - 14%
• An unclear return policy - 8%
• Unclear shipping information - 6%
• Not getting an acknowledgment after the order has been placed-6%

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The Science of Agent Selection
What set a call center’s new hiring strategy apart from the old approach? The incorporation of some innovative assessment tools designed with the unique requirements of contact centers in mind. These tools, in addition to saving U.S. Cellular hours and hours of manual applicant screening and assessments, enabled the center to stock its frontline with agents who not only have the ability and personality to thrive in customer contact, but who actually end up doing so -- for years on end.
Full Article...

Web 2.0 Gets Over Its Goofing-Off Phase
Remember where electronic mail was 15 years ago? If you didn't already have an e-mail address, you probably knew someone who did. And if you were sending and receiving e-mail, you'd probably discovered that it could be a game-changing business tool. That's roughly where the services known collectively as Web 2.0 are today. These are sometimes defined as web activities that get more valuable the more people use them. Social networks like MySpace and Facebook are the most familiar examples, but new Web 2.0 companies you've never heard of emerge almost daily, creating what is, in effect, a continuous stream of interlinked data, some of which may be about your company, your business contacts, or even about you.
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Making Your Offshore Call Center a Success
With today's increasingly uncertain economic forecast and the constant pressure to reduce costs, many companies have outsourced their call center operations to offshore or "near-shore" facilities like Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean. By offshoring, companies can save money and find a highly educated and skilled workforce. However, cultural differences, heavy accents, inadequate training and insufficient hiring practices can lead to poor customer satisfaction experiences, causing a loss of customer loyalty and ultimately, a loss in sales. The offshore outsourcing model is fraught with failed experiments. It's also full of success stories.
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Companies Explore Virtual Worlds As Collaboration Tools
Virtual worlds like Second Life aren't just for games; companies are experimenting with virtual environments for everything from training exercises to meeting spaces for remote workers. But the technology still has pitfalls.
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Web Sites Want You to Stick Around
As the number of people who are new to the Internet dwindles and Web advertising costs increase, more companies are trying to retain their existing customers on the Web, rather than simply winning new ones. To do that, companies are turning to a host of technology tools -- from measurement software to services that track Web-surfing behavior -- to monitor the "customer experience" that consumers have when they interact with and make purchases on Web sites.
Full Article...

Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice
by Kimiz Dalkir

In this book Dr. Kimiz Dalkir provides a comprehensive overview of the field on knowledge management with an emphasis on translating theory into practice. Working from a multidisciplinary perspective, Dr. Dalkir weaves key concepts, tools, and techniques from sociology, cognitive science, content management, knowledge engineering, cybernetics, organizational behavior, change management, and information science into a three-level approach to understand Knowledge Management from the individual, community, and organization levels.

More Info...

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

Research Results: 2008 Trends in Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
The majority of respondents (81%) in CRMindustry.com's "2008 Trends in Customer Relationship Management (CRM)" survey are happy with the overall performance of their CRM technology vendor. The research, conducted in November - December 2007, surveyed high-level CRM executives representing a range of industries. The data gathered provides valuable insight into the issues and challenges important to those responsible for CRM in their organization.

To get a complimentary copy of the executive summary, as well as view the graphs, click here.

White Paper: Using Web-based Support Tools to Improve Customer Service
This informative white paper examines the latest trends and technologies in using Web-based support tools to improve customer service. Get your copy today!

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