The results show that so far, the tech industry remains better positioned to ride out the troubles buffeting industries such as finance, autos and pharmaceuticals. But executives at the companies acknowledged that the tech and Internet industries aren't immune to a further economic slowdown and foreign-exchange shifts.
source: WSJ

Companies Around the Globe to Celebrate Customer Service Week - October 6 - 10, 2008
What do DHL International, Metropolitan Opera, Coca-Cola, and Sarasota County Government all have in common? They share a deep commitment to quality customer service and they celebrate Customer Service Week. The week was designed to recognize frontline reps for the important work they do all year, and to drive customer service awareness and improved service levels throughout the entire organization. Companies celebrate Customer Service Week with a single event or with a full week of special events and activities such as theme days, pep rallies, office olympics, tailgate parties, ice cream socials, and much more. To learn more about Customer Service Week, visit http://www.CSWeek.com.

Convergys to Acquire Intervoice for $335 million
Convergys Corporation and Intervoice, Inc. announced that the Boards of Directors of both companies have approved a definitive merger agreement under which Convergys will acquire Intervoice for $335 million in cash or $8.25 per share. The consideration represents a premium of 24 percent to Intervoice's closing stock price on July 15, 2008. Intervoice is a leader in the software-based interactive voice response, contact center, and mobile messaging technology and applications markets.

iPhone store shoots out 10 million mobile apps in first weekend
Downloads are pouring out of Apple Inc.'s new App Store, a digital store for mobile applications. Apple iPhone and iPod touch owners downloaded more than 10 million applications from the App Store last weekend, its first few days in business. Mobile applications include games, location-based social networking, medical resources and productivity tools. Device owners can wirelessly download applications directly onto their iPhone or iPod touch for immediate use. More than 800 applications are available on the App Store. More than 200 are free and better than 90% of the remainder cost less than $10, Apple says. Many of the new applications take advantage of iPhone's large display and multi-touch and location-based technology, the company says.
Source: Internet Retailer

Service and Support Technology Showcase

Generate interest in your product or service by participating in SupportIndustry.com’s Service and Support Technology Showcase! Each participating company will receive a full page listing that includes:

• Company Contact info
• Logo
• Profile Information (up to 175 words)
• Product/Service Information (up to 175 words)
• 3 links to advertiser's web page. These links can go to products, white papers, media kits, webinars.
• 1 mention in the SupportIndustry.com newsletter
• All advertisers will receive a mention in a dedicated e-mail sent out in September

Listing will run for 6 months. For more information, e-mail adinfo@supportindustry.com

More Than 50 Percent of Users Will Be Dissatisfied With the Slow Rate of IT Change in Their Enterprises by 2013
More than 50 percent of users will be dissatisfied with the slow rate of IT change in their enterprises by 2013, up from 30 percent in 2008, according to Gartner Inc. Gartner predicts that users' dissatisfaction with the speed of enterprise IT change will worsen in the next five years as users' willingness to use Web-based alternatives over and above what their IT organization directly provides (already a significant factor) continues to rise and user skill levels and comfort with using technology rises for employees of all ages.

User satisfaction is likely to further deteriorate as the "digital generation" constitutes a larger portion of the workforce and enterprises wait longer to invest in "softer" technologies, such as social software, because results are less tangible than more traditional process- or data-centered tools.

In March of 2008, Gartner conducted a detailed survey of IT professionals in 360 U.S.-based enterprises to understand more clearly what workplace technologies (including social software and new communication and collaboration tools) they were investing in and why.

Gartner found that the rate of adoption of "optional" technologies inside the enterprise follows the same pattern seen with the rate of adoption of technologies outside the enterprise. These findings suggest that there are ways to speed adoption but only if IT planners recognize the fact that different users have different wants and needs for technology.

Gartner recommends that enterprises conduct annual satisfaction surveys, not to illustrate to management how good a job they are doing, but to identify employees who are dissatisfied with IT's rate of change — whether it is those who feel IT is moving too slowly in their enterprise or those who believe it is changing too fast.
More...

IT Hiring Expected to Continue at Healthy Pace for Second Half of 2008
The hiring outlook for IT employees remains positive for the second half of 2008, as 35 percent of IT employers are planning to increase the number of full-time, permanent employees from July through December; the highest among all industries surveyed. The CareerBuilder.com Midyear Employment Forecast was conducted from May 22 through June 13, 2008.

Looking forward, IT employees are keeping their options open. Twenty percent of employees reported they were actively looking for a new job. But, of those not actively looking for a job, 85 percent stated they would be open to a new one if they came across the right opportunity.

The shortage of qualified IT talent may be impacting company's bottom lines as well, as nearly one-third of employers (31 percent) are hanging on to employees that may not be performing at optimal levels in order to keep desks occupied.

One of the ways IT employers are appealing to in-demand workers is by increasing employee salaries. Nearly a quarter (24 percent) of IT hiring managers say the average change in salary will be 5 percent or more in the second half of 2008 compared to the first half of the year.

While increases in salaries by IT employers is a step in the right direction (53 percent of IT workers say they are satisfied or very satisfied with their pay), there are other areas that are of concern to IT workers. They include:

• 38 percent of IT workers describe their workload as heavy or too heavy
• 23 percent of IT workers are dissatisfied with their career progress
• 23 percent of IT workers are dissatisfied with their work/life balance

More...

Service Providers Lack Companywide Definition of Superior Customer Experience
A new global study of service providers in the wireless, wireline cable and satellite markets found that although service providers are transforming their business and operations support systems (BSS/OSS) to address the obstacles they believe are preventing them from delivering a differentiated customer experience, nearly 50 percent do not have a clear definition of what the customer experience should be. In addition, the study identified the top obstacles for delivering a more personalized customer experience: the lack of an integrated view of the customer; business process inconsistency and disconnects across multiple business lines, and internal information silos.

The study, sponsored by Amdocs and conducted by the Yankee Group, an independent technology research and consulting firm, also revealed that while 70 percent of service providers believe that business processes have a direct impact on the customer experience, nearly one third (28 percent) do not have dedicated resources to manage their internal business processes or customer-focused key performance indicators to measure the customer experience.

Other findings include:

• Digital content management is a top priority for new revenue engines: Management of "on-portal" digital content, or content sold on the service provider's branded-portal, is the top investment area for service providers looking to capitalize on new revenue streams.

• Service providers are investing to create an integrated view of the customer: Master data management (for example, the ability to consolidate customer, product and network data), unifying BSS/OSS systems and the adoption of service oriented architectures are among the top transformation investment priorities for service providers in the next three to five years.

• Measurement expected to shift to the customer perspective: Although key performance indicators (KPIs) used for measuring the customer experience are operations-oriented today (for example, the average time it takes to service a customer on the phone), 47 percent of respondents expect their companies to adopt more customer-focused KPIs in the future (such as, the call center agent is aware of a customer's past complaints during an interaction).

More...

U.S. State and Local Government IT Market To Grow From $48.4 Billion In 2008 To $64 Billion
According to a recent report from INPUT, the authority on government business, budget deficits will suppress state and local IT spending in 2009, and budgets will remain tight throughout the forecast period. However, demographic pressures will force states and localities to seek new administrative efficiencies in order to redirect money toward priorities areas. Professional services and outsourcing will account for 48.4% of the market's $16.5 billion in growth as state and local governments seek to automate manual processes, augment staffing, and take advantage of private-sector competencies.

INPUT expects tight budgets to put further pressure on hardware investments as state and local governments consolidate IT infrastructure in an effort to eliminate duplicative spending. This will call for tighter relationships between hardware manufacturers, value-added resellers (VARs), and the major integrators helping governments identify savings points and scope out solutions. Where major implementations are not required governments will increasingly look toward hosted software (software-as-a-service) options.

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Privacy on the Web: Is It a Losing Battle?
Visit the Amazon.com site to buy a book online and your welcome page will include recommendations for other books you might enjoy, including the latest from your favorite authors, all based on your history of purchases. Most customers appreciate these suggestions, much the way they would recommendations by a local librarian. But, what if you visited an investment site, only to find advertising messages suggesting therapies for your recently diagnosed heart condition? Chances are that you would experience what Fran Maier calls the "creepiness" factor, a sense that someone has been snooping into a part of your life that should remain private.
Full Article...

The Agent at Home: More Than Wearing Slippers to Work
Contact centers using "agents at home" are more likely to enable their callers to speak with an agent who is best able to handle the call. Intelligent routing technology enables the contact center to connect callers with appropriate knowledge workers and thereby provide an efficient and effective customer experience.
Full Article...

E-Mail Archives And Litigation: Here's How To Get It Right
Failure to manage e-mail can cost millions in court. A popular framework and an archiving system can help get your house in order--and pay dividends in the legal realm and beyond.
Full Article...

Jumping Into the SaaS Pool
According to Tier1 Research, a division of industry-analysis firm The 451 Group, we’ll see a tidal wave in the on-demand CRM market through 2010, as the software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery model grows at a rate more than six times faster than that of its on-premise counterpart. However, with the adoption of SaaS solutions by large enterprises, some myths have floated to the surface.
Full Article...

3 Steps to Creating Personalized Support Experiences

"A 'one-size-fits-all' approach to service doesn't recognize what is unique about each customer."

Mindfully approaching each unique support incident can dramatically increase customer satisfaction. What's more, business intelligence collected from personalization also provides valuable insight for up-selling, cross-selling or renewal opportunities.

Click here to download the white paper.

2008 Service & Support Metrics Survey Results

Supportindustry.com has announced the release of a free white paper outlining the results of the 2008 Service & Support Metrics Survey. This annual survey explores the state of enterprise service and support -- current industry trends, future plans, technology adoption, workforce issues, benchmarking strategies, metrics and other areas.

Get your free copy of the survey results today!

Find out more! This informative white paper from SupportIndustry.com examines the latest trends and technologies in using Web-based support tools to improve customer service.
Click Here to Download...

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.
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