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Conquer the Mobile Workforce Challenge
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Dell finalizes $3.9 billion offer for Perot
Dell announced that it has completed its $3.9 billion offer to buy Perot Systems. By accepting Perot's stock at $30 per share, Dell will own more than 90 percent of the company. Dell's takeover of Perot has created a new business unit called Dell Services, which will provide IT services to customers. Dell's reach will now extend into technology hosting, consulting, and application outsourcing, among other segments. Dell is looking at Perot to expand its niche in technology consulting and other services, combining its own large customer base with Perot's vast IT services.
source: CNET
Sitel Implements New Technology To Identify Ideal Customer Service Agents
Sitel, a global business process outsourcing (BPO) provider,
announced its implementation of a customized employment assessment software from Profiles International. Profile XT is a fully customizable online application that develops job match
patterns for potential hires, comparing candidate qualities with the attributes of Sitel`s most productive and top performing agents. Each assessment can be tailored towards any of the company`s more than 350 clients by company type, department, manager, position, geography or any combination of these factors.
Interactive Intelligence and RightNow to Release Integrated Software Solution
Interactive Intelligence and RightNow Technologies are introducing an integrated software solution for improved customer interaction management. The integration, with general availability in Q4 2009, combines the self-service and agent-assisted service capabilities of the RightNow CX customer experience suite, with the contact center automation and enterprise IP telephony functionality of the Interactive Intelligence all-in-one IP communications software suite, Customer Interaction Center (CIC). The new integration brings the following to the RightNow agent desktop for increased productivity and improved customer service: embedded call controls, screen-pop, multichannel queuing and routing, click-to-dial, and unified reporting.
KnoahSoft Releases Harmony 3.0 Call Recording and Quality Monitoring Suite
KnoahSoft, Inc., a provider of call recording, quality and performance management software for contact centers, released Harmony 3.0 with new enterprise-ready enhancements including a flexible, open reporting architecture, enhanced administrative functions to support large installations and first-class security support. Harmony 3.0 complies with rigorous PCI Standards through the use of Advanced Encryption, tight integration and synchronization with Active Directory, and enhanced password policy settings with full audit trail tracking and reporting. In addition, Harmony extends its web-based plug-and-play interface, with a flexible and open architecture for reports.
Using Strength-Based Coaching Techniques to Improve Agent Performance
Thursday, December 10, 2009 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET
How do you motivate people to deliver excellent performance, whether they are in the next cubicle or far away? Communications skills expert Rich Gallagher joins with Citrix Online to share the secrets to getting the best out of today's distributed support team. Topics this Webinar will cover include:
-The psychology of a typical agent
-Strength-based coaching techniques that create real performance change
-Managing performance problems from near and far
-Making your agents part of a team
-How technology can help improve your team's performance
Frost and Sullivan Survey Reveals Contact Centers' 2010 Plans
What are contact centers planning for 2010 in the way of improvements, innovations and investments? Here are several key likely trends for next year based on Frost & Sullivan End User Contact Center survey results:
- The primary channel for customer interaction continues to be phone calls, but support for e-mail and Web contacts are growing. IVR support is found mostly in larger centers. Other Frost & Sullivan research indicates the use of SMS/text and video are growing, particularly in some industries and among some demographics, but the survey found little current contact center support for these channels. Most companies have no plans to add support for new customer interaction channels, but some that don't currently support Web interactions are adding it.
- Almost all companies are aware of and track their customers' multimodal interactions. One multimodal interaction example would be a prospect starts browsing on a company's Web site and ends ups on a telephone call with a live agent. Multimodal interactions are growing and higher rates are reported most often by companies in communications, healthcare and travel/hospitality.
- A majority of companies (51 percent) plan to increase their use of outbound customer interactions; financial, healthcare, and outsourcing reported the most interest.
- Most companies (68 percent) plan to increase their use of outbound IVR/voice portal-based applications. A similar number (58 percent) plan to increase their use of outbound dialing systems.
- While only a small number (25 percent) of companies have integrated their customer interaction channels many more (46 percent) plan to, with larger contact centers showing more interest than smaller ones.
- The majority (60 percent) of companies have already deployed speech-enabled customer contact applications, with those in communications, healthcare, and retail reporting the highest use of speech. But a larger number of firms (69 percent) plan to build new speech-enabled applications, with the most interest shown by companies in the travel/hospitality, communications, and outsourcing industries.
- Similar numbers of companies plan to add/increase support for security/privacy (52 percent), for analytics in support of contact center operations 44 percent), analytics for customer insights (42 percent) and mobility (40 percent).
- Only a very few companies (2 percent) are planning to implement Web 2.0 technologies in their contact centers.
Source: TMCNet
2009 Agent Performance Management Findings Revealed
VPI, a global provider of interaction recording and analytics and workforce optimization solutions, announced the availability of the findings from the 2009 Agent Performance Management (APM) benchmark research on contact centers. Conducted by Ventana Research, the findings include analyses of processes deployed and technologies used to make the agent workforce more effective, as well as the information and metrics used to monitor and assess agent performance.
Key recommendations include:
- Improve customer interaction-handling by thinking more strategically. Focus on automating the agent quality monitoring process, using analytics tools to improve the agent assessment process, and utilizing more outcome-focused key performance metrics.
- Make better use of available technology and applications. Follow the example of innovative companies and deploy unified communications, smarter call routing to best-skilled and highest-performing agents, call audio and desktop screen recording and analytics, agent coaching, and the latest contact center-specific performance management tools.
- Reassess key performance metrics. Explore supplementing basic measures such as number of calls handled, average length of calls and percent of calls placed on hold with more outcome- and business-related measures.
Gartner Says 80% of Enterprise Collaboration Platforms Will Primarily Be Based on Web 2.0 Techniques by 2013
While retaining secondary support for documents, 80 percent of enterprise collaboration platforms will primarily be based on browser-based Web 2.0 techniques by 2013, according to Gartner, Inc. As wiki-like collaboration techniques mature and gain more acceptance, Web 2.0 approaches will become increasingly influential.
Gartner expects that managing users' transition from a file-orientation to Web 2.0 approach will be a major challenge for organizations.
Typically users fall into two camps: those who prefer to collaborate around files and documents, and those who prefer to interact with content and other people directly on Web sites. The differences between these two working styles goes much deeper than mere user preference or alternative ways of getting things done as the "mind-set" of working with files affects how people work, attitudes toward security and the impact of governance.
While document-oriented platforms are well established, familiar and more productive for some tasks, the trend is clearly toward more Web 2.0-type tools. However, Gartner maintained that Web 2.0 will not take over completely because there are situations where working with documents is more appropriate than the wiki style. Tasks that require sequential approval workflows or where the final product will be a file are often easier to get done in a document repository with check-in/out facilities than in a free-form wiki.
Furthermore, some collaboration products show a hybrid of Web 2.0 and file orientation, while several browser-based office automation products allow working with files. For example, Google Apps, Adobe buzzword and Zoho are firmly in the Web 2.0 camp, but also work with files, either by downloading versions to work with offline or by organizing content online using file-like user interface metaphors.
Gartner has the following best practice recommendations for managing the transition between the two working styles:
- Don't force the issue, if users prefer a particular model, tread carefully when introducing a new one.
- Explain the business reasons for the choices made. If necessary, consider offering alternatives for particular situations where the lack of user acceptance will endanger the success of the project.
- Recognize what each model is good for and adopt accordingly.
- Don't blindly assume that one or the other will fit every situation.
- Examine the hybrid models some products support.
- Most products are not wholly file-oriented or entirely Web 2.0. Make sure that users know about the features they will find attractive or useful.
How Ritz-Carlton Stays At The Top
Ritz-Carlton has become a leading brand in luxury lodging by rigorously adhering to its own standards. It is the only service company in America that has won the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award twice, and Training Magazine has called it the best company in the nation for employee training. Its unique culture starts with a motto: "We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen." One of its remarkable policies is to permit every employee to spend up to $2,000 making any single guest satisfied. In this article, Simon Cooper, who has led Ritz-Carlton for the past eight years, talks about what makes Ritz-Carlton, well, the Ritz.
Full Article...
Moving Your Contact Center Forward
More customer interactions are being driven by written communications, social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and web chat. Yet most contact centers do not have agents who have the skills to handle written and voice interactions. Quality, response rates, and customer satisfaction becomes poor. Hiring and assigning separate written channel agents instead is recommended. In addition, utilizing social networking requires a strong level of management control.
Full Article...
Wiki tools are not all the same
After starting in near obscurity nearly 15 years ago, wikis have now become almost ubiquitous on the enterprise landscape. Today, most of the industry discussion about wikis centers on critical issues of improving adoption and maximizing business value. If you care about adoption and having the right "fit" for your enterprise, the wiki solution you choose will impact your ultimate success. And, since all wiki tools don't work the same way, this article presents a list of some key differentiators.
Full Article...
Managing the Relationship Between the Call Center and R&D
Most companies find that the working relationship between their customer service (or contact center) and research and development divisions is an “us” versus “them” existence. The typical roadblock for this existence is a lack of understanding of what each organization does. The turning point for most companies to begin getting these two organizations on the same path to success is an employee satisfaction survey. The results of such a survey will clearly define the problem that “we are not all in this together.” At this point, you can begin addressing the challenges you face by categorizing them as communication, maintenance, and product development challenges.
Full Article...
Improve Call Center Agent Productivity and Customer Service
Increasing contact center efficiency has always been a clear path to cutting costs during any economy. While increasing productivity and doing more with existing resources is more important than ever, cutting call center costs does not have to result in a decrease in customer service. Unfortunately, many contact center professionals in the trenches believe that delivering a truly superior customer experience comes with too high a price tag, particularly against the backdrop of a global recession. Efficiency and its associated cost savings are perfectly compatible with high satisfaction levels; it's inefficiency that causes much of the dissatisfaction in the first place. Here are five tips for raising contact center productivity and improving the customer experience.
Full Article...
Google tries its own take on customer service
If you rely on a compelling service that happens to be free, what level of customer support are you entitled to receive? Google is trying to figure that out. Known for using brilliant engineers, complex algorithms and speedy servers to organize online information in a simple and accessible fashion, Google is learning how to add the human touch to its repertoire as customers look for answers that can't be found on an FAQ. For many users of Google's free services, support is limited to a series of Web pages, FAQs, and user forums. That's not that surprising, since Google can't realistically offer phone support to every Gmail user who can't figure out the conversation-based design. But as Google continues to push forward with free advertising-supported services that people and small businesses increasingly rely on, the company appears to be banking on its ability to train those users to expect a healthy dose of relatively low-cost support.
Full Article...
What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures
by Malcolm Gladwell
What is the difference between choking and panicking? Why are there dozens of varieties of mustard-but only one variety of ketchup? What do football players teach us about how to hire teachers? What does hair dye tell us about the history of the 20th century?
In the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has written three books that have radically changed how we understand our world and ourselves: The Tipping Point; Blink; and Outliers. Now, in What the Dog Saw, he brings together, for the first time, the best of his writing from TheNew Yorker over the same period.
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2009 Service and Support Technology Showcase Now Available
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