BEST
MIX FOR YOUSEE THE DEMO
Ultra Communications has added new features to its pay-as-you-go hosted call centre products (see page 13). And you can win one of 100 demonstration CD ROMs. Enter via email, mentioning Call Centre Europe, to joanne.hatherley@ultraasp.net or see Ultra at:
RECORDING THE WORLD
CyberTech says its equipment now records more than 900,000 voice channels across four continents — and, thanks to the use of non-proprietary hardware, at a low cost of ownership. As well as voice recording, CyberTech’s monitoring products include agent screen recording, evaluation and reporting and live agent coaching and support. Contact: luisa.pollinikommu@cybertech-int.co.uk
BEST
MIX FOR YOU
Competence Call Center has a new strategy called bestshoring, which it says allows customers to have the correct mix at all call centre locations with a single supplier guaranteeing quality.
CCC, recently given Top Outsourcer Award in EMEA, is based in Vienna and has 2,000-plus employees at eight locations in six countries. It says that project managers, who provide a single point of contact between the client and CCC, support the new strategy, which is suited to those with a call volume base of 100 agent positions. Contact: peter.kloibhofer@yourccc.com.
WIN A TV
Aspect is running a free prize draw on its Call Centre Expo stand for the chance of winning a flat screen TV. It will be giving live demonstrations its Aspect Unified IP system, in conjunction with Microsoft’s Office Communications Server, highlighting new features.
Aspect believes that they can improve customer satisfaction by 8pc, increase first call resolution by 5pc, improve productivity by 10pc and cut overall maintenance costs by 20pc. Contact: jenny.thornton@aspect.com.
MANAGE THEM BETTER
Q-Max
has brought out an enhanced version of its workforce management system. Its
features include service optimiser, scheduler, strategic planner, long range
forecaster, agent desktop (pictured) and agent adherence. Prices start at
£17,950, including installation, implementation and on-site training for up to
four people.
Q-Max offers a case study collection, showing how customers use the system, to readers who email mary@q-max.co.uk.
Call Centre Expo stand D35
HOMEWORKING POPULAR
Call Centres are increasingly interested in using homeworkers, says the workforce management company, Pipkins. Among the benefits is that they can be scheduled for short periods and therefore able to cover for busy periods or staff shortages.
Pipkins says its product allows planners to define homeworkers’ days/hours by day/week, and create windows of availability for each person for each day with work packets from 15mins. The company offers WFM systems from low-cost hosted versions for small sites to complex multi-site operations. Contact jeremy.gardner@pipkins.com
Call Centre Expo stand B35
MORALE
BOOSTERS
Capital Incentives and Motivation is launching a Christmas Rewards web site designed to ensure credible and commercial returns are achieved during the period. The company has a range of incentive schemes, including cards (pictured) and vouchers.
At Call Centre Expo, it will be offering visitors its latest white paper, Building Engagement and Performance. Contact enquiries@capital-incnetives.co.uk.
Call Centre Expo stand K11
MYSTERY SOLVED
Demand for mystery callers is as strong as ever, despite the fact that call monitoring and recording systems have dropped in price, says the MD of Mystery Shoppers, Paul Grafton. He reports four main reasons:
Companies are using modest mystery shopping programmes to validate in-house monitoring, which is not always as honest and rigorous as it should be
Those who have contracted out their call centres seek an independent monitor
Mystery callers working from home, whose calls are usually recorded, are cheaper than in-house staff for quality assurance monitoring
They are also cheaper and more realistic in monitoring competitors and can easily handle fulfilment and callbacks where needed.
Mystery Shoppers has more than 35 home-based callers in the UK and Ireland with a range of accents and languages spoken in the UK. Contact: rachel.hudson@mystery-shoppers.co.uk.
TRY IT FIRST
It is difficult to prove the return on investment of emerging technologies, says Business Systems (UK), specialists in speech analytics, call recording and associated technologies. As a result, it is promoting short-term pilots, of around three months, which it says has enabled companies to qualify some of their assumptions about RoI and put together a business case for further funding and roll-out of an analytics programme.
Business Systems’ products are available as pay-as-you-go — on a hosted or on-demand basis — or can be installed on site. Contact: tmcavoy@businesssystemsuk.com.
FREE FORECASTER
Teleopti is offering a free tool which is designed to forecast future contact volumes and staffing requirement for any period. It is suitable for all types of call centre, no matter what size, complexity or industry, and can be adapted to the needs of the business. For more information and download: http://forecasts.teleopti.com. Contact: matt.woodward@teleopti.com.
Call Centre Expo stand D27
FREE WHITE PAPER
Volt Delta is offering readers a free white paper, Win with Agents and Automation. It says that with self-service for routine queries call centres can add choice for customers and cut call-handling costs. As well as call centre technology, call recording and speech self-service, Volt Delta has an automated survey system to monitor customers’ experience in real time. It can be used at the end of an inbound call or by outbound dialling and is being enhanced to reflect a Net Promoter Score approach used by many organisations.
Volt Delta’s Oasis call centre systems offers speech processing, messaging, virtual contact centre, call and desktop recording, home working support and a range of options for CTI and CRM. It is available either as a hosted product on on-site.
Contact james.glasspool@voltdelta.net for a copy of the white paper.
Call Centre Expo stand K29
CHOICE FOR CUSTOMERS
Telephonetics has launched a new call centre product, ContactCentre 59R, designed to give customers the choice about how they want to interact with companies — telephone, fax, web, email or in person. Routine and repetitive contacts can be automated, clearly and consistently, with complex and valued added contact dealt with by live agents. The company also has a complementary automation product, Integrate, to distribute calls to agents, live or automated. Contact: melissa.bendon@telephoneticsVIP.co.uk.
Call Centre Expo stand A3
100 NEW FUNCTIONS
There are more than 100 new functions in the new version of InVision’s workforce management software, says the company. It says InVision Enterprise WFM 4.7 enables time management to be fine tailored — and the data used for payment systems — and that staff planning is more comfortable and more reliable.
InVision says it is suitable for call centres of any size or number and, depending on selected modules, licence costs are £100-£400 per agent, maintenance is 15-25pc annually and consulting is charged by time.
InVision offers a free white paper, Efficient Time Management in Increasingly Demanding Working Environment, to readers who email chris.dealy@invisionsfm.com.
WHY DID THEY CALL AGAIN?
The latest version of Nexidia’s Enterprise Speech Intelligence (8.0) includes first call resolution analysis. When repeat callers are identified, speech analytics is used to recognise the cause so that steps can be taken to improve processes. ESI is designed for call centres of 50-plus seats and is available as an on-site product or hosted.
Nexidia offers a free proof of concept to identify potential savings and RoI. Contact: jwax@nexidia.com.
Call Centre Expo stand C5
HALF THE PRICE
XLScheduler, workforce management software from a company of the same name, is said to be typically half the price of market-leading competitors. Designed for call centres of 20-500 staff, it is also said to be easy to install. Contact: hans.wilhelmsson@xls.se.
Call Centre Expo stand C17
WHAT DO THEY KNOW?
New online software is designed to relay immediate results on how strong a grasp agents and their supervisors have on their duties. It is said to quickly identify problem areas and black spots as users log on to test and improve their knowledge.
Called IBKAT (Intelligence Brand and Knowledge Analytical Tool), it is produced by a specialist in analysis and reporting software, ISAS. The company says its product aims to improve and educate staff rather than catching them out or making them feel that they are being tested or spied upon. Contact: lcanty@isastechnology.com.
TEST FOR THE BEST
PreVisor says its assessment software for job applicants has been shown to cut turnover by 71pc, increase collections by 44pc, produced a 107pc rise in sales conversions and cut average handling time by 35pc. It says it tests essential measures for finding the most qualified agents, including competency, and provides realistic customer simulations and measures the ability to apply information. Contact: jpemberton-pigott@previsor.co.uk
EIGHT INTO ONE
Up to eight users can share one PC, says Miniframe UK, which is launching its SoftXpand multi-seat computing software to call centres. It says that, by linking keyboards and screens instead of PCs, cost savings of more than 70pc can be made, plus a cut in carbon output of over 80pc.
And it says system speed and ease of operation is better and that the need for air conditioning is reduced. Prices are around £65 per user. Contact: colin@miniframeuk.com.
TALKING OF BENEFITS
Aurix uses the phrase “transparent analytics” to describe how phonetic speech systems can benefit call centres. They include: identify, and then correct, the reasons for customers leaving; training agents, helping to decrease call lengths; identify opportunities for sales conversions and cross/up-selling; and identify potential regulatory failures, exploitation by customers and poor performance. Contact: d.standing@aurix.com.
Call Centre Expo stand E1
OUTSOURCE TO US
Egypt, aiming to increase outsourcing operations, points to the example of Cisco, which has announced a new customer service and support centre in the country to serve customers in EMEA. The drive is being led by the Information Technology Industry Development Agency, a government body affiliated to Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. Contact: egypton@itida.gov.eg.
STAFF AND SEARCH
Verint is showing two new products at Call Centre Expo. Impact 360 Express, a workforce management product for smaller call centres, is designed to automate forecasting, scheduling and adherence monitoring. And Impact 360 Speech Analytics Essentials searches recordings to uncover trends and to spot any problems. Contact: robert.wint@verint.com.
Call Centre Expo stand E9
MILLIONS SAVED
Percepta, with 1,700 staff in 10 call centres over seven countries, is offering a range of outsourced services and says that in 2008 it saved millions for its clients, including £14.2m in warranty savings, and created £9m in revenue through marketing support. Contact: greg.middleton@percepta.com
YOU COULD WIN
The Professional Planning Forum is inviting nominations for the Contact Centre Innovation of the Year Awards, which will be presented in September. And it has announced a new and improved skills framework, designed to aid the development of individuals in the current and future roles. Visitors to the stand are offered a free copy of PPF’s Best Practice guide. Contact: katherine.potter@planningforum.co.uk.
Call Centre Expo stand G37
MONEY ‘RESCUED’
ServiceTick, which specialises in customer feedback, says its sales optimisation product has shown its value by “rescuing” hundreds of pounds-worth of revenue from customers falling out of online processes.
And its IVR surveys are designed to gather feedback immediately after a call to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses. Contact: paul.yallop@servicetick.com.
Call Centre Expo stand G25
AUTO REPLY
Empolis says it Mailminder product can analyse and automatically reply to up to 100pc of incoming messages, including emails, SMS messages, letters and faxes. It also offers Service Lifecycle Suite, a self-service product which allows customers and agents to answer queries. Contact: russell.prince-wright@empolis.com.
Call Centre Expo stand C9