Interactive Commerce
August 2001
 

Daniel Callahan

One Step Beyond

BY DANIEL CALLAHAN

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From Call Center To Contact Center: Proven Tips For Success

Remember how amazed we once were with what the Web could do for our contact centers? A simple FAQ page posted on your Web site along with some click-to-talk technology was thought to equal at least a few years closer to a comfortable retirement. Now that the initial euphoria has worn off, we realize that we can take the Web-enabled contact center so much further.

Vendors long ago recognized the importance of online customer service. Innovations in voice over IP (VoIP) have simplified the customer's e-commerce experience by putting them in touch with the appropriate customer service representative more quickly. Solutions such as Solidus eCare from Ericsson feature Web speed for efficient customer service and enable businesses to offer more communications channels to customers. Cisco offers an IP-enabled customer contact software platform which enables real-time collaboration, advanced e-mail management, and intelligent routing.

Now these and others are looking forward to the next step. CRM solutions providers originally focused on the front end, but have now realized that simply adding a new channel was only the beginning. Isolated point solutions, with no integrated record of other channel transactions, led to a whole new set of disillusions for the customer. Integrating all channels will emphasize that a lifetime customer is more important than just the current transaction. Yes, you must support Web chat, e-mail, and VoIP, but you also need to know who the customer is and how their previous contacts were handled. Siebel's Interactive Selling Suite (ISS) is one example. It helps organizations provide online advice, guidance, and recommendations to more effectively serve the customer across multiple channels.

Integration with the back office is also considered to be crucial. Combining CRM with inventory, accounts/receivable, sales force automation, etc. can greatly improve communications across the entire enterprise. Access to all data repositories and the need for greater cooperative interaction between layers are the new goals to attain. Analytics to measure and monitor the entire operation are equally important. Advantages can include the segmentation of the customer base and the structuring of channels in order to turn assisted transactions (i.e., more expensive) into unassisted transactions. This will also provide the consistent and reliable customer experience that we all dreamed of in the first place.

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Interactive Commerce News

PeopleSoft Launches PeopleSoft 8 CRM
PeopleSoft has launched PeopleSoft 8 Customer Relationship Management, a CRM solution that runs entirely on the Internet. PeopleSoft 8 CRM's pure Internet technology enables universal access, enhanced by PeopleSoft's portal technology, from any Web device. It also features embedded analytics; the business analytics include Support Insight, Profitability Insight, Marketing Insight, Sales Activity Insight, and Customer Scorecard. PeopleSoft 8 CRM also features an open platform for seamless integration of enterprise data and business processes.
www.peoplesoft.com; 925-694-5684

CosmoCom Announces CosmoCorder
CosmoCom has announced the CosmoCorder, a multimedia recording tool for call centers. CosmoCorder is an optional extension of CosmoCall Universe, a unified, all-IP, next-generation call center platform for service providers and large-scale corporate users. Through a browser-based interface, reviewers can select recordings to review based on agent name, call type, or data range. The browser-based interface allows remote users to not only view text-based interactions, but also to review audio that is streamed to the reviewer's workstation.
www.cosmocom.com; 631-940-4200

Empirix Unveils Multimedia Test Ensemble
Empirix has announced the Multimedia Test Ensemble, a solution that enables organizations to conduct integrated end-to-end testing of all customer-facing voice and Web applications and infrastructure. Multimedia Test Ensemble is based on the voice-testing capabilities of the Empirix Hammer IT and the Web-testing technology of the Empirix e-TEST suite, and includes the Multimedia Synchronization Server (MSS) and the Multimedia Test Manager (MTM). Hammer IT and the e-TEST suite are used to generate virtual callers, Web users, and contact center agents while measuring the Quality of Experience (QoE) for each type of user. The MSS is a newly developed component that synchronizes the Hammer and e-TEST scripts to permit fully integrated, end-to-end testing of all customer interactions in a multichannel environment. The MTM provides a single-console user interface for all components of the Multimedia Test Ensemble solution, and allows users to develop integrated Web/voice scenerios that emulate real-world conditions.
www.empirix.com; 781-993-8500

Interactive Intelligence Releases Interaction Center Platform 2.0
Interactive Intelligence has released its Interaction Center Platform 2.0, an interaction management engine and associated components. Products based on the Interaction Center Platform include the Enterprise Interaction Center (EIC) and the Customer Interaction Center (CIC). EIC provides PBX, auto-attendant, IVR, speech recognition, and unified messaging integrated with e-mail products that include Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, and Novell Groupwise. CIC is a comprehensive interaction management solution for inbound, outbound, and blended contact centers, providing IVR, automatic call distribution, call recording, text chat, real-time supervision, and screen pop integration with products from Pivotal, Siebel, PeopleSoft, SAP, and many others. Version 2.0 adds features that include Windows 2000 support, multimedia queuing, supervisory alerts, one-number follow-me capabilities, a new browser-based software phone, and a new Palm VII-based software phone.
www.inin.com; 317-872-3000

AltiGen Debuts AltiCenter
AltiGen has unveiled AltiCenter, a stand-alone IP call center for the small and mid-sized business market. The call center is designed to work with legacy PBXs as well as AltiGen's AltiServ IP-PBX. Features include IP and/or analog calling, voice mail with voice response, one-number find-me and direct callback, ACD, local and remote IP agents supported as agents in local workgroups (agents can be members of multiple workgroups), remote agent connection without VoIP gateways, VoIP or T1/PRI networking between multiple locations, integrated e-mail server (including voice-annotated e-mail), CTI screen pops using Goldmine, ACT!, or Outlook software, detailed reporting for statistics and staff, legacy PBX support, support for IP or analog hard or softphones from multiple vendors, supervisor call monitoring, AltiAgent desktop client interface, e-commerce integration with direct VoIP contact support, Web callback, Web chat, Web push, APIs to integrate third party applications, data-directed call routing, and digit-capturing auto-attendant.
www.altigen.com; 888-ALTIGEN

Net Talk Releases VOICE CHAT
Net Talk has announced the release of VOICE CHAT, designed to fill the void created by the closure of Lipstream and Firetalk. The application features multi-point conferencing and also offers users the ability to open up voice-enabled private chat rooms for individuals or large groups. In addition, Net Talk features file transfer and private messenger options. An added advantage of Net Talk is the optional registered version for those clients interested in tracking client data.
www.nettalk.com; 877-238-0307 x23

Infonet Announces New Web-Based Capabilities
Infonet has announced new Web-based capabilities for its network-based call center services, ICCS. Infonet is now able to offer its international clients greater flexibility to manage securely, online, in real time and from anywhere, the call-routing configuration of their call centers. Web-based control, the fifth customized control option in the ICCS offer, is an Internet-based solution suitable for clients with a call center environment characterized by more than one call center, multiple access numbers per country, and the need to share applications between geographically-dispersed call centers, requiring an enterprise-wide routing scheme. ICCS is powered by a Cisco Intelligent Call Routing (ICR) platform, which enables an enterprise to effectively route incoming traffic from across Europe.
www.infonet.com; 310-335-2600

Allot Teams With Aspect
Aspect Communications and Allot Communications have announced an alliance that will allow Allot's QoS solutions to be integrated into the Aspect multi-channel contact center environment. The Aspect Contact Server connects all contacts, regardless of the communications channel, to the correct company resource on first contact, and also pulls together all relevant information from throughout the enterprise for enabling quick resolutions via live or self service. Adding Allot's NetEnforcer QoS infrastructure to the system will enable network managers to direct the allocation of network resources, such as bandwidth, based on policies, for increased efficiency and cost savings. Businesses can also monitor the network use and identify the resources that require prioritization according to business rules defined by the customer.
www.allot.com; 650-401-2244
www.aspect.com; 877-621-3692

CellIT Unveils Thin Client Interface
CellIT Technologies has unveiled its thin client interface to complement its existing customer interaction software, ContactPro. Using ContactPro's thin client application, contact center professionals are able to create campaigns, launch new services, manage operations, monitor and coach agents, create reports, and administer all aspects of the center from any local or remote location. Businesses are not required to load software onto each individual agent's desktop; the software is platform-independent and is accessed via the LAN, WAN, or Internet using any standard browser. ContactPro's thin client platform has the capacity to seamlessly integrate with CRM and other context applications in either the server environment or at the desktop.
www.cellit.com; 305-436-2300

NetVendor Unveils NSC
NetVendor has announced its NetVendor Sales Collaboration (NSC) solution. NSC streamlines the sale of custom-engineered products via Web-based collaboration with customers. Built on the NetVendor Collaborative Environment technology platform, NSC is an entirely Web-based system that offers a collaboration-ready, secure environment in which suppliers can react to any customer's request in real time. NSC features online collaboration capabilities such as sharing product specifications and drawings in an environment that is accessible to groups that are separated by geography, time zones, and disparate corporate technology. The solution also delivers document distribution and control capabilities that give manufacturers the ability to offer their customers convenient and economical access to complex documentation, including large files and proprietary drawings.
www.netvendor.com; 800-953-5606

Telephony@Work Enhances CallCenter@nywhere
Telephony@Work has announced a major enhancement to its CallCenter@nywhere 4.0 e-contact center solution for enterprise call centers, telcos, and ASPs. New multi-host data polling enables ASPs and enhanced services providers to poll their clients' databases through firewalls in order to prioritize their subscribers' customers in queue, based on each customer's unique attributes and each subscriber-company's unique priority routing rules. "Firewall-friendly multi-host data polling is an important innovation because it overcomes the privacy concerns which form the primary customer objection to hosted contact services," said Eli Borodow, CEO of Telephony@Work.
www.telephonyatwork.com; 888-854-4224

NetByTel Announces Connected Order Status
NetByTel has announced the NetByTel Connected Order Status, a voice commerce application that automates routine information requests using speech recognition. NetByTel's Order Status Voice Commerce module gives callers instant access to the status of any order placed by live operator, Web, or catalog, by talking to the Web over the phone. The module uses speech recognition to process the requests and interact with client Web-based IT systems, and also offers the option of speaking with a live operator. The module utilizes speech technology from SpeechWorks International and telephony hardware from Dialogic, an Intel Company. NetByTel offers this and other Voice Commerce modules within a service provider model.
www.netbytel.com; 877-NETBYTEL

eshare Releases NetAgent ANSWER
eshare communications has announced that eshare NetAgent ANSWER, the e-mail auto-response component of the company's NetAgent suite grouping of CIM applications, has been released in a stand-alone module. NetAgent ANSWER's neural, network-based AI uses context vector technology to automatically group data into similarly-themed clusters for improved accuracy and relevance. The accuracy of a company's responses can be further safeguarded by enabling contact center agents to see and approve the e-mail reply that NetAgent ANSWER has prepared.
www.eshare.com; 770-239-4524

MetLife Chooses Apropos
Apropos Technology has announced that MetLife Investors Group is using Apropos' Multi-Channel Interaction Management suite to support its two customer service centers. With the Apropos solution, customers' voice interactions are identified based on caller ID, location they are coming from, or any other customer-specific information entered by the caller. The customer is then routed to the most appropriate agent for assistance. E-mail interactions are prioritized and routed based on keyword searching, and Web-based interactions are managed either through a chat with agents in real time or via a request that a customer service agent call them at a particular time.
www.apropos.com; 630-472-9600 x7771

Interactive Software Changes Name To RightForce
Interactive Software Systems has changed its name to RightForce. The company's forecasting and scheduling software, e-FORCE, will also transition to the new corporate brand with its release as RightForce 3.1. RightForce has shared customer implementations and has formed strategic alliances with leading e-mail and CRM software providers such as Kana, eshare, CellIT, and Interactive Intelligence. This integration allows RightForce to utilize these systems' servers to forecast and schedule employees to respond to incoming e-mail, fax, and live Web agent demand, in addition to traditional contact center activities. RightForce uses this information to model demand across the entire customer contact chain.
www.rightforce.com; 954-717-0180

Home Depot Selects Avaya
Avaya has been selected as the strategic supplier of multi-channel CRM solutions for Home Depot's new customer contact centers. Avaya's Interaction Management solutions will allow Home Depot to handle customer support through channels such as Web chat, e-mail, VoIP, and telephone. Using an open platform that integrates with existing systems and communications equipment from multiple vendors, Interaction Management solutions will enable Home Depot agents in regional support centers to access information from databases at local stores. Avaya Professional Services will be providing design and integration support to deliver solution integrity.
www.avaya.com; 908-953-6179

IP blue And PAR3 Debut Alerting Solution
PAR3 Communications and IP blue have debuted the new VT-Alert! application. IP blue's suite of convergence technology products includes VTALL, VT-Go!, and the recently launched VT-Alert!. IP blue's VTALL solution allows traders to engage in multiple conversations over a packet network with full telephony control. VT-Alert!, which incorporates PAR3's Intelligent Response Platform, is an enhancement to VTALL and allows individual traders to send highly personalized, automated alerts to customers via telephone, e-mail, pager, Internet, fax, or wireless device. Cisco's AVVID family of telephony products serves as the cornerstone to IP blue's VoIP solutions.
www.ipblue.com; 212-485-1200
www.par3.com; 206-902-3999

Tundo Launches IP Contact Center Initiative
Tundo has launched a company strategy to aggressively target the IP contact center market. Tundo's IP contact center initiative builds upon its carrier-grade media control platform, the Tundo DOT server. Tundo's solutions include the Tundo Boundless Call Center and the Tundo HomePort. The Boundless Call Center allows enterprise and outsourced contact centers to migrate to a full-featured IP contact center architecture. The HomePort solution allows customers to extend the voice and media from a contact center to remote agents working from their homes.
www.tundo.com; 508-836-4333

Proscape Announces MSE Solution
Proscape Technologies has announced the Marketing and Sales Effectiveness (MSE) solution, a next-gen CRM application that offers a 30-day implementation and a 90-day ROI. The MSE software suite creates a common foundation for marketing and sales content by integrating information (such as presentations, sales tools, and historical and current customer and market data) from disparate locations across the enterprise to create a robust Web-enabled information repository. Customized presentations can be developed on the fly, including competitive data, market analysis, and customer history.
www.proscape.com; 215-540-8100

[ Return To The August 2001 Table Of Contents ]


From Call Center To Contact Center: Proven Tips For Success

BY DAVID FOWLER

With the advent of the Web, successful companies must handle increasing volumes of customer interactions consistently and efficiently across multiple channels, including the phone, e-mail, instant messaging, Web forms, or chat. Regardless of the channel, customer service agents must have immediate access to all the information about the customer's past service and transaction relationship.

Here are five more important considerations when making the transformation from call center to multichannel contact center:

  1. Help customers help themselves. One of the best ways to power excellent service is to give customers and partners the ability to serve themselves. With the right tools, companies can provide customers and partners global views of their entire transaction and service histories through personalized portals. These portals should connect customers to easily-accessible knowledge bases -- the same ones agents use -- containing proven solutions to customer problems.
     
  2. Choose technology to support growth and change. Contact centers support millions of customer interactions per day. Technology infrastructure must be architected for the Web to offer instant response time for these customers. Traditional client/server CRM offerings are designed to support only hundreds of agents.
     
  3. Implement customer-facing (not enterprise-centric) business processes. Contact centers need automated business processes that deliver efficiencies beyond just internal operations. For the most efficient and effective service, automated business processes must tightly integrate partners and suppliers in solving customer problems.
     
  4. Empower agents through integration. To work efficiently, agents need access to customer information no matter where it resides in enterprise systems. Agents also need the ability to manage requests from a single, personalized portal regardless of how the request originated.
     
  5. Enforce performance standards. Companies go to great lengths to ensure they answer customers' phone calls in a timely manner with a competent and productive agent. Companies need to bring the same standards and measurement processes to Web-based interactions as well.

Tackle these, and you'll be on your way to deploying an efficient contact center that delivers top-quality customer service.

David Fowler is the Executive Vice President of Business Development for Kana Software.

[ Return To The August 2001 Table Of Contents ]