TELEPHONY@WORK'S CALLCENTER@NYWHERE OUTSOURCER EDITION 8.0
For outsourcers, a benefit of Telephony@Work's CallCenter@nywhere Outsourcer Edition Version 8.0 is that it simplifies the process of leveraging a common pool of agents for campaigns on behalf of a variety of clients. With this software, an outsourcer's supervisors and administrators can generate reports that aggregate data across partitions that distinguish data for one client from the data for another. Besides separating data among clients, version 8.0 lets an outsourcer's clients partition data among different operations, such as fulfillment and customer support.
But the most appealing thing about CallCenter@nywhere is that the software recognizes and adapts when an agent's performance patterns change. One way the software does this is by letting outsourcers set up automated post-call surveys, so that customers provide feedback on their level of satisfaction with the agents they just spoke with.
An agent who provided superior service handling certain types of calls several months ago may not necessarily be as effective handling these calls now. When the agent is with an outsourcer, a change in performance affects not only one company, but all the companies whom the agent -- and the outsourcer -- represents. That's especially significant because companies often have higher standards for agents whom outsourcers employ than they do for agents they employ themselves.
CallCenter@nywhere earns a Product of the Year award because it lets outsourcers use customer feedback among their criteria to determine which agents receive which calls. It's a great idea that we hope outsourcers will come to endorse. 858-410-1600, www.telephonyatwork.com
TUVOX'S ENTERPRISE SPEECH APPLICATIONS
TuVox's Enterprise Speech Applications already includes a number of handy tools, such as a speechenabled location finder. Now, as a result of its acquisition of NetByTel last year, TuVox can offer these tools as a hosted service.
We've noticed that TuVox's OnDemand hosting service is getting more popular, especially with businesses that have seasonal peaks in calls that lend themselves to automation. Whether you deploy speech rec application on or offsite, call completion rates for TuVox's tools -- which let callers use speech rec to look up, purchase or return products -- range from 14% to 43% above the rates for the IVR applications they replace. 408-625-1700, www.tuvox.com
UNIPRESS SOFTWARE'S FOOTPRINTS 7.0
UniPress Software's FootPrints, now in version 7.0, is available as a hosted service that you can use to track customers' requests for help and to maintain a knowledge base.
In addition to the new hosting capabilities, we like the way this new version of FootPrints lets companies set up separate workflows for responding to requests from different types of customers. A company can specify, for instance, one workflow for new customers who need help setting up an account and another workflow for existing customers, or different workflows for consumers and businesses. 732-287-2100, www.unipress.com
VOXIFY'S AUTOMATED AGENTS
Voxify's Automated Agents comprise a great variety of speech rec applications.
They include a system that automatically updates customers on the status of their orders. Other Automated Agents from Voxify include the Rate Finder for the hospitality industry, Fare Finder for airlines and the Start & Stop Service Agent for utilities. Voxify also offers a Customer Notification Agent that enables you to automatically generate outbound calls to let customers know about the status of mortgages or support requests, for example.
Voxify deploys Automated Agents in about six to eight weeks; the company can run these applications for you if you prefer not to maintain them yourself. For convenience and ease of use, these applications collectively garner a Product of the Year award. 510-545-5000, www.voxify.com
WITNESS SYSTEMS' IMPACT 360
Witness Systems' i>Impact 360 Workforce Optimization suite includes tools like training and call monitoring software, in addition to the scheduling tools normally found in workforce management systems.
An optional component of Impact 360 that Witness offers is software that uses speech rec to mine recordings of calls for specific words and phrases. Besides notifying supervisors when it recognizes certain words and phrases, the software gives you text transcriptions of agents' interactions with customers, so searching through recordings is easy.
Witness also provides Witness Custom Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Scorecards, which let you link certain sets of metrics with specific roles -- like agents, team leaders or managers -- and enable you to display these metrics on the desktops of the people within your center who need to see them. In addition, Witness' computer-based training software allows you to use recordings of conversations between customers and top-notch agents as examples of the best ways to handle calls. Impact 360 earns a Product of the Year award for helping call centers to dovetail their performance goals with the aims of their companies.770-754-1900, www.witness.com
