Call Center Magazine: When most people think of outbound, they think of telemarketing—that is, agents calling people to try and sell them stuff. Lately, we've heard that there's much more potential for outbound, especially in the areas of customer loyalty, service, reminders, and callbacks. Do you consider this a real trend? Is there real traction with outbound?

Scott Wielar, SER Solutions: I’m seeing a definite rise in companies launching proactive customer care programs. Gone are the days when proactive customer care was limited to the occasional customer satisfaction survey. Whether it’s healthcare reaching out with appointment reminders; financial services notifying customer of late payments, or fraud; or telecommunications making customers aware of usage thresholds and attempting to up-sell plans -- we are certainly seeing a meaningful rise in demand for outbound solutions across the spectrum.

That being said, the market has not yet realized the full potential of outbound, which is contingent upon companies first "nailing down" their programs and strategies for proactive customer care. To some extent, these programs are much more complex than traditional telemarketing calls or traditional reactive customer service. The new generation of outbound calling requires a greater degree of flexibility. Further, companies must develop more sophisticated models for calculating returns on their investments.

As businesses begin to realize the lifetime value of customers and re-design their programs, we have witnessed an increased willingness to invest in the processes and technologies that bring the promise of their offerings to life. I anticipate that these types of outbound solutions will continue to gain traction and significant momentum in the near term.

Call Center: It's been nearly three years since the federal "Do Not Call" legislation was enacted. Some say the law merely weeded out people who were unreceptive to telemarketing pitches anyway. If this is so, is telemarketing still viable?

Scott Wielar: Telemarketing still remains the most effective means of bringing products and services to the public. However, it would be shortsighted to say that the industry hasn’t been negatively impacted by the Do-Not-Call (DNC) legislation, since today more than a third of U.S. phone numbers are on the list; and thus, are no longer open to traditional telemarketing.

However, the impact has not been as severe as many would assume. It has been mitigated by several factors. First, companies have realized the untapped value of their existing customers, and increasingly market to that base. A level of loyalty and trust is established with those customers, who, in turn, are more receptive to telemarketing calls. As a result, companies employing these tactics report strong, positive results.

At the same time, the DNC legislation has forced telemarketers to pay close attention to the basics of good selling. Thriving companies put renewed effort into ensuring they have a solid grasp on their value proposition and targeted strategies. This effort, combined with higher relative receptivity from the two-thirds of households not on the DNC list, has led to increased success for some telemarketers.

Call Center: What trends do you see in dialing?

Larry Mark, SER Solutions: The dialing basics -- workhorse dialing algorithm; scalability; easy-to-use systems administration; and robust and intuitive scripting and reporting -- are still the foundation for today’s businesses that are focused on outbound calling. But the basics aren’t enough anymore; and the rigidity of past-generation dialers doesn’t allow companies to reach the next level -- the level at which they need to be. Dialing is no longer purely about the speed in moving through a call list; rather, it is managing data in real-time, ensuring agents have the latest and correct information when connecting with a customer or prospect.

In essence, businesses must be smarter about who they’re calling, when they’re calling, and how often they’re attempting to reach customers, as well as what goals they’re expecting to achieve from these customer interactions. Companies grasping this concept create sophisticated contact strategies, and rely on today’s dialers to facilitate these strategies.

Yet, some insist dialers are all the same, saying, "Why would I invest in a new one when my old one is just as good." But dialers are not the same.

Dialing has evolved from simple telemarketing to more sophisticated customer outreach today. We recognized these market demands, and in 2004 unveiled CPS E2 -- a new generation dialer far more flexible than legacy dialers. Plus, it’s easy to integrate our product with other enterprise solutions. Our new version, CPS E2 3.0, is scheduled for a January release.