Market Shaping Forces In The Contact Center Industry: A Preview of

Over 275,000 Hits Monthly! December 2004
Market Shaping Forces In The Contact Center Industry:
A Preview of 2005
By Nosa Eke, Publisher, Call Center Times
in ensuring the soft-skills orientation training of their
employees. Often, best intentions are not reflected during
inter-cultural communications.
Call monitoring technology will significantly shape the contact
center industry landscape in 2005. This projected impact is
based on the continued emphasis on outsourcing and ongoing
agent training, two areas that inherently require vigilant
monitoring.
A vigorous focus on agent training is perhaps the most
effective tactical approach to closing such a chasm.
With most corporations expanding their contact center outlets
to places in Asia, Europe and Africa, the need to continually
monitor contact center activity cannot be over emphasized.
Consequently, providers of call monitoring technology can
expect a boom in business in 2005 and for years to come.
Analysts at Frost & Sullivan, a consulting firm, expect the
market to jump from $58 million in 2003 to $104 million in
2008.
Finally, I expect IP-based multi-media customer
management solutions to assume a more central emphasis
in most contact center operational planning in 2005.
The reality is that most contact centers will be moving from
proprietary circuit-based ACD switches to pure IP-based
enterprise software applications.
Similarly, outsourcing is expected to maintain its momentum in
2005. Despite the contentious debate about its pros and cons
during the recent presidential elections, there is no evidence to
suggest a slowdown in this sector. In Asia for instance,
analysts project that there will be 15% more contact centers
each year through 2007. (The Everest Group) These contact
centers, in the main, are operated by large American
companies with the goal of fielding phone calls and e-mails
from their customers.
As a result of the emphasis on outsourcing and call monitoring
technology, ongoing agent training is expected to dominate
contact center focus in 2005. For one, American companies
who operate contact centers overseas have a vested interest
www.callcentertimes.com • 972-395-3225
1
e-mail: [email protected]
NEWS
directory assistance service, news report, or short
message service (SMS) – into remarkably high-quality
speech output. RealSpeak Telecom 4.0 delivers the most
comprehensive range of languages, dialects and voices
worldwide, achieving a new level of expressive, natural
voice quality to enhance customer service in applications
across the globe. In addition, the company announced the
completion of the acquisition of Rhetorical Systems, Ltd.,
first announced on November 15. As consideration for the
close of the Rhetorical acquisition, ScanSoft provided $4.9
million in cash at closing and $1.8 million in ScanSoft
common stock.
Aastra Technologies Limited to acquire EADS
Enterprise Telephony Business
EADS and Aastra Technologies Limited today have
executed a definitive agreement to transfer the EADS
Enterprise Telephony Business to Aastra Technologies
Limited.
The EADS Enterprise Telephony Business supplies
communications systems and networks based on leadingedge technologies such as telephony-over-IP (Internet
Protocol), multimedia applications and call centers. It
currently employs approximately 730 employees, of which
approximately 55% are located in Western Europe
(primarily France) and the remainder are located in the
United States, where each business is focussed on their
respective geographic and product markets.
RealSpeak Telecom 4.0 leverages and builds upon the
combined assets of RealSpeak 3.5 and Speechify 3.0,
independently considered leading products before this
release. RealSpeak Telecom 4.0 introduces 10 brand new
voices, enabling businesses to converse with their key
customers with an incredible degree of accuracy and
consistency in multiple languages, including the world’s
first TTS solution for the rapidly growing Indian market.
RealSpeak Telecom 4.0 is currently available in 22 highquality languages and 30 superb voices with a further
voice and language roll-out in 2005.
Apropos Technology Releases Version 6.5 to Provide
Affordable, Assured Business Continuity for
Customer Support Operations
Apropos Technology (NASDAQ: APRS), a leading provider
of contact center communications management solutions,
has announced the availability of its new Version 6.5
(v6.5) product and its successful deployment at Vinciti AQ.
Vinciti AQ has deployed v6.5 to assure business continuity
for its outsourcing services for technology companies.
These services include solutions for customized product
testing, technical support, and infrastructure management.
Apropos v6.5 introduces assured, affordable business
continuity options for contact center users of its solution,
along with multiple improvements in fault tolerance and
disaster recovery capabilities.
Amcat invests in worldwide expansion program
Amcat, a global leader in call center technology solutions,
announced that it is embarking on a worldwide expansion
plan. The company's growth is a reflection of the strength
in the customer interaction management marketplace,
driven by the economic need for companies of all sizes to
better manage customer relationships.
Part of Amcat's announcement includes an investment at a
prime location in Oklahoma City to build a new world
headquarters. Founded in 1991, Amcat has experienced
year on year growth and now boasts over 1,100
installations of its contact center software across the
globe. Work on the new HQ is due to start in Q2 2005 and
will be completed by Q4 of that year.
Interwise Customers Break the 10 Million MinutesPer-Month Mark in VoIP Conferencing; Usage Proves
That Enterprise Conferencing is Driving Adoption of
VoIP
Interwise, a leader in true enterprise conferencing,
announced that its worldwide customers collaborated for
more than 10 million minutes of enterprise-wide Voice over
the Internet Protocol (VoIP) conferencing during the month
of November, an amount equivalent to roughly 12
terabytes of data. This usage demonstrates that enterprise
conferencing - a blend of voice conferencing, web
conferencing and eLearning - is one of the major
applications driving the widespread adoption of VoIP
communications in companies installing converged
networks.
Amcat CEO Mark Costello commented, "Over the last 13
years we have successfully developed Amcat into a wellknown and well regarded brand that is recognized as a
worldwide leader in contact center technology. Now the
marketplace is recognizing the economic need to more
effectively manage all customer interactions, Amcat is
uniquely positioned to offer a solution that is costeffective, integrates with existing telephony infrastructure
and provides powerful tools to manage a company's
interaction data.
ScanSoft Unveils RealSpeak Telecom 4.0
SoundBite Communications Launches SoundBite 5.0
for Telecommunications
ScanSoft, Inc., a global leader of speech and imaging
solutions,. (Nasdaq: SSFT), announced the worldwide
release of RealSpeak Telecom 4.0 - the preeminent textto-speech (TTS) solution for call center and carrier-based
applications worldwide. RealSpeak Telecom 4.0 turns any
ordinary text – such as text from a stock database,
SoundBite Communications, a leading provider of
OnDemand
Customer
Communications
solutions,
announced the availability of SoundBite® 5.0 for
Telecommunications, a Web-hosted solution built on
SoundBite's
patented
interactive
voice
messaging
2
(IVM) technology platform and designed specifically for
telecommunications companies. Leveraging SoundBite's
extensive experience working with leading wireless and
wireline carriers, cable and broadband companies,
competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), and regional
Bell operating companies (RBOCs), SoundBite 5.0 for
Telecommunications allows these organizations to rapidly
reach
their
customers
with
timely,
personalized
communications and empowers those customers to
respond immediately. In addition, companies benefit from
"pay as you go" use; no hardware or software installation;
automated, real-time access and management of
campaigns; rapid campaign implementations; and high
response rates.
Kinetic Data Signs Partnership with Motion
Computing
Kinetic Data, Inc., a global provider of tailored and
packaged service industry software solutions for users of
Remedy®, a BMC Software business unit, announced it has
entered into a partnership with Motion Computing, a
leading provider of slate tablet PC products for vertical
markets, including field sales and service.
Kinetic Data offers a unique survey software solution,
Kinetic Survey", which is compatible with Motion
Computing's tablet PC products and field sales and service
focus.
Kinetic Survey users acquire real-time product and service
data from one-on-one contacts with customers, partners
and resellers; as well as qualify and take advantage of
sales lead opportunities, and register event participants.
Avaya and Verizon Collaborate on Sales and Service
to Rapidly Expanding Small and Medium Business
Market
Avaya (NYSE: AV) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) have agreed to
collaborate in offering to small and medium sized
businesses a suite of communications solutions that
include systems, applications and services from both
companies.
EDS Israel chooses cosmocall universe all-ip contact
center platform
EDS Israel, a daughter company of EDS, one of the largest
providers of business and technology solutions worldwide,
announced that it has adopted the CosmoCall UniverseTM
platform as its core offering for contact centers in Israel.
CosmoCom’s all-IP, universal access contact center system
is the platform of choice for more top-tier network service
providers worldwide than any other product of its kind.
With CosmoCall Universe, EDS will create a single Contact
Center On-Demand (CCOD) platform that can support all
of its outsourced centers, and also enable hosted centers
for which customers provide the agents and EDS provides
the technology.
The companies will bring to market integrated hardware,
software and service offers that simplify the overall service
packages smaller businesses use while leveraging the
growth in small business data usage and opportunities for
voice/data convergence. The approach and alliance brings
together two companies that are leaders in their respective
markets in delivering dependable, innovative, costeffective communications solutions to small, medium and
large businesses. Together, they are offering those
businesses one-stop shopping from Verizon for various
communications needs.
Solarcom Joins
UCN Value-Add Reseller Partner Program
Unveil Technologies and Genesys Form Strategic
Relationship to Deliver Conversational Speech SelfService Systems
UCN, Inc. (OTCBB: UCNN), a provider of business
telecommunications services including contact center
software applications delivered as network services
through the UCN national VoIP network, announced that
Solarcom Partner ServicesTM of Atlanta, GA, has joined
the UCN Value-Added Reseller (VAR) Partner program.
Unveil Technologies, Inc., a provider of conversational
voice self-service applications for call centers, and Genesys
Telecommunications
Laboratories,
Inc.,
an
Alcatel
company (NYSE: ALA, Paris: CGEP), announced that Unveil
has joined the Genesys InterActs Partner Program as a
Strategic Member. As part of the agreement, Unveil can
resell both the Genesys 7 contact center software and the
Genesys Voice Platform in conjunction with its
Conversation Manager solution.
Attracted by UCN's competitive carrier services pricing and
its redundant national IP network, SPS will become a
master reseller of UCN's traditional carrier services and the
inContact(tm) product suite.
Unveil’s award-winning Conversation Manager speech selfservice applications run on the Genesys Voice Platform, an
industry-leading, open standards-based IVR solution that
allows customers to leverage existing Web applications and
infrastructure for voice self-service via any phone. When
combined with the Genesys 7 suite, the solutions enable
companies to seamlessly transition customers between
self-service and live agent assistance, resulting in reduced
costs as well as improved customer satisfaction.
Newly Released Symon Enterprise Server 8.1 Offers
Advanced Reporting Solutions and Expanded
Professional Services Expertise
Symon Communications, Inc., a leading global provider of
enterprise information for productivity and performance
management solutions, announced the release of Symon
Enterprise Server (SES) 8.1. Symon has added more
collectors and capabilities to SES 8.1, to further improve
collection, transformation and distribution of both real-time
and historical enterprise-wide key performance indicators
3
Telrex Announces Version 3.0 of CallRex
availability of its IP Contact Center 3.7 software suite.
Sharing an integrated architecture with other FrontRange
products, IP Contact Center helps small to mid-size
enterprises (SMEs) and distributed enterprises reduce
telephony costs and increase agent productivity.
Telrex, a leading developer of VoIP call recording and
monitoring software for small and medium sized
businesses with IP or IP enabled telephone systems
announced the release of CallRex Version 3.0.
Developed to promote organizational efficiency, the
product can be deployed on a modular basis either as part
of the existing communications infrastructure or as a
stand-alone solution.
(KPIs) and other business intelligence throughout the
organization.
CallRex Version 3.0 includes many new and unique
features including; look-back call recording, support for
Citrix terminal services, the ability to export multiple calls,
improved trigger filtering, automatic deletion of recorded
calls according to pre-defined criteria, remote polling of
recorded phone calls, improved recording quality, re-start
capability for remote data collectors, improved call
compression, improved record-on-demand capabilities, the
ability to automatically receive software updates online
and many other additional innovative features.
InStranet, Inc. Selected by SureWest to Enhance Call
Center Productivity and Self-Service Customer Care
InStranet, Inc., a leader in multi-channel knowledge
business applications, announced an agreement to provide
SureWest Communications (SURW) with their award
winning Contact Centers In-Line(TM) (CCIL) application.
SureWest is the premier provider of communications
products and services for personal and business
communications in Northern California.
FrontRange Solutions Launches IP Contact Center
3.7 Latest Version of SME Leader's IP-based Contact
Center Solution Reduces Telephony Costs, Increases
Productivity
InStranet will enable SureWest's contact centers to serve
their customers faster by facilitating access to needed
information. In addition, InStranet's applications will
reduce the total number of calls by presenting customerrelevant information on SureWest's public Web site for
self-service.
FrontRange Solutions, an international leader in Service
Management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
and customer contact technology, announced the
4
CLASSIFIEDS/ANNOUNCEMENTS
M.E.R., a premier Executive Search Firm in the Direct
Marketing, Call Center (Customer Care and Collections)
BPO and CRM/E-CRM industries, recently released a North
American Call Center Report. Receive a free copy
(compliments of Call Center Times) by clicking here:
Envision
Envision is a leading provider of performance optimization
solutions for contact centers empowering businesses to
maximize every contact with their customers. Since its
founding in 1994, Envision has focused on improving the
effectiveness and performance of contact center agents to
create measurable value for the enterprise.
http://www.justcareers.com/NA-call-center-report.html
Check out what is happening:
An Offer from Incoming Calls Management Institute
http://www.envisiontelephony.com/news_and_event
s/press_releases.asp
Incoming Calls Management Institute (ICMI) offers the
very best in leading edge, high-quality public and Web
training seminars for call center management professionals
(contact center, interaction center, help desk). We help
individuals and organizations understand the dynamics of
today's customer contact environment to improve
performance and achieve superior business results.
Visit us at:
Call Center Trends & Best Practices - Benchmark Study.
Operations executives! Control costs. Improve customer
experiences. Order DALBAR’s exclusive report and gain
insight on how to implement proven solutions that are
working in today’s best financial service call centers. For
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visit
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http://www.incoming.com/Seminars.aspx?SelectedN
ode=Seminars
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YELLOW PAGES
(A Call Center Times guide to providers of call center products and services)
AMCAT - Amcat software-based solutions power rapid,
Contact: Email: [email protected]
12750 Merit Drive, Suite 660
Dallas, TX 75251
Tel.: 972-233-6055 x.110 Fax: 972-233-3154
Website: www.envision.bigby.com
dramatic increases in inbound / outbound and blended
productivity, agent professionalism, and campaign management
flexibility.
Contact: E-mail [email protected],
Web: www.amcat.com,
Toll Free: North America 1-800-364-5518;
UK +44 (0) 800 169 2028
BRINKS HOME
SECURITY, INC. We are looking for hard-working, enthusiastic individuals to
become part of the Brink's Home Security Team. We offer a
variety of rewarding and challenging career opportunities with
competitive salaries, an inspiring work environment, great benefits
and professional development opportunities.
AMTELCO - Create Custom WEB-BASED Agent Scripts
Fast & Easy With eCreator by AMTELCO eCreator Web-based
Scripting provides flexibility and freedom!
Contact:
Jim Becker
4800 Curtin Drive
McFarland, WI 53558
Telephone: (800)356-9148 or (608)838-4194
Fax: (608)838-8367
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: http://ecreator.amtelco.com
All career opportunities may be found either at our corporate
headquarters, located in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas/Fort
Worth, or at one of our sales and service branch offices located
across the United States as well as British Columbia, Canada.
If you're interested in joining the Brink's Home Security Team, we
invite you to visit our Career Center at
www.brinkshomesecurity.com for a list of available job openings.
AT RANDOM COMMUNICATIONS programs are
Caras Marketing & Training
provides highly customized
training to help all levels of
learners make powerful
connections with your
customers and prospects by
telephone.
designed to provide objective, impartial observations to measure
the quality of service provided by your Representatives. Our
research services include, mystery calling and remote monitoring,
competition shopping and analysis, individualized coaching and
customer satisfaction surveys.
Contact: Cheryl Thibault at 860-672-0606 or [email protected]
BARBADOS INVESTMENT
AND DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION (BIDC) -
We are a team of Trainers, Coaches, and Management
Consultants who spend our time helping clients
improve the quality and quantity of customer care and
sales experiences. Since our inception in 1990, we have
worked with companies and contact centers where
confidence and competence needed improvement by a
deadline and within a budget.
BARBADOS – A Preferred Location For Your
Call Center Expansion. Barbados has
established itself as a reputable and diversified
international business center.
Contact: (305) 442-2269
Learn more about us at www.carastraining.com or
contact Ronna Caras ([email protected]) at
978.531.2022 x55.
BIGBY HAVIS AND
ASSOCIATES, INC. - Our SELECT Associate
Screening System is a family of short, validated pre-employment
tests measuring personality characteristics and integrity associated
with high performance in a number of jobs to include those
focused on the Call Center industry. We have industry specific
versions for:
•
•
•
•
CHASE DATA CORP - Chase Data
provides complete turnkey solutions to
customers that require our expertise and
experience in Predictive Dialers and Call center
technology.
Inbound Service
Inbound Sales
Outbound Sales
Help Desk
Contact: Sales contact: Ahmed Macklai
Phone: 954-720-6242
7
INCOMING CALLS MANAGEMENT
INSTUTE (ICMI) - Incoming
CSD - CSD is the largest
national provider of
telecommunication relay
services for individuals who
are deaf or hard of hearing.
We currently operate 22 contact centers across the United States
and process over 35 million calls each year.
Calls Management Institute (ICMI), based in
Annapolis, Maryland, offers the most
comprehensive educational resources
available for call center (contact center,
interaction center, help desk) management professionals.
Contact: For more information and to join a network of call center
leaders, call 410-267-0700, 800-672-6177, email
[email protected] or visit www.incoming.com.
Contact: [email protected] or call 605-367-5760
DALBAR, INC Use DALBAR's results to
improve operations and
DALBAR's awards to
publicize your competitive advantage.
MARASTAR COMMUNICATIONS MaraStar Communications develops
and distributes humorous animated
training programs for customer service
and sales call centers.
Contact: CALL 800-296-7056 or www.dalbarsqm.com
Contact: http://www.marastar.com/tuycc.asp.
ENVISION - Envision is a
leading provider of contact center
software solutions that empower
businesses to maximize every
contact with their customers.
M.E.R. Inc.
(McDaniel Executive Recruiters) is a highly specialized search
firm in the CRM, Direct Marketing, Call Center, and Collections
Industries. We specialize in sales, marketing, operations and
support function staffing.
Contact: Melissa Cole
Envision
520 Pike Street, Suite 1600
Seattle, WA 98101
Telephone: (206) 225-0800 ext. 500
E-mail: [email protected]
Contact: Chad McDaniel
[email protected]
866-991-3555 (toll-free)
PHONEPRO - Leaders in Telephone
Skills Training for 19 years, Phone Pro delivers
dynamic live web training as well as onsite,
customized training programs.
FRONTRANGE
SOLUTIONS FrontRange Solutions USA Inc. is a leading international provider
of business relationship solutions that have been used by more than
130,000 companies and 1.2 million users worldwide to automate
and manage IT projects and customer-facing initiatives.
Contact: www.phonepro.com or give us a call
at 800-888-4893
PRIORITY FULFILLMENT SERVICES (PFS
WEB) - Unlike other vendors, PFSweb’s
Contact: For more information, call (800) 776-7889 or visit
www.frontrange.com.
solutions are customizable, allowing a
high-touch and seamless customer
experience that is fully aligned your brand
reputation.
GMT CORP - GMT Corp makes
companies more profitable through the effective
use of their workforce by combining leading
edge technology with the features most desired
by customers.
Contact: www.pfsweb.com
PROCORE - ProCore Solutions
provides call center outsource services,
employee training and development
programs, systems developments and
reengineering to improve business
processes, and a full range of strategic
staffing services to its clients.
Contact: David Crowley, E-mail: [email protected]
IEX CORP - IEX Corp., a Tekelec
company, is the leading provider of innovative
productivity solutions for contact centers.
Contact: Drew Brown
(678) 355-3588
www.procoresolutions.com
Contact: [email protected]
8
RICHARDSON Richardson is a leading sales
training and consulting firm.
We deliver a blended learning
solution both in person or online that incorporates a unique process
of high impact coaching to individuals and teams.
THE CALL CENTER SCHOOL (TCCS) -
Contact: Jim Brodo - [email protected]
•
•
•
The Call Center School (TCCS) provides a wide variety of training
and education programs for the call center professionals utilizing a
variety of delivery mechanisms:
SER SOLUTIONS, INC - Since 1989, SER Solutions,
Inc. (SER) has led the contact
center industry in delivering
products that significantly
improve operational
efficiencies and agent
productivity.
Instructor-Led Courses
Web Seminars
e-Learning Programs
Contact: The Call Center School
790 Harding Place
Nashville, TN 37204
615-812-8400
[email protected]
www.thecallcenterschool.com
Contact: [email protected]
TouchStar Software
SNOWFLY PERFORMANCE
INCENTIVES - Snowfly Performance Incentives is an
provides the easiest to use and
most reasonably priced predictive
dialing solution available, along
with robust inbound ACD features found in most high-end phone
systems.
online motivation, reward, and recognition solution for call centers
that integrates the science of human behavior and the power of
random positive reinforcement.
Contact us now to find out more. 866-338-0678
Contact: 1-877-766-9359 – [email protected]
For more information about these companies, visit our Resource Directory/Buyer’s
Guide, http://www.callcentertimes.com/news/buyers-guide-main.asp
9
Not your Predictable Predictive Dialer