TMCnet Contact Center Solutions Week in Review

As usual the news for the Contact Center Solutions community certainly was an interesting mix spanning the depth and breadth of the sector. Before getting to deals, new products and services and the fluidity of contact center locations, there are four items that deserve special attention that involve our community sponsor Interactive Intelligence.

First, I made my colleague TMC Executive Editor Paula Bernier’s (News - Alert) interview with Interactive Intelligence CEO Don Brown the Editor’s Choice for this week. The reason is simple: Brown’s observations about contact center solutions focus being shifted from internal issues to making the customer experience the top priority is a must read.

Second, we asked Jason Alley, Solutions Marketing Manager at Interactive Intelligence (News - Alert), to provide us some insights on contact center solutions and the cloud, and he makes a compelling case that while the cloud was an afterthought in the minds of most contact centers, it is now one of their most beneficial assets.

Third, the proof is in the implementation, particularly when it comes to multi-nationals, as a case study of Bentley Systems highlights.   

And, I wanted to make sure everyone saw that the Interactive Intelligence Foundation, the charitable arm of the company, is now accepting grant applications from not-for-profit organizations seeking funding to help at-risk youth. 

News

As for the rest of the industry news, it really was eclectic. A good example is the findings of a new study done for Trimble (News - Alert) found that when it comes to the delivery of field service capabilities, the customer experience as in other areas of business is not concern number one.

In other industry developments this week:

Evolve IP, a cloud services company, introduced major upgrades for its enterprise class Evolved Call Center solution.

Toronto-based Moneris Solutions, Canada's largest credit and debit card processor, is partnering with Semafone Limited, a U.K.-based company that provides contact center payment security software solutions. 

Bridgepoint Merchant Banking has recently chosen Corey, a Smart Executive Assistant offering, to increase the speed of the execution of deals by investment bankers.

Callidus Software Inc., a provider of hiring, learning, marketing and selling cloud software, said that its Commissions solution has been selected by a Malaysian communications provider to automate incentive processing and channel management for dealers, service centers and sales professionals.

ARC Advisory Group, a research and advisory firm for manufacturing, industry and infrastructure, announced ARC STAR (News - Alert) (Solutions That Accelerate Results), a domain-specific supplier selection service. 

Cloud-based inbound and outbound customer interaction channels provider 3CLogic announced a partnership agreement with IRT, a provider of dedicated, shared and hybrid call center outsourcing solutions.

Unified communications software company BroadSoft unveiled Call Center Xpress, a bundled call center solution which enables telecommunications provider to deliver a complete, fully scalable hosted call center solution to enterprise customers.

To put an exclamation point on the international growth of contact center solutions, Avis Budget Group Inc., the global vehicle rental giant with 10,000 rental locations in approximately 175 countries, is hiring 235 people to its Business Support Center (BSC) in Budapest, Hungary.

Weekend browsing  

For those of you who enjoy video, check out the interview my colleague Rich Steeves did at the recently concluded ITEXPO Austin 2012 event with Tim Passios (News - Alert), director of solutions marketing on contact center solutions and the cloud. In addition, while it is never a bad idea to sample all of the community’s valuable resources — videos, whitepapers and podcasts of a variety of subjects — I particularly think the lasts “Ask The Experts” piece on excelling at mobile customer service is worth a read.  

And as always, let me pitch the availability of more focused information on the affiliated channels: Accounts Receivable Management, Business Process Automation, CaaS, Cloud-based Contact Centers and Insurance Technology.