This week in contact center solutions had a little bit of everything. There was recognition for leaders in the space, acquisitions, deals and signs that the industry continues to grow despite challenging economic circumstances. We also featured some food for thought pieces.
I start with my reflections and those of Interactive Intelligence CMO Joe Staples on last week’s Interactions 2012 even in Indianapolis. The event was expansive. Along with an update on Interactive Intelligence’s capabilities and roadmaps, it touched on a myriad of top of mind industry issues including premises and cloud, unified communications (UC), mobility, social media integration, business process automation and improving the customer experience. And that’s the short list.
Interactive Intelligence was also the subject of some other news in the past few days. Reseller Adapt Telephony Services had a great week at the event winning the following recognition: the Conquest Award for securing the most new contact center clients, the Conquest Award for securing the most new enterprise telephony clients, the Pinnacle Award for achieving the highest-revenue among new contact center clients , the Pace Setter Award for achieving the highest total contact center revenue among all global partners, the Hardware Award for achieving the highest total hardware revenue and the Support Award "runner-up" honors for worldwide excellence in technical support.
Interactive Intelligence also announced that it had selected Sangoma’s A10x boards to power the recently released Interaction Edge VoIP gateway.
News
On the food for thought front, you should definitely read a piece by special guest James Wong, CEO at Avidian Technologies – ‘The Times They Are a-Changin' : A Look at the Top Trends Impacting the CRM Industry. Also recommended is Contributing Writer Oliver VanDervoort’s feature on Zynga and its conclusion that call centers need to focus on customer satisfaction and not call completion.
And don’t miss reading ContactCenterSolutions Executive Editor Paula Bernier’s discussion with Turgut Aykein, president and CEO of ac2, about the past and future of WFM and customer care.
Industry news as noted produced two other recognition announcements:
In industry activities regarding acquisitions of note was Canadian software and services company, Enghouse Systems Limited announcing completion of its acquisition of New Zealand-headquartered contact center solutions provider Zeacom Group Limited for a purchase price of $30.6 million. And there was an update on the recent acquisition of SinglePlatform by Constant Contact.
Announcement of new product and services included:
Check out the new videos
Finally, you might notice a new community feature called “Video Showcase.” There is a lot to digest here, but you might start by watching the customer testimonials. In addition, if you have not already done so, sign up for a free Contact Center Solutions eNewsletter, and check out the links on the community to videos, podcasts, eBooks, white papers and other resources.