TMCnet Contact Center Solutions Week in Review

There was a significant amount of news in the Contact Center Solutions community this week, and in a break with my usual practice, so much of it was centered on community sponsor Interactive Intelligence (News - Alert), that it seems appropriate to group it all together.

First of note was the company’s release of it second quarter operating results. This was not just good news for the company but an interesting indicator of both the opportunity for the industry as well as the increased velocity of interest in moving to the cloud. Highlights included a 26 percent year-over-year increase in total orders, driven by an 88 percent increase in cloud-based orders that affirmed the growth of its business at the high end of the cloud contact center market.  The company also made news by landing in Gartner Group’s leaders quadrant in Gartner’s (News - Alert) "2012 Magic Quadrant for Contact Center Infrastructure, Worldwide" report. 

Before leaving the subject of industry recognition, you might wish to review the recently concluded webinar, “Top 3 Trends of Award-Winning Call Centers” that was put on by the prestigious International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) which also looked at up-and-coming contact center trends. And, add to your list of insightful webinars, “Eliminating a Minimum of 100 Wasted Field Service Routes in the Next 90 Days.” Being held on August 9, this is where you and colleagues can hear SkyCreek, an automated contact technologies and optimization solutions provider, discuss how they help companies reduce the expense of one of their most significant cost centers without sacrificing the efficiency and effectiveness of an all important function.  

News

Best practices, and worst for that matter as well, also turned up in other items.  For example, a Better Business Bureau survey highlights that customers say in rather large numbers (30 percent) that if they are treated poorly by a business customer service center they will not continue to purchase that entity’s goods and services.  Plus, as contact center executives know, it all starts with having good agents andDrishti Software has introduced the Ameyo Agent Screen Recording tool that promises to enhance agent efficiency and drive customer satisfaction. 

In other industry news:

• HP unveiled its Transformation Services - Customer Engagement Management, which brings together the company's consulting services and technology to focus on contact center solutions.
• Pacific Interpreters, Inc. announced it will work with Fluent Language Solutions, a provider of video interpreting and translation services and local onsite interpreting solutions, to enhance their customer service offerings. 
• In a move that emphasizes interest in home-based agent contact centers and industry consolidation, Sykes (News - Alert) Enterprises, Inc. said it is buying Alpine Access in a deal worth $150 million.
• Few people know how to contact social services when time is of the essence. In 20 counties in Oregon, residents can dial 211 to research social services.  
• Cloud-based customer service software company Parature revealed a new version of Parature Service Desk.
• Symmetrics improved its Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) program.  
• Altitude Software (News - Alert) announced that its Altitude uCI 8 interaction management suite is now available to users with new unified social media features.
• WindStream Corp. was selected by NeoVox Global to set up a start-of-the-art contact center to be located at NeoVox's headquarters in Carthage, Mo. 

More weekend viewing  

I want to continue to pitch our addition of “Video Showcase” to the community. This is a great place to pick up best practices, and other useful tips. Plus, do not forget such community resources as: the  glossary of terms, featured demo, eBook, podcasts, whitepapers.  And, if you have not, please sign up for a free Contact Center Solutions eNewsletter.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2012, taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO click here.

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