The Contact Center Solutions Community had a global look and feel. Plus, despite some news online you may have seen about contact center job eliminations in some ailing vertical markets in the U.S., the realities are the community is experiencing robust growth including in North America as the need for organizations of all sizes to improve their customer experience capabilities is encouraging C-levels to invest in technologies that can do so.
As witness to the global nature of growth and investment, community host Interactive Intelligence had two items of note. First, it revealed that its flagship Customer Interaction Center (CIC) version 4.0 service update 6 all-in-one communications software suite has received certification from the Joint Interoperability Test Command. The company also revealed that it is planning to expand its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to a larger facility.
Other news relating to industry robustness included:
If you were not able to join us this week at ITEXPO, you missed the opportunity to kick the tires of many of the solutions we highlight on a weekly basis and listen to lively discussions by subject matter experts not just on contact centers, but on all the related capabilities like SIP, WebRTC, UC, video conferencing, etc., which are helping enable the omni-channel customer interaction world. In fact, now would be a great time to mark your calendars for ITEXPO East which will be held in Miami, FL January 27-30, 2015. Not only is it a great time to get out of the cold if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, but is the best way I know to hear and network with those in our community who are creating the future.
What was missed here in Las Vegas at ITEXPO West was a great panel discussion entitled “Multimodal Customer Engagement: Because All Your Customers Aren’t the Same,” which my colleague Eric Lebowitz captured the highlights of and are worth spending some time reviewing. You also missed a chance to review with NetSapiens its latest contact center solutions with new advancements in its SNAPsolution software to serve CLECs, ISPs, WISPs, Broadband/Cable Providers, and Managed Services Providers, which provide comprehensive tools to support carrier class contact centers.
In other industry news of note:
Finally, as an interesting thought piece highlights, C-levels around the world are recognizing that contact center agents are more than just a necessity for handling complaints. With the aid of modern CEM solutions they help other departments drive revenue and keep customers coming back time and time again to purchase products.
Weekend Reading
Our community home page is the fastest and best way to get up to speed on industry news, insights and even a place to link to interesting demos. The recently redesigned home page is your gateway to constantly updated eBooks, whitepapers, videos, etc. In fact, I continue to recommend the white paper, Contact Center Metrics that Matter.
Plus, visit our affiliated channels — Accounts Receivable Management, Business Process Automation, CaaS, Cloud-based Contact Centers and Insurance Technology —which contain news and insights on specific areas of interest.
Finally, if you were unable to join us for the popular webinar, “Business Process Automation Best Practices For Improving Customer Complaint Resolution,” click on the link and view the archived version of the event. And, there is still time to participate live in two interesting webinars this month, What Does it Take to Deliver a Superior Customer Experience? The Two Top-Rated Online Retailers, B&H Photo and Crutchfield Electronics, Share Their Secrets, August 26, 2014 11:30 AM EDT (click here) , and Four Ways Next-gen Cloud Communications Improve the Customer Experience, August 27, 2014 2;00 PM EDT (click here).
