Agent Desktop

Features commonly provided by unified desktop solutions are as follows:

Single login/logout - Once the agent logs into the application they have unified access to multiple applications. There is no need to log in and out to access data bases or other applications.

Pre-populated screen pops - Unified desktops rely on the CRM as well as other sources, such as IVR entries and data gleaned from enterprise data bases to fully populate screens before the agent takes the call. All unified desktops pop...

These devices are variously called, "smart desktops," "intelligent desktops," "universal desktops," and "unified desktops."  However, all these products seek to condense required call processing information onto a single desktop application and organize the sequencing of screens to coincide with workflow. For ease of communication we will use the term "unified desktops."Demand for these products is still in the formative stages but growing rapidly.

Behind the interest is the same fundamental...

The following are some more information on the vendors who attended the IQPC event.  

Analytics

For companies frustrated with isolated or disparate data sources, 360'CRM's latest advances in its InSight data analytics tool provides new levels of actionable information for the Call Center or Channel Management practitioner.  InSight not only automatically draws call center performance data in to a common, universally comparable dashboard and report analytics library, it also integrates internal...

The staff of CRMXchange was present at the IQPC Las Vegas Call Center Week. IQPC did a commendable job with the content and speakers in the event. The exhibit hours were long, running close to 11 hours on day one, but the vendors were pleased with the amount of interest that people showed in their products and services. 

We traveled the exhibit hall. Below are some vendor highlights.

Analytics

Contact Solutions – The Continuous Improvement Practice (CI) is based on a unique methodology and supported...

The first decade has seen steady growth in market demand for analytics solutions
of all descriptions as evidenced by the results of the annual survey of contact center end-users conducted by Saddletree Research in conjunction with the National Association of Call Centers (NACC). An offshoot of the Call Center Lab at The University of Southern Mississippi, the not-for-profit NACC conducts surveys of its members and newsletter subscribers in order to keep a finger on the pulse of the industry...

Ovum has outlined five secrets to success that enterprises should follow when implementing e-learning and coaching solutions.

Use data and applications that already exist within the contact center

Enterprises should use the information they already collect on agents’ skills and knowledge to determine the best time to schedule course and tailor the information. There are a number of applications that can be integrated with e-learning andcoaching including PM, WFM, Quality Management (QM) and...

Quality management has stood as a cornerstone of contact center performance management for many years, and for good reason. It focuses on the interactions between agents and customers; those little moments of truth where customer satisfaction hangs in the balance. For the most part, quality management hasn’t changed much through the years. The advent and rapid adoption of analytics technologies in the contact center is about to change that.

A new white paper from Ventana Research explores...

Joe McFadden, jmcfadden@enkata.com, Enkata

Ventana Research recently reported that 70 percent of companies have deployed quality monitoring.  In the majority of cases this is a manual process.   And that 73 percent of companies plan to improve this process over the next two years.  The report states that “ultimately, adopting contact center analytics will enable companies to automate the entire quality monitoring process, giving them the information they need to improve agent development and...

Global organizations often have little to no visibility into the non-phone based activities and processes that take place in their contact centers and broader customer service operations. And often times, it shows. The lack of visibility leads to such questions as:

•How can you know whether your agents and personnel are following the right processes?
•How effective and efficient is workflow across your customer service operation?
•Do employees’ maximize the vast number of applications...

Customer needs are increasingly being handled by employees who work outside a formal contact center. This trend is confirmed in Ventana Research’s benchmark research into agent performance management. Their research found that customer interactions typically are handled by a variety of business units – primarily the contact center (in 94 percent of companies) but also sales (42 percent), home-based agents (32 percent), back-office departments (31 percent), customer service (30 percent) and...

In the real world, contact center agents are often presented with comparable calls under similar circumstances yet the outcomes are frequently inconsistent, and performance metrics can vary wildly among agents. The answer why this occurs lies in performance factors that are overlooked or undetected by the generally accepted agent performance measurement tools in use today.

Despite the use of monitoring and coaching tools and the best intentions of those tasked with coaching and training...

For eight straight quarters Sprint has improved its overall customer experience. The improvement in Sprint's customer satisfaction scores, according to third-party studies, is a result of introducing its best-ever handset lineup with Android phones HTC Hero and Samsung Moment, simplifying cell phone plans with Any Mobile, AnytimeSM and Everything Data, and offering 4G service in 27 markets.

 

All of these new products, plans and services create a complex and ever-changing customer...

Agent Call Center Performance Optimization tools are a set of applications that seek to increase agent effectiveness, reduce workforce costs and improve service levels. These tools allow contact center managers to plan schedules, forecast agent requirements, measure agent performance, analyze results and improve outcomes.

Call Recording/Logging and Quality Monitoring (QM) software allows users to record, retrieve, analyze and improve agent/customer interactions.  These recordings are...

Are you systems operating as efficiently as possible?  You have invested in coaching, training and quality monitoring programs, yet, your best agents still outperform your average agents by 20-50%, so your average handle time still hovers at its current number. The “ million dollar question”  is why.

The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) and the Mississippi Department of Economic Security(MDES) have established a contact center lab that is available to the industry for the purpose...

Unified Agent Desktop

A unified desktop seeks to condense required call processing information onto a single desktop application and organize the sequencing of screens to coincide with workflow. Demand is growing for these products primarily due to the importance of first contact resolution (FCR).

Prior to the use of unified agent desktops,  improving FCR often came at the expense of increased handing time, as agents needed to search through myriad data sources and/or consult with others...

According to Udi Ziv, President, Enterprise Product Group, NICE Systems, user buying criteria (what users are looking for) changed over the past few years?  If so, how?

Over the last few years we have seen a shift in buying priorities due to three key drivers:

• Data center consolidation – in a recent Ventana Research study, participants expressed that economy of scale opportunities for larger multi-site operations are being considered as they are migrating to VoIP, increasing home-based agents...