In Focus
From Intelligent Call Routing To Intelligent Contact Management
By Pat Kelly, Cisco Systems, Inc.
Intelligent call routing (ICR) will play an ever more strategic role in maintaining the highest levels of service. As enterprises expand and distribute their call center operations -- with multiple locations, more agents and specialized agents -- they also increase the likelihood of misdirected calls and the number of confused, impatient and irritated customers.

Teleservices Outsourcing
Outsourcing In The Telecommunications Industry
By Mukesh Sundaram, Telera
Outsourcing of voice telecommunications is a mature and prevalent practice in the industry. With the expansion of Internet technologies into the world of telecommunications, new outsourcing options are being made available to businesses that allow them to retain control of applications while still outsourcing much of the headaches and expense. We will explore how the Internet is changing telecommunications outsourcing and discuss what advantages this trend can bring to your business.

Customer Relationship Management 
I Know What You Bought Last Summer: Predicting Customer Behavior
By Jerome Nadel, SLP InfoWare
CRM has become a fundamental operating requirement for any service provider or merchant. CRM is about maximizing customer relationships: addressing the needs and opportunities associated with each customer, increasing revenue per customer, customer loyalty and overall customer base. But while CRM is essential to profitability, its benefit is limited without the ability to predict customer behavior before it occurs.

Empowering Customers With An Organic Knowledge Base
By Doug Warner, RightNow Technologies, Inc.
Effective customer service is all about delivering the answers customers are seeking. How information is stored, augmented and organized will determine how effective any organization's customer service efforts will be. The best knowledge base technology uses customers as the driving force behind the service organization. Using customers to guide the content and structure of the knowledge base improves the level of service and decreases the customer service representative's workload.

E-Sales--E-Service.com
The New CRM Dichotomy: Great Service, Wrong Information
By Dara Bloom Mirsky, Editorial Director,
TMCnet.com
On the surface, it was a perfect customer relationship management scenario. But TMCnet.com's editorial director Dara Bloom Mirsky's recent purchase of cellular phone service reminded her that things are not always what they seem.

Turning Browsers Into Buyers Using Your Call Center
By William Durr, Rockwell Electronic Commerce
Putting up a Web site with interesting content and an interactive design increases the likelihood that a Web surfer will visit your site. That's step one. But how do you ensure that when the surfer leaves your site, you have something to show for his or her visit and your expense?

The Next Route To Customers: Tele/Web Integration
By Fred Fassman, IBM.com
For companies trying to win business on the Internet, the newest wrinkle on the World Wide Web is real, live people. Many e-business firms are moving fast to link their Web sites with their customer support call centers -- what some call tele/Web integration. This new route to market offers an opportunity for companies to boost their e-commerce revenue, improve customer service and leverage their existing call centers.

Customer Experiences On The Web Shouldn't Be A Roller Coaster Ride (Sidebar)
By John Gray, CustomerAssistance.com
There's no doubt about it: e-commerce is here to stay. Sure, the hackers will continue their shenanigans and try to bring online businesses to their knees. However, in the long run, the real culprit for the breakdown or failure of many online businesses will not be the occasional prankster, but rather the perennial lack of reliable customer assistance online.

E-Sales -- E-Service.com News

Building The Perfect Call Center
Headset Selection For Your Call Center
By Joe McGrogan, Plantronics
A telephone headset is the tool of choice for most call center agents because of its many conveniences and because it facilitates more natural and effective communication. The quality of that headset, which in turn affects the quality of the voice it is carrying, depends on numerous factors. This article discusses some of the factors that should be considered when purchasing or upgrading a communications device as important as a headset.

DEPARTMENTS
Publisher's Outlook
High Priority
Technology Highlights
Call Center News™

TMC LABS
TMC� Labs Innovation Awards
The TMC� Labs Innovation Award is bestowed on products that demonstrate raw innovation, unique features and significant contributions to the contact center industry. The engineers of TMC� Labs recognize the challenges of developing a first-class product that integrates many components into one unified product suite. With the convergence of voice, data and various media types comes increasing complexity that, properly engineered, results in a product that may be considered an engineering feat. Hats off to the developers and engineers of these products that have earned a TMC� Labs Innovation Award.