March 1998

The Exhibit Hall of CTI EXPO will showcase two Learning Centers designed to demonstrate the latest technologies in the PC-PBX and Internet telephony fields. The Learning Centers are designated as educational and non-commercial booths — an ideal place for attendees to learn about the latest developments in the PC-PBX and Internet telephony industries. Our learning centers are specifically not marketing events, so attendees can feel comfortable approaching exhibitors, asking questions, and experimenting with the products without being subjected to a sales pitch. The Learning Centers are designed to maximize your knowledge of the computer-telephony integration field and familiarize you with the different technologies available in the industry.

PC-PBX Learning Center
The PC-PBX Learning Center, Booth 1529, will feature six PC-PBX vendors performing objective demonstrations of their latest products in this field. Vendors include Sphere Communications, AltiGen, Picazo, Artisoft, and EasyRun. Attendees will be given a chance to inspect and test-drive the equipment, and gauge the quality of these products for themselves. The products demonstrated will be operated in near real-life situations, which will allow you to gauge their capabilities and features. The exhibitors will also provide the attendees with educational and objective material about the PC-PBX industry, technology, real-world benefits of implementation, and deployment techniques.

Internet Telephony Learning Center
The Internet Telephony Learning Center, Booth 360, will consist of six telephony gateway vendors, including Inter-Tel, Inc., exhibiting their latest products. Attendees will have the opportunity to inspect the gateways and make multiple Internet telephony calls to assess the voice quality over the Internet for them-selves. Attendees will also receive educational, objective material about the burgeoning Internet telephony industry, technology, real-world benefits of implementation, and deployment techniques.

SPECIAL FREE SESSION
Ingram Micro, the world’s largest wholesale distributor of technology products and services, is sponsoring a free session for all conference and show attendees on "How To Become The Most Profitable CTI Reseller." Ingram Micro supplies over 36,000 products to over 100,000 reseller customers in 120 countries, and they were the first traditional computer distributor to embrace computer-telephony integration — we believe attendees will profit from Ingram Micro’s experience and their noncommercial, educational approach. If you are an Interconnect, a computer VAR, or even an experienced CTI reseller, you can’t afford to miss this free session. The most qualified CTI deployment information will be delivered to you from sources that have front-line experience in the industry and can get you started immediately.

EXHIBITOR HIGHLIGHTS
As a service to our readers, we’ve begun to provide a detailed list of the vendors you can see in the CTI EXPO Exhibit Hall, which will be the show-case of the latest CTI, call center, and Internet telephony products and services offered. We’re especially pleased that in our evolution from a call center show to CTI EXPO, many call center companies continue to exhibit with us as CTI becomes an increasingly integral part of the state-of-the-art call center. Exhibiting categories will include: CTI software, development tools, call center products and services, telecommunications products and services, Internet telephony, fax and video, voice and data integration, unified messaging and productivity tools, audio and video conferencing, PC-PBXs, and many more. The Exhibit Hall is free — browse the hall and do some firsthand research on the latest products and services. We’ll update the list of exhibitors in every issue up to the show, which takes place May 19–22, 1998 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Here’s a first look at some of the vendors who’ll be exhibiting.

Ahern Communications Corporation
Booth 354, announced that it is now manufacturing the AVID multimedia headset and amplifier — which is designed to work with computer-telephony integration (CTI), Internet telephony, voice recognition, personal conferencing, business audio, and multimedia applications. The headset and amplifier plug directly into a computer’s sound card through the microphone and speaker ports. The AVID multimedia headset also features a high-performance electret microphone that optimizes speech recognition applications. The AVID MC1 amplifier was designed to boost the microphone output to line level. The AVID headset was created in response to the growing CTI market and to provide quality, affordable headsets. The AVID products sell for $24.95 each. For more information, contact Cynthia Pease at 800-451-3280 x229.

Computer Communications Specialists, Inc.
Booth 531, provides AVID, a software-based CTI enabler which operates across all standard operating systems and integrates to 20 major telephone PBX and ACD systems. Core functionality of AVID includes advanced CTI client/server capabilities, ease of integration, real-time management information, full voice and data call coordination, call transfer, call follow capabilities, fault resilience, automatic load balancing, and the ability to support multiple virtual call centers. Additionally, CCS provides SoftACD, a call control application designed to provide ACD and IVR functionality to small- and medium- sized call centers. SoftACD pro-vides features such as call queuing, filtering, and routing. SoftACD also integrates CTI functionality. For more information, contact Doris Grage at 770-441-3114 or visit www.ccsivr.com.  

EIS International
Booth 943, is a provider of software solutions and services for outbound and integrated inbound/outbound call centers. With more than 80,000 workstation installations at 1,450 worldwide locations, EIS provides systems for telemarketing, customer service, fundraising, market research, and collections to increase productivity, enhance operational efficiency, and improve agent effective-ness. For more information, contact Janet Wynkoop at 703-478-9808 or visit www.sersolutions.com.

ICT Group, Inc.
Booth 631, is a call center teleservices provider for sales, marketing, and customer care for the financial services, insurance, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, managed care, information media, and utilities industries. The ICT Group pro-vides fully automated inbound, out-bound, and integrated call handling as well as value-added marketing and market research services, including call center management. Business and consumer applications include: sales, lead generation and qualification, customer care, database marketing, surveying, and interviewing. It has multiple call centers located throughout the United States, Europe and Canada. Multilingual, Pan-European, English/French and English/ Spanish/Portuguese teleservices are available. For more information, con-tact Jackie Amendolari at 215-702- 2018 or visit www.ictgroup.com.

IMA’s
EDGE call center software, Booth 1230, is an open-architecture, Internet-enabled, standards-based suite of tools and applications that integrates with telephony devices and host and legacy systems to control inbound and outbound call processing and manage call center functionality. EDGE brings functionality, customization, adaptability, scalability, and integration to environments ranging from telemarketing and order processing to customer service and account management, resulting in enhanced customer interactions. IMA, a global provider of comprehensive call center software, also offers a full range of professional application and business consulting, technical sup-port and maintenance services. For more information, contact the company at 800-776-0462 or 203-925-6800 or visit www.ima-inc.com.

MCI Call Center Solutions
Booth 1030, MCI manages one of the largest call center operations in the world and offers its expertise to businesses world-wide through a portfolio of call center solutions, including:

• Consulting: Site selection and facilities design; quality management; business process design; and customized recruiting, training and incentive programs.
• Outsourcing: Live agent and multi-media support for customer service, help desk, and sales support applications.
• Technology: Call center managed services; systems integration and applications development; and implementation support for interactive voice response, computer-telephony integration and intelligent workstation solutions.
• Network Services: Advanced solutions for intelligent routing, call handling, and management reporting.

For more information, contact Nancy Montgomery at 770-284-4557 or visit www.mci.com.

Melita International
Booth 1134, began operation in 1983 as a provider of customer interaction and call management systems for call centers that enable businesses to automate call center activities and enhance their telephony- based customer communication. Worldwide customers include leading  95 organizations in the financial services, retail, media, and communications and service bureau industries, and any-where businesses are engaged in frequent telephone contact with customers or prospects. For more information, contact Jenny Schuh at 770-239-4667 or visit www.melita.com.

Microlog Corporation
Booth 927, designs, assembles and supports a complete line of Interactive Communications systems and application solutions for customers worldwide. With over 14,000 installations worldwide, its applications are found in both government and private industry. Its systems are designed to improve labor productivity, ensure the timely completion of business transactions, and deliver critical information on demand to customers and vendors alike. Microlog’s interactive voice response systems, Intela , combined with IntelaCTI , IntelaConnect , IntelaDB , IntelaAttendant, or IntelaPowerdial, allow developers to assemble a complete voice enabled call center solution. For more information, contact Scott Rover at 301-428-9100 or visit www.mlog.com.

Noble Systems Corporation (NSC)
Booth 1034, offers flexible, predictive dialing, inbound ACD and blended call systems, and software and solutions, which are fully customizable by the user. NSC’s system comprises: customized screens, real-time voice and data reporting and exchange, remote agent management, fax-on-demand, credit card payment processing, digital recording, internal/external call transfer, user-defined software, screen and reports, scalability, and more. Open database design can integrate within your network or standalone. Unix, Informix, and Dialogic. SCSA-compliant. For more information, contact Joy Tu at 888-8-NOBLE-8, x372 or visit www.noblesys.com.

NTS Marketing
Booth 1022, is a full service call center service agency offering complete turnkey services. Their operations are under one roof in a new 29,500 square foot facility, including a 115,000 cubic foot custom-designed warehouse. Our facility integrates the capability of a 135-seat ISDN-served call center for inbound and outbound projects with the high-tech back up of a sophisticated hybrid data center and a fully-equipped in-house fulfillment center. Examples of NTS services include: live operator coverage 7/24, literature fulfillment, product shipping, personalized correspondence, information packages, customer care calls, medical sample detailing, market surveys, and database management. For more information, con-tact Barbara Lincoln at 804-947-0000.

On-Line Interpreters, Inc.
Booth 731, provides live interpretation via a telephone conference, in numerous languages. On-Line caters to a wide range of client needs: facilitating customer service, appointment scheduling, order acceptance, sales generation, and meeting the communications demands experienced in everyday business. On-Line maintains the highest quality, professional, over-the-phone language interpretation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition, On-Line maintains complete telemarketing service capabilities for specialized, language-specific markets. On-Line also supplies written translation of correspondence, marketing material, reports, forms, Web pages, and more. Call us for your professional recording of IVR prompts. For more information, contact Lance Lindeen at 248-380-9163 or visit www.imagetown.com.

Precision Response Corporation (PRC)
Booth 1128, based in Miami, Florida, is a full-service provider of telephone-based marketing and customer service solutions to large corporations on an outsourced basis. Through the integration of its teleservicing, database marketing and management, and fulfillment capabilities, PRC provides a "one-stop" solution to meeting clients’ needs. Using advanced technology, the company provides the ability for clients to cost-effectively contact or service prospective or existing customers. PRC currently operates eight call centers employing approximately 4,400 people equipped with the latest technology. PRC has been recognized by various organizations as a quality leader and has been ranked two years in a row as the fourth largest inbound teleservicing company in the country. For more information, contact Martin Cohn at 800-666-4772 or visit www.prcnet.com.

Racal Recorders
Booth 1226, offers the Wordnet digital recording system for message archiving and replay with up to 96 channels per unit for real-time access to database information. It can be used as standalone or networked system and has instant message storage capacity to 1,200 channel hours, archival storage capacity to 1,980 hours, 12 GB DDS-3 DAT media with stored conversations to 240,000 messages, and a Mass Storage Unit with 19,800 channel hours storage capacity. Wordnet features RecorderLink, a new concept in open systems integration software that offers flexible, easy-to-use message search and replay facilities. The modular package provides integration tools and a new, open programming interface, allowing third parties to customize search, replay, and selective recording functions. For more information, con-tact CJ Elias-West at 703-709-7114 or visit www.racalrecord.com.

RMH Teleservices, Inc.
Booth 1124, is a provider of outbound and inbound telemarketing for high-volume business-to- business direct marketers throughout the United States. RMH specializes in customer service and direct response inbound programs and customer acquisition and upgrade outbound programs. RMH also offers list management and processing services, segmentation and scripting capability, and fulfillment. Its client relationships include many Fortune 500 companies such as insurance firms, financial institutions, direct marketing organizations, major credit card issuers, utilities, and telecommunication companies. RMH Teleservices began in April, 1983 and has grown to 11 facilities throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. RMH is currently ranked among the Top 50 Telemarketing Companies, according to Telemarketing & Call Center Solutions magazine. In September 1996, RMH became a public company, trading over-the-counter on the NAS-DAQ Exchange. For more information, contact Terry Blackley at 800-478-0201 or visit www.rmhteleservices.com.

Romak Office Systems
Booth 937, is a systems furniture manufacturer, located in Colorado Springs and serving the United States and Canada. Founded in 1978, Romak specializes in developing panel systems that incorporate features unique to specific industry applications. Working closely with engineering as well as user groups, Romak Office Systems built the Ultimate 9000, panel systems furniture that meets all the functional requirements common to call centers. Romak Office Systems sells, delivers and installs factory-direct to insure better value and customer success. For more information, contact John Ochsner at 719-527-1990.

Spectrum Corporation
Booth 1228, provides ACD message wallboards that, when strategically placed throughout a facility, allow information to be transmitted instantly. Spectrum’s ULTRA-Link ACD Software for Windows now allows Spectrum to offer a full line of software for wallboards. Network alert messages and real-time ACD statistics are two examples of the type of critical messages that can be broadcast the instant the information is needed, to the people that need it most. For more information, contact Gary W. Liddell at 800- 392-5050 or visit www.specorp.com.

Spectrum Technologies
Booth 729, is a ACS-only United States distributor that prides itself on its large-volume buying and knowledgeable sales staff. Some featured products include voice-activated tape recorders from Panasonic, plus cassette tapes and batteries, and Uniden and Vtech portable 900 MHz portable phones. Nation-wide, same-day shipping available. For more information, contact Alan Haber at 314-423- 2311 or visit www.spectrumtec.com.

SYMON Communications
Booth 928, has announced SYMON NT 4.0 PLATFORM. With over 500 call center installations worldwide, SYMON pro-vides consolidated, real-time visual alerting of critical events, threshold exceptions, and multisite networking from all call center platforms: PBX/ACDs, dialers, IVR/VRUs, real-time adherence (TCS), and call tracking (Remedy, Vantive). Output devices include: LED wallboards/panels, large VGA monitors, pagers, and desktop screen pops. For more information, contact Elaine Rossi at 713-240-5555 or visit www.symon.com.

Target Distributing Company
Booth 727, is a nationwide wholesale distributor of telecommunications products. Plantronics telephone headsets and PolyCom teleconferencing devices are two of its strongest lines. Target maintains a large in-stock inventory and is ready to ship same-day. By buying direct through an authorized distributor, you eliminate high dealer margins. Target will create the right program for your needs and its flexible payment terms include: major credit cards, COD service, GSA purchases, and net terms with approved credit. For more information, contact the company at 800- 873-5528 or visit www.targetd.com.

TeleSpectrum Worldwide
Booth 1330, is a leading provider of diversified direct marketing and teleservices solutions to major clients in the financial, telecommunications, pharmaceutical/ health care, high technology, insurance, utility, government, and consumer products industries. Its services include outbound/inbound teleservices, interactive voice response, customer care consulting, call center consulting and training, direct mail, fulfillment and market research. Its goal is to help clients evolve with their customers’ needs by developing targeted programs to identify, acquire, service, and retain loyal customers. For more information, contact Heather Burnett at 410-865- 4204 or visit www.telespectrum.com.

Unitel
Booth 726, specializes in outsourced sales and customer care for the health care, insurance, energy services, telecommunications, and high technology industries. Applications include order processing, customer service, technical support, interactive voice response (IVR), direct response, sales and lead generation, and mail and Internet fulfillment services. Unitel has captured the industry’s top quality awards since 1994. Additionally, the company is featured in Inc. magazine’s "1997 Inc. 500" ranking as the 51st fastest-growing private company in the nation. For more information, contact Doug Palley at 703-917- 9170 or visit www.unitelcorp.com. 

Witness Systems
Booth 1155, is a leading developer of client/server monitoring software for call centers and is the pioneer of voice and data synchronization with its WITNESS quality coaching application. WITNESS enhances enterprise quality, agent efficiency, and super-visor productivity. The WITNESS solution was introduced in 1990. Customers range from large call centers with thou- sands of agents to smaller, geographically dispersed centers. WITNESS is designed to allow organizations to monitor, record, and review voice interaction between a call center agent internally logged into the ACD and an outside caller. It also lets them monitor, record, and review the data movements on the call center agent’s workstation. For more information, contact Ryan Hollenbeck at 770-754-1900 or visit www.witsys.com. 

Wuttke Associates, Inc.,
Booth 654, is now able to offer an interface between computer, telephone, and the Internet with a Internet-ready, stereo computer headset. Wuttke Associates, Inc. has pro-vided headset solutions to the call center environment for the past eight years. The two principals of Wuttke Associates have a combined experience of over 30 years in the industry with the major headset manufacturers. This expertise enables them to provide quality products, headset repair and service at competitive prices in a timely manner. For more information, contact Jeff Jeffries at 800-507-6560 or e-mail at [email protected].