January 2002

With the following list, the editors of Customer Inter@ction Solutions' have compiled a comprehensive directory resource of the U.S. and worldwide companies that offer solutions to workforce management issues. These companies represent a broad spectrum of products to address your company's individual needs. The best fit of products to practical application is achieved when your company is familiar with its needs, people and processes. Efficient management of the workforce is a vital component of world-class CRM (as anyone who has tried to call his or her insurance company lately and waited, gathering dust, for an ultimately incorrect answer knows). We hope this resource provides you with valuable input and allows you to make the most of this most crucial of business processes.

Aspect Communications
Larry Skowronek
615-221-6904
larry.skowronek@aspect.com
Product: eWorkforce Management Product Suite

Baydon Solutions
Sales dept.
sales@baydon-solutions.com
877-422-9366
Product: Assistware

Blue Pumpkin
Jeff Schmidt
408-830-5400   
jschmidt@bluepumpkin.com
Product: Director ' Enterprise

Call Center Associates, Inc.
Wayne Shaw
866-222-2363
wayne.shaw@callcenterscheduler.com  
Product: Call Center Scheduler

CallCenterDepot.com
Jim Rembach
877-550-0223
jrembach@callcenterdepot.com
Product: eResourcePlanner

CenterForce Technologies, Inc.
Manuela Hensman
301-272-2244
mhensman@cforcetech.com
Products: CenterForce Planner, CenterForce Optimizer, CenterForce Analyzer

The cti4 Group, Inc.
(Reseller)
Alan Braslow
856-751-0030
alan@cti4.com
Product: RightForce

Delhum Technology & Service Corp. (Reseller)
Jeff Chang
886-2-27081558
jeff.chang@dtsc.com.tw
Product: Blue Pumpkin Direct Enterprise

eePulse, Inc.
Theresa Welbourne
734-996-2321
theresa@eepulse.com
Product: Measurecom

eLabor Inc.
info@elabor.com
805-383-8500
Product: eLabor Workforce Management Suite

Expert Solutions International
Lior Ben-Tsur
+972-9-9702500
lior@esi-knowledge.com
Product: OptiWise

Fused Solutions
Sales dept.
877-754-2998
sales@fusedsolutions.com
Product: Support Management System (SMS)

Genesys
888-436-3797
Product: Genesys Workforce Management

GMT Corp.
Ed Starke
770-559-6210
estarke@gmtcorp.com
Products: GMT Planet-Jupiter Edition, GMT Planet-Mercury Edition

HTL Telemanagement, Ltd.
800-225-5485
Product: HILLS-B Optimizer

IEX, a Tekelec company
Lisa Ashton
972-301-1300
info@iex.com
Product: TotalView Workforce Management

Intecom, an EADS Telecom Company
800-468-3945
Product: Centergy

InVision Software AG
+49 (0)2102/728-0
info@invision.de
Product: Staff Planning System Release 4 (ISPS)

Iontas, Ltd.
Zal Hassan
781- 685 4916
zal.hassan@iontas.com
Products: Agent Focus, PC Focus

ISC
212-477-8800
info@isc.com
Product: Irene

Journyx
Sales dept.
800-755-9878
Product: Journyx Work Optimizer

MS2
Susie Bodine
650-967-7300
sbodine@ms2.com
Product: Accelerate

Nextair Corp.
Sheldon Hebert
416-860-9119
shebert@nextair.com
Products: AIRIX, DispatchForce, mdispatch.com

Norstan Communications (Reseller)
Chris Orr
952-352-4000
contactcenters@norstan.com
Products: Blue Pumpkin Software (Director Essential and Enterprise)and Aspect (eWFM)

OdySoft Inc.
Gilles Plourde
450-646-4774, ext.230
gplourde@calabrio.com
Products: Calabrio, Concerto, Adesio, Calabrio WEB Desktop

Performix Technologies, Inc.
877-637-3063
Product: Emvolve Performance Manager

Pipkins, Inc.
Jim Hogan
314-469-1124, ext. 245
jimh@pipkins.com
Product: Maxima Advantage Vantage Point

PointServe, Inc.
Guy Waterman
512-617-5337
gwaterman@pointserve.com
Products: ServiceLogic, ServiceXchange

Pyderion Contact Technologies, Inc.
514-344-4843, ext. 4005
Product: eContact Center Server Software (eCCS)

Rex Partners Oy
+358-9-2517 5455
info@rexpartners.com
Product: Smartrex ' Contact Center

RightForce
Sales dept.
877-336-7231
sales@rightforce.com
Product: RightForce

Rockwell Software
Vivek Bapat
412-741-3727, ext. 533
vrbapat@software.rockwell.com
Product: Arena Contact Center Edition

Soffront Software, Inc.
Nadeem A. Minhas
510-413-9000, ext. 105
nadeem@soffront.com
Products: TRACK, TRACKWeb

Sytel Ltd.
info@sytelco.com
800-747-0146
Product: Oceanic

TechExcel, Inc.
Darin Burek
925-871-3900
sales@techexcel.com
Products: TechExcel FrontOffice, TechExcel HelpDesk

Teclan Eng. Software Ltda.
Fernanda Daura D. Silva
+ 55 (48) 239-4500
fernanda@teclan.com.br
Product: Teclan Workforce Management

Telcordia Technologies
800-521-2673
Product: Work And Force Management Suite

Telecorp Products, Inc.
Kathleen Norton-Schock
248-960-6609
knschock@telecorpproducts.com
Product: CentrEE Calabrio

Telution, Inc.
Rob Kunzler
312.201.6644
rkunzler@telution.com
Product: Communication Exchange (COMX)

ThoughtWare Technologies
Trish Vassar
901-312-2476
trish.vassar@thoughtware.com
Products: People Search, Performance Coach, Learning Manager and Career Planner

Timera Inc.
469-524-1000
moreinfo@timerasolutions.com
Product: Enterprise Workforce Management (EWM)

ViryaNet
Glenn Martin
508-490-5904
glenn.martin@viryanet.com
Products: ViryaNet Service Hub, Service Contract, Service Supply Chain, eRepair, Workforce Management, Voice Portal, Service Scheduler

Witness Systems
Sales dept.
770-754-1900
Product: The eQuality Suite

[ Return To The January 2002 Table Of Contents ]

BY BRIAN SPRAETZ, IEX CORPORATION

Product features are obviously important when evaluating a workforce management solution, but there are other essential criteria to consider. In varying degrees, all of the factors below affect the ultimate success of a solution. Be sure to ask questions up front and do not be hesitant to dig into technical details. Remember to insist on references from organizations of similar size and operation to your company.

Features and functionality. Ensure the features of the product reflect the way your organization operates, or plans to operate in the future. Do your agents bid on schedules or are they assigned to them? Do you handle multiple channels (i.e., e-mail, chat, etc.) of customer contacts? Does your operation employ a skills-based routing methodology? If you run multiple sites, are they managed centrally, locally or a mixture of both? Understand your requirements and make sure the system you put into place has the features to handle them. Staff planning and budgeting tools are also a valuable aid in improving long-term performance and goal-setting.

Support and training. If your center operates only eight hours a day, you do not want to be paying for round-the-clock support. A range of support plans allows you to tailor services to your specific needs and accommodates changes of needs in the future. Look for training programs that emphasize real-world situations and include up-to-date training concepts. On-site classes, using your 'live' data, prepare you and your staff for a quick and successful start better than training delivered in a classroom or lab environment.

System integration. In addition to ACD interfaces, look for systems that integrate with multimedia servers, e-learning and quality monitoring systems. Even if you do not have these types of products currently deployed in your operation, chances are good that you will in the future. Look for open interfaces as they can help reduce your reliance on professional services from the vendor of the product.

Product and vendor direction. Make sure your vendor of choice has the staying power to be operating in the future when you need them. In addition to sound financial planning, a long-term plan for product direction and strategic vision provides you a sense of where a vendor is headed. If you expect your operation to grow substantially, you need to understand product migration paths and potential upgrade costs.

Brian Spraetz is marketing director of IEX Corporation.