Quality Monitoring

Consumers often are reluctant to give out their credit card information online, even if it means being able to buy goods and services for a lower price or in a more convenient manner. These consumers worry that, by giving out their information on the Web or by e-mail, they may be exposing it to thieves. Fewer consumers are worried about giving credit card information over the phone, although this can be a point of concern as well.

 

These concerns can be all to valid. If not properly protected, digitally-stored credit card information (whether in a database or in a recorded phone call) can be vulnerable to misuse or abuse. It has thus behooved companies doing business online or storing large databases of customer data to reassure their clients that security features in place.

 

The need for systems capable of protecting customer data is so great that a year ago several large credit companies banded together to found an organization called PCI Security Standards Council. The goal of the organization is to serve as “an open global forum for the ongoing development, enhancement, storage, dissemination and implementation of security standards for account data protection.”

 

After its founding, the Council developed the PCI Data Security Standard, or PCI DSS, “a multifaceted security standard that includes requirements for security management, policies, procedures, network architecture, software design and other critical protective measures.”

 

Last month, the Council announced that more than 275 organizations in the payment transaction industry are now in compliance with PCI DSS. Among the companies using PCI DSS guidelines to ensure the safeguarding of sensitive data is Co-nexus, Inc., a developer of customer experience management software.

 

Co-nexus’ Customer Experience Management (CXM) recording and quality monitoring solution now includes features that make it PCI DSS-compliant. The company achieved this level of security with a three-pronged approach.

 

First, Co-nexus’s CXM solution includes features that can encrypt audio and PC activity recordings. Once data it is collected, it’s encrypted before being put into storage. This means the information cannot be accessed again without a valid username/password registered with the system and an encryption key.

 

Encryption protects sensitive customer information, including credit card data, from outside attacks.

 

Second, CXM includes a “muting” feature that lets recording be temporarily suspended when callers reveal their credit card information. This portion of the call is not recorded, which means the credit card information is not available after the call concludes. This feature was implemented to guard against “inside attacks” by users of the CXM system.

 

Finally, CXM includes an audit log that records information about user activity. This log identifies who accesses a recorded call and when it was accessed. Even if a user somehow accesses information they’re not supposed to have, it is possible to identify the culprit and prevent future abuses.

 

These three approaches, when combined, create a very safe environment for collecting and storing customer information. Contact centers and other customer-facing organizations using CXM can reassure their clients that every measure possible is being taken to prevent data theft.

 

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