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Publisher's Outlook
December 2002


Nadji Tehrani As The Economy Continues To Improve...
It's Time To Buy New CRM & Contact Center Products And Services To Remain Globally Competitive!

BY NADJI TEHRANI


As the industrys leading publication since 1982, this 19th Buyers Guide edition of Customer Inter@ction Solutions is designed to help you decide what you need to buy, what you must outsource, how to avoid mistakes and pitfalls, and how to position your company for maximum mar-ket share gains as the economy continues to improve.

In this issue and throughout 2003 I will try to tap in to the knowledge of industry
leaders as well as consulting with the editors
of this industry-leading publication, who have an amazing total of 97 years of industry-related experience, all with this publication, which laid the foundation for the multibillion-dollar call center, CRM, customer interaction/contact center industry with its founding back in 1982.

What Should Be Going On In Senior Managements Mind? To Buy Or Not To Buy, That Is The Question
The prudent and progressive management
of any CRM contact center should be asking the following questions:

1. Why should I buy or outsource contact center products and services?

2. What do I need to buy or outsource ("rule of thumb, you must outsource what is not your core competency")?

3. How do I select products and services?

4. How do I compare products and services?

5. What about compatibility?

6. What do I need to protect my market share?

7. What do I need to do to increase my market share?

8. Finally, given the ever-increasing global competition, what should I do to remain competitive?

Fortunately, the economy is turning around and it is time for a progressive contact center manager to acquire the latest technology in products that will help to achieve the following:

1. Improve overall productivity;

2. Improve agent productivity;

3. Improve CRM, customer care and customer retention capabilities;

4. Better control of agent training and monitoring;

5. Automatic compliance with all state and federal laws, and

6. Improve ROI.

Some Advice From The Experts
To provide guidance in the judicious selection
of products and services for your contact center, I asked a few industry leaders to provide their insight on what you should look for when selecting products and services to bring your contact center to the next level.

Steve Brubaker, senior vice president of Corporate Affairs at InfoCision Management Corporation ([email protected]), provided the following guidelines for selecting a teleservices outsourcing company.

"The rule for selecting a teleservices partner is to make them prove their experience, commitment and quality to you.

"Experience: Ask for examples of success within your industry. Get case studies and ask specific questions about how theyve handled programs like yours.

"Commitment: What resources will be available to you for your project? Do they prove their commitment by investing in the right people, technology and processes? Is the operation scalable?

"Quality: Visit the operation. Meet the people who will manage your project, and without exception visit the call center. Determine whether or not the environment and people emulate your culture and values. Are they the people who will best represent your company to your customers?

"Keep these tips in mind, and always remember an operations quality cant be found in a slick brochure or ad campaign, but in its people and its call center."

Scott Murray, president and CEO of Data-Tel Info Solutions ([email protected]m), related this advice about selecting products for the contact center.

"Buying hardware and software for your contact center can be an overwhelming process. Here are a few tips for identifying the solution that is best for your business.

"Key questions to ask yourself include: How is our contact center performing now? What improvements do we want to make, in what timeframe? Then, perform a gap analysis. What resource constraints affect this decision? Given those constraints, what are the most important gaps to address?

"Look at functionality that often generates a superior return on investment: Scalability; skills-based routing; an open architecture system that allows for no-cost, easy integration; a system that can blend inbound, outbound and Web-bound activities; and management tools such as monitoring, coaching and real-time displays and reporting to measure effectiveness and efficiency."

David Fuller, director of Marketing, Call Center Applications at Interactive Intelligence, Inc. ([email protected]m), urges one to keep an eye on the ROI.

"Successful contact center solutions must exceed business objectives while satisfying ROI requirements. Traditionally, this has meant addressing the contact management needs of the contact center alone, which has limited the scope of users and departments factored into ROI calculations. However, organizations are increasingly looking to use bundled communications suites with pre-integrated functionality that meet the needs of both contact center and enterprise users.

"This multifunction approach inherently supports lower total cost of ownership figures due to a single administration and development environment for universal queuing, IVR, PBX, unified messaging/unified communications, recording and screen pop features since more users and departments needs can be factored into ROI calculations."

Roger Sumner, CTO and vice president of Global FirstPoint Solutions Services and Operations at Rockwell FirstPoint Contact ([email protected]m), provided the following insights.

"Before investing in customer contact technology, understanding your customer relationship strategy is paramount. Selecting the right technology can result in fulfillment of objectives for a contact center. With the correct technology deployed to support agents and the right management processes in place, a contact center managers goal high quality customer service at minimal cost can be achieved.

"Contact centers have always been a delicate balance of people, processes and technology. Today, new multichannel communications need to be managed in addition to traditional voice calls. The real challenge is to maintain service levels for both voice and new media contact.

"Today, if companies are going to successfully accommodate multichannel communication in their contact centers, they require off-the-shelf products that are adaptable to specific requirements. This means looking for an open, scalable platform that can be easily integrated and tailored to support business objectives. When it comes to choosing this technology, the key for all organizations is future-proofing their investment."

These guidelines should provide you with a starting place to upgrade your contact center and get a jump on the competition in 2003. . When it comes to choosing

Mark Your Calendars Now
I am proud to announce two highly
focused events you won't want to miss in the first half of 2003.

Finally, A Forum For Teleservices Outsiders
First is the brand new Global Call Center
Outsourcing SummitTM coming to Reno, NV in June (www.tmcnet.com) and featuring the 18th-annual Top 50 Teleservices Agencies/MVP Quality awards dinner. This special executive-level event is a must-attend for any teleservices outsourcer. The three-day program features conferences, networking receptions and a golf outing. Come learn and network in an environment focused on helping teleservices agencies improve your business and increase your profitability.

Internet Telephony Continues To Grow
Second is the seventh INTERNET
TELEPHONY Conference & EXPOTM (www.itexpo.com), February 5-7 at the Hotel Inter-Continental in Miami. (For reservations, call 305-577-1000 and mention Internet Telephony Conference & Expo for a discounted rate.) There is a complete conference track dedicated to informing you about the benefits of deploying IP telephony systems in the contact center. By using IP telephony, you can significantly reduce costs in your contact center and maximize your profits. The three-day event also features an exhibit hall filled with leading vendors showcasing the newest products, and two networking receptions where you can learn from your peers and find new partners.

For more information about these events, contact Bruce Hirsch at 203-852-6800, ext.130 or e-mail Bruce at bhirsch@tmcnet.com.

I wish you all a happy and prosperous 2003, and, as always, I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Nadji Tehrani
TMC Chairman, CEO and
Executive Group Publisher
ntehrani@tmcnet.com

[ Return To December 2002 Table Of Contents ]


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