November 28, 2006

TeleTech Announces Retail Voice Portal For "Geographically Dispersed" Stores

By David Sims, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Englewood, Colorado-based TeleTech Holdings, Inc., a business outsourcer, has announced the launch of a retail voice portal designed "to provide a centralized inbound product to geographically dispersed retailers," according to company officials.

The retail voice portal is the newest addition to the TeleTech OnDemand suite of products, allowing big box and "other Global 1000 retailers," according to company officials, to have local store calls routed to a central location using a nationwide voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) network and an automated interactive voice response (IVR) system.

The product is being pitched by TeleTech as one which "can result in significant financial benefits by generating thousands of dollars in additional revenue per day per store and providing greater in-store productivity for retailers."

Basically it allows local callers to tap into a centralized, consistent menu that provides local store information as well as a variety of other options. Callers are then routed to the most appropriate location. Local store staff handle in-store customers while prospective customers are shunted off onto contact center agents.

About a week ago TeleTech acquired Philippine-based BPO company FinSource. The word from TeleTech CEO Kenneth Tuchman was that TeleTech will merge with FinSource to expand TeleTech's "existing capabilities in the financial services industry" and "complement the comprehensive mortgage processing services we offer today."

And in October the Denver Business Journal reported that TeleTech "announced a new business model," one that "will have employees working from home instead of the company's call centers."

At the time the company said its TeleTech@Home program was "ramping up with several Fortune 500 clients," according to the DBJ. The company was recruiting employees to work from home in Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Florida, Pennsylvania and Nevada.

David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. For more articles please visit David Sims' columnist page.

Voice over IP (VoIP)	X
A real-time communications system that converts voice into digital packets containing media and signaling data that travel over networks using Internet Protocol....more

(source: http://news.tmcnet.com/news/it/-teletech-/2006/11/28/2116463.htm)