Aspect Adds New UC Customer Service, Collections Applications

By Brendan B. Read

Senior Contributing Editor

 

Even in this cool economy unified communications (UC) is hot, especially when integrated with presence solutions as it enables high customer satisfaction and retention and greater employee productivity.

 

Aspect has heated it up more with the introduction of six new UC-based customer service and collections applications that provides this technology with even greater benefits including reducing maintenance costs by 20 percent and boosting productivity by 10 percent.

 

These UC solutions, which use Aspect’s Aspect Unified IP and PerformanceEdge Microsoft (News - Alert) .Net Web services-based platform products, include:

 

Seamless Customer Service, which delivers the tools needed for comprehensive call response, including coordinated self-service/live service and integrated assistance to improve first call resolution and enhance overall customer experience

 

Blended Interaction, which provides inbound, outbound, self service, and workforce optimization functionality. By eliminating complex integration and supplying common management, reporting and administration, this new tool gives especially multichannel contact centers greater visibility, control and staffing efficiency

 

Streamlined Collections to automate early stage collections and enable expert agent engagement for a more effective delinquent account targeting strategy. With it contact centers can get more promises to pay faster, reduce servicing costs and write-offs, and improve collections results

 

Optimized Collections, which utilizes performance, workforce and campaign management to enhance contact and calling strategies by applying the right resources at the right times. They increase right party contacts, lower staffing costs, improve collector effectiveness and collections results

 

*          Productive Workforce for Aspect (News - Alert) eWorkforce Management , a tool that allows strategic evaluation of multiple staffing plans to ensure having the right number of agents with the right skills, at the right times. Even subject matter experts outside the contact center can be scheduled with this application

 

Aspect’s UC applications use a software-based architecture aimed at reducing communications silos while leveraging presence for specific customer-facing business processes. For example, Seamless Customer Service offers contact center managers comprehensive control and visibility over the customer experience as they traverse from self-service to live agent assistance. It also extends the interaction to the enterprise, as necessary, with the Ask an Expert capability powered by Microsoft Unified Communications (News - Alert).

 

“By introducing the UC applications, Aspect is demonstrating its understanding of the importance of integrating UC with business processes and the ability to deliver software and services tailored to a company's requirements, “ says Blair Pleasant (News - Alert), President & Principal Analyst, COMMfusion.

   

Mark Good, Vice President of Information Systems, LCA Vision reports that his firm has seen increased productivity and reduced costs from using Aspect Productive Workforce in his company’s two contact centers.

 

“Customer care and the contact center are very important to our strategic objectives, “says Good. “Implementing these capabilities from Aspect has helped us centralize our reporting for greater flexibility and control, and has opened the door for us to leverage unified communications in the future.”