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Web-Enabling For The Future
BY STEPHEN WOOD
[Go Right To Customer
Contact News]
The Web-enabled call center (WECC) market has changed dramatically over
the past 12 months. The recent spate of WECC acquisitions by the incumbent
call center technology vendors indicates that WECC technology is viewed as
a critical asset by these vendors. But what are the driving forces behind
these deals?
Cynically, we could say that because of the hipness of the Internet,
vendors championing the WECC are merely seeking to increase their profile
in collective consciousness. However, the move from �call center� to
�contact center� is not solely motivated by the desire for marketing
exposure. There is another imperative driving companies to acquire WECC
vendors: The market for traditional call center technology is slowly
becoming less and less attractive to technology vendors.
One vendor told Ovum that significantly raising revenues through sales of
traditional call center kit is now an impossible proposition. For example,
in the United States the number of call center seats is set to rise by
only 14 percent in the next four years. Sure, the established base of
customers will guarantee revenue from maintenance and upgrades, but in
order for call center vendors to sustain growth and increase
profitability, they must look towards new revenue sources. The most
obvious of these sources is the Internet � more specifically, WECC
technology.
As if the saturation of the traditional call center market was not enough
for vendors to contend with, the contact center market is also being
threatened by new entrants: the network vendors. Cisco�s acquisition of
WebLine Communications yet again brought home the fact that WECC is part
of the voice-data convergence trend. In this integrated world, it will be
the network vendors that own the call center infrastructure and switches.
In most cases the extent to which the Web and traditional media are �unified�
is debatable. Ideally, unification should allow administrators to
configure both systems through a common interface and agents should not
have to toggle between applications to take phone and Web calls. For many
products this ideal has yet to be realised.
But there is a bright side. Because many of the acquired WECC products
have not yet been fully integrated into the contact suites, users may
still offer the opportunity of buying the WECC product as a stand-alone
solution. By 2004 over a quarter of all of the call centers in the world
will be Web enabled. Call center vendors have been quick to realise that
the WECC is a means for them to gain and sustain market share in a
nebulous niche, although it may be some time before the user community
sees the technology as sufficiently mature for mass adoption.
Stephen Wood, an analyst at Ovum, works in the area of
IT-telecommunications and call center technology. For more information,
visit the company�s Web site at www.ovum.com.
Customer Contact News
Picazo Acquires NetACD Web-Based Contact Software Business from Compaq
Picazo Communications has acquired NetACD, the Web-based contact software
business from Compaq Computer Corporation. Delivering human-to-human
interaction via the Internet with integrated, real-time voice, video, and
data communications, the NetACD software solution dramatically increases
the probability of successful e-business transactions between a company
and its prospective and existing customers � and reduces the number of
sales that might otherwise go to the competition.
No. 528, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo
Database Systems Announces Linux Support, Plus Two New Call Center Products
Database Systems Corp. (DSC), developer of call center software products,
announced the release of Telemation support for the Linux operating
system. This version has been successfully installed on several customer
sites, and DSC is now providing the Linux software for general release.
Using Linux as the operating system for call center servers, DSC can
provide its users with a GUI, as well as character mode desktop operation.
DSC currently supports Windows NT and Unix operating systems at the server
level. DSC also provides its customers with its unique Windows �thin
client� that communicates with all of these servers. With the extremely
favorable reception that Linux has received in the marketplace, DSC
products are well positioned in a wide range of operating environments.
No. 529, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo
AltiGen�s Year 2000 Vision For Multimedia Call Centers For E-commerce
AltiGen Communications announced their year 2000 Intersect Vision. AltiGen
continues their commitment to deliver today�s most powerful, Web-enabled
communications technologies at a price that is affordable to the small to
mid-sized business. Packet-based voice over IP is emerging as the telecom
standard of the future. Small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) require
reliable phone systems that will help them manage the transition from
circuit, or the traditional PSTN, to packet-based voice over IP (VoIP), at
a rate that is manageable and meets their business needs. The evolution
from circuit to packet switching will not be a binary transition, but will
integrate in degrees over an extended period of time. Because AltiGen�s
AltiServ delivers both circuit and packet switching seamlessly and
interchangeably it serves as the nexus point between networks, allowing
businesses a smooth migration path to the converged voice data network.
AltiServ will allow businesses to transition to an IP infrastructure in
incremental steps, utilizing standard telephones and components rather
than having to incur the costs associated with proprietary vendor IP phone
technology.
No. 530, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo
Blue Pumpkin To Expand Channel Partner Strategy
Blue Pumpkin Software, a leading provider of workforce management
solutions, announced the launch of the company�s Channel Partner Program
designed to enable Blue Pumpkin partners to successfully sell and
integrate the company�s workforce management solutions. With more than
50 channel partners worldwide already participating, the new program will
enable Blue Pumpkin to continue to establish relationships with
industry-leading call center technology companies and resellers by
providing the tools and marketing programs necessary to allow channel
partners to successfully address critical business issues for their
clients.
No. 531, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo
e~Telesales Deploys Internet Customer Service
e~Telesales has announced that christmasdepot.com, bodybar.com,
LivingMaine.com, NiftyCool.com, eCollegeWear.com, and
Gimbelsdepartmentstore.com have selected e~Telesales to manage their
Web-enabled call center customer service needs by adding live voice
assistance via Push to Talk (PtT) technology. These recently forged
customers are part of an ongoing e~Telesales first-to-market e-commerce
initiative to offer new, cutting-edge technology to achieve real-time live
human interaction on the World Wide Web. �These established e-commerce
Web sites have entered into a business relationship with e~Telesales
because of our ability to offer 24/7 live online support to their Web
sites � today,� said e~Telesales president and CEO, Wayne Moore. �e~Telesales
is lowering the barriers to entry for organizations that wish to embark
upon an Internet customer service strategy and we recognize the need for
advanced multimedia solutions to maintain customer loyalty and increase
sales,� said Moore. e~Telesales' live online customer service offerings
are powered by eFusion's (PtT) technology which enables PC users on the
Internet to make calls to a standard telephone or to a call center agent
without interrupting the Internet session.
No. 532, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo
Teloquent, Comverse Infosys To Provide Recording And Monitoring For Call
Centers
Teloquent, a provider of customer interaction solutions for Web- and
phone-based call centers, announced that it has reached an agreement with
Comverse Infosys, a division of Comverse Technology, to provide advanced
recording and monitoring for call centers. Under the agreement, Teloquent
will offer Comverse�s products to its customers seeking to incorporate
recording and monitoring capabilities into their call centers, and its
call center platform will support Comverse�s technology.
No. 533, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo
Servicesoft, IBA To Merge
Servicesoft Technologies merged with leading e-services consulting firm,
Internet Business Advantages (IBA). With this agreement, Servicesoft will
deliver the industry�s most complete integrated customer service product
suite with comprehensive eService practices to enable the rapid deployment
of business-critical, highly successful eService solutions. Companies
today are demanding fast product implementation and expert business
guidance as they face tremendous time-to-market pressures to implement
online service solutions that support their explosive eBusiness growth.
Servicesoft�s new eService offerings meet this demand by combining
award-winning technologies with effective strategy and implementation
expertise.
No. 534, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo
Freeserve Selects White Pine�s CU-SeeMe Web
White Pine Software announced that Freeserve, a U.K.-based Internet
service provider (ISP), has selected CU-SeeMe Web technology to implement
live, Internet videochat. Freeserve will make Web-based videochat
available to customers subscribing to its new high-speed Internet access
service. Freeserve, which provides free dial-up Internet access and
related services to over 1.5 million people in the UK, announced a new
trial offer in November which made high-speed Internet access available to
its customers in mid-January using ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber
Line) technology. ADSL will allow Freeserve users to send and receive data
over existing copper wires at speeds of up to 20 times faster than a
normal phone connection. It will also enable Freeserve to introduce new
Internet services to these high-bandwidth customers using enhanced video
and audio functionality powered by the CU-SeeMe Web technology.
No. 535, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo
Silknet Unveils eSales Virtual Sales Assistant
Silknet Software has unveiled Silknet eSales, a new e-sales application
that assists consumers in their selection of online products and services
using a virtual sales assistant. Silknet eSales brings a new dimension to
Web-based self-service sites by creating a virtual personal sales
assistant who can help a customer through the online purchasing process
while improving the overall customer experience. Silknet eSales results
from the company�s acquisition of InSite Marketing Technologies. The
goal of the Silknet eSales virtual assistant is to not only make it easier
for a customer to buy products and services, but to also build a higher
level of trust and personalization between the customer and the company.
No. 536, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo
e-assist.net And Lipstream Partner On PC-to-PC Live Voice Service
e-assist.net, a specialist in e-business customer relationship management
services, and Lipstream, a leading Internet voice service provider for
e-business, have partnered to add Lipstream�s PC-to-PC Live Voice
service to e-assist�s customer interaction services. The partnership
will voice-enable emerging dot-com Web sites to allow their customers to
talk live with support representatives via the Web. e-assist.net has added
voice over IP (VoIP) capability to its existing outsourced eBusiness
customer care service offering, which includes e-mail, chat, direct
marketing services, and an artificial intelligence knowledge base that
captures online transactions and facilitates expert analysis of the
information.
No. 537, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo
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