We are pleased to present the second-annual TMC'
Labs Innovation Awards, which were launched to honor
products that demonstrate raw innovation, unique
features and significant contributions to improving
customer interactions. Innovation can be best defined
as "new and original or taking a new and original
approach." It can also be classified as "forward-thinking
and progressive or the introduction of a new idea,
method or device." While innovation is often a concept
of "firsts," looking at things from a different
perspective and molding an existing idea into a new
shape is also considered innovative. Challenging the
established standards to help achieve competitive
alternatives with distinctive results helps define
innovation within our industry.
With these twelve awards, we attempted to cover a
wide spectrum of the industry, from LED panels to
customer interaction software suites. While some of
the functionality of the products may overlap, the
innovations within these products are unique. Once
again, our hats are off to the developers and
engineers of the products who have earned a TMC'
Labs Innovation Award.
TMC
Labs' Innovation Awards Winners
Multimedia Suite Version 5
Apropos Technology, Inc.
Ph: 630-472-9600
Successful contact centers today need the ability
to interact with customers on all communication
levels: traditional voice interactions, e-mail and all
Web-based forms of communications. What's important to
consumers, and what determines if a consumer becomes a
repeat customer is receiving the best service
possible. A company that provides well-informed
customer service representatives who project a sharp
company image further assures customers that they have
purchased the right product. Apropos Technology not
only provides "the next-generation of interaction
management software" with Version 5 of its Multimedia
Suite, but also furnishes the unique Interaction Vault
(iVault) to help ensure long and mutually beneficial
customer relationships.
Apropos describes iVault as a "unique application
that is the first in the industry to provide instant
access to customer interaction history by creating an
archived record of all customer interactions." iVault
provides a single source of intellectual capital, or
intellectual property, comprising all past company and
customer interactions regardless of medium: Web chat,
e-mail, voice mail and traditional voice. Search
capabilities allow agents to query for specific
information using a variety of different criteria, or
the option of viewing entire account histories.
Because Apropos is a standards-setting enterprise,
it has developed and continues to improve upon an
impressive feature set. E-mail management is a
necessity for any contact center. Apropos' E-mail
Management uses its version of skills-based routing to
classify and route e-mail to the best-qualified
representative for accurate and timely response. The
e-mail viewer provides new features such as
Auto-Suggest, which assists agents with a quick
response to common questions by furnishing detailed
answers. While the PSTN has become the means for many
consumers to establish contact with a company, Version
5 provides customizable voice features such as
text-to-speech automation and ACD capabilities, and
also enables IVR, voice mail management, call blending
and abandoned call management.
Today, many consumers enjoy the convenience the Web
affords, recognizing it as their first choice to
engage in commerce, the initiation of follow-up
service and product support. Apropos' Web application
features iType, which replaces Web callback and allows
a customer to type a written request or schedule a
time for a callback. Web chat supports simultaneous
requests and VoIP-enabled Web chat. Assisted form
filling, co-navigation, URL response library and the
ability to manage any type of customer contact through
a single, unified interface are product staples.
Multimedia Suite's new and innovative additions
such as iVault, major reporting features such as
enhanced browser-based Decision Maker and Personal
Reporting, SQL Server support, PCI and T1/E1 support
and Version 5 Task Management have cast a new and
exciting foundation for this solution. Multimedia
Suite Version 5 provides cutting-edge features and
technology embedded within a proven, deep and
feature-rich application developed by Apropos
Technology, a company that currently has more than 250
clients worldwide. Exceptional human assistance via
interactive Web chat or voice interaction is Apropos'
definition of innovation, and we compliment Apropos on
a job well done.
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Control-F1
Control-F1
Ph: 403-670-0891
Expanding responsibilities for help desk personnel
require new tools to help them cope with the
increasing demand for their services. Control-F1 is a
Web-based help desk solution that is "even better than
being there," according to company co-founders and
brothers Vinay and Veer Gidwaney. An innovative and
well-rounded solution, Control-F1 is built on features
such as secure Web-based communication, diagnostics,
system management and desktop sharing tools. These
tools are fundamental to making Control-F1 a
comprehensive and innovative compilation of utilities
and helps define a new help desk standard.
Administrative features, such as keyword routing
(equipped with a time-saving testing tool) and
wireless queue access, make it a quality solution by
allowing query routing to the correct technician and
permitting administrators to view queues via a
handheld device. Technicians can also automate
complex, labor-intensive and company-specific tasks
with custom macros.
Using the Internet as its medium, Control-F1
provides simple yet effective browser-based GUIs,
allowing technicians to use diagnostic and system
management tools to remotely identify and harvest
system and software logistics while end users continue
operating their PCs. Call routing and statistic
tracking features also aid in streamlining a customer's
interaction time. There's no client software to
install or the need for firewall penetration; users
require only a functional PC, compatible browser
(versions of Netscape and I.E.) and an account (unless
the client-hosted model is purchased) to enter a queue
and hail a qualified technician. Communications can be
conducted via text chat, e-mail or the telephone.
Additionally, CRM integration is an option as
Control-F1 is compatible with GoldMine, Remedy AR
System, Interact Commerce SalesLogix and many other
similar solutions. Control-F1 has also recently
released several new product suites: eService, eSales
and eTraining.
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Telescript 5.3
Digisoft Computers, Inc.
Ph: 212-687-1810
Call management software is designed to increase
the level of productivity, efficiency and
effectiveness of a call center. The recent release of
Telescript 5.3 from Digisoft has raised the bar for
call center solutions, providing completely
customizable campaigns, scripting capabilities tightly
integrated with agent interfaces, critical open
database design, call blending, a choice of dialing
platforms and real-time reporting.
Digisoft has developed Switch Dialing, an optional
component of Telescript 5.3. The technology allows a
business to get the results of a predictive dialer
without the hefty purchase price. The Switch Dialer
allows a company to use its existing phone switch,
thus providing a new and cost-effective alternative to
the predictive dialer. The Switch Dialer is a computer
fitted with Dialogic cards that dials through an
existing PBX to provide the necessary call progress
analysis while using a one-to-two ratio or a
one-to-one, line-to-agent ratio.
The new release of 5.3 also employs digital audio
and video agent monitoring, providing an effective,
cutting-edge training tool. "Telescript's recording
capabilities are built directly into the scripting
component of the software, enabling management to
decide at what point during a call information needs
to be recorded," according to Robert Garber, executive
vice president of Digisoft.
Enabling a user to schedule various reports to run
automatically, Batch Reporting, another new feature
for version 5.3, simplifies the process of
systematically managing multiple campaigns. Reports
can be scheduled to run at any time. A manager could
request, for example, that reports should be run on
the third day of each month or even every other
Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. In the same spirit of automation,
many non-reporting functions can be scheduled and
batched as well.
Innovative market research features, such as Call
Resume and Quota Management, are also new additions to
the Telescript family. Call Resume allows agents to
return to the point in the script where they left off
if, for some reason, they are interrupted before
completing a call. Additionally, Quota Management,
which monitors and limits how many contacts are made
in a specific demographic group, has been augmented to
provide a new level of accuracy.
Digisoft adeptly demonstrates that behind any
exceptional and comprehensive product there is a solid
foundation of industry know-how and technological
savvy. We are pleased to present an Innovation Award
to Telescript 5.3 by Digisoft Computers, Inc.
[ Return to list
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EchoMail
EchoMail, Inc.
Ph: 617-354-8585
Toll free: 888-354-8585
Remember the promise of artificial intelligence
from MIT? EchoMail Version 6 is an offshoot of that
technological wonder and is touted as an "E-mail
Relationship Management" solution. This is a suite of
nine products that covers business intelligence,
customer care, data warehousing and direct marketing.
The suite classifies e-mail according to attitude,
issue, product, request and customer. Depending on the
classification, it then selects a reply from a number
of prewritten responses. If an e-mail message has a
negative attitude, it is forwarded to an assigned
agent for a personal response. This is done through
various means such as thesauri, dictionaries and
morphological analyzers.
In the call center, this makes life considerably
easier by combining electronic customer relationship
marketing solutions and application service provider
(ASP) models in the e-business arena. (EchoMail, Inc.
refers to itself as an ASP.) This suite analyzes,
routes and monitors all incoming e-mail messages
rapidly and cost-effectively. It warehouses, mines and
queries incoming e-mail messages to compile real-time
business/customer intelligence. It also generates
focused mailing lists and executes effective outbound
e-marketing campaigns, as well as captures and manages
leads based on the e-mail demographic input.
Techno-geeks might ask how this is accomplished, so
we will attempt to respond. There are actually three
core technologies for e-mail categorization,
processing classification and database modeling. These
are known as XIVA, based on research and experience in
the field of pattern recognition (this is where the
detection of "attitude" comes from), Trinity, a
scalable server technology, and INO (In & Out), a
database modeler. It is also available in nine
noncomputer languages and has been going strong since
1995.
This product deserves an Innovation Award because
it promises to simplify a way of life that did not
exist a decade ago and has now become ubiquitous. It
combines three areas of time-consuming drudgery into a
simple solution (on the surface). It might even mean
we need no longer dread returning to work after taking
time off to have a life by auto-answering, cataloging,
indexing, processing and responding to our accumulated
e-mail for us.
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NetAgent Suite
eshare communications, Inc.
Ph: 888-eshare4
Aleksander Szlam, chairman of eshare
communications, holds more than 40 patents related to
the customer interaction management industry.
According to eshare, several of these innovative
patents have resulted in the development of "much of
the market's standard technology, from predictive
dialing to screen pops to call blending."
eshare's flagship customer interaction management
solution, NetAgent Suite, is built on the
functionality of its predecessor, NetAgent. NetAgent
Suite delivers CTI-based voice, VoIP and live Web
interaction management. The suite advocates
customization, allowing any combination of
capabilities to be incorporated into a single
solution, providing customers with the option of
buying only what they need, when they need it.
The newly renamed MEDIA-CHAT enables agents to
respond to multiple inquires, supporting up to six
online MEDIA-CHAT customer interactions
simultaneously. To prevent the daunting task of
handling multiple interactions simultaneously,
scripting and FUIs (frequently used items) provide
agents with complete, detailed solutions for quick
response to common customer inquiries. Customers'
problems finding and filling out forms can be
addressed by NetAgent Assist, which allows agents to
help online consumers complete questionnaires and
other forms. If richer communication is required,
NetAgent TELEPHONY integrates inbound PBX/ACD calls
with MEDIA-CHAT, in addition to telephony-enabled Web
callback requests.
E-mail remains the method of choice for many
customers. If e-mail correspondence is preferred,
NetAgent EMAIL and NetAgent ANSWER both aid in
generating timely and accurate responses to customers.
While EMAIL sorts inbound e-mail according to topic
and uses skills-based routing to ensure the most
qualified agent responds, NetAgent ANSWER can filter
nearly 20 percent of incoming e-mail, according to
eshare, and is capable of responding accurately,
quickly and automatically without taking valuable time
from an agent's schedule. Often, e-mail can be a much
more agreeable medium by which to receive promotional
and other types of company offerings, allowing
potential customers the luxury of not feeling pushed
or harassed. NetAgent CAMPAIGN offers options for
targeting and launching outbound e-mail campaigns.
Finally, wireless access to performance statistics is
available via NetAgent WIRELESS, which may be accessed
via PDA.
Combine eshare's time-in-market and NetAgent Suite's
comprehensive CIM solution and utilities that enable
real-time assistance to customers through virtually
every medium available today, and you can easily
define innovation.
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NICE CEM
NICE Systems
Ph: 888-577-6423
Recording and monitoring systems are a staple
within the contact center environment. Traditionally,
these systems record voice conversations along with
some CTI information, such as caller I.D. or account
number. Today, however, customers demand other avenues
of communication with your business, including e-mail,
chat and even VoIP. It is essential that newer
recording and monitoring systems capture an agent's
screen and associate it with the voice recording of
the call to truly capture the customer and agent
experience.
TMC' Labs is familiar with NICE Systems' CEM
(Customer Experience Management) product, which
features synchronized voice and screen recording,
record-on-demand capabilities, as well as evaluation
and analysis tools, and agent coaching to improve the
customer experience. NICE Systems' product is
innovative in that it provides a comprehensive
solution that encompasses most channels a customer
would use to contact a company.
Additionally, NICE Systems' CEM features some
integration with third-party applications. For
example, it integrates with Blue Pumpkin, a workforce
management solution, to determine if the recording
schedule defined coincides with the agent's work
schedule. In the next release (version 8.7), NICE
Systems will integrate with leading e-mail management
systems such as Kana, eGain, Genesys and Lucent. This
integration will allow a supervisor to perform a
search within the NICE Log system based on the e-mail
address or the subject of an e-mail message, and will
then be able to play back the screen recording of the
e-mail response. This utility can demonstrate the
real-time typing speed of an agent, spelling and
grammatical errors and the overall content of the
message. Another useful feature in the next release is
VoIP recording capabilities, supporting up to 24
channels. For providing a comprehensive solution with
a very impressive feature set, we tip our hats to NICE
Systems.
[ Return to list
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Enterprise Interaction Suite (EIS)
version 4.0
Sideware
Ph: 703-437-9002
We are impressed with Sideware's Enterprise
Interaction Suite (EIS) version 4.0 for many reasons.
First, EIS can meld a company's sales and customer
service channels into a single focal point. This
includes combining e-mail, telephony, collaborative
chat, self-service, VoIP and wireless applications
into one Web-based contact management center. The
suite is also modular, so users can choose which
applications they need.
One of the key modules of EIS is Sideware Assist,
which assists in resolving customer issues on first
contact. This includes providing an intelligent search
engine, natural language processing and collaborative
capabilities. Customers type their questions and the
module analyzes, categorizes, determines the
pre-defined answers that the system regards as most
accurate and displays the information on the customer's
screen. Besides this functionality, Sideware Assist
can also query the customer regarding the level of
helpfulness of a response. If the customer rates the
answer as poor, the system will learn to improve its
response the next time the question is posed. As a
result, Sideware Assist guides customers to the
information they need in a timely and efficient manner
-- less service representative time would be needed,
more customers would be satisfied with correct answers
and costs for maintaining the business would decrease.
Of course, customers can still contact a live service
representative immediately with Web collaboration or a
callback request, if required.
EIS is Java-based, providing an open system that
can integrate with other databases and legacy systems.
Once it contacts a company's databases, EIS sorts the
customer information and allows users to personalize
every customer interaction. Its back-end database
tools help create responsive communication between the
customer and the agent, and its Web collaboration
module allows for chat, whiteboarding and pushing Web
pages. Using these features, a company can attain its
goal of acquiring and maintaining new and
longer-lasting customer relationships.
[ Return to list
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Simul8 Release 7
Simul8
Ph: 800-547-6024
When we reviewed Simul8
Release 6 in the February issue of Customer
Inter@ction Solutions', we could immediately see
the value of the simulation software -- primarily to
predict and plan for the current and future needs of a
contact center. This simulation software allows a user
to effectively develop a new business model and
evaluate new ideas and scenarios. When the model is
implemented, the simulation can lead to improved
customer satisfaction and a stronger business. Simul8
accomplishes this simulation effectively, exercising
its animations, graphs and statistics to answer
questions concerning the performance of a contact
center or the logistics of setting up a new business
venture.
Recently launched, Release 7 of Simul8 offers
improvements to an already solid product. The most
significant improvement is the product's support for
XML. A complete definition of the exact simulation can
now be stored as XML files in databases or even in
other XML files. Once created, these simulations can
also be generated without using the Simul8 software
and can be read or edited by many simple programs or
text editors. We believe that this incorporation of
XML is a first for any simulation product, and it is
truly a welcome addition.
Another interesting new feature of Simul8's latest
release is its mobile resources functionality. Now,
users can see the current location of every member on
the simulated team and control how long they take to
reach their destination, helping expand efficiency. Of
course, there can be a great difference between a
simulated worker and a real worker, but this
functionality is still a useful resource.
Additionally, we liked that Simul8 works
hand-in-hand with Visio and can be saved in either
application under one file name. Custom images can now
be displayed to replace a standard graphic, and text
or images can be linked to the Web or to any
simulation. Overall, the new and the old functionality
of Simul8 work well together and combine to make an
excellent product.
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NetLite
SYMON Communications
Ph: 800-827-9666
Full-matrix LED panels are used for displaying
large amounts of statistics, such as stock market
quotes or call center statistics. Of all the panels
available, SYMON Communications' NetLite is one of the
most striking because of its colorful LEDs, scrolling
and flashing message displays, multiple display boards
on one panel, audible alerting and a thin frame (1 5/8").
This thin frame is possible because of the use of a
remote power supply which circumvents the need for
cooling fans and allows the panel to be placed as far
away as 300 feet from the AC power.
It is, however, the integrated Ethernet connection
that makes NetLite truly innovative. Instead of
requiring dedicated serial wiring, more standard and
less expensive Cat 5 cabling can be used. A jumpstart
utility is also employed to simplify the initial
configuration. Once the panel is set up, an indicator
provides the link status for the LED panel. With this
IP connection, messages can be displayed quickly
because more bandwidth is provided. Also, networking
functionality, such as PING, Telnet and BOOTP address
resolution, can be incorporated -- essentially making
NetLite part of the network. On a PC, a graphical
interface can be used remotely to configure the
settings for LED displays. In addition, password
protection is provided for each display.
For real-time messaging, NiteLite can be integrated
with SYMON2000, which monitors and alerts
administrators about the status of networks. With
SYMON2000, information about the status of call
queues, wait times and average call times can be more
easily accessed. Additionally, alerts may be sent to
wireless phones and PDAs.
For us, choosing SYMON Communication's NiteLite for
a TMC' Labs Innovation award became obvious once we
carefully looked at NiteLite's functionality. It
became easy to see that overall, NiteLite is a truly
innovative product.
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CallMentor
Ulysses Learning
Ph: 800-662-4066
In an effort to serve customers better and faster,
Ulysses Learning's CallMentor offers a general
simulation training suite so novice agents can learn
through experience without initially having to take
live calls from customers. It prepares new agents to
take charge of calls, meet customer needs and enhance
the company's relationship with customers. This
element of CallMentor is provided in a training
program called ServiceMentor. Once the agents become
efficient at their jobs, they or supervisors can coach
novices through appropriate and proven methods. These
methods are taught in a program called CoachingMentor.
With this combination, CallMentor attempts to improve
the performance of every representative in the contact
center.
We reviewed the CallMentor
Suite in the May issue of Customer Inter@ction
Solutions' and found it to be quite useful and
unique. In general, CallMentor works by simulating a
complete call between either a customer and agent or
coach and agent. In ServiceMentor's case, the
customers speak their greetings and initial comments,
and the agent chooses from three or four
multiple-choice responses. That choice is graded on a
scale of 1 to 5 on quality and appropriateness. After
the agent chooses, he or she speaks the response so
they or their supervisor can hear the voice played
back at a later time. Then, the simulated customer
reacts to the agent's choice either by remaining calm
if the agent responded well, or becoming more
aggravated or confused if the agent responded poorly.
Another set of multiple-choice responses appears after
the customer finishes speaking, and the agent again
chooses the response he or she thinks is best. This
procedure continues through more call segments until
the conversation has ended and a final assessment
score is given. By working on various aspects of the
call, the agent should improve as he or she progresses
through the training.
CoachingMentor's main focus is on the "pivotal"
behavior for a particular call. It is this behavior
that is critical to the success or failure of the
call. Ulysses Learning's experience and research have
made CoachingMentor the most improved module in its
latest version. The company made these improvements by
uncovering the rationale behind selecting the pivotal
behavior and by presenting an example of preparing the
coach to give feedback so the objectives of the
program are clearer to the user. Other improvements
include reorganizing Coaching Mentor into three
sections similar to that of ServiceMentor, and
offering immediate coaching face-to-face or remotely
by phone.
In many ways, CallMentor is a one-of-a-kind
product. While there are some training simulation
programs, no program that we know reaches the complex
and random levels that CallMentor does for agent
training. Ulysses Learning's CallMentor is not meant
to cater to every company. Instead, Ulysses uses its
psychology and contact center expertise to generally
help all companies with contact centers. In this
effort, the company is admirably successful.
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VocalConnect
VocalScape Communications, Inc.
Ph: 604-437-VOIP (8647)
Toll-free: 888-339-VOIP
This package is designed to help bring resolution
to the "abandoned shopping cart syndrome" prevalent in
e-commerce. It does so by allowing the customer to
either click on the phone button to request a Web chat
session or speak directly to a CSR.
With the EyeFon application within the VocalConnect
product, a Web site may be transformed into a live
communications center via a live CSR who can lead
customers to a friendly finalization of purchase
rather than an abandoned shopping cart. Agents can
handle up to four conversations simultaneously, using
two hands, both eyes and both ears.
This proprietary, battle-hardened, Java-based
Web-to-phone software can be deployed on virtually any
portal or commercial Web site to provide PC-to-phone
or PC-to-PC telephony service. The application is
easily downloaded and installed dynamically from the
portal via an MS Windows environment. UNIX and Mac
versions will become available toward the end of this
year. The client software is built on open standards
using Java, the H.323 protocol (a SIP-based product
will also become available at the end of the year) and
the G.723.1 codec. The business-end software uses
Linux, Java, C++ (for now), PHP and XML, as well. The
competitive cost models run from easily affordable
monthly fees for the SOHO version up to full-blown
stand-alone systems if companies are willing to invest
that much time, effort and capital expense into this
kind of contact center solution. There is no
installation fee.
What is special about this product is the
application skins can easily be changed to reflect the
customer's commercial Web site genre and "feel,"
instead of using VocalScape's own color and logo
scheme.
This product puts the fun back into "instant"
Web-based business-to-business or customer online
interaction by providing the customers with a choice
to work in an interactive e-mail mode chat session or
connecting to an agent to conclude the transactions by
voice by simply clicking on the Java-based phone
button.
For offering an inexpensive yet comprehensive
Web-based chat/voice-enabling solution for business
transactions, we commend VocalScape Communications and
wholeheartedly bestow upon them a TMC' Labs
Innovation Award.
[ Return to list
of winners ]
Integrated Contact Center
Network
White Pajama
Ph: 877-PAJAMA1
White Pajama's innovation is in what it has
accomplished: providing a converged application
service provider-modeled customer interaction
management/customer relationship management (CIM/CRM)
function for the less-than-100-seat call center at an
affordable price. TMC' Labs recently reviewed White
Pajama in the June 2001 issue of this magazine.
A centrally located table of contents enables each
step-by-step tutorial to serve either as a topical
help file or a training manual. FAQs are used as a
pre-packaged tool by agents and for customers to
access during self-service queries. So is this
innovative? Not really. It's just common, converged
sense.
So what makes this product special? It combines
multimedia customer interaction features (such as
automated e-mail, chat and call distribution or CIM)
with CRM capabilities (storage, retrieval and tracking
of customer histories) and aspects of workforce
management in the form of a performance analysis
component into a single service, requiring no onsite
installation or related costs.
White Pajama fully leverages the merits of an ASP
model...its service does not require hardware setup or
system integration on the client's site, so it
represents an improvement on the installation time
required of a typical contact center product offering
a similar feature set of communications channels, CRM
features and reporting options. The application uses a
unified configuration interface, enabling ACD, CTI,
IVR and other traditionally separate and complex
systems to be set up in one place.
It may be a trite comparison, but this package
brings the industry closer to the small, "Swiss army
knife" model of call center solutions for smaller
businesses. For that reason, we have given it our
Innovation Award.
[ Return
To The September 2001 Table Of Contents ]
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