Looking Back on Workforce Optimization with NICE Systems

We are long-time surveyors of the world of workforce optimization solutions and strategies here at TMC (News - Alert), so it is always helpful to get some insight from the big guys in the space when it comes time to think about the progress the workforce optimization market made towards the end of the year. This year, I got the chance to sit down with NICE Systems’ Director of Innovation and Strategy, Matthew Storm (News - Alert), to find out more about how the company sees its past progress contributing to its future.

Storm told me that the most significant achievement for NICE in 2011 was its “expanded ability to help organizations impact every customer interaction.” He said, “Our suite of business solutions is built upon cross-channel analytics, which understand the customer journey and drive actions to reduce churn, increase sales, and improve operational efficiency.  In research we conducted on customer channel preferences, we found that, of the many consumers who cannot achieve their objective through a company’s web channel, more than 50 percent turn directly to the contact center for help.”

NICE recognizes the pressure put on contact centers in this regard, and its leaders are aware that, “these consumers expect a seamless, contextual experience across channels. They want the contact center to pick up where they left off on the website and the organizations NICE serves are more prepared than ever to meet this expectation,” noted Storm.

Well, the proof is in the pudding, right? NICE can sure talk the talk, but it also walks the walk. The company had several acquisitions in 2011 that heavily strengthened its solution offerings over the course of 2011. Most notably was its acquisition of Fizzback, a real-time Voice-of-the-Customer solution. The integration of Fizzback into the NICE suite introduces the most complete Customer Experience Management (CEM) solution in the market.  

“The Fizzback software-as-a-service offering engages the consumer at the point of experience (contact center, web, branch, retail store or mobile application) and gathers feedback related to a specific interaction or transaction,” mentioned Storm. “The feedback is analyzed by the system to determine a relevant response, and automatically conducts a dialog with the consumer in natural language rather than in survey format.  The combination of Fizzback and NICE will both improve CEM as well as operationalize VoC both for the contact center and across the enterprise.”

Additionally, the company acquired CyberTech this year giving it the ability to broaden its offerings for financial institutions, while strengthening its commitment to the small and medium-sized business sector. Enhancing its position in the EMEA as well, the CyberTech acquisition helped NICE to develop solutions that accommodate large scale implementations, according to Storm.

So, what do we have to look forward to from NICE in the New Year? Without revealing too many of the surprises, Storm revealed that the company has “entered into an agreement to purchase Merced Systems.  Merced’s flagship solutions, available in on-premise, SaaS (News - Alert) and hosted models, include Merced Service Performance Management, which provides performance analytics and dashboards, service coaching, incentive management and real-time reporting for enterprise service personnel… The combination of Merced with NICE will provide a dynamic, closed loop solution that enables performance-based improvements throughout the enterprise.”

Stay tuned on the Workforce Optimization channel to keep up with all these developments and more in the coming year!