Here’s the secret to success: Align the business strategy, the contact center operations strategy, and the contact center technology strategy to build credibility for technology project prioritization. The business strategy examines opportunities for increasing revenue and establishing operational advantages for superior efficiency and competitive advantage. The contact center operations strategy refers to the work required… Read More »
Gotchas for Cloud-Based Contact Center Solutions
Through our work with clients, we’ve had the opportunity to assess cloud-based contact center solutions and their applicability to environments of all shapes and sizes. We’ve captured the benefits in a couple of published articles – Contact Centers in the Clouds: Expanding Your Sourcing Options and Win! Win! Win!: The Cloud Contact Center has Something… Read More »
Health Insurance Contact Centers Gear Up for the Affordable Care Act
In my last post, I sounded the clarion call for State agencies to get ahead of the power curve to handle the contacts related to the Affordable Care Act. Health insurance contact centers are equally vulnerable to a serious upswing in activity as millions of Americans and thousands of small businesses attempt to navigate their… Read More »
Are State Agency Contact Centers Ready for the Affordable Care Act?
In March 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law. Although the law is multi-faceted and has a phased implementation schedule, there are a few provisions that leap to mind as I think about the impact of the Affordable Care Act on State agency contact centers: Most folks will… Read More »
It’s Time for Technology-Enabled Process Optimization
As we observe contact handling in centers of all sizes, shapes and locations, we hear the frustration with all the disconnected and manual tasks – during the contact or wrap-up, and when work flows from the center to other parts of the organization. Few have made progress integrating desktop applications, automating processes, or tracking work… Read More »
Contact Center Technology: Beyond the “Bells and Whistles”
Contact centers can’t function without technology. They rely on a sophisticated collection of tools to enable the operational strategy that achieves business goals and meets customer needs. And given the wide spectrum of tools and sourcing options, it’s no surprise that lots of folks write about it. There’s a lot to say! But there’s a… Read More »
Contact Centers Need Consolidated Reporting, Scorecards and Analytics
Deliver great service and drive revenue. Provide personalized, effective interaction regardless of media. Assess what’s working and what’s not. Drive change to make things better. Contact center managers can’t meet those expectations without data from multiple sources to allow timely cross-application and cross-channel views of performance. And they need tools to enable trend and root… Read More »
Contact Them Before They Contact You
In the age of service frustration and cynicism, it is still possible to “wow” customers. Proactive outbound contact enables companies to connect with customers, anticipate their needs, reach out with useful and timely communications, and trigger execution of the right transactions and outcomes at the right time. I love that my air carriers offer me… Read More »
Technology Optimization: Knowledge Management
Knowledge is power. For contact center representatives, it’s the power to access the right information, the right resources, and/or the right processes to serve customer needs. For customers, it’s the power to get consistent information no matter which channels they use to retrieve it. There are many different forms of knowledge and job aids across… Read More »
Affordable Contact Center Technology for Small and Medium Centers
Today’s market respects small and medium contact centers (SMCCs) by offering them affordable contact center functionality without an undue burden on their IT and support staff. There are plenty of alternatives to consider: Hosted solution vendors enable companies to rent technology that vendors provision in the cloud. These solutions resonate for those trying to go… Read More »