Owner: Virtual Observations - The CSI Call Center Blog URL:http://call-center-stories.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2007 09:07:14 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: This blog is published by the marketing department of Coordinated Systems, Inc. (CSI). This blog features many CSI news stories and also assembles tips for improving the call center agent performance and helping teams evolve into world class call centers. Site statistics:Click here
What is the ultimate goal of your business? 2007-08-28 14:26:48 As a representative of the sales and marketing team for Coordinated Systems, Inc. (CSI), I often have to define what our ultimate goals are for the year. Is it a # of new sales? Is it a # of new strategic partnerships? Is it purely a dollar amount? If you read Eliyahu Goldratt's book "The Goal", the answer would be, well, you need to find the answer for yourself. You could actually use "The Secret" to figure out "The Goal". Sorry, sometimes humor works.At CSI, our goal is to get as many testimonials as we can. We strive to maintain or improve on our 97.5% customer retention rate. We're looking to provide our customers with stellar service which reaches beyond their expectations. That's why we've hired only the best people to interact with our customers. When we send our implementation and training teams out on the road, it is a rare occasion that they do NOT come back with a testimonial. That's "The Goal" according to CSI.
Virtual Observer phone systems compatibility 2007-09-24 13:53:55 Virtual Observer
(VO) connects to most popular phone
systems. The following constitutes a partial list. Please feel free to contact us about other phone systems VO may connect to. VO also connects with any t1 line, any analog line, and many more.Avaya - VO offers recording connectivity to all Avaya systems.Cisco - VO offers VoIP connectivity with Cisco.3com - VO offers VoIP connectivity with 3com systems.Nortel - VoIP, digital, analog/tdmSiemens - digital, analog/tdmMitel - VoIP, digital, analog/tdmNEC
Read more:compatibility
News feed of the sources we read 2007-09-24 12:41:28 Everyone in our industry reads the major telecom news vendors. I read all of them in my news feed reader. I've created a feed of the latest news items from the main call center news portals. You can bookmark this page and it will always be a fresh list of news. If your reader or email client doesn't support JavaScript, chances are you won't see this news feed. You can always click back to this blog post.
Read more:sources
Do you offer customer service via web chat? 2007-09-17 15:24:25 More and more businesses are offering web chat on their company website as an alternative method for contacting customer support or sales. I suspect as more and more college students graduate into the workforce, this will become the norm as opposed to an emerging trend. They're used to using Instant Messengers to communicate with their social networks. They will expect to be able to contact businesses in the same method. Most retail e-commerce sites are offering instant web chat as an option for talking to some one. Forward-thinking businesses have been using it for their b2b interactions for a few years now.It's true that's there is nothing like talking to a human, and we stress that on our website, but we also offer the web chat option for people looking to talk immediately. It's great for sending website links, or bringing up slideshows or pdfs.I'm looking to collect information on different web chat applications and services for managing customer support via a company's websi
Create virtual training libraries from recorded events 2007-09-13 10:06:45 Did you know you can create virtual
training libraries using Virtual Observer?You simply have to create a media list of your highest rated events
and publish them to your company's web server. Make sure it's a secure server or directory, of course. You could then create several sub-directories from which to populate content: "Best handled cancellations", "Best upsells", "Best ways to handle irritated customers", "Best use of our CRM to locate customer information", "Five star calls", etc...Using our E-learning module, you could set Virtual Observer to automatically deliver an email with a link to the website address for "Best handled cancellations" to anyone who does not score well on that specific evaluation criteria.You can also publish media lists to cds or dvds and distribute them to new hires or present them to training groups. You may need to get your IT team involved in order to publish to your company's secure web server or intranet.
Read more:recorded
Recent feedback from Virtual Observer users 2007-09-05 12:23:34 We've seen a recent flurry of testimonials in our inbox. They're short and sweet, but they can really brighten the day, reaffirming the great jobs everyone on our support team accomplishes every day, even on the smaller tasks. It'd definitely great to get this kind of email in your inbox:"Thanks for your great support to RTD," - Edward Fay, RTD."Thanks for the prompt service as always," - Mark Glynn, Connecticare."Greetings from Colorado..............Thank you - I really appreciate you doing this for us. Have a great week!" - Loretta Turner, Anpac.For more comprehensive testimonials, please visit our customer success stories page on the website.
Read more:Observer
, Recent
, users
Speech Technology Basics, part one: Speech Recognition 2007-09-04 15:40:04 I asked our director of product engineering to give me a few words for the blog that would present how speech technology can be used in the call center. He ended up giving me a whole lot more, and I thought it will definitely be something that others might like to read:There are many different flavors of technology that can be categorized under the term “SpeechTechnology
”. You have speech recognition, speech analytics, speech to text, interactive voice, phonetics, speech XML and so on down the line. Some of these technologies relate to call centers and some do not."Speech Recognition
": This form of speech technology allows you to talk to your computer. “Open Microsoft Word”, “Start new document”. “Hello Mom . . . .”, “Save and Print”, "Save the World", etc., a simple way to verbally bypass your keyboard and mouse. If you want to read and write email while you’re on the treadmill then this is the way to go. This technology uses the concept of “Speech Training” Read more:Basics
Speech Technology Basics, part two: Speech Analytics 2007-09-04 15:39:05 "SpeechAnalytics
": In relation to call recording, let's use an example of a Call Center Manager tracking spikes in call volume. In order to help figure out why, an advanced Speech Analytics tool would allow the manager to query a database for the highest used terms and determine what the customers are saying during these calls. Quickly the manager can realize most callers are talking about a recent “Increase in monthly bill”. Another example of Speech Analytics would be to query a database for how many times last month did a caller said the word “Cancel” versus how many accounts were actually closed. This would reveal a “Save” rate for the agents. Let’s say 1,000 Customers called discussing “Canceling their account” yet only 100 accounts were actually closed. This is a 90% Save Rate. These two examples use the concept of “Indexing” to determine what words were said for later query and analysSpeech Analytics can be broken down into two categories: The “Dictiona Read more:Technology
, Basics
Notes and News on distributed call centers, infomercials, Skype and MS Office online 2007-10-01 15:38:16 According to a news story on Earthtimes, "4 out of 5" of the top infomercials are outsourcing their call centers to LiveOps.com. Speaking of infomercials, I wonder if Giuseppe Franco (if you've ever watched a Yankees game on Yes, you know who I'm talking about!) answers the incoming phone order lines for his hair products?LiveOps is a "distributed" contact center, meaning its' agents are dispersed virtually across states and countries. LiveOps offers customers real-time Reporting, on-demand scalability, superior quality home agents and results-based routing. Maynard Webb, CEO, formerly of Ebay, stated "We are thrilled to be working with these very successful shows. It's clearly a testament to our technology as well as the quality of our virtual community of home agents. Because of this unique combination, no other contact centers can handle the call volatility that goes along with this industry."In related news, Ebay posted a loss on Skype
, which many are now declaring a failure. Y Read more:Notes
, online
Recent call center keyword searches that drove traffic to this blog 2007-10-10 14:00:04 Right on target with our content:"pci compliance for call centers""Top 10 ways of monitoring individual and team performance""why do you want to be a call center agent""agent scheduler smdr""call centre chat""call center stories""is being a call center agent is easy?""Performance criteria in call center environment""are you a great call centre agent""cisco call recording - why record all calls instead of randomly recording?" "call center tips""call center e-learning modules""definition of call center industry""call center agents quotes""businesses looking for call centers""quotes for call centers""call length Call center""call center observations""customer call examples""calls received at call centres""tutorial short term goals help desk call center""call center thank you""call center motivational quotes""call centers answering promptly""Motivational Quotes about consumer insight""inspirational quotes for call centers""B2B Call Centre Industry Analysis""Six Sigma with DNIS""call center Read more:Recent
, drove
, traffic
Recent call center expansions 2007-10-09 14:19:38 DiaTri Opens Its Second national Call CenterDiaTri, the leader in national diagnostic network and scheduling services is pleased to announce the opening of its second national call center. This second call center will be located in the Tampa, FL area and will provide a very nice complement to DiaTri’s home office and call center based in the southern suburbs of Chicago, IL. Harte-Hanks adding 500 permanent call center jobsTexarkana will soon be home to a new call center that could employ as many as 500 permanent and up to 250 seasonal employees. Harte-Hanks is an international direct and targeted marketing company. Company officials say the facility was a strong factor, along with the community's enthusiasm for what is expected to be a boon to the local economy. Hiring has not yet begun for the new call center they hope to begin that process in the near future. They're expected to up and running sometime early next year. Sovereign Bank to add more jobs to call centerSovereign Ban Read more:Recent
More than just a logger, but as a logger, it's very, very good 2007-10-02 08:38:42 In the marketing department here at Coordinated Systems, Inc., we get a ton of leads and inquiries for call recording. Half of the leads that come in fall into our sweet spot, which is call recording for quality assurance. The best leads are from contact centers looking to record agent interactions in order to train them and improve their performance. Occasionally we'll receive leads from companies who are simply looking to record all their calls, typically for legal/liability or dispute resolution reasons. More and more companies also need to log calls for standards compliance. Virtual Observer can certainly work as a standalone logger. Of course, the real value does exist in the quality assurance functionality, but as a logger, it's still a great tool.Most pure loggers simply record the calls and store them in a network drive and allow you to play them back if need be. Virtual Observer gives you a visual playback mechanism which shows the entire call's audio wave, along with a syn
Capturing screens in a Citrix environment 2007-10-24 07:46:45 Recent Virtual Observer implementation at a utility provider in Cleveland, Ohio:This customer purchased Virtual Observer Logger for their Avaya phone system in multiple locations. What made this particular installation unique was the fact that all of the agents were on a Citrix environment instead of Windows computers. The customer needed to be up and running ASAP and our professional implementation team did not dissapoint. Two weeks from purchase order to fully implemented and trained. We trained a brand new QA manager, a former Witness user, who was very impressed with the quality and ease VO brings to his staff.In this particular instance we replaced a Dictaphone call recording system that gave them difficulty in finding specific calls. This was a basic business need which was easy using Virtual Observer.Notes: The utility contacted 27 companies regarding Screen Capture in a Citrix environment and we were the only company that was able to accomplish this.
Big business benefits from CTI and Avaya Interaction Center 2007-10-31 14:44:32 One of our newest customers, a large wireless provider scores big business benefits by integrating Virtual Observer and Avaya InteractionCenter
.An award-winning wireless carrier that has operated in the Southeastern United States since 1999 and in parts of the Caribbean since 2004, they have more than 1,900 people and five business offices. The wireless company lives and breathes “customers come first”, with a committent to provide the highest quality network, simple and straight-forward service plans that deliver real value, and the best products available on the market. Customer care associates are available 24 hours a day, everyday to quickly and politely assist customers with their questions and concerns.The wireless carrier’s contact center handles an average of 35,000 calls per day. They wanted to implement a call recording system to maximize the performance of their agents within the center. After reviewing several options, they chose Coordinated Systems, Inc.’s (CSI) V
How does Virtual Observer manage storage of recorded media? 2007-11-09 13:13:17 In a call logging environment, where every call is captured, online storage
can be managed where calls can be automatically be purged based on a storage threshold or based on date. Selected calls, however, can be retained and removed from the purging process. Virtual Observer
offers an Auto-Archiving module to completely automate the storage process. With Auto Archiving enabled, the system supports both “online” and “archived” storage where Virtual Observer will automatically write to removable media
(DVD-RAM, SAN or NAS) at the time the event is recorded
. This methodology allows customers to store as much as their storage location will hold, and an infinite amount of archived media.
Featured Customer: ConnectiCare 2007-11-08 11:56:34 ConnectiCare recently implemented the latest version of Virtual Observer Logger. What pleased the personnel at ConnectiCare most about the upgrade was the fact that “we see some of our own suggestions come into play and become a usable feature in the system, such as additional detailed reporting.”One of the ways Virtual Observer has made an impact on call center agent performance is by allowing supervisors to provide better training and coaching to the call center staff. Supervisors would also facilitate “peer audit” meetings, which were voluntary, yet encouraged. During the peer audit meetings agents could hear each other’s calls and audit each other using the form that the supervisors use. They were actually harder on themselves than expected.Virtual Observer has also been used as a training mechanism for the management team at ConnectiCare. On a monthly basis the managers meet together and play a call and individually score the call. A group discussion follows exchanging i Read more:Featured
, Customer
How flexible is the Virtual Observer UI? 2007-11-13 14:22:34 Virtual Observer
's user interface presents evaluators with a single unified screen that includes audio and screen capture playback as well as the evaluation form. Virtual Observer delivers a “dynamic” screen layout in that it can be modified to create a customized look and feel that is most comfortable to each system user. Users can easily saved their preferred layouts, and the next time they login, they will be presented with the newly saved layout.Screen layouts can be modified as follows:· Sizable Window · Docked or floating· Show or hide· Window blinds or window shades· Expand or contract· Save screen layout· Clear screen layoutVirtual Observer’s evaluation process allows users to listen to the recorded audio and watch the employee navigate through their screens while displaying the evaluation form one of three ways: 1) spreadsheet view.2) side-by-side view.3) single question view.
CSI selected for Avaya DevConnect Program 2007-11-19 11:40:23 We're pleased to announce we have been selected by Avaya Inc., a leading global provider of business communications applications, systems and services, for membership in the Avaya DevConnect program.The Avaya DevConnect program promotes the development, compliance-testing and co-marketing of innovative third-party products that are compatible with standards-based Avaya solutions.This membership will also help us build our business by enabling us to leverage tight Avaya integration and a greater option of recording methodologies. We can build on Avaya resources and work more closely with them to deliver compliance-tested solutions to the market. We'll be able to reduce network complexity, improve security and reliability, and speed time to deployment so businesses can quickly realize a benefit to their bottom line.
Read more:Program
Does Virtual Observer support T1 recording? 2007-12-14 08:57:03 While we have been selling a great deal of digital and VoIP systems in the last two years, often as an alternate method of recording, we are asked to record trunkside or T1.This especially comes into play when we are asked to record a system which we don't have a compatible audio recording board for, and random sample or extension side logging becomes a non-option.Virtual Observer
can passively record audio from t1 or trunks . In this environment, SMDR or CTI integration is required for agent identification.T1 recording available for VO customers who wish to capture every call.VO Logger with QA is also packed with many of our quality assurance features, creating a powerful quality monitoring tool, which when combined with CTI, can deliver a robust business intelligence tool....even without direct phone system integration.T1 logging is limited in that you aren't able to capture full video screen capture of your agents' pcs. However, recently we've introduced "VO Live", a suite of in
Introducing VO Live: It's a difference-making quality monitoring benefit 2007-12-19 13:38:27 We are pleased to introduce a groundbreaking new feature suite. It's called VO Live, and it really sets the bar high for quality monitoring
features, especially when you consider it is included at no additional charge with the base Virtual Observer Professional package.VO Live provides supervisors with the ability to monitor agent screen activity in real time and provide instant intervention.Some Quick Highlights:· Presents an overview of agent screen activity· Allows for instant supervisor to agent chat· Enables supervisors to take control of an agent's desktop - remotely!· Provides instant assistance to agents during callsAsk your account manager for more information about VO Live today!
Read more:making
, benefit
, difference
, Introducing
Announcing Reliable Call Recording for Shoretel 2007-12-18 12:54:11 Shoretel is an emerging player in the VoIP phone system market.We've heard from quite a number of Shoretel customers who have stated that the existing call recording systems available for Shoretel are not getting the job done.Based on the market's demand for a reliable, robust call recording system for Shoretel phone systems, we are pleased to announce that we have a Shoretel Logger which is ready-to-implement today and we are committed to having a fully integrated Virtual Observer Professional (with quality assurance features) with Shoretel compatibility released by Q2 2008.Virtual Observer Professional for Shoretel is a call logger with robust quality monitoring features: Evaluation, Performance Reporting, E-Learning, Screen Capture, Supervisor-Agent Chat, and much more.Businesses can implement the Shoretel Logger today and turn on the quality monitoring features when they become available.The system is modular, so they will be able to start small and think big, which is important Read more:Recording
, Reliable
, Call Recording
Virtual Observer customers in the news 2007-12-17 14:51:49 Salvation Army West USA found in The Long Beach Press Telegram:The Grand Prix Association is assisting The Salvation Army with its "Operation Christmas Adopt-A-Family" program, providing warehouse space for gift distribution, as well as adopting a local family by giving them food for Christmas dinner and gifts for the children. The association's warehouse will be open on Tuesday for companies and individuals that have adopted a family to drop off donations. More than 150 families are expected to be "adopted" in Long Beach.The back portion of the association's warehouse, normally used to house materials and equipment to build race grandstands, will be stocked with holiday items including toys, games, sports equipment and bicycles. On Wednesday, the families will pick up their Christmas baskets and gifts at the Grand Prix offices and warehouse at Pacific Avenue and Spring Street.About 40 volunteers, many from Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe Springs, will help with the distribution. Th Read more:customers
, Observer
Featured Resource: IP Telephony, VoIP and Broadband blog from ZDnet 2007-12-26 08:34:58 There is always good stuff to read on this VoIP blog, written by Russell Shaw. Recently they've been recapping the year's most popular posts, which include "a VoIP provider flames outa VoIP provider flames out", detailing the sudden shut-down of VoIP provider SunRocket, leaving 200,000+ subscribers in the lurch.Another popular posting helped stage a serious turnaround in Sprint policy regarding soldiers and cell phone roaming charges. Read more about "Sprint spits on our fighting men and women"."CompUSA is closing for good. Good" was able to draw over 90 comments, as people ranted about the departure of the retail computer chain.ZDnet overall has been a player in the technology news and content world since the very beginning, springing from the print world, like so many other online portals have, like TMCnet, which is from the publishers of "Customer Interaction Solutions" as well as other telecom publications.We'll feature more online news resources in the future. A recommended met Read more:Featured
, Resource
FYI: Article shows importance of CRM in Credit Unions 2008-03-12 08:44:36 Recently ran across this gem in my news feeds: "Gearing Up for CRM 2.0 in Credit Unions
". The article was written By Terence Roche.Article
Summary: Changes in how we access credit union services (atms, web services, drive throughs, cell phone banking) are impacting how CRM is integrated and deployed within the organization. Credit unions who are able to use CRM to sustain customer loyalty amidst all of the emerging changes are the ones who will succeed. Excerpt from article:"For years, credit unions have differentiated themselves from banks and other competitors by creating strong "trusted advisor" relationships and superior banking experiences for their members. But the rules of the game are changing quickly and in a big way. This change all starts with the concept of customer relationsh
Federal credit union call center director gives feedback on Virtual Observer training 2008-03-03 11:59:27 Lockheed Martin Federal
Credit Union recently completed Virtual Observer
training at their corporate location.Here is a quote from Kara Fitzgerald, Director of Call Centers:"I have had many experiences with call monitoring in the past. I LOVE Virtual Observer from its thumbnails of desktops to its ability to interact with employees while they are on a call. I also have positive comments for the training as it is tailored around who is attending. The more interactive the participants the better the training was. The trainer was excellent!"
Read more:credit
Polar Extremes of Customer Service 2008-02-29 10:30:09 Recently I encountered two extremes in customer service. This isn't call center-related, but it's relevant never-the-less because it again proves why customer service is the single most important thing in business.I went down to the Ikea store in New Haven, CT, wanting to browse some of the room interior designs for ideas. Typically, I've received good service at Ikea, but this particular event was so bad I simply had to post about it. I was looking at a rack of bathroom mirrors, and didn't see the one I wanted in stock. I looked over, and thankfully, there was an Ikea employee nearby. I asked if he'd mind helping me with a quick question. He grunted, rolled his eyes, and told me he didn't really have time. Now, I didn't overreact, or report him, or anything, but I'm sure the good folks at Read more:Service
, Polar
, Extremes
, Customer
, Customer Service
Growing catalog and internet company uses Virtual Observer for quality training 2008-02-22 15:12:17 This came in this week from Stephen McDevitt, Call Center Manager for Cigars International:"As the Call Center Manager for a growing catalog
and internet company
, sales call quality and customer service call quality are paramount. In our industry what separates one company from another is the level of service. We recognized that in order to raise the bar (to become the company of choice) we need to do something more, continually improve on call quality. After a lengthy due diligence we chose Coordinated Systems Inc’s Virtual Observer
as the application to assist us in our quest to be number one. Virtual Observer has provided us with exactly what we need to guide our representatives to success. I have used several applications in my career and this system is as straightforward as you can Read more:Growing
Credit Union customers speak to Virtual Observer's impact 2008-02-19 08:55:09 As a marketing director, it is extremely beneficial to have the kind of customer retention which we have at CSI. One particular market where Virtual Observer
(VO) performs extremely well is the credit union market. Credit Union
s benefit from both call logging (for legal/liability/compliance) and from the powerful quality monitoring and employee development toolset which comes included with VO.In a conversation with a quality and training manager from Eastern Florida Financial Credit Union, he spoke of the many ways which VO has helped improve call center agent performance:- "It has helped our call center by giving our coaches and supervisors the ability to provide our phone agents with concrete examples of where their opportunities may be."- "VO has improved the use of our company’s reso Read more:customers
, speak
, impact
Call Center Technology Posts from around the blogosphere 2008-02-07 10:18:17 I've created a news feed of the latest blog posts relative to "call center technology". This feed will always be updated, so you can bookmark and come back here anytime. You can also add this feed into your feed reader, Google Reader is a recommended one.Email subscribers: you may have to come back to the web version of this post if your email client or RSS feed reader doesn't support JavaScript.
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, Technology
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