New technologies are leading the way in the evolution of the contact center. By the revolution in communication and information technology have led to a boom in call centers across the world. Call centers use different technologies to join with a customer. As focal points of communications, contact centers were the first to integrate voice and data technologies, deploying interactive voice response (IVR) systems that linked caller information with database records to accelerate response and improve customer service.

Today’s challenge is providing personalized service that can handle both voice and multi-media contacts (fax, email, voice mail, Web interaction). Enterprises are also incorporating a new array of contact center services such as video, wireless access, and compatibility with personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other smart devices.

There are so many versions of software and upgraded technology in the market to fulfill the requirement of call center. Different major technologies are:

Email Management: Email is the most commonly used medium for customer contact.

IVR: In telephony, interactive voice response, or IVR, is a computerized system that allows a person, typically a telephone caller, to select an option from a voice menu and otherwise interface with a computer system. Generally the system plays pre-recorded voice prompts to which the person presses a number on a telephone keypad to select the option chosen, or speaks simple answers such as “yes”, “no”, or numbers in answer to the voice prompts.

Guided speech IVR: The Guided Speech IVR approach for call centers is a hybrid model that integrates live call center agents with all the advancements of speech in a new real-time approach for callers. This new approach creates a “safety-net”, as the new role for the agent as a guide who assists the automation invisibly helps the caller using human intelligence and transcription to ensure the correct computerized service is provided.

CTI: Computer telephony integration is technology that allows interactions on a telephone and a computer to be integrated or co-coordinated. As contact channels have expanded from voice to include email, web, and fax, the definition of CTI has expanded to include the integration of all customer contact channels (voice, email, web, fax, etc.) with computer systems.

ACD: In telephony, an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) is a device that distributes incoming calls to a specific group of terminals that agents use. It is often part of a computer telephony integration system. Predictive Dialer: Predictive dialer systems are commonly used by telemarketing organizations involved in B2C (business to consumer) calling as it allows their sales representatives to have much more customer contact time.

Customer relationship management (CRM): CRM covers methods and technologies used by companies to manage their relationships with clients. Information stored on existing customers (and potential customers) is analyzed and used to this end.

WFM: Workforce Management encompasses all the responsibilities for maintaining a productive and happy workforce. Sometimes referred to as HRMS systems, or even the larger ERP systems.

TPV: Third party verification is a process of getting an independent third party company to confirm that the customer is actually requesting a change or ordering a new service or product. By putting the customer on the phone (usually via transfer or 3-way call) TPV provider asks a customer for his identity, that he is an authorized decision maker and to confirm his order.

Virtual queue: Virtual queuing is a concept that is used in inbound call centers. Call centers utilize an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) to distribute incoming calls to specific resources (agents) in the center. ACDs are capable of holding queued calls in First In, First Out order until agents become available.

Voicemail: It is a centralized system of managing telephone messages for a large group of people. In its simplest form it mimics the functions of an answering machine, uses a standard telephone handset for the user interface, and uses a centralized, computerized system rather than equipment at the individual telephone.

Voice Recognition: VR is the task of recognizing people from their voices. Such systems extract features from speech, model them and use them to recognize the person from his/her voice.

VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol, also called VoIP, IP Telephony, Internet telephony, Broadband telephony, Broadband Phone and Voice over Broadband is the routing of voice conversations over the Internet or through any other IP-based network.

Speech Analytics: Speech Analytics is a process of analyzing recorded human speech in order to collect information about what was said. In contact center environments, Speech Analytics is used to mine recorded phone conversations between agents and their customers. By carefully “listening” to hundreds or even thousands of calls, Speech Analytics automatically identifies important business intelligence that helps managers reduce contact center costs, increase customer retention and satisfaction, and improve agent performance.

Call Centers India is a Washington state corporation headquartered in Seattle which has India’s one and only end to end CISCO based IP network. Cisco Predictive, Preview, Outbound, 24/7 Dialer, Cisco call Manager as PBX, Cisco Unity Voice Mail, Cisco IVR.

Technologies are: –

1. India’s one-and-only, end-to-end CISCO based IP network. Cisco Platform:

2. Cisco Call Manager as PBX

3. Cisco Unity Voice Mail

4. Cisco IVR,Cisco Predictive, Preview , Outbound ,24/7 Dialer

5. Ability to call and receive calls from over 30 Countries

6. PCs: Compaq

7. Phones: CISCO IP 7940 series

8. Headsets: Plantronics

http://www.vcarecallcenter.com/

Tags: hispanic call centers, virtual call centers, call center monitoring, crm call center technology, call center consulting india, call center phone systems, customer call centers, crm call center

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Outsourced Call Centers

The popularity of call centers has created a huge demand for call center software. Call center software are designed to manage interactions, aiding in customer and corporations communication, reducing hold time, instant routing of calls to the best agents and giving detailed call reports. Call center software usually are integrated with CRM software.

Call center software are upgraded or bought to improve customer service, enhance efficiency and reduce costs, improve reporting and management.

It is necessary that call center software improve customer satisfaction because of some excellent in-built features such as greatly lessening the call hold period by fast routing of calls. Make sure suitable call center software is selected, which improves efficiency (makes it possible to attend more number of calls with same number of staff) of the center as well as cuts operating costs significantly. The selected call center software should help manage the center better by giving details such as number of calls attended, who is your best agent who attended the most number of calls, hold times, how many callers hung up on hold etc. when the reports are studied and analyzed the management will improve significantly.

How to Select Call Center Software: It is crucial to consider several aspects before purchasing call center software. The number of requests per month has to be considered, determine their origin e.g. are they got by phone, e-mail, fax, chats etc. what is the nature of your centers calls, are the inbound or outbound, is it sale or service oriented, if it is external or internal. The number of agents and their locations do some work from home etc., compatibility with existing databases and CRM etc. have to be determined, if technical support is provided, and if the call center software suits your budget does it support VoIP. Make sure it has enough room for future development. It is better to ask the advice of both the management as well as the IT department while deciding on call center software.

Consider the time that will be taken to install and operate the software of your choice. Find out if it is easy to operate by asking your agents to test them, user friendliness, the reporting options available, the availability of automatic call distribution {ACD} that will identify callers and connect them to the right agent by using database reports. Computer telephony integration {CTI} is another feature when records of the customer are displayed on the agent’s computer screens to aid and improve customer satisfaction. Interactive voice response is another feature to look out.

CRM call center software such as Telemation, telemarketing call center phone system, CTI call center software, remote agent call centers such as PACER, etc. can be considered. Check with all vendors and choose one that is economical and that suits your budget. There are firms that offer services as well as products to help new businesses run smoothly.

Tags: strategic call center outbound services, call center offshore outsourcing, call center management services, customer support call center, work at home call center, call center quality monitoring, call center recording software, call center conference teleconferencing

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Call Center Services

We’ve just received another training request to “support a culture shift,” transitioning inbound customer service representatives to proactive, outbound sales professionals. The stated business goal is to deepen client relationships with a large number of targeted clients that may not get enough attention from outside sales people. We’ve also found that many of our clients are in various stages of transforming their Call Centers from cost to revenue centers by adding cross sales goals to existing service goals.

These changes represent a new way of life in the Call Center. We know that it can be difficult for many Call Center employees to successfully make the transition from skills needed to handle routine customer requests, questions, and problems to proactive sales skills, the ability to quickly identify customer needs and offer differentiated product solutions. While some are adjusting to their new responsibilities, it’s been an unwelcome and frustrating change for many, with some employees unable to meet challenging sales goals.

The problem involves several factors, including recruitment, management, compensation and training, but the biggest pitfall we see is that many service reps have negative impressions of selling and are fearful of it because they don’t know how to do it. We hear comments such as:

“I enjoy helping people who call in, but I wasn’t hired to sell.”

“We’re just pushing products on the customers.”

They haven’t taught us enough about the products to sell them.”

And then there’s the friend of mine who remarked: “So you teach people to how to be annoying and sell people things they don’t need or want.”

Few people, Call Center service reps and customers alike, are thrilled with the sales experience. In fact, because of negative reactions to the sales process, one of our clients has replaced the word “sales” with “solution” as a way to instill the impression in service reps that sales should be needs-based, not “pushy” and manipulative. On the customer side, I’ve heard customers try to pre-empt the sales process by immediately stating to the service rep: “Now don’t try to sell me anything today!”

We know that when you provide the right sales strategies and skills to increase confidence and comfort with selling, service reps will more likely embrace sales as a way of life in the Call Center. Whether being expected to cross-sell during a service call or make outbound calls to targeted prospects or clients, the right product and sales training can dramatically reduce negativity and frustrations in making a successful transition to selling.

We suggest the following five key sales strategies:

1. Check Confidence. How people feel about selling affects their desire to do it and ultimately their success. Lack of confidence is the most common contributor to problems with motivation and the ability to close business. A sales person’s voice presence including tone, inflection, volume, pace and energy often reveal his or her mindset and confidence level. Customers are tuned into voice presence more than any other element so it is worth a self-assessment.

2. Do Client Preparation. Reviewing available client information and records helps to build confidence and rapport. Clients expect us to have a client-centered context for a recommendation or call purpose; without a context they will most likely view the call as “pushy” or as an intrusion, not needs-based. Transition statements help link a product or service idea to the customer’s immediate situation and should include a brief link to information available or something the customer said.

3. Do Sales Preparation. Like face-to-face-sales people, telephone salespeople are more likely to achieve their sales goals if they establish specific achievable objectives and back-up objectives for the call. “Winging it” is not a sales objective or strategy. While it is critical to maintain a focus on the client, having a clear sales objective and action step be it closing, referring, or sending information, helps create sales momentum. Preparation also involves the process of ensuring the sales dialogue is client-centered. Many sales people spend too much time preparing for what they want to say to a client versus preparing a strategy for achieving client dialogue and uncovering their needs and priorities. We recommend preparing questions around the central theme, “What do I want to learn from the client?”

4. Learn the Client’s Point of View. Clients have a point of view. Uncovering and selling to the client’s point of view is incredibly persuasive. Now keep in mind that a client’s point of view is often stated as an objection or implied in a question. That’s a good sign! Because objections provide an opportunity to ask deeper questions and listen, they can be the dialogue path to building relationships and increasing the salesperson’s ability to be persuasive.

5. Build Trust. Don’t assume that trust exists because you are speaking with an existing client. Trust is earned during every contact through your ability to demonstrate your needs-based intent. The unintended consequence of a goal-oriented sales focus is that too often it makes customers feel manipulated and used, resulting in shallow relationships and long-term distrust.

Tags: crm call center technology, strategic call center inbound services, call center monitoring, call center scheduling software, call center crm solution, hispanic call centers, crm call center solution, contact centers call center

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Call Center Training

There have been few entrepreneurial ventures in business history as rewarding as the offshore call center. Within Asia, there are numerous tales of entrepreneurs who made tons of money for themselves by creating substantial value for their customers and employees.

A recent one is Ambergris Solutions Inc. in Manila. The company was started a few years ago by three young entrepreneurs with little money of their own and even less call center experience. They had a lot to learn about running a call center, and it took 18 money-losing months before they stumbled upon their first paying customer. But over the two and a half years that followed, their business grew explosively to almost 3,000 employees serving a roster of blue-chip clients. A couple of months ago, controlling interest of the thriving enterprise was sold to a large Canadian IT organization called Telus International in a deal valued at $43.5 million. Many would agree this was an adequate paycheck for just a few years of work.

This story gives the impression that starting a call center in Asia is an easy path to fast riches. However, just a week or so after the announcement of the Ambergris deal, Gartner Inc. released an astonishing report that said, “As many as 70% of the top 15 Indian business process outsourcing start-ups will cease to exist in the coming months.” Gartner added scathingly that “despite the hype, only a small fraction of customer service outsourcing will be done at offshore locations.”

Dropping Like Flies

The two situations might seem contradictory, but they aren’t. Margins in the call center sector have declined steadily over the past couple of years as customers demand lower bill rates and agents insist on higher salaries. The result has been a squeezing out of the smaller (and often newer) operators, which are unable to spread their fixed costs over a larger base of revenue producing agents. Throughout India and the Philippines, there has already been significant rationalization (i.e. closings, buyouts, mergers, etc.) in the call center industry, and Gartner is probably right to say that more are to come.

The Telus purchase of Ambergris, like IBM’s purchase of Daksh eServices Pvt. Ltd. in India and numerous others, shows that the call center sector is now exclusively a game for big-boys — it has become a “mature industry,” as they say in MBA school. The days when someone could start a little call center of his own and learn the business along the way are finished.

So what’s a greedy young entrepreneur to do now?

The pioneering efforts of the call center sector have proved that the concept of offshore outsourcing can succeed exceedingly well. (Actually, manufacturing proved this years ago, but let’s not go into that.) In most large companies, however, answering telephone inquiries is a microscopic part of their overall business. The big opportunities in business process outsourcing are still to be realized.

This fact is shown in the diversity of the services offered by the current batch of outsourcing entrepreneurs. Here are a few examples of companies operating just in the Manila area: XMG Global IT Research and Advisory Inc. prepares high-end IT research, YellowAsp Corp. creates layout designs for printed circuit boards, Forssman Asia Pacific prepares construction design drawings, Key-In Data Solutions does claims processing, Primesoft develops advanced Web applications, VinciWorks designs online training programs, and Pulse DesignTech offers electronics design services. The list goes on and on.

The large IT services firms and the call center companies are jumping on the business process outsourcing bandwagon too. CapGemini has large facilities in three locations in China providing accounting and human resources outsourcing services. IBM’s non-IT outsourcing operations are quickly becoming larger than those of IT in the Philippines.

A quick look at the Web site of IT consulting giant Accenture Ltd. reveals an astounding diversity of services. Under “Outsourcing” in the “Services Offered” section, there are Accenture Finance Solutions, Accenture HR Services, Accenture Learning, Accenture Procurement Solutions, Accenture Business Services for Utilities, Accenture eDemocracy Services, Navitaire Inc. and Accenture Insurance Services. By comparison, only two IT-related services are listed in the entire section.

Two of the world’s five largest call center companies don’t even call themselves call center companies anymore. ClientLogic Corp. is now an “international business process outsourcing provider.” StarTek Inc. says it’s a “global provider of business process outsourcing services.”

It’s clear that the difference between outsourcing today and outsourcing yesterday is significant. Whereas before, just a few business segments were growing rapidly (say, call centers and IT), now there are multitudes in the same situation, with countless more sure to follow. Some business leaders I have spoken to have used the phrase “tipping point” to describe the current life-cycle stage of services outsourcing. One fellow I spoke to thought the phrase “business process outsourcing” wasn’t descriptive enough to express the vast diversity of the current environment. He felt a better phrase was something along the lines of “everything-anyone-can-possibly-imagine-as-being-outsourced outsourcing.”

So, we shouldn’t be overly concerned about missing the gold rush in offshore call center outsourcing. The business process outsourcing mother lode is just around the corner, and the opportunities are wide open. Greedy entrepreneurs everywhere should rejoice.

Tags: call center customer relationship service, call center offshore services, crm call center, delhi call centers, bank call centers, call center phone systems, call center outsourcing philippine, call center management services

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Call Center Training

Selecting the right employees is as important to the call center industry as casting the right performers in a theatrical production!

A good cast can make or break even a challenging script and the same applies to building a call center.

In spite of this fact, it is surprising how often the staffing of call centers lack any systematic method for accomplishing this very important function.

As consultants, we witnessed how often employees were selected for strange reasons. Nepotism can abound and employee referrals or friends who were given a

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Web Call Centers

When we envision a call center we visualize a big room full of cubicles, desks, and customer service reps (CSRs) answering their telephones with their headsets on. We envision clients and customers calling into a queue and waiting for the next available rep. We think of call center customer service as how fast the CSRs answer the telephone calls - the longer the wait time, the worse the customer service is perceived to be.

But call center customer service goes far beyond that. A call center is a place where a business answers the phone when a client calls. It can be a small business with just one or two employees or a big business with thousands of CSRs manning the phones. It doesn’t matter; a call center isn’t necessarily what we all envision it to be. If you have ever answered the phone at your place of business you have provided customer service at a call center.

Remember that - if you answer the phone, you are providing customer service. That means you need to be accessible to your customers, solve their problems, sell them what they need, and do it in a timely manner. Customer service is not only done by large businesses with an army of service reps, but also by every small business professional, sales person, and business owner.

Every time your business phone rings it is an opportunity to provide exceptional service to a customer. Be courteous, be polite, and your customers will love you for it.

Tags: crm call center solution, call center recording, web enabled call center, call center conference teleconferencing, virtual call centers, ip call center, call center work, bilingual call center

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Call Centers

The call center service is a thriving business today and it is evolving. It has become a necessity in both, developed and developing countries. A web enabled call center is one that is based on a web page, on the World Wide Web. The page provides a button, which can be clicked on to access the calls. This is only available on the Internet or Intranet.

The web enabled call center services are only accessible on the net. The major purpose of these call centers is to help in the easy accessibility of people, anywhere in the world. This facilitates the various business undertakings to reach their clientele in any part of the world. These people need to meet their business needs. The concept of outsourcing is very common and at present, a lot of businesses are outsourced. People need to maintain a uniform way of conducting their business.

Through the web-enabled service, people can remain in contact with their customers and continue with their business, unperturbed, on account of the distances between them. People prefer the Intranet, since only people of a specific group can have access to one such facility. The customer can avail of video- conferences and outsource their problems or convey messages. In the intranet, the people of the group in business can view the information or queries of other people, within the group.

The web enabled call center services help people in different parts of the world to access and enhance their business as well as valuable customers. This also helps in targeting brand messages, potential acquisition of new call centers and it gives high returns for a relatively low investment. It provides enhanced employee performance, maximized customer satisfaction and reduces cost. It also helps to maintain customer satisfaction, maintain standards and increase profitability.

Tags: customer call center software, call center quality assurance, call center offshore philippine, call center customer relationship service, hospital call centers, call center recording software, call center best practice, call center web seminar

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Call Center Services

Call center services are appraised on the basis of the efficiency and efficacy they apply. The advancement of technology makes it possible for more information to be congregated. This supplementary information can mean very little without the means to organize and assess it. In addition to outstanding management, a provider must use suitable call center software.

In order to chose the appropriate call-center software there are a list of useful tools available. It is advisable to use data base systems, as they allow better management of the campaign. Contacts can be selected and made available at any time. This increases the efficiency in targeting and delivery. Customized Reporting Software helps in allowing the management to easily monitor, identify and correct all the call center inefficiencies. Multimedia interactive systems software allows a number of miscellaneous data values to be displayed, while the agent is helping a contact. This allows the agent to receive new script manipulations, view relevant information and consequently to be as effective as possible in helping the contact.

The dialer processes potential help by contacting and identifying the disconnected numbers, busy signals and unanswered calls. It also helps in detecting answering machines. The Interactive Voice Response software can handle various tasks, even without the use of a live agent. The software can “talk” to the caller and recognize the responses. Surveys and appointments could be scheduled, sales and orders can be placed and much more can be done with this resourceful software. The Automatic Call Center Distribution Software helps in establishing contacts, in a call queue, to be directed most effectively. Calls can be directed to the next available agent, by the level of their significance or to agents with the highest performance statistics. They improve the performance level of the center and increase its profitability.

Tags: call centers in us, insurance call centers, call center conference teleconferencing, medical call centers, call center offshore outsourcing, call center quality monitoring, hispanic call centers, call center database software

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Call Center Solutions

Call center services are thriving in most developed and developing countries, around the world. As a result of the growing competition, call center services require some aid to carry on their profitable business. This is where call center consulting services are required and effectively step in.

Call center consulting services provide the call centers with result-oriented solutions for the various challenges they face. The consulting services focus on presenting the clients with the information and resources necessary to get better results. They provide future returns on the consulting investment made. They guarantee the services provided and successfully transferred to the call center management team.

Call center services help the center in achieving maximum performance. They help to optimize forecasting, staffing and scheduling processes. They guarantee reliable and steady service results and the most efficient of staff resources. The services help to tune quality programs to promote higher and steady levels of customer satisfaction. They assist in identifying and applying all available call center technologies. This improves communication within the organization, between daily operations and high-level goals. It helps to evaluate coaching and training opportunities, to identify and improve agent performance. They help to analyze the workflow, to improve the efficiency of the call center.

Call center designing is a general consulting service provided. It pays to design a call center properly and explore the advantages and key benefits involved. It provides enhanced employee performance, maximized customer satisfaction and reduces cost.

Strategic planning or consulting is another service provided by consultants. It helps to improve the profitability and customer satisfaction.

Technology plays a vital role in this business. It is necessary to choose the right technology. It results in improved operational efficacy, reduced capital investment and precise technology solutions. The other consulting services provided are outsourcing analysis, performance and budget optimization.

Tags: work at home call center, call center recording software, healthcare call centers, crm call center, international call centers, managing call centers, virtual call centers, one call centers

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Call Center Training

There are various call centers and it is often confusing to choose an efficient and effective call center. A thriving call center’s services are analyzed by the quality of operation. A call center must have outstanding management to be recognized and counted as a reliable source. It should be able to meet the requirements of the customers and prove a worthwhile option to marketing and recovery.

Apart from call center outsourcing, call center management, call center software and other call center services, there are thousands of other providers available. It is advisable to shop around and shun the pitfalls of poor performances. Call Center Services Review or CCSR advise people to review and learn more about the different call center services and providers. This can be done easily, by conducting a research on the net.

It is recommended that people visit and contact several providers before making the final decision. The fee for call center outsourcing, call center management, call center software and other call center services differ according to the providers. It is advisable to clearly understand the terms and restrictions of the agreements.

Information is alleged to be a call center’s most powerful tool. Call center management offers reduction of overhead costs, increased customer retention and superior reliability. In order to develop good call center services, it is necessary to follow the different management strategies, which include training of management personnel as well. These strategies are designed, keeping customer feedback and quality assurance in mind. They help to achieve the desired targets and meet the demands effectively.

Call center outsourcing is a preferred option for many businesses. The energy is focused and resourced towards the goods and services unique to the company. Outsourcing helps to achieve the best results and allows the company to get a stronger base.

Tags: voip call centers, ip call center, strategic call center inbound services, telephone call center, bilingual call center, international call centers, call center design, call center customer service

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Call Center Management