Voice of the Customer

CinaC (pronounced: Sin a see)

VoiceCon Conference Orlando 2008 - The Next Generation Contact Center (Conference within a Conference)

Moderated by: Anne Keefer, Vanguard Communications

I first encountered this acronym, CinaC, in an email between Marty Parker and Don Van Doren.  And even though I have been working in telecommunications for many years, I have to confess that I had a feeling it was in reference to an actual conference and not a technology or transport layer service.  So I attempted to locate the ”CinaC” conference, where was it last held, who attended, who were the key speakers?  But after a slightly exhaustive search of the internet, I simply could not find the CinaC conference.  No dates, no conference materials, no vendor sponsors.  I had to wonder what underground society had Marty and Don tapped into?

Does IVR Mean “I’m Very Rude?”

Moderated by: Elaine Cascio and Linda Van Doren, Vanguard Communications

Given the press voice response gets, you’d suspect that any company with an IVR is just plain rude.  Many consumers believe that the systems are a money saving measure that companies put in place just to prevent them from reaching a live person.  In some cases, they’re right.  But mostly, IVRs are designed for benign reasons, like to provide customers with 24 by 7 access to information, or to enable callers to get data quickly and easily without waiting in queue. And somewhere along the way from requirements to development, the caller gets forgotten.  The resulting IVRs aren’t pretty, but they don’t have to be that way.

WARNING: DON’T LEAVE YOUR CONTACT CENTER BEHIND

Moderated by: Jason Alley, Vanguard Communications

Although the benefits of VoIP are enticing, many companies are making the jump as a result of major components of their enterprise voice infrastructure (PBX, voicemail, etc.) nearing end of life and/or support.  In fact, it is my experience that this is the number one catalyst for change.

Companies are having to choose whether to spend a large sum of money upgrading aging systems or invest in new IP-based voice infrastructure technology (which could be from an existing or new supplier).  More and more, we are seeing companies choose to invest in new IP-based voice infrastructure technology.  The purpose of this posting is to issue a WARNING to all companies that find themselves in this situation:

DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CONTACT CENTER BEHIND!

Customer Loyalty: Carrot vs. Stick It

Moderated by: Linda Van Doren, Vanguard Communications

As the “R” word hovers on economists’ tongues, consumer spending is down.  And while we’re all getting tighter with our wallets, companies are trying even harder to pry them open.  And they’re getting more creative too.  There are targeted marketing campaigns on social networking sites and on cell phones.  Companies are also trying to get more wallet share out of “loyal” customers with more loyalty programs and perks.  At the same time, companies are driving customers to cheaper self service channels with “dis-incentives” like charging to speak to a representative, or arguably, by outsourcing customer service departments.  They’re straddling a fine line here, and savvy customers are keen to what’s happening.

Case Study for White Paper: Evolution of VoIP Architectures in the Contact Center – Release 1.1

Moderated by: Jason Alley, Vanguard Communications

This next release of the white paper “Evolution of VoIP Architectures in the Contact Center” includes an in-depth case study to complete our initial coverage of Cisco (see page 26 of the white paper). 

We interviewed a company that is a familiar brand in the consumer and home/office bottled water market, with operations in North America and across the globe.  In the case study, we highlight the following:

• Business problem(s) faced
• Solution chosen, including a comprehensive network diagram and component breakdown
• Deployment strategy
• Benefits realized
• Challenges encountered
• Lessons learned (golden nuggets)
• Future plans

RFP Confusion

Moderated by: David Powis, Vanguard Communications

In my last blog entry, I discussed putting together a realistic shortlist of potential vendors to send your RFP.  I also discussed including the type of options you might investigate.  Once all that is figured out, it is time to move onto requirements, RFP writing, etc.  One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is how confusing clients can be to vendors.  If vendors don’t have a clear understanding of what your current situation is and what you are trying to do (replace technology, update architecture, etc.), they’ll be more confused than helpful.

Customer Service Done Right

Moderated by: Elaine Cascio, Vanguard Communications

This week, I was fortunate enough to deal with two companies who performed flawlessly to correct what could easily have been a customer service nightmare.  A custom closet shipment from The Container Store which I needed within two days hadn’t arrived.  I checked FedEx shipment status on line, which showed that the package was “undeliverable.” So I called and was told that the package was damaged beyond repair.  My next step was to call The Container Store to see if there was any hope of getting my custom order within 48 hours.  Both FedEx and The Container Store came through – the order was completed the day I called and I received the shipment by noon the next day. Wow!

Evolution of VoIP Architectures in the Contact Center – Release 1.0

Moderated by: Jason Alley, Vanguard Communications

We are excited to announce the availability of the first release of the white paper, “Evolution of VoIP Architectures in the Contact Center.”  This release of the document includes the following content:

• Outline
• Introduction
• Supplier Technology Transformation: Cisco Unified Contact Center

Actionable Requirements Pay Off

Moderated by: Jason Alley, Vanguard Communications

Think back to your last big contact center technology implementation.  Did the project go as planned?  Were functional requirements met in the timeframe expected?  Did you come in under budget?  Did the supplier exceed your expectations?  Were the end users delighted?

Few projects run as smoothly as planned.  There are always challenges and roadblocks to overcome.  However, companies willing to (1) document Actionable Requirements, (2) detail supplier responses, and (3) co-author a detailed Statement of Work (SOW) with suppliers, can significantly increase the likelihood of answering “yes” to the questions above.

In this posting, we will discuss Actionable Requirements.  Supplier responses and the SOW will be covered in future postings.

Times of Change for QM and WFM?

Moderated by: Jason Alley, Vanguard Communications

Many contact centers we work with have best of breed Quality Monitoring and Workforce Management systems in place that have served them well for some time.  They are long-time, loyal customers that are more than satisfied with existing solutions.  Lately, however, we have noticed an increasing number of customers discussing the possibility of replacing these very systems.  Why would they do so if they are already highly satisfied?  Let’s explore.