Today's contact center must leave traditional approaches behind and transit itself into a real-time customer engagement center. According to Donna Fluss (founder and president of DMG Consulting), real-time analytics is quickly becoming a necessity in customer service. Recent innovations gives an organization a practical approach to use real-time input from customers and enterprise business intelligence solutions to optimize service experience. Real-time speech analytics takes traditional speech analytics to the next level, looking at interactions while they are happening. According to Frost & Sullivan's "2014 Big Data and Analytics Survey", it was reported that 75 percent of firms have either deployed or plan to deploy a real-time analytics solution in their organizations. Read more at: http://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/Editorial/Magazine-Features/5-Hot-Customer-Service-Technologies-100524.aspx

In Voice over IP (VOIP) one can link data, record, transcribe, search-enable, translate, authenticate, analyze, and act on conversations, treating each call as a source of information. It has the ability to add and extract value from a phone call. There are some ways to add intelligence to phone calls and increase the speed of transactions to use the untapped data flowing into business through private exchange and contact center. To know more, follow: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/voip-news/7-ways-to-add-intelligence-to-your-phone-calls-64634

It is generally said that “happy agents=happy customers”. But it is found that organizations generally make little effort to drive happiness and also less effort is taken to allow the agents who are happy to properly transfer that satisfaction to the customers. So, ultimately the result is that the interaction between agents and customers are inefficient and ineffective and instead customers impose their own frustration on the agents. Organizations must make an effort to attract more customers and this must begin with an investigation of the 5 Ws. To know more about 5Ws, follow article link of Brian Cantor (Contributor) at: http://www.callcenter-iq.com/agent-engagement/articles/5-ws-of-contact-center-agent-engagement/

Provider of cloud-based call center technology for enterprises, TCN Inc., has announced the release of new features for Platform 3.0 (a cloud-based call center technology that eliminates the need for complicated hardware and improves connectivity between agents and customers, thereby increasing efficiency without the need for additional staff). The new features are Extended Conditional Dialing and Aggregate Reporting. These are designed to enhance the usability of Platform 3.0. Read more at:http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2340989

Organizations are in a dilemma whether to invest in an on-premises or cloud based infrastructure solution, which solution will return a greater ROI. We have to remember that what works in one location might not work in another location. But if any organization wants to get the best value, a cloud provider can offer as much security, control, visibility and network as you would find in an on-premises solution. To know more, follow Geoff Mina (CEO, Connect First)’s article link: http://www.callcentertimes.com/Home/tabid/37/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/395/CategoryID/1/NewsID/887/Default.aspx

NetFortris (Provider of cloud-based voice and data networking solutions), has launched a new version of Enterprise Contact Center solution. This version has new features which includes PCI-compliant credit card security, multimedia queuing, and skills-based routing. This new credit card security helps consumers to use a secure virtual keypad to enter credit card information. To know more, follow: : http://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/CRM-News/CRM-Across-the-Wire/NetFortris-Enhances-its-Enterprise-Contact-Center-Solution-100334.aspx

According to a recent study by CareerBuilder, it was found that 43% of retailers plan to hire additional workers for the holiday season. Now with the approaching holiday season there is an increase in call volumes. Companies need a way to handle all of these inbound calls. So, many companies are turning to virtual call centers. A virtual call center can help companies cut costs while still providing customer service. To know more, follow: http://www.business2community.com/sales-management/strategy-managing-high-call-volumes-holiday-season-integrated-virtual-call-center-01050802

There are many challenges that a contact center may face. But, one of the challenges is to improve the level of agent productivity while maintaining a high standard of service. Every customer requires attention, but sometimes the agents are not in a position to respond to every single customer and this leads to a lower level of service. A contact center can improve both agent productivity and the quality of service by choosing the right software. Carl Noblitt (VP Account Management, AireSpring), in his article writes about some ways by which a contact center can improve productivity. To know more, follow: http://www.callcentertimes.com/Home/tabid/37/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/395/CategoryID/1/NewsID/873/Default.aspx

Social media and smart phones help dissatisfied consumers to raise their voice. Most companies understand the extent to which a company’s image can be damaged, but many companies do not know that technology also exists to help and improve their customer service standards. To know more how Contact center management software can help companies to take corrective action, follow: http://www.callcentertimes.com/Home/tabid/37/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/395/CategoryID/1/NewsID/869/Default.aspx

AdvaTel, an Australian software company, developed BestTime, a product which improves productivity and also enhances customer experience. With the help of BestTime, potential callers can choose to receive a reminder via SMS or web page notification when the call waiting time is lower and it also helps in better management of a call center. Read more at: http://www.contactcenterworld.com/view/contact-center-news/totally-new-concept-in-call-center-management.aspx

Interactive Voice Response is important for any call center. But, what is an Interactive Voice response or IVR? It is a technology that makes customer interactions efficient and streamlined. Some IVR’s are complex in design. Some companies don’t use IVR, and others have such a poor design. Richard Manulkin (Connect First), writes in this article some tips on how an IVR design can help in improving customer service.Read more at: http://www.callcentertimes.com/Home/tabid/37/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/395/CategoryID/1/NewsID/861/Default.aspx

Contact centers are making the transition towards cloud technology from premises-based solutions. In a premise-based solution, companies make a huge investment, whereas in a cloud based solution, there is quick deployment, and less investment. It is more flexible. The operational cost is also less in cloud based solution. Updates of the contact center software can be delivered quickly through the cloud. Unlike premises-based solutions, a cloud hosted contact center is not a fixed solution. Call centers are developing beyond phone support to also handle customer interactions. Customer services are now given via chat, email, SMS, and social media. For contact centers call reliability and security are major concerns while moving to a cloud based solutions. But, due to flexibility, reliability, and future-proofing, companies are looking forward to move to cloud based solutions. To read more about the benefits of cloud based solutions, follow Carl Noblitt (VP Account Management, AireSpring)’s article link: http://www.callcentertimes.com/Home/tabid/37/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/395/CategoryID/1/NewsID/850/Default.aspx

In cloud based contact center market, various types of solution, service, application, vertical, and region are playing an important role. Applications like call routing, queuing, data integration and recording, chat quality monitoring, real time decision making and work force optimization are being provided. The vendors in this market provide customer related data with call recordings to monitor agent performance and provide customers with better experience. To know more about cloud based contact center solution market, follow: http://www.sys-con.com/node/3194060

Customer satisfaction is important in any organization but the main criteria is to achieve and maintain it. Customer satisfaction can be achieved when any organization gives importance to service. But, the key question is how to retain quality service? To know more about quality service, please follow John Tschohl (Founder and President, Service Quality Institute, Minneapolis)’s article link: http://www.callcentertimes.com/Home/tabid/37/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/395/CategoryID/1/NewsID/828/Default.aspx

“Money is King” in the field of call center and the result is well proved in a research. An important feature of human motivation is influenced by perks offered. The company Snowfly, which is the leading provider of Internet based employee incentive and loyalty program offers different rewards to its employees, some of which are reloadable debit or gift cards that can be swiped anywhere, merchandise and donations in form of charity. Out of all anywhere spend cards are overwhelmingly in demand as compared to others. In the results, more than 98% of the value of rewards was both types of cards against the cash equivalent as they are soon forgotten but cards have long term motivational value. Thus, the study shows direction of how incentives are valued and the end line is for all that matters is money. Read more at: http://www.callcentertimes.com/Home/tabid/37/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/395/CategoryID/1/NewsID/549/Default.aspx

Mostly all customer service providers offer there service through phone calls. It is time consuming and customers have to wait long before they can have a conversation personally. Optus is an Australian Provider in integrated communications and a subsidiary of SingTel, brings in effective action its [24]7's mobile chat capability in Optus mobile app. This application will allow customers to chat with Optus customer care from a mobile phone. It is a very smart choice and it will give personalized service to all consumers. The same user friendly service which they accessed from their laptops and PC's is now available on their phones. It is a brilliant experience for the customers and increases customer satisfaction as it saves a lot of time. The same service should be adapted by other service providers also so that they do not lose their market share. Read more at: www.contactcenterworld.com/view/contact-center-news/optus-makes-customer-service-brilliant-with-247s-chat-in-the-optus-mobile-app.aspx

Nuance communications is one of the world's biggest providers of voice and language solutions to many businesses and consumers. Its applications experienced by millions of people. To streamline customer authentication and fight fraud at the same time it has partnered with TRUSTID which is a provider in contact center authentication technology. Nuance Voice Biometrics uses a technique to detect unique characteristics of a person's voice and creates a voiceprint which is used for future reference. It replaces the intrusive questions often asked and saves time. Contact centers that uses TRUSTID and Nuance in combination can see greater reduction in time taken on a call, operation cost and strengthening of security. Read more at: http://www.contactcenterworld.com/view/contact-center-news/nuance-and-trustid-partner-to-help-contact-centers-streamline-customer.aspx

The first step towards managing the call volume peaks is identifying the patterns. Some of the several tips are as follows: The fewer variances available on the desktop like emails, printers, office suites the better standardized it is. It reduces variances which may cause problems with updates which ultimately lead to call spikes. The second most important thing is to be better placed in your environment i.e. to keep call center agents well informed about their tasks and coach specific agents on specific skills. Lastly, the most important aspect is to design an efficient action plan containing a trigger point which could easily signal when the plan should go into effect. Read more at: http://blog.inovasolutions.com/2014/surviving-call-center-peaks-and-valleys-part-2-managing-call-volume-peaks

Customer service is the key element which decides the fate of a business. If the customers find the employees rude or they don't know what they are talking about the organisation will start losing customers. Irrespective of the business type, customers make phone calls and may want to know the hours of operation or they may have a query about a recent purchase. The customer service department should always follow up with customers in order to show that they care about their customers and they make sure that the product features matches the demand of the customer.Helping them to the car when they have an arm load of products is a good way to show them you care. Helping them decide on which products to purchase and helping them to understand which products will complement each other is another way. To know more go to:http://www.coursepark.com/blog/2012/07/4-reasons-why-customer-service-is-important-for-your-business/

Nintex , the world leader in workflow software, announced its integration with Salesforce.com and Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the two market-leaders among CRM platforms. Nintex is the first workflow company which enabled business users to connect critical ECM and CRM systems through the cloud, and allowed customers to quickly and easily automate processes between departments in a customer-driven environment. With the new integrations, users can accelerate a variety of processes which involves frequent interactions between customer-facing teams and internal business operations. Nintex’s integration with Salesforce.com and Microsoft Dynamics CRM lets organizations:

• Drive business processes in SharePoint in response to events in CRM so work flows better between previously siloed systems

• Automate the process of creating, updating, retrieving, and querying records in Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics using simple drag-and-drop workflow actions

• Post status updates, links and polls to Salesforce Chatter or Microsoft Yammer, and progress workflows based on user responses in social channels

To know more, go to: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nintex-announces-integration-with-salesforcecom-and-microsoft-dynamics-crm-2014-07-14