Independent Contact Center Consultants: Bridging Strategy, Technology and Operations Since 2004

Posts By: Brian Hinton

How to Secure Funding for Contact Center Technology

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 »

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 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 Centers Are Going Mobile

According to the CTIA, there are well over 300 million wireless subscribers in the United States alone. Society as we know it has gone mobile. And where society goes, the contact center is sure to follow. Banks, airlines, credit card companies, and retailers are just a few of the places where mobile applications are becoming… Read More »

7 Reasons to Consider Hosted Contact Center Solutions

SaaS, Hosted, Cloud-based…whatever we call it, contact centers are interested. This technology option offers flexibility, speed, innovation and reliability with low demands on human and financial resources for implementation and support. Market analysts report that cloud-based seats are growing faster than the overall market. Here are 7 reasons why more and more contact centers are… Read More »

It’s Time to Take Multi-Channel Technology Seriously

Multi-channel customer contact is not an option for today’s contact centers; it’s a necessity. Phone calls may still rule, but the alternatives to real-time voice are too numerous and significant to ignore or treat as second class. Most centers handle each medium in distinct organizational siloes, informally. Few companies integrate channels or use sophisticated tools… Read More »

The Value of Technology Assessment and Planning

Technology projects are on the rise. There’s pent up demand and “end of life” threats on existing systems. It’s tempting to move fast to get something done. But that’s not optimal for making careful and thoughtful decisions. I’d suggest that you use a structured process to reduce risk and enable you to achieve your goals… Read More »

Put the Right Contact Center Analytics Tools in your Toolkit

Contact center managers need analytical tools beyond the typical contact center reports. But there are so many choices! Performance Optimization/Workforce Optimization suite vendors (e.g., Verint, Nice, Aspect, Envision, and others) that offer speech analytics, usually some level of data analytics (including scorecards and dashboards), and (perhaps) desktop analytics Speech analytics vendors (e.g., Utopy, Callminer, Nexidia)… Read More »

Turn Contact Center Data Into Insights

Contact centers have never lacked for data. With increased pressure for efficiency, optimization and profitability throughout the organization, centers need to use that data in smart ways – not just for reporting, but for truly analyzing activity historically and in real-time, where possible. Whether packaging data into user-friendly interfaces, drilling down into reports to learn… Read More »

11 Things Every Contact Center Technology SOW Should Have

Whether you’ve had a lengthy courtship with prospective vendors or a hurried shotgun wedding, there’s great temptation to get on with the process and give your contact center technology statement of work (SOW) a cursory examination. Beware! A boilerplate SOW isn’t likely to address your unique requirements or help you get the most out of… Read More »