LightLink Display Groups and Virtual Displays

January 17, 2012 — Kelly

Many Inova LightLink users manage large numbers of displays, in a wide variety of physical locations.  Thankfully, LightLink has built in capabilities to help these users manage messages and data for these displays.  Through the functionality of display groups and virtual displays, users can more effectively communicate vital information to contact center personnel.  These features are key, particularly for agent desktop applications and LED wallboards.

LightLink display groups are used to combine separate display devices into a group so one message can be sent to multiple displays.  This is especially useful if you have a large number of displays and often wish to send messages to select groups of those displays such as specific agent groups, physical locations within your building, or even certain geographic locations.  Once you have created a display group, you can then select that group as a destination for relevant messages.

LightLink virtual displays allow you to divide a single display into different grids.  In effect, each grid can then be treated as a separate, or virtual, display.  This is helpful in a wide variety of situations because you can send messages to individual lines of a display or even send the same message to the top line of one display and the bottom of another.  Possibly the most useful application of a virtual display is that it allows you to lock certain regions of displays so that other users cannot make changes.  If you haven’t already done so, once you’ve devoted the time to creating just the right display of data on your display, you’ll understand the criticality of being able to lock that region!

Creating and managing display groups and virtual displays is a relatively straightforward process.  It is well-documented in the LightLink materials; in addition, this month’s LightLink OnCourse Complimentary training will be devoted to helping you understand the process of creating and managing both of these LighLink functions.  Customers with active support agreements should look for an email invitation to join us at 2:00 pm EDT on January 19 to learn more about these incredibly useful capabilities.

Posted in Call Center Resources, LED displays, News and events, Training. No Comments »

Call center outsourcing debated in Washington

January 12, 2012 — Camille

In a post last month at the Destination CRM Blog, Leonard Klie discusses legislation introduced in Congress on December 7, 2011 called the U.S. Call Center and Consumer Protection Act.  This bill seeks to ban companies that outsource call center jobs overseas from receiving federal grants and loans for five years. Klie says the proposed bill would “require overseas call center employees to disclose their locations to U.S. consumers and give customers the right to be transferred to a U.S.-based call center upon request. It would further require companies to notify the U.S. Department of Labor 120 days prior to any proposed moves offshore and require the list of companies that offshore call center work to be made available to the U.S. public.”

Although a number of companies have begun to bring call center jobs back to the US, such as Delta, there are many companies still sending jobs overseas.  Politics aside, Klie points out several disasters that have impacted US companies with overseas call centers, including:

  • Typhoon in the Philippines
  • Military coup in Thailand
  • Terrorist bombings in Mumbai, India
  • Earthquakes in Chile
  • Swine flu epidemic in Mexico.

Klie suggests hiring work-at-home agents rather than outsourcing which results in large savings through real estate and infrastructure.

For more information on the U.S. Call Center and Consumer Protection Act, visit:

If this bill is passed, how do you think it will impact the call center industry?

Posted in At-home and remote agents, News and events. No Comments »

The Season of Giving

December 21, 2011 — Jackie

In the words of Winston Churchill, “We make a living by what we get.  We make a life by what we give.”  At Inova Solutions we’re committed to giving back to our community.  We expand our success to include not only the financial, but also the social wins.

This year Inova Solutions has stepped up and paired with The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank to help feed the hungry in Central Virginia.  Due to their ability to purchase food in bulk, and at a discounted rate, every dollar given provides four meals to a person in need.  At this year’s holiday potluck, Inova Solutions team members donated $250 that the company then matched.

Inova Solutions is proud to donate $500 to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and provide 2000 meals to individuals in need.

Does your organization have a social responsibility policy?  If so, we’d love to hear about it.  If not, there’s no better time than the present to suggest a new strategy.  If you’re worried about starting out too big I suggest creating a committee within your group of coworkers.  At Inova Solutions we have a team of volunteers that are involved with our Incentives and Morale Committee.  This group helps plan a variety of Inova events from community outreach and volunteer projects, to an annual chili cook-off!

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has benefits beyond what meets the eye.  A solid commitment to CSR helps strengthen your reputation and brand image.  It also helps keep your employees engaged and allows them to develop respect and trust for the organization.  Simon Mainwaring, author of the book, We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World, has some great insight to share.

His article on Mashable reads, “For decades, the decision to be an environmentally and socially responsible company has been based on the bottom line: Would it be profitable? In general, companies have crunched the numbers and chosen shareholder profits over a sufficient commitment to invest in greater social responsibility. In terms of traditional accounting and the legal requirements of corporations, costs always outweighed benefits.  But it now seems that this equation is starting to lean the other way as brands recognize the potential financial and reputational advantages they can gain by engaging with consumers around the shared ambition of building a better world.”

CSR is a topic that should be on the forefront of every organization’s mind.  During this season of giving, take time to engage with your coworkers and participate in or develop your own CSR action plan.

Posted in Business, Call Center Management, Human resources, News and events. No Comments »

Handling Emotional Customers

September 13, 2011 — Kelly

With a sweep of natural disasters across the east coast the past few weeks and with several friends in the insurance agency working overtime to handle customer calls, I started to think about the highly emotional phone calls that call centers must be receiving.  As a customer, I’m sure it’s hard to remain calm and rational if your house has flooded in a hurricane or shaken off its foundation in an earthquake.  Certainly these emotional phone calls are not limited to the insurance industry; customers can become very sensitive for a variety of reasons.  Customer service representatives have to be able to handle a range of emotions from their callers without offending the caller or diminishing those feelings.  Here are a few methods for handling highly emotional callers:

  • Remain calm.  As difficult as it may be, it is critical that you remain calm, both in your tone and choice of words.  Do not engage in any arguments with a customer.
  • Be empathetic.  Acknowledge the caller’s feelings.  In many situations, it’s OK to say you’re sorry that the customer is experiencing a particular problem or challenge.
  • Take the complaint seriously.  As a CSR who handles many phone calls in a day, a customer’s problem might seem insignificant; however, it is likely not so for that customer.
  • Avoid jokes.  It can be tempting to make light of a bad situation, but many customers will not understand or appreciate any attempts at humor.  This is especially true since there are no visual cues, making it difficult for a caller to assess the speaker’s intent.
  • Repeat your understanding of the customer’s situation.  By saying, “As I understand it…,” you are showing the caller that you understand the situation and offering him a chance to correct any misunderstandings you may have.
  • Find a solution.  Do what you can to help the customer.  If you can’t find a solution, offer to do further research, talk to a supervisor, or have a manager call the customer at a later time.
  • Utilize all available resources.  Assuming your call center has equipped you with the training and tools you need, there should be few (if any) reasonable situations that you can’t handle.  Of course, if you feel that there are tools or training that you are lacking, you might consider speaking with a supervisor to find out how you can get access to those!
  • Don’t over promise.  It can be tempting to say that you’re going to take care of everything, but choose your words wisely and don’t commit to something that your company cannot deliver.

The reasons for emotional customers contacting a call center vary, and may often seem trivial to a CSR.  However, effectively handling these calls should be a key part of call center success.

Posted in Customer service, News and events. No Comments »

Data sources abound at Inova Solutions

August 30, 2011 — Camille

Let’s take a moment to brag on Inova’s development team.  They have been busy, busy, busy this year cranking out new features and integrations with leading data source vendors.  More formal announcements are upcoming, but just in the last few weeks Inova LightLink® has become certified interoperable with Aspect Unified IP versions 6.6 and 7.0 and Avaya Aura Contact Center 6.2.

To give you an idea of how well Inova does keeping up with the numerous call center data sources, here is just a partial list of some of the sources of call center metrics you can view with Inova’s real-time reporting solutions:

  • Aspect ePro
  • Aspect Unified IP
  • Avaya Aura
  • Avaya BCMS
  • Avaya CMS
  • Avaya IQ
  • Cisco UCCE
  • Cisco UCCX
  • Genesys GIS
  • ININ CIC
  • Nortel CCMIS
  • Nortel CCMS
  • Rockwell

Inova can display metrics and messages from almost any call center data source, so if you have something that’s not listed above don’t hesitate to ask!

Congrats to our development team on such a productive year so far!

Posted in Call center KPIs, News and events, Software development. No Comments »

Status Update: The 2011 Call Center Job Market

June 8, 2011 — Camille

Back in January I wrote a post about the 2011 call center job market and shared some good news about several new call centers opening in the US.  Now that we’re about halfway through the year (I can’t believe it!) I thought it would be a good time to share more good news about new and expanding call centers.

VXI Global Solutions, which provides business process and IT outsourcing, is bringing 1,000 new jobs to the city of Canton, Ohio, reports The Canton Repository.  The jobs will be created over the next three years and will include inbound and outbound sales agents, supervisors, operations managers and more.

USA Today reports that Delta Airlines is discontinuing sending promotions and general sales calls to a South African call center and bringing them back in-house to the US.  Delta CEO Richard Anderson says the move is part of Delta’s strategy to reduce outsourcing and bring jobs back within the company.  While the move will not necessarily lead to new hiring in Delta’s call centers, it’s still a good sign for US call centers.

According to a press release, Safe Auto Insurance is opening a state-of-the-art call center in Somerset, Kentucky.  Safe Auto originally opened a call center in Somerset in 2008 with 48 employees.  The new 20,320 square foot building will have 250 call center associates in addition to human resources, sales and IT.

The National Association of Call Centers (NACC) reports net gains in contact center employment in the second half of 2010, with a total of 13,624 jobs add in the third and fourth quarters.  This is way up from the 2,292 jobs added during the first half of 2010.  Hopefully this trend will continue through 2011 and beyond.

Posted in News and events. No Comments »

Evaluating LED wallboards and LCD displays for the call center

March 31, 2011 — Camille

Real-time data display white paper

Just a couple days ago we released our 12th free white paper! “A guide to evaluating LED wallboards & LCD displays in the call center” helps call center managers evaluate real-time data displays and decide how to select display options that meet their messaging and metrics needs.

The new white paper gives an overview of three key considerations call center managers must acknowledge including:

 

  • Visibility- Call center wallboards provide excellent visibility from long distances and wide viewing angles.
  • Content flexibility- The options are virtually endless with call center digital signage; incorporate everything from PowerPoint® presentations to PDF files to live video along with your call center metrics and messages.
  • Cost- There are a few items to consider regarding costs of LED wallboards and LCD displays such as warranty, expected lifetime and energy efficiency.

These three considerations play a large part in a call center’s decision to implement real-time data displays because all three are vital to the success of the reporting project.  Many contact centers find that a mix of LED wallboards and LCD displays accomplishes the goals of the project.

Read more about the three keys to selecting real-time data displays by downloading the free white paper at http://www.inovasolutions.com/call-center-reporting/resources/call-center-data-displays.html.

And keep a look out for more great call center resources.  With 27 years of call center business under our belts and many employees who have been with Inova for more than 10 years, we have a lot of industry knowledge to share!

Posted in Call Center Management, Call Center Resources, Digital signage, LED displays, News and events. No Comments »

Call center job market in 2011: What does it look like?

January 27, 2011 — Camille

As I was perusing call center news articles this week, I noticed several articles about new and expanding call centers adding hundreds of jobs to the economy.  It seems like the economic outlook changes frequently— one day we’re on the road to recovery, another day we’re seeing reports of record high unemployment and foreclosure rates.  Today though, the job market in the call center industry is looking pretty strong.

An article in the Dallas Business Journal announced a call center project that’s drawing $15 million in foreign investment and creating 300 jobs in the Dallas area.  Encore Enterprises, Inc. will be operating the center which is expected to open near downtown Dallas.

Jobs in the call center industry are also expanding in New Mexico, according to a west Texas news station.  The New Mexico State Labor Department’s call center is expanding its hours and will nearly double the number of employees by mid-February.  New Mexico’s governor cited long wait times and a persistent lack of service as reasons for the expansion.

TMCnet reports that Best Buy has signed a deal with Sitel to set up call center operations at a Sitel center in Kentucky.  Best Buy will be locating support services to this new site which is expected to add 500 jobs to the area.

Of course there are a few bad news articles too— AstraZeneca is relocating 30 customer service jobs in Fairfax, VA to the Philippines and J.C. Penney is closing and consolidating its call centers.  Overall though, the call center job market is looking pretty promising in 2011.

What’s your take on the call center job market in 2011?  Do you anticipate your call center expanding this year?

Posted in News and events. No Comments »

Is Apple entering the call center market?

December 9, 2010 — Camille

Apple's Future iPhone AppAlthough I’m personally not a fan of Mac computers (I’m a creature of habit that grew up on reasonably-priced Windows and had a professor in grad school that told us every day “Apple is evil”), I do admire Apple as a company and think they have some great products outside of their computers.  So when I saw that the US Patent and Trademark Office published patents a few days ago belonging to Apple for a new iPhone app that monitors call center hold times I knew I had to write about it.

The examples in the patent show that the user will initiate a call to a contact center, the app will “obtain call center information,” notify the user of the expected hold time and ask if the user would like to enable on-hold monitoring.  If the user selects “yes,” the app will monitor the phone line and notify the user when the expected wait time decreases (for example, you become the first caller in the queue or the wait time is less than two minutes) and/or that a live operator is now on the line (using a speech processor).

So how is this going to impact the call center?  Will this new app decrease customer satisfaction levels since CSRs who are placed on hold often hang up?  Or will satisfaction increase because iPhone users won’t be bothered as much by long wait times since they can perform non-phone related tasks while on hold?

And an even bigger question— is Apple scoping out the call center solutions market or is this just another fantastic iPhone app?

Posted in Business, News and events, Technology. No Comments »

Contact Center Industry Trends

November 30, 2010 — Maureen

The call center industry is an ever-changing field. Last month, we set out to gauge opinions of contact center professionals through an industry trends survey. I should note that this was not a scientifically-conducted survey, but the results are interesting nonetheless. Thought I’d share a few highlights:

  • Of all the challenges contact center managers face, survey respondents indicated that employee morale and quality of performance reporting were the most challenging.
  • Survey participants said that they measure many different KPIs, but the top call center KPI being reported is average handle time.
  • Quality monitoring solutions were chosen as the most important technology for successful contact center management, while management dashboards were chosen as most likely to positively impact performance.
  • 44% of survey respondents expect their contact center budget to stay the same over the next year. 35% expect it to increase, 10% expect it to decrease, and the remainder was not sure.
  • We were surprised to learn that many call center professionals are still attending industry tradeshows.  I assumed that many companies were reducing their travel budgets, but perhaps not. Also, the numbers indicate that more people are attending online tradeshows and events, which seems like a good compromise: you get to brush up on industry trends from the comfort of your own desk.

Do these results reflect your call center accurately? What do you agree or disagree with?

Posted in Call center KPIs, Miscellaneous, News and events, Technology. No Comments »
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