AnswerStat News

September 2003

1Call Introduces R.E.D. Alert

The 1Call Division of Amtelco introduces the RED (Response to Emergency Deployment) Alert disaster notification module.  This new module gives healthcare facilities a fast method for notifying and communicating with the appropriate personnel in disaster and emergency situations.  1Call's RED Alert saves time for healthcare staff, reduces errors, and speeds the organization's overall response time.

Disaster and emergency plans are entered into the 1Call system in advance which then can be quickly activated for external disasters that affect the community, as well as for internal emergencies that affect the healthcare organization.  The designated personnel can automatically be notified by pager, wireless message, fax, or automated callouts with a prerecorded or text-to-speech message, using SpeechSecure to verify the correct person is contacted. 

Using the 1Call conference bridge, emergency personnel can be conferenced together with or without operator assistance.  The conference bridge allows for multiple simultaneous conference calls, which can also be recorded for later review.

For more information on 1Call's RED Alert disaster notification module, call 800-356-9148 or 608-838-4194 or email to info@1call.com.

Amcom Announces Event Notification and Response System

Amcom Software announced its new Event Notification and Response system, designed to help business, healthcare, and government communications centers more quickly and reliably initiate, manage, and monitor emergency notifications.  The system automates the notification process, freeing key personnel for other critical activities. 

Amcom Event Notification and Response supports a multitude of communications devices, protocols, and rules, offering an enterprise-wide platform for emergency communications.  Pre-defined and customizable templates facilitate instant notification to any combination of individuals, groups, and devices.  The system also contains features such as escalation, response collection, monitoring, and reports which provide comprehensive and interactive communications capabilities.

Notifications can be initiated from and responses recorded via the Web, voice response units, speech recognition, or an agent.  When a recipient responds to a notification, the system prompts for desired information, such as the time the recipient can arrive at a facility.  Based on the responses, the system determines if the notification should be continued, cancelled, or escalated to another device, person, or group.

All messages and responses can be monitored during the notification process and are logged for later viewing and reporting.  Event Notification and Response is an extension of Amcom's Smart Center solution. 

Amcom Software is a developer of speech and Web-enabled call processing, directory, and on-call scheduling software, CTI console and call center applications, call recording, and event notification solutions.  Amcom has regional sales offices throughout the United States .  For more information call 800-852-8935.

Startel Releases Exportable Statistics File

The newest addition to the DP (data processor) makes it possible to export the entire contents of a call center's statistical file into a universally accepted, comma-delimited format.  This versatile file format provides a record that can easily be imported directly into a database or program, such as Access, Excel, or FoxPro.  Once information has been imported into the program, any variety of filters, formulas, and calculations can easily be applied to the data.

Startel's exportable statistics file feature makes it is easier to create custom reports for end clients.  This feature also allows the selection of key data necessary to send to other applications, such as workforce management software enabling effective labor and quality of service management.  In addition, data can be remotely saved for unlimited lengths of time to allow for longer history analysis, such as year after year or seasonal trending.

With this new export feature, the power of a center's call statistics can be put to work, regardless of the changing needs of the organization.  For more information, contact Startel at 800-782-7835.

Increased Spending on Intrusion Detection Inevitable, Says Meta Group

 Investment plans for security technology remain on target for Global 2000 organizations, according to Meta Group, Inc.  An analysis of purchase intents by Meta Group analysts indicated strong short-term interest in both network and host intrusion detection.  Long-term plans showed an even stronger interest in various forms of intrusion detection, which is becoming widely accepted as a necessary part of well-secured environments.  Other long-term plans include centralized security information management consoles for many organizations.

"Organizations that have taken an intelligent approach to intrusion detection have no problem establishing the value of the technologies," said Chris King, senior program director for Meta Group's Security & Risk Strategies team.  "Those that have purchased a product without the benefit of an underlying policy and plan naturally feel like they have wasted their money, because they have.  Technology alone does not improve security, causing a false sense of security can actually harm the security effort."

 Meta Group believes that organizations failing to successfully deploy some level of intrusion detection capability could experience increased liability by not meeting a court standard of due care.  Security officers have shown only minimal confusion because of the vendor transition from intrusion detection to intrusion prevention.  Meta Group projects that the minimal difference between these two closely related approaches will disappear within two years.

Not all areas of security are maturing as rapidly as intrusion detection is.  Despite widespread recognition that information security requires separation from IT in order to meet generally accepted system security principles, the vast majority of organizations still have information security reporting to the CIO, CTO, or equivalent.

"As security has now started showing some signs of maturation, we are seeing a gradual growth in understanding that technology risk needs to be managed in parallel with IT rather than within IT," says Mark Bouchard, senior program director for Meta Group's Security & Risk  Strategies.

Atis, Ltd. Opens a New Door to Digital Recording

Atis, Ltd. announced its release of the Signet 320, an affordable multi-line recording system designed for small to medium size businesses.  The system combines ease of use with reliability and quality.  The Signet 320 can simultaneously record 8 to 32 channels using eight channel increments and is easily expandable in the field.  The Windows-based graphical user interface is user-friendly and eases setup and operation.  The unit provides access to over 10,000 hours of instant recall, using a DVD RAM disk to archive all recordings.  The call database allows users to search for and play back any archived call. 

For more information on the Signet 320, contact Atis, Ltd. at 770-664-4744 or email atisdigital@bellsouth.net.

Jill Bennett Joins 1Call Sales Team

The 1Call Division of Amtelco is pleased to announce the addition of Jill Bennett to the healthcare and higher education sales team.  Bennett joins Amtelco as a Sales Manager and brings with her an extensive background in the telecommunications industry.  Bennet holds a degree in Telecommunications from the University of Kentucky .  She started her career in the paging and cellular industries.  She spent 12 years selling telemessaging systems to the telephone answering service industry.  For the past six years, Bennett has been selling systems specifically to the healthcare market.

"I'm very happy to be working for a family-owned business.  Having experienced this first hand in my own family, I know the dedication and first-rate customer service that is required to become a successful business, such as Amtelco," said Ms. Bennett.  She also stated that she is "excited to be working for a company that has a product line that is both proven and tried in the healthcare market." 

Ms. Bennett will be working with healthcare and higher education organizations throughout the southeast from her office in Atlanta , Georgia .  She can be reached at 800-269-4171 or jbennett@1call.com.

CRM Market Making a Comeback

According to a recent poll conducted by META Group, Inc., the customer relationship management (CRM) market is slowly rebounding.  This year, three-quarters of survey respondents indicated they plan to spend the same amount or more on CRM products or services than they did in the previous year.

Recent maneuverings in the enterprise application market (the PeopleSoft/JD Edwards/Oracle triangle) have dampened, but not eliminated, the appeal of purchasing strategic CRM applications.

"Given recent events, enterprises concerned about relying too heavily on a single technology vendor should consider incorporating offerings from CRM specialist providers into their environments," said Elizabeth Roche, vice president of enterprise application strategies at META Group.  "In fact, some vendors are overhauling their architectures to enable component environments and mitigate some integration challenges.  Despite this enabling technology, organizations must still plan for heavy investments in integration skills and technologies."

 Although compelling reasons remain to obtain all enterprise backbone components (such as CRM) from the same provider, CRM specialist providers can provide a hedge against further market consolidation.

Wireless LAN Security Falls Short of Expectations

Wireless local area networks (LAN) vendors have failed to deliver interoperable, highly secure wireless LANs, according to META Group, Inc.  Three years after initial concerns about wireless LAN security were raised, achieving a highly secure enterprise wireless LAN remains a challenge.  Despite the continued growth of the consumer wireless LAN market, total revenues from enterprise wireless LAN sales have recently declined.  Enterprises have resisted adopting wireless LANs due to the immaturity of security and management standards. 

"Although new standards are emerging, the complexity is still too great, forcing companies to postpone wireless LAN deployment," said Chris Kozup, program director of META Group's Technology Research Services unit.  "Despite all the vendor marketing hype, standards remain immature and vendors continue to push their individual agendas."

Enterprises must be aware of the complexity that remains in securing wireless LANs.  Organizations will be forced to select a wireless system from a single vendor or take a virtual private network (VPN) security approach until standards stabilize, which is expected in 2005.  By 2006, the integration of wireless features into the wired infrastructure will ease operational complexities and enable wireless LANs to be treated as another standard network-access medium.

ATSI and ABC Pilot Project a Success

America 's Blood Centers (ABC) and the Association of Teleservices International (ATSI) recently completed a successful one-year disaster preparedness pilot project in seven markets.  According to ABC Executive Director Jim MacPherson and former ATSI President Darlene Campbell, the program was deemed a success.  As a result, ABC members in the seven pilot cities are now in a better position to handle emergencies than they were prior to the ABC/ATSI alliance.  The announcement was made at ATSI's annual convention in Orlando , Florida in June.

"We are pleased to be a part of an alliance with an organization like America 's Blood Centers," said .  "This partnership will provide ABC members with critical communications support they need if a crisis should arise."

After the tragedies of September 11, 2001 , ATSI's board of directors proposed to its members that the organization find a non-profit involved in the delivery of emergency services, which it could partner with to serve communities in .  ABC's MacPherson embraced the concept of his organization's member blood centers teaming with ATSI members in select cities to secure assistance in disaster preparedness.

"It is important that we improve our ability to communicate with the general public, each other, and medical facilities," said MacPherson.  "The events of September 11th were a clear signal of the need.  Our board was delighted when ATSI took the initiative to coordinate a program."

Because timely communications during a crisis are crucial to the dissemination of information and services and ATSI members' are experts in communications offering 24/7 service, it was a good fit for both organizations.  In the event of a crisis, ATSI members will provide free emergency phone-answering services.

Over the past year, this system was tested at several community blood centers in cities across the country.  "Our pilot cities have given us insight into the needs of our centers and the services the ATSI members can provide so a national roll-out will go smoothly," said MacPherson.

To better understand each blood center's disaster-related needs, ATSI representatives worked closely with ABC member contacts to determine which services would be most beneficial.  In Orlando , for example, it was determined that 's blood centers could face an influx of 7,000 calls per day during an emergency.  The center's CEO, Anne Chinoda, worked with her ATSI representative on designing an overflow system that will allow ADS Communication (ATSI's member group in Florida) to handle this huge influx of potential calls from the public that cannot be handled by the center.

Other ATSI members who participated in the pilot program include: The Apple Tree Group (Delaware); Metro Message Services, Answer Pro and Telephone Answerette (Missouri); Madison Answering Service (Wisconsin); Direct Line Tele Response (San Francisco, California); Nova Communications (San Diego, California); and Hello, Inc. (Virginia).

ABC and ATSI expect to roll out the service to all interested ABC members within the next year.  For more information about the ATSI/ABC alliance, contact Matt Granato at 202-654-2911.

CadCom Announces Extended Server Warranty

CadCom Telesystems announced an alliance with Source Support Services, Inc. to service its new high-performance AccuCall server hardware.  With this agreement in place, CadCom now provides a three-year, next day, on-site warranty service with all servers sold.

Should service be required, Source Support Services will come to the customer's site by the next day.  All parts in the server are covered under the new warranty plan.  An optional same-day-service warranty is also available at the time of purchase of all AccuCall systems.

"This partnership brings added value and peace of mind to the owners of our AccuCall CTI system," said Steve Clover, vice president of sales and marketing. 

Amtelco's eCreator Messaging

Amtelco recently announced the release of eCreator Messaging.  Using new dispatch elements with eCreator software version 2.1, users can create easy-to-use messaging scripts using only eCreator's base palette.  This allows call centers to handle any regular answering service accounts with eCreator.

Use of eCreator Messaging reduces operator errors and training time.  Amtelco is providing a free template to make setup even faster.

For more information contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148 or 608-838-4194, or visit ecreator.amtelco.com.

Focal Completes Restructuring, Emerges from Chapter 11

Focal Communications Corp. recently announced that its financial restructuring is complete and that it has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.  The company's Second Amended Joint Plan of Reorganization was approved June 19, 2003 , becoming effective six months after the initial plan was filed.

Kathleen Perone, Focal's president and chief executive officer, said, "We thank our employees, creditors, vendors, and especially our customers who stayed with us and, in many cases, grew their business with Focal during the six months since we filed.  With the reorganization complete, we intend to continue to grow our customer base and revenue per customer, as well as improve operational efficiencies."

Focal said its strategy for the future includes increasing revenue per line, not just the total number of lines in service.  The company's objective is to increase the efficiency of the network and improve gross margins through expanded product penetration into the existing customer base.  Layering additional services such as long distance, toll-free, and conference calling onto customers' existing connections will help Focal meet customers' communications needs. 

For more information contact Chuck Boyce, authorized Focal agent for telemessaging at 888-563-0040.

MGMA to Use NotifyMD's WebMessenger

The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) added NotifyMD's WebMessenger service to its preferred supplier program.  WebMessenger will provide the daytime message management of live voice communications via secure Internet access for MGMA members.

With WebMessenger, NotifyMD's call center agents receive calls during the day and deliver the content to be accessed on a desktop or wireless device.  The medical practice can view, sort, distribute, and report any message content needed.

"The MGMA relationship has been the primary catalyst for sales of NotifyMD's after-hours messaging and urgent notification physician services." said Dr. Gary Ferguson, CEO of NotifyMD. 

"Since we started using WebMessenger, patients call and ask us how we can return their calls so promptly when they have to wait hours for their other doctors," said Pamela Shannon, administrator of Central Maryland Urology Associates.  "Before WebMessenger, our patients had to endure busy signals and long wait times, often being directed to voice mail boxes to leave messages.  WebMessenger has eliminated all of this, giving every caller a live voice.  We retrieve our text messages securely over an Internet connection.  My staff is able to view their messages and I am able to view, sort, distribute, and report all message content.  I monitor the status of every patient request as my staff acts on the messages.  WebMessenger has given us control of our day."

Initiative to Make Speech Technology Accessible, Pervasive

Pronexus Inc., a provider of computer telephony and speech software solutions, announced that it is working with Microsoft Corporation to bring speech technology to the mainstream.  As a member of the Microsoft Speech Partner Program, Pronexus will help create speech-enabled business solutions.

Speech technology which was a $656 million market in 2002 delivered significant business value to customers.  However, the potential impact of speech far exceeds its current market penetration. 

"The Microsoft Speech Partner Program is designed to accelerate the wide-scale adoption of speech technologies by providing enterprise customers with access to products and services based on the Microsoft Speech Server," said James Mastan, director of marketing for the Speech Technologies group at Microsoft.

"Microsoft realizes it takes a host of technologies and skills to deploy successful speech-enabled applications," said Benjamin Farmer, Managing Analyst at Datamonitor.  "By creating an industry partner community, Microsoft is better positioned to achieve this goal."

"Speech will become a ubiquitous technology, and this program will broaden the deployment around the world," commented Gary T. Hannah, President and CEO of Pronexus. 

Read more articles relevant to hospital and medical related call centers.