AnswerStat News

November 2004

1Call Announces Infinity Integration with LVM eCentaurus

The 1Call Division of Amtelco announced the integration of their Infinity system to the LVM eCentaurus™ nurse triage software package.  With the Infinity and eCentaurus integration, operators answer calls, gather information from callers, and screen them for nurses.  If the caller needs a callback from a nurse, the operator saves the message in a special Infinity account.  The message is then automatically dispatched to eCentaurus, which presents calls to nurses in the queue, based on priority.

When the call is delivered, information about the call, including the callback number, is displayed.  The nurse uses the eCentaurus screen, with the Infinity Operator Interface Engine, to dial, connect, place calls on hold, page, and patch calls to doctors. 

To complete the call, the nurse presses a button on the eCentaurus screen.  Infinity then stores all of the information about the call, including the callout history, which can be archived and reviewed at any time for quality assurance and billing purposes.  If desired, calls can also be automatically recorded using the 1Call Voice Logger module.

For more information, contact 1Call at 800-356-9148 or info@1call.com.

Research Finds IT Departments Take Lead on Communications Strategies

As voice and data applications converge in the corporate environment, information technology (IT) departments are playing a greater role in developing strategies and making purchases, according to research released by CompTIA, the Computing Technology Industry Association.

 More than four out of five organizations (82 percent) that participated in the CompTIA study reported that telephony departments now report to someone with "IT" in their job title.  This trend is most prevalent in the broadcast, healthcare, and professional services sectors.  For medium-sized businesses (1,000-4,999 employees), 100 percent reported that telephony operations are part of the IT department. 

 More than one-quarter (27.2 percent) of organizations said they have reduced the size of their telephony operations staff by an average of 40 percent in the last year.  More than 5 percent of organizations have eliminated the telephony staff entirely.

"As telephony department staffs and budgets are shrinking, their influence is waning, and the IT department is making the power decisions for setting strategies and making purchases," said Edward Migut, director, CompTIA Convergence Group.

The study also found that the ratio of budget spent on new versus existing operations is shifting, with new initiatives representing a larger percentage of the budget.  Historically, the spending ratio has been 75 percent on existing applications and 25 percent on new applications.

Purdue University Finds Offshore Call Centers a Concern to U.S. Consumers

A consumer's experience with a company's customer call center has a significant impact on their future purchasing behavior toward the company and perceptions concerning offshore call centers play a role.  This is according to the latest call center study led by Dr. Jon Anton, of Purdue University 's Center for Customer-Driven Quality, in conjunction with researchers at BenchmarkPortal, Inc.  The Call Center Study was sponsored by global staffing provider Kelly Services.

"The study reveals that 85 percent of U.S. consumers felt their most recent contact with a call center met or exceeded their expectations - with the vast majority also believing that their call was being handled by a domestic call center," said Anton. 

Of concern for U.S. companies considering offshore outsourcing is that 65 percent of American consumers would alter their buying behavior toward a company if they had the impression that the business was using an offshore call center.  This remained true regardless of the level of satisfaction the customer received from the call center experience.  This response was found to be consistent across all call categories.

According to the study, sentiments of nationalism and loyalty to America play a strong and more influential role in the purchasing decisions of American consumers than does their overall indifference towards the issue of offshoring. 

BenchmarkPortal is the custodian of the Purdue University Center for Customer-Driven Quality database; for more information call 805-614-0123.

Startel Achieves Siemens Certification

Startel Corporation, a provider of call center solutions to the government, healthcare, higher education, and telemessaging markets, announced that is has achieved Siemens Hi-Path Ready Certification with Startel's 5700 platform.  The Siemens HiPath Ready Program is a global program where third-party vendors can have their applications tested and certified for connectivity with Siemens HiPath Communication Systems and Applications.  For third-party vendors, this program offers two levels of certification showing both the vendors and Siemens' marketplace that their platforms have been tested and proven to work with Siemens HiPath Systems.

"Startel's mission is to be a customer focused company that delivers innovative solutions with the highest quality products and services," states David Chuchinsky, President of Startel.  "Another step in accomplishing this mission is to demonstrate the interoperability of our products across various vendor platforms to deliver a wide array of solutions for our customers.  Startel's successful completion of this integration testing with Siemens' switching platforms allows us to join the ranks of other quality companies that are part of Siemens HiPath Ready Partner Program."

1Call Receives Avaya DeveloperConnection Compliant Award

The 1Call Division of Amtelco announced that the 1Call Infinity system has completed successful testing with Avaya Inc.'s MultiVantage S8700 Media Server with Communication Manager 2.1.  Infinity was thoroughly tested by Avaya's DeveloperConnection Technical Team and has been officially accepted as compliant.  1Call's parent company, Amtelco, has been a premier member of Avaya's Global DeveloperConnection (DevConnect) program for two years. 

This integration was accomplished using telephony boards designed and manufactured by Amtelco's XDS division.  These boards support the Q Signaling Interface Protocol (QSIG) and allow integration with QSIG-compatible switches, such as Avaya's.  QSIG is an international, vendor-independent signaling standard for logical signaling between two private switch nodes, such as PBXs or third-party application servers.

Other 1Call/Amtelco products have received the DevConnect Compliant award, including the eCreator browser-based scripting system.  Last year, Amtelco was awarded the "Vendor of the Year" award for its work as part of Avaya's DevConnect program.  This award was given in recognition of Amtelco's strong relationship with Avaya and their Mosaix Users Group (MUG).

For more information on Infinity and the Avaya DeveloperConnection Compliant Awards, contact 1Call at (800)356-9148 or email info@1call.com.

Telescan Introduces Spectrum Smart Script

Telescan introduced Spectrum Smart Script, which allows users to create a Web form to script complex call scenarios.  It makes taking detailed messages accurately easier, putting all the information an agent needs on screen to walk callers through a series of questions and collect the responses.  Unlike previous programs, a Spectrum Smart Script can be created using Excel or Word, making it easier to program.  Spectrum Smart Script is a part of Telescan's Spectrum operating system.

"We call this program Smart Script," said Patty Anderson, Telescan's Director of Sales, "because it makes every agent sound smart, every time.  Almost anybody can program a Spectrum Smart Script.  We think Spectrum Smart Script will help reduce errors and reduce agent time taking messages."

To find out more about Spectrum Smart Script, call Telescan at 800-770-7662.

Medfone Selects NeedMyDoctor

Wantagh, NY-based Medfone, Inc. has joined forces with Chicago-based NeedMyDoctor to provide nationwide call center services that use the Internet to enhance doctor-patient communication.  Medfone will be the only authorized call center in the New York , New Jersey , and area to offer this service.

NeedMyDoctor allows patients to send a secure and private request or conveyance of clinical information to their physician's office via email, pager, fax, or phone.  With NeedMyDoctor, the patient's Internet messages are routed through Medfone's existing 24/7 call center operation.  The system gives the patient alternative means to contact their physician for both urgent and routine issues.

Medfone, Inc. is a full-service call center.  It specializes in comprehensive outsourced calling and web-based services for the pharmaceutical, hospital, medical practice, managed care, direct marketing, and electronic retailing segments of the health industry.

NeedMyDoctor is a privately held corporation, specializing in communications software that enables safe patient initiated transactions on the Internet.  The company has developed a patent pending design and a process for an effective and efficient means to improve communications between patients and physicians.

CampusRN Announces First-Year Results

CampusRN.com, a resource for entry-level medical talent, announced that it reached some significant milestones since its launch in the summer of 2003.  Over 25,000 nursing/allied health students, recent graduates, and experienced candidates became members of CampusRN to find health care positions.  More than 75 facilities have selected CampusRN.com to assist them in finding, contacting, and hiring top entry-level health care candidates nationwide.

"We are very excited that we have been able to connect healthcare employers with top entry-level talent," said Matt Casey, CampusRN CEO.  "Students and new graduates in this sector are in great demand and they now have a centralized resource to find out about positions, research employers, and make sure they are exposed to the ideal career opportunities.  For employers, we have provided a network to find, contact, and hire this talent on a nationwide level."

There is a nationwide shortage of health-care professionals in the United States.  The National Association of Geriatric Nursing Assistants estimates a present shortage of 250,000 nurses.  They predict that demand will increase fourfold by 2010 due to the estimated 70 million baby boomers who are expected to retire in coming years.

Memorial Healthcare System Selects Beryl

Memorial Healthcare System (MHS), a south Florida healthcare provider, signed an agreement with The Beryl Companies to provide expanded telephone and Internet customer interaction services.  The agreement provides these services for the organization's four hospitals: Memorial Regional Hospital , Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, Memorial Hospital West, and Memorial Hospital Pembroke.  As MHS continues to grow to serve a rapidly increasing population, they wanted to provide around-the-clock health information, physician referrals, and other services to current and potential patients who are calling or emailing them.

"Memorial Healthcare System has a long, proud history of serving the residents of south ," said Paul Spiegelman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Beryl.  "We are pleased that their future plans include an opportunity for us to partner with them to better link their excellent staff, programs, and services to the communities they serve."

Telescan Brings New Features with Windows XP

Telescan recently announced an upgrade for their Windows XP Agent Workstations.  With the Windows XP upgrade, Telescan users will now get all the latest features of Telescan's Windows WebConsole including dual monitor video cards and Telescan's new USB audio interface.

"With the Windows XP upgrade, our users will have the opportunity to use the enhanced quality of our new USB audio interface," said Bob Vornberg, Telescan's Director of Product Development.  He added that "dual monitors allow agents and supervisors more screen real-estate to view multiple programs and windows at the same time.  With all the new programs and applications available today, we think this could be a big advantage for the call center."

With the Windows XP upgrade, Telescan users will now have the option to include all the necessary computer hardware with their Telescan system purchase.  Alternatively, they may use their own agent PCs.

"We want to make sure we give our users every possible advantage of all the latest technology," added Robert Riggs, Jr., Telescan's Director.  "We are dedicated to continued upgrades that will give Telescan users every new technology."

For more about Telescan, call 800-770-7662.

Chuck Tonne Joins 1Call Sales Team

The 1Call Division of Amtelco announced the addition of Chuck Tonne to the healthcare and higher education sales team.  Tonne joins 1Call as a Sales Manager with an extensive background in the telecommunications industry.  He began his career as a sales representative for a start-up telecom company, selling key telephone systems and PBX equipment directly to end users. 

His career includes over 15 years working for PBX vendors Northern Telecom and Mitel, as well as offering telecommunications services to healthcare, education, and call centers with GTE Communications.  Tonne will be working with healthcare and higher education organizations throughout the west and southwest from his office in Chandler ,  

Tonne said he is "thrilled to be on board, and I'm looking forward to a great future with 1Call!"  He is delighted with the numerous products 1Call offers to satisfy the needs of healthcare and higher education organizations.  He looks forward to showing these organizations that "1Call's better communication solutions utilize better technology."

Tonne can be reached at 800-729-0752 or 480-775-6601; his email is ctonne@1call.com.

NeedMyDoctor® hires Kenneth Biss as Director of Quality Engineering

NeedMyDoctor^®, an "Internet to Telephone Communications Bridge " service that manages, directs, and converts Internet communications for physicians into the doctors' call center account, has hired Kenneth Biss, Ph.D.   He is charged with to managing NeedMyDoctor's quality assurance program and being the data architect for future growth.

His role expands on the work he did for Motorola as the Software Quality Engineering Manager for the iDEN Technology Division (Nextel System).  There, he provided technical direction enabling the division to achieve the CEO Award for Quality and level 3 of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Capability Maturity Model (CMM).  Dr. Biss received his Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Illinois , Champaign-Urbana

NeedMyDoctor gives doctors and other medical providers a hassle-free way to receive Internet-based requests and conveyance of medical information from patients, without requiring any investment in technology or training.  The company works with many call centers to provide the service to their doctors.

To contact NeedMyDoctor, call 888-633-3693, email jsameh@needmydoctor.com.

IntelliCare Named to Deloitte Technology List

IntelliCare, Inc. has been named to Deloitte's Technology Fast 50 Program for New England , a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the area by Deloitte & Touche LLP.  Rankings are based on the percentage of growth in fiscal year revenues over five years, from 1999 to ­2003.

"To rank on the Deloitte Technology Fast 50, companies must have phenomenal revenue growth over five years," said Stephen DiPietro, Deloitte partner responsible for the New England Technology Fast 50 Program.  "IntelliCare has proven to be one of the fast-growth success stories in New England and we applaud their success and vision."

"IntelliCare entered the market at a time when the entire healthcare system was seeking ways to improve the quality of healthcare while holding costs in check," said Victor C. Otley III, CEO of IntelliCare.  "IntelliCare's services and technology are part of the solution and our continued growth reinforces our company's strategy and value proposition."

Dictaphone and Call Center School Announce Joint Marketing Agreement

Dictaphone Corporation's Communications Recording Systems (CRS) Group announced a joint marketing agreement with Nashville, TN-based The Call Center School, a company providing a full range of educational and training solutions for call centers.  Dictaphone will integrate The Call Center School's training materials into its ContactPoint Trainer module.  First among the programs that will be integrated is "Call Center ABCs," a program developed by The Call Center School that has already introduced thousands of individuals to the fundamentals of call center operations. 

The five-course program is geared toward new agents and existing staff.  It covers 15 key topics including: an overview of the call center profession, performance measurement and management, workforce management, call center technology, and customer relationships. 

"Dictaphone is well known for its innovative approach to optimizing agent performance," said Penny Reynolds, founding partner of The Call Center School.  "Our solutions compliment each other perfectly."

"We are fortunate to be working with The Call Center School," said John Kaiser, Vice President of Global Marketing for Dictaphone's CRS Group.

For more information about The Call Center School, call 615-812-8400.

Mercom Provides Secure Online Storage Option

Mercom Systems, Inc., a provider of multimedia recording and agent evaluation tools for contact centers, announced that it has completed integration of Mercom's Audiolog^TM recording platform with the EMC Centera ^TM content addressed storage solution.  EMC Centera represents a new software-driven storage architecture specifically designed for the unique storage and security requirements of content such as call recordings.

"While we continue to offer a variety of archiving and storage options such as automatic archiving to DVD-RAM, support for network attached storage, RAID 5, etc., many customers want to store their calls online and at the same time verify that they haven't been tampered with," said Bob Jagendorf, Director of Marketing and Sales at Mercom.  "EMC Centera's technology ensures that when users retrieve a recording, they can authenticate the recording is in its original state and that it has not been tampered with.  This is particularly important for government agencies and industries that are tightly regulated such as financial services and healthcare, as well as for instances when 911 or other calls need to be used as evidence in court."

Empirix Helps Organizations Automatically Monitor Cisco ICM Components

Empirix Inc's OneSight for Cisco ICM (Intelligent Contact Management) allows contact center and IT staff to proactively pinpoint and address customer-impacting issues hidden within their technology infrastructures - issues that until now were obscured in various "black boxes."  With OneSight for Cisco ICM, customers can now correlate voice transaction performance with the health of each Cisco ICM component and the surrounding telephony and speech infrastructures to more quickly identify and isolate probable causes of common Cisco ICM issues such as default routing or mis-routed calls, CTI screen-pop errors and latency, and uneven call distribution.

OneSight for Cisco ICM is the first in a planned series of Empirix pre-packaged solutions for market-leading contact center components.  Empirix is developing a number of vendor-specific contact center solutions.  It offers platform monitors that can be customized for virtually any other vendor's offering.

"Proactive application management is crucial for organizations that are serious about enhancing customer loyalty," said Joe Alwan, Vice President of Marketing for the Enterprise Solutions Group at Empirix. 

To learn more, call 866-367-4749.

Nuvio's FCC Filing Leads Charge Against Discriminatory Broadband Practices

Nuvio Corporation announced the filing of an ex-parte letter with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to address potential discriminatory practices by broadband Internet access providers and preserve competition in the VoIP market.  Nuvio asserted that broadband Internet access providers, who also offer VoIP services, have economic incentives to discriminate against unaffiliated VoIP providers in favor of affiliated providers. 

VoIP services depend on the quality of the underlying broadband connection.  As such, broadband providers control the quality of service that a VoIP customer experiences.  This may lead to discrimination against unaffiliated VoIP providers to increase overall profits or retain market share.  Therefore, Nuvio urges the Commission to exercise its Title I jurisdiction to preserve competition by prohibiting discriminatory practices of broadband/VoIP providers.

"Broadband providers have nothing to lose and everything to gain from degrading the connection quality of their customers who are using unaffiliated VoIP providers," said Jason Talley, President and CEO of Nuvio Corporation.

Nuvio develops, licenses, and markets VoIP services through a growing network of private-label partners.  Nuvio also has NuvioCentrex, a complete IP based Centrex application that replaces existing telephony infrastructure.  For additional information, call 866-887-3479.

Online Production Studio Offers Quality Audio Production at Affordable Rate

Online Production Studio announced its ability to offer inexpensive audio production via the Internet, ideal for on-hold and IVR recordings.  From the company's website, customers can select voice talent in several languages and the background music that best fits their production.  Then, Online Production Studio automatically builds a script and mixes the music creating a full production.  The customer is given the opportunity to make changes to the script and music using the website's editing tools.  Once the customer has accepted the final production, the audio clip is sent to the customer in the media format of their choice. 

Online Production Studios' automated production management system reduces the overhead cost of communication between customers and voice talent, as well as the potential for costly miscommunication.  Since no human engineer is involved in the production process, customers are able to tweak elements such as the background music without having to pay an hourly rate.

In addition to offering quality production at an affordable cost, the company ensures a fast 48-hour turnaround.  Online Production Studio is running a special for AnswerStat readers: use Coupon Code 0137837e19 and get 25 percent off your first production!

For more information, email info@onlineproductionstudio.com or call 877-877-1594.

Caller Feedback Leads To Better Agent Coaching, Improved Performance

The Regence Group, an affiliation of health plans collectively covering nearly 3 million people, reports that using IVR as a caller feedback tool has enabled it to improve caller satisfaction.  Regence needed to collect immediate, raw feedback from callers that could be acted upon quickly.  Using Aspect Communication Corp's IVR (interactive voice response) software, Aspect Customer Self-Service (CSS), Regence developed an application that allows callers to record private, post-service feedback.  Regence uses the feedback to deliver targeted employee coaching.  This application has led to increased customer and agent satisfaction and an eight-second drop in call-handling times. 

The Regence Group's plan was to stop judging customer service by its own idea of "good" using a predetermined checklist of satisfaction measures and instead, let the customer make that determination.  Now at the start of each call, callers indicate via Aspect CSS whether they want to comment on the experience once the call is completed.  Agents aren't aware of the caller's selection.  Once the agent is off the line, callers are transferred to IVR and Aspect CSS concludes the interaction privately, eliciting feedback that is more honest.

Envision Introduces Four New Applications

Envision Telephony, Inc. announced a new set of business applications that bring unity between the contact center and the enterprise to create a superior customer experience.  The new business applications focus on four main areas for improving your business: contact center performance, transaction management, customer experience management, and enterprise quality.  Built around the Envision™ Performance Suite, these applications allow enterprises to gather business intelligence from customer interactions using analytical tools to effect change in processes throughout the contact center and enterprise.

"Despite better coaching and the valuable tools provided to agents, most contact centers still face the same challenges as twenty years ago when it comes to improving the customer experience," said Ted Lubowsky, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Envision.  "Putting the improvement burden on agents, supervisors, trainers, and coaches alone solves only half the problem."

For more information about Envision, call 206-225-0800.