Medical Call Center Industry News

June/July 2006

AnswerStat Adds Vendor Literature Section to Website

AnswerStat magazine has expanded its website by adding a vendor literature section.  Advertisers in AnswerStat magazine have submitted brochures and literature so that readers may learn more about their products and services.  Additional vendor and product literature will be added as it is made available. 

This library of literature is presented by contact center vendors, who specialize in the teleservices and outsourcing call center industry.  Their information is provided for the benefit and education of our readers and website visitors.  For easy viewing and printing, the literature is formatted as PDF files.

LVM Develops Absence Management Module

LVM Systems recently developed an Absence Management module in their E-Centaurus software to support clients who either sell attendance management services to employers or support their own health system's employee health program.   LVM clients can monitor, advise, and report on employee absence.  The absence management program improves tracking, but more importantly, analyzes trends to assist leadership in managing absences proactively.

Employees are instructed to call the Absence Line to report absences, such as sickness, traffic delays, injury, bereavement, doctors' appointments, and so forth.  Call center staff locates the employee record and using the new module, records the employee's answers to a short series of questions, identifying the absence specifics.  If the employee is ill, he or she discusses symptoms with a triage nurse who provides direction and/or symptom management.  An estimated return-to-work date is established and the employee is instructed to either call back each day of the absence or upon his/her return to work.  The return date is recorded to close the episode of absence.  The software segments data by employer and allows managers to access absence reports online by employee, department, division, or corporation. 

For more information, call LVM Systems at 480-633-8200.

Amtelco Receives GSA Contract for Red Alert System

1Call announced that GSA (U.S.  General Services Administration) recently awarded a Federal Supply Service Contract Number  (GS-35F-0309S) to Amtelco for Red Alert.  GSA is the federal government's premier acquisition agency.

The Red Alert Emergency and Event Notification system is currently being used by a number of healthcare organizations and pharmaceutical companies.  Red Alert is easy to set up and use; it features Web-based alert triggers and administration applications, real-time monitoring, and detailed reporting. 

The GSA mission for its agencies, according to GSA Acting Administrator, David L. Bibb, is "to provide [Federal agencies] with innovative solutions, and the right services at the right time, and at the right price so that they are free to concentrate on their missions."

Amtelco/1Call President Tom Curtin commented, "The GSA certification gives us the opportunity to implement Red Alert more quickly in various Federal Government Institutions, including FEMA, Homeland Security, VA Healthcare facilities, and the Military.  Red Alert's fast notification process makes it possible for these agencies to respond faster in all types of situations."

For more information on the innovative Red Alert system, contact your 1Call Sales Manager at 800-380-7345 or email redalert@1call.com.

Area Code News

The North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA) recently announced updates on areas code changes in the Georgia, southwestern Ontario, and areas around Montreal.  In June of 2005, the Georgia Public Service Commission approved an area code overlay for the 706 area code.  A new code of 762 will "overlay" or cover the same geographic area as the 706 area code.  Originally scheduled to go into effect in May, the 10-digit permissive dialing period was extended for select NXX codes to October 3, 2006.  After October 3, all calls within the 706 area code must be dialed using 10 digits.

An overlay of the 519 area code, in southwestern Ontario, was announced in 2002.  The new 438 area code will be implemented, requiring 10-digit dialing by October 14, 2006.

A final area code overlay of the 514 area code was previously announced.  The implementation of the new 438 area code has been twice delayed and is now scheduled for later this year; 10-digit dialing will be required by October 28, 2006.

[A complete and up-to-date listing of area codes in North America, numerically and geographically, is available at www.answerstat.com/info/area-codes.html.]

Beryl Forms Executive Advisory Council

The Beryl Companies announced the creation of a new Executive Advisory Council comprised of industry leaders.  The Executive Advisory Council will provide strategic guidance and advice to Beryl's leadership team regarding the ever-changing healthcare industry.

"Beryl has a two-decade commitment to customer service and to making healthcare more accessible and more convenient for the public," said Alan Weinstein, former president of Premier and chair of Beryl's Executive Advisory Council.  "They are the thought leader in their space, and our role is to offer advice on market trends and conditions that will allow Beryl to maintain and enrich that preeminent position."

Executive Advisory Council members include Fred Brown, Lynne Cunningham, Doug French, Sheldon King, Dave Loveland, Bob Pallari, Barry Schochet, Marlowe Senske, and Alan Weinstein. 

"We are honored that these well-known healthcare executives have offered to share their knowledge and experience with our management team," said Beryl Founder and CEO Paul Spiegelman.  "Their support of our efforts and their insights into the industry will be an invaluable benefit as we continue to develop products and services that allow our client hospitals to remain market leaders."

Red Alert Adds New Sales Staff

1Call announced that Mel Carter and Tim Brady will now manage sales in several new markets for the Red Alert Emergency and Event Notification system.

Tim Brady recently joined Amtelco's Red Alert team, with 25 years experience in sales and marketing management.  Mel Carter has been with Amtelco for 13 years, most recently as a 1Call National Sales Manager.  These two will now focus on the business continuity and special notification needs for government agencies and commercial businesses.

The Regional 1Call Sales Managers, along with 1Call National Sales Manager, Mike Friedel, will continue to handle Infinity call center, as well as Red Alert Emergency Notification needs for healthcare and higher education organizations.

Amtelco/1Call President Tom Curtin commented, "I am very pleased with the 1Call and Red Alert sales groups.  This will allow our 1Call sales staff to concentrate solely on the needs of healthcare and higher education organizations, while Mel and Tim work in new areas that need Red Alert, as well as providing assistance to the 1Call sales staff."

For more information on the innovative Red Alert and Infinity systems, contact your 1Call Sales Manager at 800-380-7345.

Poll Finds Americans Frustrated with Poor English in Contact Center Agents

A new international contact center survey revealed that Americans are more frustrated by talking to customer service agents with hard-to-understand accents than they are by talking to agents who don't understand the problem they are calling about.  Nine thousand people were surveyed online in nine countries - Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and USA.

When asked what frustrates them most about contact centers, U.S. respondents said bad accents (29%) are their top complaint followed by rude or condescending agents (18%), being made to wait too long on the line (17%), or having to listen to an agent "upgrade" their services (15%). 

"With support jobs moving to China and India, it's not surprising that English-speaking countries' top frustration revolves around the difficulty of understanding customer service representatives," said Bob Hayes, Ph.D.  Hayes is an expert in customer satisfaction measurement and author of the book Measuring Customer Satisfaction: Survey Design, Use, and Statistical Analysis Methods.  He said, "Even if the level of customer service is exceptional, the extent to which poorly-understood accents trump quality of service speaks to English-speaking customers' growing intolerance of non-native speech, more so than in other countries."

Consumers in non-English-speaking markets rate other issues as more problematic. For example, French and the Germans feel waiting on the phone is the prime problem, while the leading frustration for the Chinese and Russian respondents is that contact center staff is condescending or rude.

The findings substantiate a growing trend among companies to find alternatives to counter Americans' increasingly hostile attitudes towards overseas contact center agents, including online chat, email, and improved automated voice systems that can resolve problems more quickly.  Other companies are bringing front-line customer service operations back home, but leaving their back-office processing overseas.  Still others are investing heavily in "foreign accent reduction therapy" where accents are neutralized to appeal to the English-speaking population.

Finding creative ways to circumvent the phone call could prove difficult.  However, as the poll also reported, over three-quarters of U.S. respondents prefer to contact customer service departments by phone (76%) over email (20%), chat (1.8%) or mail (1%).  

Americans win first place in this category, citing "personal contact" (48%), "convenience" (25%), and "speed" (21%) as reasons for choosing to pick up the phone over any other method.  At 75%, Canadians come in second for favoring phone contact and Australians weigh in third at 74%.  Although all nine countries preferred interacting over the phone, a surprising 27% of Russians favored the chat room - over five times the global average (5%) - as a way of asking for help.

The definition of good customer service seems fairly consistent.  Across the world, a good customer service experience is one in which the customer interacts with a knowledgeable service agent who can handle problems quickly and effectively.  Less important are the interpersonal skills of the service agent or how long a customer is required to wait before they become impatient.  The global average for willing to wait 5-10 minutes is 48%; Americans weigh in at 46%.

The survey also reported that the costs of a bad customer service interaction, regardless of the reason, run consistently high across the globe.  The poll found that 86% of respondents would likely or very likely move to a competitor following a poor experience.  Customers from Brazil, are more likely to switch to a competitor (91%) compared to the UK (84%), USA (82%), or Russia (81%).

The research was powered by global market intelligence solutions provider GMI on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiary NetReflector in March 2006.  Nine thousand people were surveyed online in nine countries - Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and USA.