Speech Analytics Helps Drive Customer Experience

CSI customer Cigars International (CI) is known for its' wide variety of cigars and their unflappable customer service.

One of the reasons they originally invested in Virtual Observer was because they found an affordable technology which could effectively assist them in achieving their lofty goals for the customer experience.

 With the quality monitoring process on track and continuously improving, CI decided to invest in a more aggressive technology, phonetic-based speech analytics feature of the Virtual Observer suite, to help take the quality assurance process to the next level.

 The return on investment which would come from speech analytics was a great positive change in CI's training model.

 A manager in customer service, speaking for CI, mentioned "We suffered from the 'whisper down the lane' syndrome - even though we were providing comprehensive training materials with talking points, even though we delivered those materials several different ways (classroom, desk side, email), we still found that shortly after training the talking points took on a life of their own and became something else. Often times wrong information would evolve. It would have been days or weeks before we would have uncovered this, however, with Virtual Observer Call Insight speech analytics, it was in one afternoon."

 Read more about how Cigars International surpassed their ambitions for the customer experience.

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17 under-hyped but mega-useful enterprise call recording features

The engineers in the Virtual Observer labs upstairs are always plugging away, adding features and dropping them on us as early Christmas presents.

We try to make sure every new and valuable gadget, widget, bell and whistle is presented and explained to each and every customer, either through email alert, annual customer interview or through frequent dialogue. 

Sometimes, however, customers are so excited about a particular feature they tend to overlook some of the other capabilities.

There can be a lot of stuff under that hood!

Here's a quick list of some of the most requested "I didn't know we could be doing that!" heard from our customer base, categorized by function:

Call Recording:
* The ability to exclude specific area codes from call logging parameters
* The ability to use alarms to notify personnel when calls aren't being logged

Screen Capture Functions:
*  Users also have an ability with certain screen capture types to record screen capture in real time while they are watching a user in VO Live Desktop.
* VO has an ability to trigger screen capture for screen only events manually from within the software or by an API trigger.

* The ability to record screens in a thin client or multi-monitor environment

Usability:
* The ability to bring any available data stream into a widget on your real-time Dashboard
* The ability to create an infinite range of custom dashboards
* The ability to save any event log view as a favorite, or even as your default start-up view

Quality Monitoring:
* The ability to chat with an agent and assist them in navigating your CRM system during a live call
* The ability to calibrate scoring results for a single event

 Data Storage and IT:
* A client may choose to have certain groups’ calls stored in a separate location, which is possible with most logging environments.
* CSI offers various flavors of automated data replication and redundant storage locations. This goes for VO Auto-Archiving as well.
* Event retention may be different for varying call types or different agent group, and VO allows the client to be able to set granular retention / purge requirements.
* Virtual Observer’s Avaya DMCC recording offerings allow a client to perform redundant recordings that post to redundant application servers and databases.
* CSI supports “cold start” DR solutions, as well as various flavors of “active / active” redundancy
* The ability to run VO in a virtualized environment

Remember, we are always happy to schedule additional webinar training sessions for customers who would like to learn a little more about how else they can leverage all of the robust quality monitoring and training features available in Virtual Observer.

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Nex-Tech implements Virtual Observer for automating customer service initiatives

We are pleased to announce that Nex-Tech, a telephone service provider headquartered in Hays, Kansas, has selected CSI’s Virtual Observer Professional for call logging, screen capture and quality monitoring. Nex-Tech will be using Virtual Observer to enhance customer service initiatives.

Amy Normandin, Nex-Tech's internet help desk supervisor, said "We chose Virtual Observer based on the features it offered, the fact that it would be easy to use & implement, and the price for the overall package".

About Nex-Tech:
Nex-Tech is a subsidiary of Rural Telephone, a leader in the telecommunications industry since 1951. The goal of Nex-Tech is to provide the highest quality service possible to our customers at affordable prices. Rural Telephone and Nex-Tech have provided services for 50 years.

Call center quality monitoring can yield dramatic improvements

The core quality assurance features which come bundled with Virtual Observer helped to make SRA Associates' recent call recording implementation a resounding success:

Read this excerpt from an article on TMCnet:

The Virtual Observer team implemented a system to record calls of SRA’s Samsung (News - Alert) phone system. Using an SMDR feed, the calls are able to be tied back into the agent database. Screens are captured and synchronized to give SRA a complete perspective on the customer's interactions. SRA leverages the integrated evaluation, screen capture and performance reporting to automate the quality process and reduce agent turnover as well as improve customer satisfaction.

"Virtual Observer presented a strong value proposition, and I would recommend it for any financial services organization," offered Chiara, as he turned on his pc screen, which showed thumbnails of his entire staff's desktops. Using VO Live technology, John can double-click on an agent desktop, go full screen, take control, or chat for assistance. "VO Live is one of the features that sold me. The power was apparent," John added.

Continue on reading the entire article SRA Associates Sees Dramatic Improvement in Call Center Performance...

CSI and Windstream partner to deliver Siemens call center quality monitoring to Assurity Life Insurance Company

We are pleased to announce that Assurity Life Insurance Company, located in Lincoln, Nebraska, has selected CSI’s Virtual Observer Professional for call recording and quality monitoring. Virtual Observer was implemented to record calls off of Assuritys’ Siemens phone system.

CSI worked hand-in-hand with partner Windstream Communications to configure a robust quality monitoring solution for Assurity which not only met all project requirements but was also able to bring in the total project cost under budget.


About Assurity:
Assurity Life Insurance Company offers a wide variety of insurance and annuity products and services designed to solve complex financial problems for individuals, families and businesses. Assurity is committed to tailoring clients’ plans with a variety of creative solutions to fit wide-ranging needs for protection and wealth accumulation. For additional information about Assurity, please visit www.assurity.com

About Windstream:
Windstream Corporation is an S&P 500 company that provides digital phone, high-speed Internet and high-definition video and entertainment services to residential and business customers in 16 states. The company has approximately 3.1 million access lines and about $3.2 billion in annual revenues. For more information, visit http://www.windstream.com

Does Virtual Observer support T1 recording?

While we have been selling a great deal of digital and VoIP systems in the last two years, often as an alternate method of recording, we are asked to record trunkside or T1.


This especially comes into play when we are asked to record a system which we don't have a compatible audio recording board for, and random sample or extension side logging becomes a non-option.

Virtual Observer can passively record audio from t1 or trunks . In this environment, SMDR or CTI integration is required for agent identification.

T1 recording available for VO customers who wish to capture every call.

VO Logger with QA is also packed with many of our quality assurance features, creating a powerful quality monitoring tool, which when combined with CTI, can deliver a robust business intelligence tool....even without direct phone system integration.


T1 logging is limited in that you aren't able to capture full video screen capture of your agents' pcs. However, recently we've introduced "VO Live", a suite of interactive features included with the base VO package. "VO Live" provides supervisors a look at thumbnail views of all agent desktop activity - allowing them to click and enlarge a desktop thumbnail to full screen, and even take control of the agent's computer. "VO Live" also allows the supervisor and agent to communicate via chat, enabling the supervisors to provide assistance or guidance when needed.

Quicklist of tips for call center agents

* Maintain a positive, pleasant tone, but if you are over-the-top cheery, a caller who is disgruntled may be annoyed by your vibe.

* Ask your call center supervisors for training materials you can review during any down time. They will appreciate the initiative.

* Keep track of your own stats. # of calls handled/made, # of saves/upgrades, # cancellations, # of customers helped, # of times you needed help, etc...give yourself a reward when you break weekly records. Perhaps a Starbucks Frappucino?

* Make yourself available as a "go-to" person in your center for other agents, especially new ones, who are looking for help. Don't obnoxiously offer advice when they don't ask for it, but treat each co-worker as if they were a valued customer.

* If your center hasn't yet adopted any of the available call center technologies (quality monitoring, crm, workforce management) to improve performance, offer it as a suggestion to your immediate supervisor. Don't go over their head or they'll think you're gunning for their job.

* If you're going to browse the internet during your downtime, make sure it's industry-related, such as searching for "call center benchmarking studies" on Google.

The Tao of CSI: three core philosophies drive success

Three core business philosophies drive our success in the call recording and quality monitoring markets.

Many of our blog readers might not be familiar with the history of CSI. If you are not yet a customer or partner, you may not understand what we're all about. I'm hoping this helps to explain what drives us.

Since beginning as energy consultants in 1972, we've experienced all of the highs and lows of a thirty-five plus year business. Quickly becoming a custom computer programming house, we soon moved on to become a developer of a custom job shop manufacturing control system. Several years later, we've emerged as a strong call center solution provider.

We developed Virtual Observer (VO) as a robust, scalable call recording and quality monitoring system. We saw a hole in the marketplace once occupied by several bloated suites of bells and whistles. Many small and mid-sized call centers could not afford the benefit of a feature-rich call recording and quality monitoring implementation. Larger companies were forced to pay high upgrade fees because they were lacking choices. With the launch of Virtual Observer, CSI changed all of that.

How've we done it?

We have three core philosophies that make up our business mantra and combine to enable us to deliver the lowest cost of ownership in the industry.

The first is to “Build Great Customer Experiences”.

Our customer service philosophy drives everything in our organization, from the usability of our systems to our implementation and training teams. Perhaps the most evident result of this long-term customer strategy is in the aggressively low pricing of our upgrades – software is free for customers with active support agreements. This is practically unheard of in our industry. The largest percentage of your investment will come with the initial purchase, as opposed to upgrade offerings from our competition which essentially translates into a re-buy.

The second is our ability to allow customers to “Start Small and Think Big”.

Our sales philosophy starts with pricing structured so that a new customer can “Start Small and Think Big” -- implementing the right amount of functionality at the right time, and adding on new features as needed, as opposed to our competition’s methodology of forcing purchases of extra features that you’ll never really use, simply to justify the high price tag.”

Dan McGrail, Director of Product Development, added the third philosophy: “Don’t forget about “Simple, Effective, Affordable”.

Our operating philosophy dictates that every process, every product and every decision is based on it being simple, effective and affordable. We are able to manage operating costs by avoiding what some in the industry tout as “cutting edge”. Eventually “cutting edge” functionality becomes commodity, and then is made more affordable for our customer base. This is a huge component in allowing Virtual Observer to deliver a rapid return on investment.

Call recording and quality monitoring can benefit your marketing efforts

The benefits of implementing a call recording and quality monitoring solution are well known. Improved customer service performance, more upsells, less cancellations, and less turnover are just a few of the many results of a quality assurance initiative.

One aspect that many organizations have not taken advantage of is to tout their internal quality monitoring process as proof of commitment to their potential customers - "not only are we promising you better customer service than our competitor, we have the system in place and the performance analytics to prove it!"

The next time your marketing department is seeking more content for their website or a differentiator for their presentations, tell them about your quality objectives and help them to craft a compelling case study that just may help them win their next big opportunity.