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

Recent enhancements to call recording performance reporting features

Here’s a quick update on some of the latest updates to VO's Performance Reporting & Analytics features:

- Added dynamic real-time date range capabilities to our "Dashboards" feature: Current Day, Current Month, Current Year.

Added Trending Reports:
* New Recording Statistics which cross-reference a period of time (Hour, Day, Week, Month, Quarter and Year) against Agent, Agent Type, Supervisor, etc.
* New SMDR Statistics Report: gathers SMDR Stats over a period of time, such as (Hour, Day, Week, Month, Quarter and Year) and grouped by Extension, Trunk, Direction, Digits (ANI / DNIS) etc.
* New Channel Statistics Report: includes recording attempts over a period of time, such as (Hour, Day, Week, Month, Quarter and Year) and grouped by Agent ID, Agent Name, Extension, Channel, Result Code.

- Added a "simple" view for our Query Wizard as an alternate option for diving deep into data. Simple mode is a new mode that allows a user to quickly select a field and a value and quickly get the result they are looking for. You may also chose a condition, such as equals, not equals etc, and a relation to each piece of data (AND or OR). The user has the option of moving between advanced and simple by clicking the proper buttons. The query wizard will remember your last selected mode and will stay in that mode until you change modes.

- Enhanced Calibration features within our evaluation system.

- Enhanced the Event Log with "Favorites": Users can now set a quick-pick list of commonly used data searches. These Favorites are saved in the User Profile so they are independent from user to user and are not shared. The system ships with and initially sets up a list that is empty. The user can click the new "favorites" button and then add, edit or delete favorites. Each time thereafter, when the event log is loaded, the favorites will be available from the pick list.

Please contact customer support for questions about these new features.

8 things your call center can implement to help offset the impact of a challenged economy

* Reinvest in current customers. Re-allocate resources to take extra care of those customers who have stuck with you.

* Cross train your people. Cross training your call center reps will improve productivity and add flexibility to your schedules.

* Take new approaches. If your customers aren’t spending time on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.com, etc., they will be soon. Make sure your company is visible on these social networks and easy to find. You’ll want to include social network monitoring and response as part of your agent cross-training.

* Consolidate troops. Move all your teams and departments to the same location to save money on technology, energy and training cost. Taking it a bit further, you could combine your purchasing power with other companies to gain greater negotiating leverage and reduce costs. This applies not only to purchase products and supplies but also to services. What contact center does not utilize a cleaning service?

* Reinforce the basics. Simple fine tuning of courtesy skills can have a dramatic impact. Even if you have not implemented an automated quality monitoring system yet, set up some peer evaluation and coaching as part of your new cross-training regimen.

* Reward your people. Innovative rewards and incentive programs can motivate and refocus your team. Make it fun to achieve.

* Personalize your CRM efforts. If you have call handling scripts, think about adding some personalization. Add some fields in your CRM for your customer's birthdays, sports teams, local town, family status, etc. Next time the customer calls in, they will feel special and truly cared about, and most importantly – “they're more than a number” to you.

* Capture the “WOW”. Have your reps add some notes on the "wow" moment - that moment when a customer seems to really show their satisfaction. Save these recorded calls to a "Best Of" media library and share amongst the organization. This will not only beef up morale but can help in training new hires.