From the Virtual Observer "Did you know" files...

Did you know...
Virtual Observer (VO) can be used to record screens in a dual-screen environment. Dual-Screen can be very effective, doubling the desktop landscape, for example, enabling supervisors to playback screens on one monitor and open evaluations on another.

Did you know....
Many customer implementations have seen VO replace many of the "big name" recording solutions. Customers have detailed to us how VO has performed better than the the system we replaced. Often customers are able to spend considerably less for equal or greater value, so the end result is rapid return on investment and an extremely low cost of ownership.

Did you know...
VO is able to record screens in a Citrix environment. Citrix allows Windows apps to run in a Linux environment. Linux is gaining popularity with enterprises because of their reliability and performance.

* FYI, check out Xandros to see one of the emerging Linux OS environments. Xandros powers some models of the new sub-$400 mini-laptop, such as the Asus EEE.

Featured Resource: IP Telephony, VoIP and Broadband blog from ZDnet

There is always good stuff to read on this VoIP blog, written by Russell Shaw. Recently they've been recapping the year's most popular posts, which include "a VoIP provider flames out", detailing the sudden shut-down of VoIP provider SunRocket, leaving 200,000+ subscribers in the lurch.

Another popular posting helped stage a serious turnaround in Sprint policy regarding soldiers and cell phone roaming charges. Read more about "Sprint spits on our fighting men and women".

"CompUSA is closing for good. Good" was able to draw over 90 comments, as people ranted about the departure of the retail computer chain.

ZDnet overall has been a player in the technology news and content world since the very beginning, springing from the print world, like so many other online portals have, like TMCnet, which is from the publishers of "Customer Interaction Solutions" as well as other telecom publications.

We'll feature more online news resources in the future. A recommended method of filtering all of the news sources you'll encounter is to grab the RSS feed from them and add them to your RSS reader. Personally, I find Google Reader to be the easiest to use.

Here's the link to the RSS feed for the IP Telephony, VoIP and Broadband Blog from ZDnet.

A very special call center Christmas

As this is truly a global industry, I thought this year's christmas post would be done using Google's translation tool, I am pleased to present you with "Happy Holidays! This call may be recorded for quality and training purposes." in nine languages:

Spanish: "Happy Holidays! Esta llamada puede ser registrada de calidad y de formación."

French: "Joyeuses fêtes! Cet appel peut être enregistré pour la qualité et la formation."

Russian: "Happy Праздники! Этот призыв может быть отчет по качеству и учебных целей."

German: "Happy Holidays! Dieser Aufruf werden für die Qualitätskontrolle und Ausbildung."

Japanese: "楽しい休暇をお過ごしください。このコールのかもしれないと訓練の目的を記録し、品質を向上します。"

Chinese: "节日快乐！这一呼吁可能会被录音质量和训练目的。"

Arabic: "اعيادا سعيدة! هذه الكلمه قد تكون مسجلة لاغراض التدريب والجوده."

Portugese: "Happy Holidays! Este convite pode ser gravadas para fins de formação e de qualidade."

Italian: "Buone Feste! Il presente invito possono essere registrate per scopi di qualità e la formazione."

Introducing VO Live: It's a difference-making quality monitoring benefit

We are pleased to introduce a groundbreaking new feature suite. It's called VO Live, and it really sets the bar high for quality monitoring features, especially when you consider it is included at no additional charge with the base Virtual Observer Professional package.

VO Live provides supervisors with the ability to monitor agent screen activity in real time and provide instant intervention.

Some Quick Highlights:

· Presents an overview of agent screen activity

· Allows for instant supervisor to agent chat

· Enables supervisors to take control of an agent’s desktop – remotely!

· Provides instant assistance to agents during calls

Ask your account manager for more information about VO Live today!

Announcing Reliable Call Recording for Shoretel

Shoretel is an emerging player in the VoIP phone system market.

We've heard from quite a number of Shoretel customers who have stated that the existing call recording systems available for Shoretel are not getting the job done.

Based on the market's demand for a reliable, robust call recording system for Shoretel phone systems, we are pleased to announce that we have a Shoretel Logger which is ready-to-implement today and we are committed to having a fully integrated Virtual Observer Professional (with quality assurance features) with Shoretel compatibility released by Q2 2008.

Virtual Observer Professional for Shoretel is a call logger with robust quality monitoring features: Evaluation, Performance Reporting, E-Learning, Screen Capture, Supervisor-Agent Chat, and much more.

Businesses can implement the Shoretel Logger today and turn on the quality monitoring features when they become available.

The system is modular, so they will be able to start small and think big, which is important to us.

We want all customers to be able to buy the right system for their requirements, and be able to add functionality as needed.

Virtual Observer customers in the news

Salvation Army West USA found in The Long Beach Press Telegram:
The Grand Prix Association is assisting The Salvation Army with its "Operation Christmas Adopt-A-Family" program, providing warehouse space for gift distribution, as well as adopting a local family by giving them food for Christmas dinner and gifts for the children. The association's warehouse will be open on Tuesday for companies and individuals that have adopted a family to drop off donations. More than 150 families are expected to be "adopted" in Long Beach.
The back portion of the association's warehouse, normally used to house materials and equipment to build race grandstands, will be stocked with holiday items including toys, games, sports equipment and bicycles. On Wednesday, the families will pick up their Christmas baskets and gifts at the Grand Prix offices and warehouse at Pacific Avenue and Spring Street.
About 40 volunteers, many from Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe Springs, will help with the distribution. The Grand Prix staff also assists with the effort by transporting gifts to families without cars. This holiday season The Salvation Army will assist more than 1,200 families with more than 5,000 children in Long Beach, according to the organization.

Day-Timers, Inc. as discovered on PRweb:
DayTimers, the premier company and leader in time management and organization tools, is celebrating its 60th anniversary year in Times Square from November 5, 2007 - January 1, 2008. Throughout the height of the holiday season, DayTimers will display 15-second spots in the "mecca" of American advertising, designed to captivate the millions of eyes passing the crossroads of Broadway and 7th Avenue at 44th Street each day of this critical two-month period. "We are excited to join traditional New York City celebrations such as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and New Year's Eve to show our appreciation for being in business for the past 60 years," commented Joe Winters, DayTimers President.

Gordian Health Solutions, as featured in TMCnet:
Gordian, an industry leader in health and productivity improvement, has adopted CosmoCom’s IP-based contact center platform. Gordian was using a traditional phone system to connect its nurses, dietitians, exercise physiologists, and other professionals with clients in need of healthy lifestyle coaching. The capabilities of CosmoCom’s CosmoCall Universe (CCU) platform exceed those of traditional phone systems. Moreover, it integrates e-mail and online chat into the traditional telephone call center. Gordian helps employers, health plans and government entities identify, control and manage health risk factors and their associated costs through targeted and tailored programs and sophisticated informatics and reporting capabilities.

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.