Contact Center Observer: 02/01/2010

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

CSI earns Partner Loyalty Recognition honor at 2010 NACR Sales Conference

We just finished up attending the NACR / ConvergeOne Sales Conference 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show was a rousing success for NACR and for CSI, as we were given a prestigious "Partner Loyalty Recognition" ribbon and prism from Tiffany's for continuous years of services:

"NACR recognized 9 partners at a Loyalty Luncheon hosted by Tom Roles, NACR President and CEO. The event was held February 16, 2010 at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. as part of the company’s yearly sales conference event. Partners recognized for participating in the past 7 sales conferences were Amcom Software, Avaya Financial Services (AFS), Computer Instruments, CSI, Extreme Networks, Mutare, NICE, SimpliCTI, and Veramark. Each company was awarded an engraved Tiffany pentastar for their continuous support for these events." - Cathy Burns, Partner Relationship Advocate, NACR.

The show brought together a small army of technology companies working together to present NACR's Avaya sales force with a solid array of best-in-breed offerings.

The annual sales conference also featured an introduction of newly acquired Empire Technologies into the ConvergeOne family.

We've been working with NACR for eight years, providing Avaya customers with bulletproof call recording and workforce optimization at an industry's best cost of ownership.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Over 37 years in business, CSI's CEO speaks to longevity and success

Mr. Robert Hutcheon, CEO of Coordinated Systems, Inc., was recently interviewed and the story was picked up by the Hartford Business Journal, TMCnet, and several other news sites. Here is an excerpt from the article:

Robert Hutcheon is not only the CEO of a successful Connecticut technology company, but also being a decorated war veteran of the United States Army, he has endured difficulties which are far greater than that which may be read in the Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Hutcheon has steered his company through many turbulent economic times, including the recent economic recession. In many ways, his past experience in the Army helped shape the business philosophies he employs today and were instrumental in allowing CSI to survive the economic storms of the previous thirty years as well as today's climate.

What's your perception of the previous decade in business?
RH: "From my perspective, as I look back on last year and the previous decade, I always come back to the same thinking with each new economic encounter, that things can't get any more convoluted than the previous calamity or economic downturn we have ever come up against before. Yet it always amazes me that things sure seem to find a way of proving me wrong in that assumption. And I have to say as I look back and realize what a ride it has been to maneuver the business climate this ‘Great Recession' has handed us, it has definitely added more to that thinking than it has taken away. But I also have realized that no matter how bad things seem at any given time, and it may take awhile for it to come to realization, but there always seem to be numerous positive side effects that rise out of most declines."

Please describe your first 30 years in business?
RH: "Having been founded in 1972, Coordinated Systems, Inc. has seen many recessions and boom times with the economy. With each up and down we have experienced came lessons of survival that enhanced our character and brought our company to what it has become today. "

Click here to read the entire interview

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Healthcare Facility Creates Call Center of Excellence

Sacred Heart Health Systems (SHHS) Extends Quality Process to Call Center Using Call Recording & Quality Monitoring, creating their latest center of excellence - their call center.

An excerpt from the entire article demonstrates how they were able to fully customize the weight of the scoring forms in order to give greater importance to the following questions:

- Did the operator say their name?
- Did they use courtesies?
- Was the volume level to loud or to low?
- Could background noise be heard?
- Was a transfer announced?
- Did voice project a positive and helpful demeanor?
- Was the call process correctly?
- Was patient room and name verified?
- Did we offer the phone number when a line was busy?
- Was the call documented correctly?

SHHS assigned 2 points per positive response, minus 5 points for not processing the call correctly and 1 extra point for receiving a compliment or turning an unhappy customer into a happy customer.

Overall, SHHS set a goal to reach 98% as a group. The first month they achieved 91% as a group and by the third month they were able to reach the goal of 98%. They have stayed at the goal or above consistently since that time.

"Our customer service skills have improved considerably and staff members are much happier in their jobs because everyone is accountable for excellent customer service," offered Jane Adams, Call Center Operations Manager.

Click here to read more about this healthcare organization's successful call center transformation.