Automated Agent Delivers Strong ROI for Waterpik Technologies, Inc.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK Research Triangle Park, research, business, medical, and educational complex situated in central North Carolina. It has an area of 6,900 acres (2,795 hectares) and is 8 × 2 mi (13 × 3 km) in size. Named for the triangle formed by Duke Univ. , N.C. & FORT COLLINS, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 16, 2003-- RealDialog Agent Technology Delivers Multiple Benefits to Waterpik and Their Customers by Lowering Cost of Support While Improving Customer Satisfaction LiveWire Logic, Inc. and Water Pik Technologies, Inc. today announced results of Waterpik's use of automated self-service agent software, called RealDialog(TM). Waterpik placed an automated service agent on their Personal HealthCare website and has experienced significant savings for their support group, while improving customer satisfaction. The objective of Waterpik's RealDialog Agent, Ann, is to consistently answer common product information and product usage questions for Waterpik customers, thereby reducing the volume of emails and support phone calls into the call center. RealDialog provides sales and support information in an easy-to-use, automated format, thereby costing much less than other support channels. LiveWire and Waterpik are jointly hosting a webcast on Thursday, September 18, 2003 at 11:00 EST EST electroshock therapy. EST abbr. electroshock therapy - register for the FREE webcast, "Next-Generation of Customer Self Service" at http://www.realdialog.com/webcast.jsp. Abundant Benefits During the first 3 months of use, Ann drastically reduced the email volume to Waterpik's support center, by 55%, and Waterpik was able to reallocate Verb 1. reallocate - allocate, distribute, or apportion anew; "Congressional seats are reapportioned on the basis of census data" reapportion allocate, apportion - distribute according to a plan or set apart for a special purpose; "I am allocating a loaf of resources for additional benefits. From this reduction and the resource savings they encounter, Waterpik expects a 10-fold Return-on-Investment (ROI (Return On Investment) The monetary benefits derived from having spent money on developing or revising a system. In the IT world, there are more ways to compute ROI than Carter has liver pills (and for those of you who never heard of that expression, it means a lot). ) in the first year of use. Waterpik received numerous benefits from Ann, their automated agent, including: -- Decreased support email and call volume. By providing the answers in a natural language dialog format, support emails and calls to the Waterpik Call Center were significantly reduced. -- Increased Customer Satisfaction. By quickly answering questions, customer satisfaction levels and repeat service increased through the cost-efficient Agent. -- Provided consistent responses to questions. RealDialog responds consistently, ensuring that all customers get the same information about products or services. -- Improved website navigation Website navigation is the means to facilitate movement from one Web page to another Web page. The navigation interface is one of the most important aspects of any website. Correctly designed, it lets users find the information they need, easily and quickly. . The RealDialog Agent immediately provides the appropriate web page or supporting document. -- Performed escalation es·ca·late v. es·ca·lat·ed, es·ca·lat·ing, es·ca·lates v.tr. To increase, enlarge, or intensify: escalated the hostilities in the Persian Gulf. v.intr. handling. The RealDialog Agent, will automatically escalate es·ca·late v. es·ca·lat·ed, es·ca·lat·ing, es·ca·lates v.tr. To increase, enlarge, or intensify: escalated the hostilities in the Persian Gulf. v.intr. customers to the proper channel based on Waterpik's business rules. -- Gathered customer knowledge. RealDialog dynamically acquires valuable information about Waterpik's customers and potential customers. "Ann has exceeded our expectations more than we ever expected, since she has gone live on our new website. We have seen a 55% decrease in our email volume," stated Gwen Krause, Customer Service supervisor for Waterpik. "We are ecstatic!! What a change it has made." Expanding Ann's Visibility and Use Waterpik originally deployed Ann on the Oral Health section of their site, quickly expanding the visibility and knowledge for their customers. Ann is highlighted and accessible throughout the Personal HealthCare site currently, delivering more value to both Waterpik and their customers. "We see the usage increasing while our costs decrease. The agent is easy to update and maintain--so much so, we are building the conversation base and maintaining it completely internally," explained Julie Amos, Customer Service manager for Waterpik. Amos continued, "With the savings we have seen, we are experiencing high demands for further expansion of this technology throughout Waterpik. I've not seen any technology have this level of impact on our business previously." About LiveWire Logic RealDialog is the key product and technology created by LiveWire Logic, a privately held company privately held company A firm whose shares are held within a relatively small circle of owners and are not traded publicly. located in Research Triangle Park Area of North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. . Dr. James Lester, a renowned research scientist in computational linguistics computational linguistics (CL) Use of digital computers in linguistics research. The simplest examples are the use of computers to scan text and produce such aids as word lists, frequency counts, and concordances. , and key members of his research team, founded the company in 2000. The founding team specializes in intelligent virtual agents and computational linguistics, and is recognized as leaders in advanced artificial intelligence research. More information is available at www.realdialog.com. About Water Pik Technologies, Inc. Water Pik Technologies, Inc. is a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative personal health care products, pool products and heating systems sold under the Water Pik(R), Laars(R) and Jandy(R) brand names. The Company operates in two business segments. The Waterpik Technologies Personal Healthcare Products division, located in Fort Collins, Colorado The City of Fort Collins, a home rule municipality situated on the Cache la Poudre River along the Colorado Front Range, is the county seat and most populous city in Larimer County, Colorado. , is a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of personal health care products and professional dental products. The Pool Products and Heating Systems division, located in Moorpark, California Moorpark is a city of 32,978 people, in Southern California. It was founded in 1887 by Robert Poindexter, presumably after the moorpark apricots that grew in the area. The city has experienced a great amount of growth since the late 1970s, but it still has a "Small-Town feel" to , is a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of swimming pool and spa equipment, controls and accessories as well as water heating Water heating is a thermodynamic process using an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water are for cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating. In industry both hot water and water heated to steam have many uses. products for commercial, residential and industrial applications The Waterpik Technologies Personal Healthcare Products division is located in Fort Collins, Colorado, and is a subsidiary of Water Pik Technologies, Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : PIK). For more information, visit the Water Pik Technologies, Inc. website at www.waterpik.com. RealDialog and RealDialog Agent are trademarks of LiveWire Logic, Inc. All other brands and marks are the property of their respective owners. |
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