Call Centers Embracing the Web At Record Pace.Business Editors RARITAN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 15, 2000 The Internet is rapidly becoming a key component of today's call center. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a comprehensive survey conducted by The PELORUS pe·lo·rus n. pl. pe·lo·rus·es A fixed compass card on which bearings relative to a ship's heading are taken. [Origin unknown.] Group, over 90% of managers polled indicated that the Internet will be incorporated within their call centers by the end of 2000. This is an increase of 15% from those citing Internet use at the end of 1999. The exclusive survey, entitled en·ti·tle tr.v. en·ti·tled, en·ti·tling, en·ti·tles 1. To give a name or title to. 2. To furnish with a right or claim to something: "The Millennium Call Center Survey" also suggests that the complexion complexion /com·plex·ion/ (kom-plek´shun) the color and appearance of the skin of the face. com·plex·ion n. The natural color, texture, and appearance of the skin, especially of the face. of Internet applications within call centers is changing. According to the survey, e-mail integration represented 79 percent of Internet applications cited by call center managers while call-me-back and Internet telephony Another term for IP telephony and VoIP. In the late 1990s, some people made a distinction between Internet Telephony and VoIP: Internet telephony referred to voice over the public Internet, while VoIP referred to voice over private IP networks. represented 14% and 6%, respectively. By the end of 2000, however, e-mail will represent only 55% of total Internet applications while call-me-back and Internet telephony applications will increase to 25 % and 19%, respectively. Alan Fross, President of The PELORUS Group, believes that these and other findings of the survey suggest a more sophisticated and dynamic call center environment. "Call center managers are very aware of the growing influence of the Internet in the marketing and purchasing processes Purchasing Purchasing is the formal process of buying goods and services. The Purchasing Process can vary from one organization to another but there are some key elements that are common throughout The process usually starts with a 'Demand' or requirements , and the importance of providing a full suite of access points. This is especially true in certain markets, such as travel, retailing and manufacturing which scored the highest percentages of Internet activity." According to the survey, 95.8% of managers from the travel/lodging/media industries indicated Internet call center applications. Wholesaling/retailing followed with 95.5% of managers indicating Internet applications. Finance/banking/insurance/real estate lagged behind with only 80.3%. The objective of the survey was to gain insight into the activities of leading edge call centers, both large and small. Over 600 call center managers participated, representing in excess of 1,000 call centers. The participants were questioned regarding their system and agent growth, applications, features, CTI (Computer Telephone Integration) Combining data with voice systems in order to enhance telephone services. For example, automatic number identification (ANI) allows a caller's records to be retrieved from the database while the call is routed to the appropriate party. usage, transmission patterns and vendor satisfaction. All data is segmented by region, industry, size and vendor. "The PELORUS Group believes that this survey is one of a kind, one that no company in the call center space can be without," notes Fross. |
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