Customer Inter@ction Solutions[R] magazine's fifth-annual CRM Excellence Awards: Part I.For the fifth consecutive year, the editors of Customer Inter@ction Solutions[R] dared readers to prove that their companies have what it takes to win the coveted cov·et v. cov·et·ed, cov·et·ing, cov·ets v.tr. 1. To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's). See Synonyms at envy. 2. To wish for longingly. See Synonyms at desire. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) An integrated information system that is used to plan, schedule and control the presales and postsales activities in an organization. Excellence Award. Below is Part One of the winners ... the companies that offer the best and the brightest customer relationship management products and services, all to the benefit of their clients. Winners were chosen on hard data ... quantifiable results that convinced us, without a doubt, that their clients were infinitely better off with these companies' products and services than without. Congratulations to the winners! ACCPAC ACCPAC Accounts Package ACCPAC Accounting Package International, Inc. www.accpac.com Product: ACCPAC CRM version 5.6 The client reports, "We've been using the software like crazy and loving it! We're getting an immediate return on investment and realizing big productivity gains, and we continue to tweak To make minor adjustments in an electronic system or in a software program in order to improve performance. See calibrate. 1. tweak - To change slightly, usually in reference to a value. Also used synonymously with twiddle. the product as needed as needed prn. See prn order. . Thanks to ACCPAC CRM, we have left the days of the glorified glo·ri·fy tr.v. glo·ri·fied, glo·ri·fy·ing, glo·ri·fies 1. To give glory, honor, or high praise to; exalt. 2. Rolodex behind us and can move forward managing our sales and marketing campaigns with confidence." AltiGen Communications, Inc. www.altigen.com Product: AltiGen's AltiServ IP Phone System And Integration With Microsoft CRM The client reports, "We are extremely happy with the integration capabilities of the AltiGen solution. The integration with Microsoft CRM is a standard feature of the AltiGen contact center. The automatic screen pops of customer records when they call into our new system is saving time and improving each interaction my customers have with my business. It has improved the overall effectiveness of each member in my service groups. They are doing more work in less time and that adds to my bottom line every month." Aplicor, Inc. www.aplicor.com Product: Aplicor CRM Client experienced, among other benefits, an increase in "closable" pipeline volume of 60 percent after three months of use, and an increase of 23 percent in the number of partnerships with a slightly greater increase in corresponding partnership revenues. The client states, "The system was indeed the missing link that would tie our new partner products together with our process and our team members. Without Aplicor CRM, we could not have made our vision into a reality." Artisoft, Inc. www.artisoft.com Product: TeleVantage With TeleVantage, the client now saves almost $30,000 a year in costs previously associated with service contracts, legacy hardware maintenance and phone lines. Employee productivity has improved by almost 20 percent with the call handling and routing features of TeleVantage. The client states, "New employees used to take a week to get acclimated to the phone system. But with TeleVantage, new employees are trained in 15 minutes and comfortable in an hour and a half." Aspect Communications www.aspect.com Product: Aspect Call Center/Aspect Enterprise Contact Server/Aspect Customer Self-Service/Aspect Adapter for eGain The client, a utility company, reports, "When there's an outage out·age n. 1. A quantity or portion of something lacking after delivery or storage. 2. A temporary suspension of operation, especially of electric power. and service goes out for 5,000 customers, 3,000 of them will try to call us within 30 minutes. We weren't able to handle that kind of volume. Now we can handle twice the number of calls with the same number of agents, and by adding more tie lines between the IVR (Interactive Voice Response) An automated telephone information system that speaks to the caller with a combination of fixed voice menus and data extracted from databases in real time. and the ACD (Automatic Call Distributor) A computerized phone system that responds to the caller with a voice menu and connects the call to the appropriate agent. It can also distribute calls equally to agents. , we could handle triple the number." Autonomy Corporation Autonomy Corporation plc (LSE: AU.) is an enterprise software company based in Cambridge, United Kingdom and San Francisco, USA. It develops a variety of enterprise search and knowledge management applications using adaptive pattern recognition techniques centered on Bayesian plc www.autonomy.com Product: Audentify Autonomy's Audentify provides an innovative way for the client to better serve its customers, vastly improving its customer call centers, which are often the first line of defense in solving customer problems. The client is able to better utilize employee time with Audentify's solution, as it automates processes in its call centers and assists the agents' 30 supervisors in quickly searching the call database for calls used in training. Avaya, Inc. www.avaya.com Product: Avaya IP Office The client, a full-service travel agency, reports, "Because a connection to the Internet is all you need [to access the IP Office system], you could be in China, and if you can get a broadband connection See broadband and wireless broadband. to the Internet with a static IP address, I can put you on my IP Office system. Now I can schedule an agent in Tennessee as part of my corporate call center. She's part of the call queue and logs in and out just like everybody else. I can track and get a report on her productivity. I can see when she's on the phone, just as though she's in the same building as I am." Best Software www.bestsofware.com/www.saleslogix.com Product: SalesLogix Before implementing SalesLogix, the client, a large health insurer, entered everything into the database manually, therefore the time devoted to preparing quotes was staggering. Now, the company has all this information in real-time. The efficiency gain was immediate. Previously, it took five to ten minutes to generate a quote, now with SalesLogix integrated with the client's membership enrollment system and rating engine, it takes half the time. Companywide, SalesLogix generates 1,000 quotes for the client on an average day. Call Compliance, Inc. www.callcompliance.com Product: TeleBlock Do-Not-Call Blocking System TeleBlock empowered the client to dictate outbound compliance at both its call centers by screening all calls against the same Web-based, customer-specific centrally administered, secure DNC DNC Democratic National Committee DNC Democratic National Convention DNC Do Not Call DNC Delaware North Companies DNC Domain Name Commissioner DNC Direct Numerical Control DNC Do Not Change DNC Does Not Compute DNC Digital Nautical Chart database managed by them on their own behalf. 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. the client, "Implementation of a cutting-edge technology is the only way to survive the DNC crisis and not adversely affect calling performance. It is unfortunate, but telemarketing telemarketing, the practice of selling goods or services to customers by means of the telephone or of surveying consumer preferences in telephone conversations. companies that do not recognize the usefulness of a system like TeleBlock, and continue to conduct business as usual, will probably not survive the hyper-regulation." CCC CCC A very speculative grade assigned to a debt obligation by a rating agency. Such a rating indicates default or considerable doubt that interest will be paid or principal repaid. Also called Caa. Interactive Corp. www.cccinteractive.com Service: Customer Acquisition Campaign CCC Interactive states that the client, a supplier of heating oil, selected CCC's service because of their ability to provided the needed focus, flexibility and experience. CCC's technology provided them with a higher level of efficiency, more accurate forecasting tools and immediate cost savings. By using CCC's services, the client's customers experienced an average handle time that was eight seconds less than the client's internal call centers, and sales conversions that exceeded expectations at greater than 37 percent. Center Partners, Inc. www.centerpartners.com Product: CP-WNP Implementation of CP-WNP, a proprietary, fully customized CRM system that integrates process rules against error messages DOS and Windows error messages are listed individually in this database by the message that is displayed when they occur. See also DOS error messages and Application Error.  , resulted in
a multitude of benefits for clients, including: reducing the port-in
transaction backlog from 43 percent to less than 2.5 percent; reducing
the total fallout fallout, minute particles of radioactive material produced by nuclear explosions (see atomic bomb; hydrogen bomb; Chernobyl) or by discharge from nuclear-power or atomic installations and scattered throughout the earth's atmosphere by winds and convection currents. correction time from days to less than four hours;
achieving 100 percent port message capture rates; and implementing
process improvements and automation.
ClientLogic www.clientlogic.com Service: ClientLogic's outsourced customer service Fraud is expensive, particularly for large companies that are targeted frequently. On several days during the first quarter of 2004, the dollar amount of fraud attempts successfully thwarted thwart tr.v. thwart·ed, thwart·ing, thwarts 1. To prevent the occurrence, realization, or attainment of: They thwarted her plans. 2. by ClientLogic topped $30,000, and total savings thus far for the client, a large technology company, have exceeded $1 million. At times, nearly 20 percent of all the company's incoming orders were fraud attempts. The client company also depends on ClientLogic to stop identity theft and stolen credit cards from disrupting their customers' lives and trust in their brand. Concerto Software www.concerto.com Product: EnsemblePro With EnsemblePro, the client has seen tangible results, such as reducing the price per minute of each call. And these savings trickle down Trickle down An economic theory that the support of businesses that allows them to flourish will eventually benefit middle- and lower-income people, in the form of increased economic activity and reduced unemployment. to [end customers], allowing the client to offer more competitive pricing and giving the company greater leverage to win new business. Having an expanded inbound solution and multiple contact channels at its disposal has also aided the client's new business efforts, enabling them to offer compelling new tools to prospective clients and generate new revenue opportunities. Cross Country Automotive Services www.crossscountry-auto.com Service: Volvo On Call Plus--Telematics Services One year following launch, thousands of Volvo drivers have activated their On Call Plus system, offering Volvo a way of interacting with customers long after the purchase of their vehicles. This state-of-the-art system dedicated to the safety and security of Volvo drivers offers more positive, value-added experiences, increasing customer satisfaction and the likelihood of retention. EADS EADS European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. EADS Expeditionary Air Defense System (USMC) EADS Extended Air Defense Systems EADS Environmental Assessment Data System EADS Echelons Above Division Study Telecom www.eadstelecom-na.com Product: Centergy M7480 plus PointSpan platform The increase in the number of calls processed is a clear illustration of the positive response by customers to this new solution. The number of calls handled has jumped from 40 to 500 per day with only 12 information managers handling the call volume, and more than 40 e-mails a day are now answered in a detailed fashion with all of the necessary information for the complex process of patent filing and registration of trademarks. etalk Corporation www.etalk.com Product: etalk Qfiniti, etalk Recorder and etalk Survey By choosing etalk's Performance Impact solutions, the client, an energy company, was able to boost quality levels across multiple departments, both in and outside the contact center. Not only was the company able to drive higher quality and customer satisfaction levels within its contact center, but it was also able to increase the quality levels within its field operations and billing department, and achieve cost savings across the board. FrontRange Solutions This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. www.frontrange.com Product: HEAT The client states, "HEAT provided us with a rich and flexible set at a price that made sense. When compared to the CRM system we had in place, it provided us the flexibility to customize workflow to our specific business needs rather than costly re-engineering our business to meet the needs of the CRM system." Hispanic Teleservices Corporation Hispanic Teleservices Corporation (HTC) is an eight year old company based in Houston, Texas with branches in Monterrey, Nuevo León and Guadalajara,Jalisco Mexico. It is the leading provider of outsourced customer support for companies serving the Hispanic market. www.htc.to Service: Spanish-language teleservices Within six months of HTC's relationship with the client, a large ISP (1) See in-system programmable. (2) (Internet Service Provider) An organization that provides access to the Internet. Connection to the user is provided via dial-up, ISDN, cable, DSL and T1/T3 lines. , the FTE FTE Full-Time Equivalent FTE Full-Time Employee FTE Full-Time Equivalency FTE Full Time Employment FTE Foundation for Teaching Economics FTE Full Time Enrollment FTE For the Enterprise (SQL) FTE Fund for Theological Education count quadrupled. HTC has gone from serving two to four queues for the client. HTC was awarded additional lines of business in congruence con·gru·ence n. 1. a. Agreement, harmony, conformity, or correspondence. b. An instance of this: "What an extraordinary congruence of genius and era" with the company's strategy to capitalize on Cap´i`tal`ize on` v. t. 1. To turn (an opportunity) to one's advantage; to take advantage of (a situation); to profit from; as, to capitalize on an opponent's mistakes s>. having one center capture all the U.S. Hispanic queues to optimize information gathering. HTC has consistently ranked at the top for metrics such as first call resolution, averaging approximately nine percent above goal in the last six months. IEX IEX Ion Exchange (chromatography) IEX Inter-Exchange Carrier Corporation www.iex.com Product: TotalView Workforce Management Workforce Management (WFM) encompasses all the responsibilities for maintaining a productive and happy workforce. Sometimes referred to as HRMS systems, or even the larger ERP systems (Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP). There are many software vendors within this space. The client, a direct seller of consumer items, reports, "It's amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. to see the efficiency and cost savings that TotalView has brought to our contact center. Our customer satisfaction continues to improve because we can accurately predict our peak contact volumes and staff accordingly so our customers are serviced quickly." In one year, the client has reached its goal of increased efficiency and has experienced remarkable cost savings and significant operational improvement. InfoCision Management Corp. www.infocision.com Service: Q3 Quality Assurance Program The client, a large issuer of credit cards, contracted InfoCision to discover why its customer retention rate was so low. InfoCision's quality assurance program identified a staggering non-compliance rate of 41 percent after a month of seed calling. The issuer would review InfoCision's findings daily using its online system, which was available any time of the day. In the event a call was marked non-compliant, an independent verifications group reviewed a digital recording of the conversation to verify the observations. Upon receiving the results, the issuer's vendor management team addressed compliance issues with each of its vendors. As a result of the information provided by InfoCision's seed call program, the issuer was able to decrease non-compliance by nearly 90 percent, reducing it to five percent during the course of the year. KANA www.kana.com Product: KANA IQ By deploying KANA IQ, the client, a leader in the document industry, has been able to effectively deliver information on its ever-changing product lines directly to customers and via the Web and its Welcome Centers. As the company launches new products, it is able to build out its knowledge base with up-to-date product information in the required languages necessary to support its global customer base. KnowledgeBase Solutions www.knowledgebase.net Product: KnowledgeBase.net Since launching its Answer Engine, a central repository of information for agents and customers which was created using KnowledgeBase.net, the client, a Web hosting Making a Web site available on the Internet. Many ISPs host a few personal Web pages for an individual at no additional cost above the monthly service fee, but the address is subordinate to the ISP; for example, www.friendlyisp.com/pat_smith. provider, has dramatically improved efficiencies and decreased the operational costs of its customer support organization. Overall, there has been an approximate 30 percent reduction in inbound calls. Linktivity www.linktivity.com Product: WebInteractive The client, an information management solution provider, states, "After the first three days in service, the cost of the WebInteractive implementation was offset by the revenue generated from the associated service level upgrades." By the end of the second week, the implementation of WebInteractive had generated more than $2,500 in additional revenue from service level upgrades. The client also reported, "An additional 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). factor that has not been calculated to date is the 50 to 70 percent reduction in call time on a per-call basis, which has dramatically increased our level of service." Message Time Technology www.messagetime.com Product: Business Center 4.1 When the client began searching for a solution, they priced out Priced out The market has already incorporated information, such as a low dividend, into the price of a stock. what it would cost to install a file server, fax server, database server, mail server and interactive phone system. They were not surprised to hear a quote of over $75,000. This did not include a full-time IT manager to set up and maintain the system. With Message Time, they set up the whole office for $29.95 per user, and there was no software or hardware to maintain. Oncontact Software www.oncontact.com Product: Client Management Software (CMS (1) See content management system and color management system. (2) (Conversational Monitor System) Software that provides interactive communications for IBM's VM operating system. ) The client, a business-to-business distributor to the jewelry jewelry, personal adornments worn for ornament or utility, to show rank or wealth, or to follow superstitious custom or fashion. The most universal forms of jewelry are the necklace, bracelet, ring, pin, and earring. industry, uses CMS to follow up on sales calls, track customer activity, share information in real-time, monitor marketing programs and gauge customer needs. Team members no longer have to struggle to remember every business process, because CMS provides automated templates for them to follow. RightNow Technologies RightNow Technologies NASDAQ: RNOW is a U.S. software company that develops customer relationship management (CRM) software for small and mid-market businesses. It is incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Bozeman, Montana. www.rightnow.com Product: RightNow Service and RightNow Locator LOCATOR, civil law. He who leases or lets a thing to hire to another. His duties are, 1st. To deliver to the hirer the thing hired, that he may use it. 2d. To guaranty to the hirer the free enjoyment of it. 3d. As a result of the online knowledge base, the client's site visitors began answering up to 100,000 questions every month. RightNow Service and RightNow Locator, combined, answer 95 percent of the site visitors' questions. By providing these answers on the Web site, the client reduced call center volume by 30 percent and e-mail volume by 50 percent. Because of this reduction, agents are able to handle incoming calls more quickly, and the company's call abandonment rate has dropped more than 70 percent. Saratoga Systems Inc. www.saratogasystems.com Product: iAvenue 6.2 The client, a large auto insurance company, calculates that its nightly update cycle has been reduced by more than 80 percent, lowering processing time on a monthly basis. The client reports, "That is a significant improvement. In just a few months, what we have saved in database usage has pretty much paid for the costs of the upgrade. I couldn't ask for a better return on investment." StarTek, Inc. www.startek.com Product: Complex Process Management For more than five years, StarTek has managed orders for this highly successful telecommunications company See telecom company. , and the results of the strategic partnership have been incredibly beneficial for both companies. In the first 18 months alone, operating costs operating costs npl → gastos mpl operacionales were reduced by 35 percent. In addition, consolidation into two facilities garnered a 10 percent productivity gain. Support Soft www.supportsoft.com Product: Real-Time Service Management (RTSM RTSM Read the Stupid Manual RTSM Regional Training Site Maintenance (US Army) RTSM Real Time System Manager ) Immediately after deploying Support Soft SmartAccess software across its entire customer base in less than 70 days, the client, a cable broadband service provider An ISP, telephone company, cable company or other carrier that offers high-speed communications to homes and businesses, typically for Internet access. Cable modems, DSL and T1 lines are the common technologies. See broadband, cable modem, DSL and T1. , saw the benefits. The solution gave the client the ability to dramatically change the installation environment and remove the inefficiencies from the prior CD-based installation method. The client reports, "In the short time that we've been able to measure results, we're seeing a significant change in the way our installation consistency is occurring." Telephony@Work www.telephonyatwork.com Product: CallCenter@nywhere The client, a prominent outsourced help desk and support organization, has seen, after its deployment of CallCenter@nywhere, a significant increase in attracting new customers, a significant reduction in the number of calls to resolution ratio, reduced call resolution times, reduced customer follow-up activities and improved overall agent productivity. The client states, "Telephony@Work has definitely made a difference in the services and SLAs we can offer our customers. It has allowed us to create stronger, more profitable relationships with our existing customers and market our services to new entities we would not have been able to service." UniPress Software www.unipress.com Product: FootPrints for eService The client, a world-class customer service organization with a range of clients in the travel and hospitality industries, replaced its homegrown home·grown adj. 1. Raised or grown at home. 2. Originating in or characteristic of a locality: "Rock is homegrown music in the United States, evolved from blues and country and Tin Pan Alley" CRM solution with the hosted version of FootPrints for eService. The client states, "FootPrints for eService helped us exceed client expectations and minimized the time to launch a customized call center operation." In addition to meeting its own clients' reporting requirements, the company is able to measure its own performance and ensure the company meets internal business objectives. Vertical Solutions, Inc. www.vertsol.com Product: PowerHelp Enterprise The client, a leader in the build out of corporate Intranets, Extranets and Internet connections, has reported, "With the implementation of VSI's PowerHelp Enterprise software, sales reps have found the quote-to-sale process greatly improved. The package has streamlined their efforts and has given them better insight into their personal sales activity. VSI VSI Vinyl Siding Institute VSI Voltage Source Inverter VSI Virtual Switch Interface VSI Vertical Speed Indicator VSI Voluntary Separation Incentive VSI Virtual Socket Interface VSI Vision Systems International VSI Vertical Shaft Impactor also has given management a real-time view of all sales opportunities and allows better collaboration of resources to go close more business." VoiceLog, LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control www.voicelog.com/www.virtuallogger.net Product: VirtualLogger "It has not been so easy for the representatives that the client had decided to record all their calls--not just the "up sell" ones. VirtualLogger's unique pricing allowed them to record as little or as much as they wanted without any increased cost. The unexpected benefit has been on the quality assurance side. The client found there was a huge benefit to their bottom line to record the customer service calls as well. They estimate they are getting 15 percent more productivity out of their representatives now that they've instituted a comprehensive monitoring, logging, QA and feedback process." Witness Systems www.witness.com Product: eQuality Balance/eQuality Evaluation/Witness Systems Performance Optimization Workshop Since the eQuality implementation, the client, the automotive financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. arm of a major automobile manufacturer, has experienced significant return on investment. Specific results include helping the company realize cost avoidance Cost avoidance is a management accounting term referring to an expense one has avoided incurring. It is commonly used in the field of energy management to describe the energy costs you avoided due to energy management initiatives. of close to $1 million if it was to hire and train new agents, instead of retaining current staff; raising productivity among newer agents by 40 percent and among experienced agents by 6 percent; reducing average handle times by 33 percent among new agents and 25 percent among experienced agents; increasing overall quality scores by 32 percent; and improving agent retention rates. For information and subscriptions, visit www.TMCnet.com or call 203-852-6800. EDITOR'S NOTE Editor's Note (foaled in 1993 in Kentucky) is an American thoroughbred Stallion racehorse. He was sired by 1992 U.S. Champion 2 YO Colt Forty Niner, who in turn was a son of Champion sire Mr. Prospector and out of the mare, Beware Of The Cat. Trained by D. : Because of the very large volume of award applications we received, the CRM Excellence Awards will be presented in two parts, to be continued This article is about the Elton John box set. For the plot device commonly featuring the phrase "To be continued", see Cliffhanger. To Be Continued next month in the June 2004 issue of Customer Inter@ction Solutions[R]. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion