The Quality Paradigm Mindshift: QA's Expanding Role in the Contact Center

Saturday, July 17, 2010 by Mohan Nair
Call Center Quality Assurance Paradigm Shift to Continuous Quality ImprovementThe days of monitoring contact center agents randomly to find out what they have been doing wrong on calls is history. In these days of enlightened leadership and sophisticated intelligent routing technology, call quality monitoring has also evolved from the days of internal surveillance to performance improvement and skill development.
 
The good news today is that quality monitoring is all about creating a continuous quality improvement mindset which leads to much higher levels of organizational performance and improved customer experience. This phenomenon is catching on and is getting noticed by other parts of the organization. I walked into a contact center last month and noticed that they were preparing for a debriefing with their CEO on the role of the Quality teams in the contact center. Isn't that exciting? They were doing quick huddles and a town hall to introduce the new elements of the call quality evaluation forms that will impact the overall customer experience. The CEO also participated by taking the 'Quiz on Call Quality.' I was blown away by this simple and effective concept displayed by the leadership of this organization.
 
In another leading organization, the contact center director found a way to use their Quality Assurance program to position a contact center as a strategic asset within this organization and bring much-needed clarity, direction and a sense of urgency into solving customer and business issues. She overcame skepticism and passivity she saw from executives in response to traditional contact center reports with much stronger type of evidence. She schedules a monthly "Voice of the Customer" meeting with executives within and outside of the contact center to listen to customer calls. Every month, she identifies a different critical topic of interest (i.e. billing, canceled accounts, repeat calls, collections, new product sales, etc.) and then chooses five targeted customer calls to listen to related to that area of interest. The results have been outstanding. Each month, more and more executives attend the meeting - they love listening to eye-opening customer call recordings and have taken a greater interest in the contact center - increasingly viewing it as a profit center versus a cost center.

It is no wonder, that these two organizations have continued to keep their customers and staff extremely happy.
 
Depending on the environment (Inbound, Outbound, Sales or Tech Support) and the type of skill the agent has been trained on, it is critical to ensure that agents have the proper product training early on in their role and how quality monitoring can enable them as an aid to shorten their learning curve. Secondly, the Contact Center Quality Monitoring program should be introduced appropriately and with significance with the expectations of their customers. Ultimately, it is the perception of the customer that counts. Also, many contact center managers fail to discuss the key metrics or drivers in a simple and meaningful scorecard for review on a regular basis. Metrics and scores should be reviewed regularly based on the analytics compiled and in conjunction with all the other relevant indicators such as abandonment rates, service levels and call volumes. For example, on a particular day of the week, the contact center was able to manage to keep their metrics within acceptable limits and fell below the targets but were able to maintain the integrity of the call monitoring criteria which in turn lends credibility and realism to the QA program.
 
Getting the agents to focus on speeding up while there are calls bunching up can cause unnecessary distress to the new agent and mistakes could occur. Furthermore, a customer can sense this from the agent which in turn could turn an ordinary routine call to a lengthy one and the vicious cycle never ends. Like so many other measures, these cannot be interpreted in isolation and requires further investigation. Perhaps it would be advisable to have a conversation with the Workforce Management team to understand staffing levels and how coaching evaluations are scheduled in an agent's schedule. Perhaps, the issue is related to a lack of resources, or worse, there could be no coaching scheduled.
 
Whichever path is chosen, it is critical to stay on the path to ensure that Quality is at the forefront of all the stakeholders within the organization especially your front-line agents. When some organizations in the post recession have begun to lose their way towards Quality and Continuous Improvement, some organizations like the one above continue to lead the way. This phenomenon will make the difference in the coming years. 

Coaching Insights - How to Retain Your Best Agents and Customers

Saturday, July 17, 2010 by Mohan Nair

Contact Center CoachingEarly this year, I went behind enemy lines. Actually, I was on vacation with a client in Manila and took up her invitation to visit their manager Betty who manages several help desk centers for large global organizations. I spent a few hours inside the contact center and Betty noticed that I wanted to listen to calls the moment I walked into this high tech facility. I sat next to Dave who spoke very good English and listened in on a few calls as part of my research. He seemed eager to speak with me on what he does on inbound and outbound calls. It was refreshing to see data and information providing analytics with real-time performance information displayed on monitors above the clocks with the times of all the locations that they serve. Surprisingly what was missing were the "coaching moments" which one would assume happens frequently in the course of a day in the role of a Supervisor at a contact center. Unfortunately, that did not happen much to my surprise as I wanted to be able to observe and give feedback to the Supervisor. In the vast real-estate that I covered there, less than 10% were allocated for specific coaching and training of the agent. Did someone miss the memo here during the design stage? Was this intentional or was there lack of rooms for coaching and ad-hoc meeting rooms?

For most people, a job in a contact center is a foot in the door, a starting position in an extremely competitive market for talent. Some of the work can be repetitive and boring like the one I observed. Hence it is no surprise that attrition in some cases can be as high as 50% for agents in the contact center. It is probably the same for Supervisors however there is a correlation to this phenomenon. The churn rates and the lack of a coaching environment in which these young men and women work in could be root causes to these symptom. I know it can be relentless and unforgiving in the best of times. Aside from the compensation, most agents like Dave agree that they would like to spend more time honing their skills and move up in the organization but Supervisors have no time in their day to coach, develop and build trust with their people. They are so busy putting out fires and managing the low performers that the mid and high level performers are often ignored.

What is this relationship between a Supervisor and an Agent? It is not about buying pizzas or sharing personal stories after work (although that is important too). It is about building confidence and trust in these fragile relationships at the workplace. These elements starts the relationship, sustains it through coaching interactions and becomes the foundations of success in a contact center. It is a proven fact that teams that take coaching seriously have better results in attrition and career development of their agents. Employee and Customer surveys increase and most of all, customers stay loyal through the good and bad times, just like our agent Dave or Betty. I know I stuck around long enough with Heather (my first Supervisor, God Bless Her) in my early years because of her commitment to my personal and professional development while under her supervision. Coaching takes less effort once it is done effectively, with the right tools and the right supervisor. It is one of the key enablers in the knowledge economy where time is money and money is created by agents who are engaged, motivated and well coached. Enhancing their confidence by focusing on skill development in the contact center with meaningful metrics designed to build customer (and agent loyalty) should be a key priority especially in these tough times.
 


Contact Center Quality Monitoring, Coaching and Performance Optimization Tips

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 by Mohan Nair

Contact Center Quality Monitoring and Coaching TipsIn today’s challenging economic climate, analytics is changing the way companies do business and dramatically improving contact  center operations, managers want quick and  accurate insights into the effectiveness of their contact center operations in order to make prudent, timely decisions, but they don't have the time or resources to listen to and review  the vast amount of customer interactions  handled by the agents every day. 

In addition to this there is no shortage of performance metrics available from their PBX and ACD. These days there seems to be more sophisticated tools including multimedia recording, desktop analytics, instant chat, self service options in the IVR, cloud computing,  etc. Managers and supervisors today are able to choose from a myriad of options to manage performance but where do they start to do their quality evaluations in a systematic manner using complex algorithmic mathematical formulas combined with scientific methodologies and their own intuition? Therein lies their dilemma. So little time, so much to accomplish in the course of a day...

Quality monitoring systems offered today are not only to evaluate agents but also to evaluate a contact center reputation. Yes, reputation, might sound obvious but too often contact centers seem to miss this critical view point. A customer's perception of service captured in a call recording or video file says a lot about the culture of the organization. Call Center Reporting and Call Monitoring Systems are a means to an end in that one has to learn from the information and who else to translate these to actions and outcomes than the Supervisor. This has to be one of the most critical and unforgiving roles within the contact center next to the agent. Sort of being a start quarterback being called in to throw a touchdown on each attempt when the offensive team is on and the line backer when the defensive line is on.

The role of the supervisor and their agent has been so devalued over the years that it is not a surprise the attrition rates for these roles are in double digits. This is not a malaise or a disease or caused by the recent global financial crisis or globalization. We did this to ourselves. We have become part of a culture that communicates via a keyboard than by voice skills and the traditional skills that our parents taught us about being polite and respectful. We complicate the connection with our customers and prospects through voice prompts and boring scripts to keep the agents from really having a connection with the customers.

Enter VPI and it's Empower suite of products. In my humble opinion, this product is a god-send for managers, supervisors and front-line agents. VPI has truly defined the new expectation of a customer through a fresh set of lenses. It shatters the level of "mediocrity" to "excellence" in quality and performance from the customer's point of view. The power of the data can now be turned into knowledge which in turn can be turned into wisdom for coaching to excellence and that translates to actionable analytics and outcomes.

Quality Assurance is everyone's responsibility and by giving power to the people who  influence agent behaviors, then the Supervisor should be the quarterback that determines the outcome of the game. Like they said in the movie, if you build, the customers will come. VPI has started this movement by building on a framework that is supervisor-friendly for QA success. If we synthesize all these goals, the aim of QA and Call Monitoring becomes a matter of linking outcomes of calls to a customer's behavior not only the agent's behavior. As a result, contact centers can also learn what effects, if any their approach to training and coaching agents have on customers and ultimately the outcomes.

Being proactive and giving agents a larger stake in the pie by identifying areas of strength, best practices and also key training to be used for modeling success. In this way, a contact center can leverage the VPI Empower suite of products and establish guidelines and standards for handling calls instead of dictating what agents should or should not do. In the larger picture, the role of the supervisor and the agent has to be supported through all levels of the organization. As a result, success and a best practice model will show up sooner than later!

 


Complimentary White Paper: How Real-Time Performance Analytics is Enabling Contact Centers to Achieve their Goals Authored by Premier Analyst Firm Frost & Sullivan

Friday, April 2, 2010 by Lauren Hugues

How Performance Analytics is Enabling Contact Centers to Achieve their GoalsVPI invites you to download this insightful Frost & Sullivan authored white paper to learn how advanced call center performance management and contact center analytics solutions and integrated call center coaching and training tools can identify and address employee skill gaps and deliver the right information at the right time - enhancing performance and driving greater effectiveness in meeting customer needs.

 

Download your copy of the complimentary white paper authored by premier research analyst firm Frost & Sullivan, to learn how to:

 

Make Better Decisions with Real-Time Information

Provide Real Time Metrics to Motivate and Empower Employees to Improve

Achieve Consolidated Reporting from Multiple Systems and Locations

Drill Down Through Dashboards and Reports to Identify the Root Cause of Problems

Ensure Alignment of Operational Objectives with Corporate Goals

• Benefit from attractive ROI and Quantifiable Call Center Optimization Benefits

 

New Resource Guide: Call Center Optimization in a Challenging Economy Authored by Premier Analyst Firm Datamonitor

Friday, April 2, 2010 by Lauren Hugues

 

 

Learn How to Survive and Thrive in Today's Economy.

 

Current economic challenges are forcing organizations to rethink their approach to customer service and how they balance efficiency and effectiveness objectives. With regard to call center optimization, complexities have vastly increased with the growing number of communication channels and higher expectations from customers. The implementation of workforce optimization software technologies has become crucial in today's environment, ultimately resulting in increased profitability and improved strategic position in the marketplace.

 

Download your complimentary white paper authored by prestigious industry analyst and research firm Datamonitor, to learn:

 

Key challenges faced by contact centers today

How contact centers are responding and adapting to current economic challenges

How using workforce optimization software technologies can help you maintain the proper balance between efficiency and effectiveness

The capabilities and advantages of workforce optimization software technologies, including voice call recording, quality assurance call monitoring, workforce management, call center performance management, desktop contact center analytics and call center coaching solutions


Free Research Report: Call Center Quality Assurance and Liability TDM and VoIP Call Recording Product and Market Report Summary, Authored by and Featuring Research from DMG Consulting

Friday, April 2, 2010 by Lauren Hugues
 Quality Management, Liability Recording & Workforce Optimization Product Report

Want to Learn More about the Call Center Recording Software, Quality Assurance Call Monitoring and Call Center Workforce Optimization Software Market, Key Trends and Products?

 

VPI is pleased to be able to offer you this exclusive opportunity to get your copy of the executive summary of DMG Consulting's comprehensive annual Call Center Quality Assurance/Telephone Call Recording Product and Market Report. Offering 35 pages packed with valuable information, this guide is essential to navigating in the complex market of contact center workforce optimization software technologies.

 

Use the promo code LINKEDIN to download your complimentary report summary authored by renowned industry analyst and research firm DMG Consulting, to learn:

 

Which call center optimization technologies help call center managers achieve contact center optimization 

Key technology trends that are altering the direction of contact centers

How to take your call logging software program to the next level and increase productivity while enhancing the customer experience and agent satisfaction

The direction workforce optimization software technologies are heading and how to best leverage them, including Telephone Voice Recording, Call Center Quality Assurance, Call Center Performance Management, eLearning, Call Center Coaching, Surveying, Contact Center Analytics and Workforce Management (WFM)

Comparison of workforce optimization software suites vs. stand-alone solutions

How industry regulations are impacting voice call recording 

The new strategic role of contact center managers

Return on investment (ROI) analysis and workforce optimization software 

What to expect in the future and more!


Complimentary White Paper: Solving Critical Call Center Optimization Challenges with Desktop Screen Analytics

Friday, April 2, 2010 by Lauren Hugues

 

Solve Your Critical Call Center Optimization Challenges with Desktop Contact Center AnalyticsLearn How Desktop Screen Analytics Can Improve Your Contact Center Operations and Customer Satisfaction Faster and More Affordably Than You Ever Thought Possible.

 

As the economy starts to recover, contact centers are being asked to continue to reduce their operating expenses while further optimizing the customer experience - without making major resource investments. Desktop screen contact center analytics is a new, practical, easy-to-implement solution to this challenge. Enterprise and contact center managers who want to rapidly and cost effectively identify insights about business processes, call center quality assurance, customer needs and agent performance issues should seriously consider desktop screen contact center analytics.
 

This white paper offers valuable insights and advice that can help your organization survive and thrive in the year ahead.

 

Download your complimentary white paper at http://www.VPI-corp.com/Screen-Analytics authored by prestigious industry analyst and research firm DMG Consulting, to learn how:

 

• Desktop screen analytics can rapidly identify broken business processes, customer issues, and call center coaching and training needs by targeted quality assurance call monitoring of your call recordings, automatically categorized by customer names, IDs, sales values and more.

• Screen analytics can change your contact center from reactive to proactive with automated notifications based on agent screen activity - identify "at-risk" customers while there is still an opportunity to retain them.

• Near-real time insights and views into your most important customer interactions will reveal the path to improved First Contact Resolution (FCR), decreased service costs, increased revenue, and reduced risk.

• Screen analytics can greatly enhance the accuracy of speech analytics applications by providing contextual information.

Call Recording Software for Unified Quality and Performance Optimization

Thursday, April 1, 2010 by Katerina Vetrovec

Traditional contact center quality monitoring involves random capture of call recordings – either based on predetermined selection criteria or schedules.   We agree that it is impossible for human beings to inspect every single call; but there are two dynamics we have to consider – separating the capture method from the call selection method.  

Latest-generation call recording software allows for recording all calls first, and then a powerful rules engine is used to decide which calls to keep or inspect.   It may sound like a small nuance, but actually this type of call center recording software design approach opens the solution to become far more effective to inspect call center effectiveness.   Rather than make selections of calls for call center quality assurance based on when somebody is scheduled to be in their seat, or assuming that we are taking an X% sample of total call volume when we are not yet aware of how many calls the agent takes, or hoping that we get a sample of calls that are prime examples of effectiveness in handling high value transactions – we suggest a different approach – an approach we term precision quality monitoring.    It involves a call recoridng software designed for the capture of all calls, then determination of what to inspect based on a variety of outcomes. Outcome-based information is used to determine which calls need to be stored, which calls need to be secured in a more robust manner (i.e. for PCI and HIPAA compliance, etc.), which calls answer interesting questions about the performance of a new process, and which calls can simply be discarded.

The outcomes used to make these critical decisions are either attributes of the calls themselves, attributes of the agents fielding the calls, or simply true random samples based on any number of criteria.   When the call recording software is enhanced with desktop screen analytics, not only can the calls be tagged with extended information in a unique way, but they can also be analyzed based on the associated information and provide a roadmap for your management team to identify trends – both positive and negative - that affect performance.    This approach is revolutionary, because it breaks down barriers that have long been separating related functions.   In the old days (a couple of years ago), you would have an approach for running reports and analyzing data that flows through your call center, then you would go to another call center quality assurance system for inspecting agent performance and perhaps hunt for examples of the performance trends.   Unfortunately, using a random method based on limited agent based information meant that it was often difficult to find enough examples of the call types involved in the trend to make a legitimate operational adjustment based on the sample.  

Latest call recording software and integrated performance optimization technologies change that dynamic. The process of identifying and addressing business issues is completely unified. Now you can identify trends in interactions, both positive and negative, and then the recorded interactions become an element of the data you are reviewing.   Importantly, these latest-generation call center optimization technologies are incredibly easy to use and take the selection guesswork out of the equation. They truly automate the end-to-end quality review process, beginning with identifying the appropriate calls to inspect, serving those calls to the right person to perform the inspection in a simple “to do” list, and address the issues uncovered through a variety of action steps. 

To find out more about uncovering performance issues via intelligent recording and quality management, visit: http://www.vpi-corp.com/Call-Center-Quality-Assurance-Management-Software.asp

Complimentary Resource Guide: The ROI Benefits of Contact Center Recording, Quality Assurance and Call Center Performance Management Technologies

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 by Patrick Botz

Complimentary Resource Guide on the Compelling ROI Benefits of VoIP Call Recording, Quality Assurance Call Monitoring and Call Center Performance Management TechnologiesReady to upgrade your contact center? Looking to implement new TDM and VoIP Call recording, call center quality assurance, call center performance management, or call center coaching solutions or replace some of your existing applications?

If so, it's now time to zero-in on the most appropriate call center optimization technology and ask management for the money. This must-read resource guide is crucial for any contact center professional looking to take their organization to the next level.

Use the promo code LINKEDIN to download your complimentary resource guide at http://www.VPI-corp.com/ROI-Guide authored by prestigious industry analyst Dick Bucci from The PELORUS Group, to learn about the key components for developing a compelling and convincing business case for your successfully obtaining your contact center investment funds, including:

  • The importance of building both business and ROI cases
  • How to prepare your funding request
  • The many financial benefits of call logging software, call center quality assurance, call center performance management, contact center analytics, call center coaching solutions
  • How to prepare your ROI analysis, and much more!

Call Center Reporting Software: Make Better Decisions with Real-Time Call Center Performance Management Solutions

Thursday, February 18, 2010 by Lauren Hugues

Call Center Management Software: Make Better Decisions with Performance Management SolutionsCall center reporting software has, for some time, been evolving from the very basic, disparate technologies of the 90s to the tightly integrated, multi-dimensional software suites of today. Once upon a time, the standard call center performance management system implemented in organizations worldwide consisted of a telephone system, a call logger, an ACD and a CRM solution. Times have changed with the emergence of powerful new performance contact center analytics solutions designed to rapidly boost contact center performance and operational effectiveness – enabling organizations to discover, diagnose and manage issues before they have a chance to adversely impact customer satisfaction.

 

In order to survive, compete, and truly maximize the productivity and profitability of an organization, managers need much more information than the call center performance management systems of the past could provide. There’s only so much that anyone can do with dozens of disparate reports and spreadsheets of data relating to nothing in particular. Even though customer-agent interactions and the associated telephony data represent a veritable goldmine of business intelligence, the old call center performance management software systems had no way to enable users to access, analyze, and act upon the intelligence. VPI developed VPI PERFORMANCE to empower contact center agents, managers, and executives with actionable, targeted information to drive real-time, multi-level performance improvements through innovative call center reporting and contact center analytics tools. The VPI PERFORMANCE call center performance management software collects and consolidates real-time and historical performance information from multiple telephony and business systems, delivering critical key performance indicators (KPIs) in a timely and relevant manner for each user. With a powerful combination of real-time consolidated call center reporting, root cause performance contact center analytics, and targeted call center coaching and messaging, VPI PERFORMANCE enables contact centers to drive continuous, proactive improvement – crucial for cost containment, contact center optimization profitability.

 

VPI PERFORMANCE Web-based reports allow managers to conveniently access, analyze and drill through data to quickly identify the root cause of problems or successes - even down to the recorded interaction from the integrated VPI contact center recording system - and immediately change business direction based on actual customer responses and employee performance. As soon as the problem or success is determined, VPI PERFORMANCE call center performance management software ensures the delivery of the right information to the right person at the right time with employee desktop dashboards, tickers and scorecards. Managers and supervisors are equipped to manage the here and now – to take immediate actions to solve immediate problems, rather than trying to handle yesterday’s problems next month, or worse, never managing them at all. Managing based on old information is likely to result in once happy, high-value customers taking their business elsewhere.

 

Unlike the old call center reporting solutions, VPI PERFORMANCE enables managers to expedite performance improvements through automated, targeted intervention. They can easily automate the feedback and call center coaching process and empower front-line employees and supervisors to be highly effective. The solution helps to maximize time and cost efficiency – electronic call center coaching and learning fits smoothly within existing workflow, is a powerful supplement to face-to-face training, increases retention rates for new information and expedites ramp-up. With timely access to actionable information, managers can rapidly improve sales conversion, collections and quality of service while realizing significant savings in areas such as: agent attrition, quality scores, first call resolution, average talk time, idle time, sickness and absence, average hold time, and much more. With VPI PERFORMANCE, the entire organization will quickly begin to benefit from increased productivity, customer loyalty, and revenue.

Voice Logging Technologies – Now Doing Much More Than Ever Before

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 by Lauren Hugues

Voice Logging Technologies - Now Doing Much More Than Ever BeforeVoice logging systems were once very basic solutions built to record all or a sample of calls along with some rudimentary telephony data. Generally deployed for compliance and liability purposes, digital call recording systems were viewed as a backroom necessity that occasionally served a purpose whenever a customer dispute occurred. Over the past decade, the role of the call recorder has changed a great deal. The value of recorded interactions and their importance for effective quality assurance call monitoring has become a major focal point in the development of the highly advanced call logger systems available today.

Today’s flexible, elegant communications recording solutions are light years away from the clunky, hardware-based beasts of the past. Gone are the proprietary parts and expensive customizations – today’s advanced digital and VoIP recording software solutions are software based, leveraging open architecture for easy integrations and cost-effective customization. VPI’s robust digital and IP recording software solutions can be customized, scaled and adapted to meet the evolving demands of organizations of all kinds – from small- and medium-sized contact centers to global enterprises employing any combination of in-house and remote employees. VPI CAPTURE PRO is the most progressive, ground-breaking voice call recording and screen data call recording software available today. Highly reliable, easily implemented and remarkably effective in virtually any environment, VPI CAPTURE PRO can record multimedia interactions from a wide range of network configurations, TDM and VoIP telephony environments, and across any number of locations. Powered by VPI Fact Finder™, VPI's powerful desktop screen contact center analytics engine, the call logger tags important employee screen events and facts to call recordings for automated call classification and analysis centered on key business issues.

 

In recent years, it has become generally recognized that recordings of customer interactions contain a vast amount of intelligence about an organization’s processes, customer satisfaction, front-line employee performance, revenue opportunities, and chances for improvement of strategic position in the marketplace. Recorded interactions between agents and customers are a veritable gold mine of business intelligence, yielding insights into agent performance, product or service perception, and customer satisfaction. Intelligence garnered from customer interactions can be used to improve managerial decisions and investments made by strategic-level departments such as sales, marketing, human resources, research and development, finance, or operations.

 

VPI EMPOWER offers a rich, business-centric set of tools that make a significant impact on an organization’s bottom line – mitigating risk, enhancing call center quality assurance, streamlining call center reporting, improving call center coaching, and optimizing call center performance management. VPI EMPOWER combines and enhances the benefits of VPI CAPTURE PRO, VPI QUALITY PRO and VPI PERFORMANCE. Individually, each software solution is robust and powerful, but they are exponentially more valuable when integrated.

Call Recording Software by VPI Enables Organizations to Affordably Record Contact Centers, Branch Offices and Home-Based Agents

Monday, February 15, 2010 by Patrick Botz
Call Recording Software by VPI Enables Organizations to Affordably Record Contact Centers, Branch Offices and Home-Based Agents

The contact center environment has evolved considerably over recent years. With the increased deployment of VoIP, home-based agents, and overseas outsourcing, organizations are benefitting from significant cost savings and efficiencies that were previously unattainable. However, in order to maximize performance, manage liability and ensure compliance, it’s crucial for organizations to implement an advanced, full time interactions recording solution, such as VPI’s communications software system.

VPI’s digital and IP call recording system was developed to reliably record 100 percent of call and data interactions in high-volume, single or multi-site environments of any size. Organizations are able to determine what to retain, for how long, and on which storage device by implementing flexible, intelligent business rules. The VPI call logging software can efficiently unify recording from any number of audio and data sources and multiple locations –TDM and VoIP telephony audio as a standard, while employee desktop screen recording, email and Web chat are optional. With centralized access and administration via secure Web-based interface – authorized users of the Cisco call recording solution can quickly and easily access call recordings and associated data from multiple system and locations – including home based agents – and create, review and send reports.

VPI’s telephone call recorder has been designed to guard data from unauthorized access with granular user and data security rules, comprehensive audit trails, and end-to-end and AES 256 encryption with key management. Every call within the VPI application is wartermarked in real time to ensure authenticity. VPI’s optional PCI Compliance Pack restricts access to calls with sensitive, personal information to help ensure compliance with PCI-DSS regulations.

VPI’s telephone voice recording system integrates seamlessly with the VPI EMPOWER suite of workforce optimization software solutions, including VPI PERFORMANCE, which offers real-time call center reporting and performance analytics and delivers vital performance information, highlighting areas where adjustments need to be made on an agent, group, queue or site basis. Managers can view real-time and historical performance metrics, consolidated across multiple systems and locations, which may include virtual contact centers and outsourced and home-based agents.

The integrated telephone call recorder and VPI PERFORMANCE call center performance management solution offers dynamic, Web-based call center reporting tools that allow authorized users to conveniently access, analyze and drill through data to quickly identify the root cause of problems or successes and immediately change business direction based on actual customer responses and employee performance. As soon as the problem or success is determined, VPI PERFORMANCE call center performance management allows management to deliver the right information to the right person at the right time with employee desktop dashboards, tickers and scorecards.In addition to successfully managing compliance, liability and quality in virtually any environment, VPI’s telephone recording software equips organizations to manage the here and now – to take immediate actions to solve immediate problems, rather than trying to handle yesterday’s problems next month, or worse, never managing them at all. Managing based on old information is likely to result in dissatisfied, poorly managed agents and the loss of high-value customers.

VPI EMPOWER Contact Center Recording and Workforce Optimization Software Solution Wins Prestigious Product of the Year Award from Customer Interaction Solutions® Magazine

Monday, February 15, 2010 by Patrick Botz

VPI EMPOWERTM Contact Center Workforce Optimization Solution Wins Prestigious Product of the Year Award from Customer Interaction Solutions® MagazineVPI, the premier global provider of contact center recording and analytics, quality assurance call monitoring and workforce optimization software solutions for enterprises, trading floors, government agencies, and emergency service providers, announced today that VPI EMPOWER has received a 2009 Product of the Year Award from Technology Marketing Corporation’s (TMC®) Customer Interaction Solutions magazine, the leading publication covering CRM, call centers and teleservices since 1982.

"I am pleased to honor VPI for its hard work and success. VPI has displayed true innovation and excellence in the development of its VPI EMPOWER suite of analytics-enhanced contact center recording, call center quality assurance and workforce optimization solutions, and is dedicated to improving the contact center experience as well as the ROI for companies that use them," said Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC.

VPI EMPOWER is a powerful, modular suite of Web-based contact center recording software and contact center optimization solutions, comprised of applications for multimedia communications recording and contact center analytics, quality evaluation, electronic learning and call center coaching, and real-time call center performance management. VPI EMPOWER marks a radical departure from the conventional solutions currently available to contact centers. Built upon the foundation of VPI’s long-established, proven technologies, VPI EMPOWER leverages VPI Fact Finder™, a ground-breaking desktop screen analytics technology that automatically detects events and data directly from application screens being used by employees and tags them to appropriate points within recorded interactions. This enables automated classification and more meaningful, targeted quality assurance call monitoring focused on key business issues, such as customer churn, first contact resolution, missed up-sell opportunities, product issues, long hold and handle times, multiple transfers or escalations, and much more. VPI EMPOWER contact center workforce optimization software delivers a significant advantage in just weeks, with an easy-to-use product that requires minimal training.

"We are deeply gratified that VPI EMPOWER has been honored as Product of the Year for Exceptional Innovation by TMC’s Customer Interaction Solutions Magazine," said Patrick Botz, vice president of solutions marketing at VPI. "This prestigious award is a testament to VPI’s commitment to providing innovative, world-class digital and VoIP call recording, call center quality assurance, call center reporting and call center coaching solutions that enable organizations to rapidly and affordably maximize the potential and profitability of their customer contact center operations.
 

Telephone Call Recording Laws, Regulations and Best Practices for Ensuring Compliance: What You Need to Know to Avoid Costly Fines and Legal Fees

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 by Patrick Botz

Telephone Call Recording Laws and RegulationsDo you record or plan to record your calls and/or desktop screen activity? Do your employees discuss sensitive information over the phone? If so, there are serious telephone call recording laws and phone call recording regulations that you need to be aware of. To avoid costly violations and ensure customer credibility, you need to become familiar with the new and evolving digital call recording laws, voice call recording regulations, and industry standards that most profoundly impact organizations today. You should make a point of learning what you can do to avoid violating these call recording laws, and where to go when you need help. The information in this article on telephone call recording laws and regulations is not intended as legal advice. Always check with your legal counsel to learn more about how voice logging regulations can affect you and your organization. Let’s discuss some of the most common telephone call recording laws and phone call recording regulations impacting organizations today.

 

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS)

Established by American Express, Discovery Financial Services, MasterCard Worldwide, Visa International and JCB, PCI-DSS regulations are intended for organizations that accept credit cards and record those interactions with call recording equipment. The regulations forbid the insecure storage of unencrypted credit card numbers, PIN numbers, and other personal information in databases and digital call recording software systems. Digital call recording software systems should be able to identify, encrypt and restrict access to sensitive customer information from unauthorized users. According to the PELORUS Group, a leading independent market research and consultancy company in the financial services and telecommunications industries:

 

1.     Contact centers can easily become unsuspecting violators (of PCI-DSS compliance regulations) because of the practice of recording private customer information in data and voice call recording software systems.

2.     Unless agents are specifically authorized to see this information, their unrestricted access is a violation of PCI-DSS.

3.     You can avoid potential violations by investing in telephone recorder software that blocks or encrypts recordings that contain card numbers.

 

Health Insurance Portability and Protection Act (HIPPA)

The HIPAA Privacy Rule protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information. With regard to call recording laws and call recording regulations, it’s imperative that organizations have the ability to identify, restrict access to and encrypt specific interactions containing sensitive information from unauthorized users.

 

Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA)

Designed to eliminate abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices, the FDCPA mandates that collectors must identify themselves, including the name of their firm, and explain that the purpose of the call is to collect a debt. With regard to telephone call recording laws and regulations, all interactions must be day and time stamped, and all calls recorded in order to assess employee compliance.

 

Telemarketing Sales Rule

The Telemarketing Sales Rule prohibits sellers and telemarketers from making false or misleading statements. The Federal Communications Commission may assess a fine of up to $11,000 per violation. Seven pieces of information must be provided by the employee during the call - such as identity of the seller, the nature of the goods or services offered for sale, the full cost of all offers, etc. Download Your Complimentary Copy of the Telephone Call Recording Resource Guide: Critical Call Recording Laws, Regulations and Best Practices for Ensuring Compliance

 

Learn more about call recording laws and call recording regulations and how to avoid costly fines and legal fees with latest in analytics-driven phone call recording software – download your complimentary copy of the white paper “Call Recording Laws, Regulations and Best Practices for Ensuring Compliance,“ authored by renowned analyst Dick Bucci from The PELORUS Group at http://www.VPI-corp.com/Call-Recording-Laws

Accelerating Call Center Quality Assurance and Workforce Optimization with Desktop Screen Analytics

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 by Patrick Botz

Optimize Call Center Quality Assurance with Desktop Screen AnalyticsCall center quality assurance software is now a fundamental technology in virtually every competitive call center environment. As the economy begins to recover, 2010 is expected to be another tough year for enterprises, with contact center managers asked once again to reduce their operating expenses while improving the customer experience and satisfaction scores. They will be expected to achieve this goal with limited resources and without incurring any additional costs. This is why the use of an automated call monitoring system has become so crucial for organizations of all types and sizes. To deliver on these key enterprise goals, contact center managers need to improve agent productivity without making major technology investments. The call center quality assurance software solutions that most contact centers already have can play an important role in helping managers meet their corporate objectives.

 

Screen Analytics – An Inexpensive and Invaluable Adjunct to the Quality Assurance Call Monitoring Process

Call center quality assurance software solutions improve call quality and productivity by identifying the impediments that prevent agents from delivering an outstanding customer experience. The issues may be training-related, operational, procedural or systems-oriented, but most, if not all, can be resolved once they are identified. However, since traditional quality assurance is based on a random sampling of a small percentage of calls received by the department, important trends and improvement opportunities are often missed. In the past, contact center managers had little to no visibility into the performance of their desktop servicing solutions. They could see how each agent used their systems to address each call, but could not identify trends for the entire department, which is now possible with screen analytics.

 

Screen analytics software is a relatively inexpensive and easy-to-implement solution that can dramatically improve the effectiveness of the call center quality assurance process by helping identify the calls or back-office transactions that will most benefit from management attention. Screen analytics extends the benefits of the mission-critical quality assurance call monitoring process while providing timely insights that can be of use to the entire organization. Enterprise and contact center managers who want to rapidly and cost effectively identify insights into customer needs and agent performance issues should seriously consider screen analytics.

 

Benefits of Desktop Screen Analytics

With regard to call center quality assurance and workforce optimization, desktop screen contact center analytics solutions offer many significant benefits. The solution empowers managers to intervene in a timely manner – altering outcomes and changing contact centers from reactive organizations to proactive, engaged advocates. Screen analytics can help improve the customer experience, increase First Call Resolution, and reduce transfers, holds and call backs. In addition to boosting the effectiveness of call center quality assurance processes, screen analytics can improve agent productivity, decrease the cost of service, identify call center coaching needs, and improve agent satisfaction. Furthermore, desktop screen contact center analytics can play a major role in increasing revenue and profitability, reducing risk by rapidly identifying inappropriate agent behaviors and performance, highlighting broken business processes, identifying “at-risk” customers while there is still an opportunity to retain them, and improving the customer experience.

 

Authored by leading industry analyst Donna Fluss of DMG Consulting, “Accelerating Call Center Quality Assurance and Performance Optimization with Screen Analytics” is a must-read whitepaper that offers valuable insights and advice that can help your organization survive and thrive in the year ahead. To learn more about the value of workforce optimization software enhanced by screen analytics, download your complimentary copy of the white paper at http://www.VPI-corp.com/Screen-Analytics.  

 

To learn more about VPI’s screen analytics-enhanced call monitoring system, visit: http://www.VPI-corp.com/Call-Center-Recording.asp