CP Wire

If call center associates can get to what they are looking for quickly and easily, your customers will reap the rewards and their satisfaction will improve. Here are five tips that you can put to use with your next redesign.

1) Unify, unify, unify
Theme: Call center systems have grown over the years. As products, services and tasks are added to the associates’ responsibilities, different systems are born to support them. This leads to associates having to work within several different systems to handle one call, which has negative effects on learning curves and call-handling time.
Recommendation: Unify as many systems as allowed. Ideally, most calls would be handled within one system only and all information and tasks necessary in that system. If multiple systems must be dealt with, create consistency between the systems in terms of the interface design.

2) Design a modular interface that accounts for unpredictable call flow
Theme: You never know what a customer on the other end of the line is going to say. There may be a script for associates to follow, but it is sometimes difficult to get the customer down a defined path.
Recommendation: Build an interface where top tasks are instantly accessible. Allow a user to depart from the task at hand momentarily, go down a different path and then come back to the original task. Integrate information and tasks that may support a main flow into the experience so those items are right on-hand.

3) Improve your conversion rates
Theme: Sometimes up-sell opportunities or tips for addressing certain prospect/customer concerns are not immediately evident to newer associates. It is something they learn over time through trial and error, through formal training or through learning from those around them.
Recommendation: Ensure the interface allows the user to jump into a revenue-generating transaction at any point. Make it clear through the interface what a natural up-sell could be. Integrate tips into the interface that make the user aware of what a customer may need or be concerned with at any point in the process.

4) Search smart
Theme: Initiating searches and displaying the results is often handled differently from system to system within a call center, or even within the same system. This makes it difficult for new users to learn because they have to get up to speed on multiple search styles. It also slows down more experienced users.
Recommendation: Create an intuitive search, display and select interface patterns that can be repeated throughout the application consistently. Allow users to search or filter on as many criteria as possible to narrow the search and more easily locate what they are looking for. Don’t separate your search fields and results onto separate screens. Keeping the search fields and results visible at the same time will prevent the user from having to go back and forth between screens

5) Let the users toggle!
Theme: If an associate needs to find a different piece of information or jump to a different task, what they are working on is often lost. Also, users are often alt-tabbing or clicking through open windows as a way of toggling between tasks and there is no way to know how many windows were actually present/open.
Recommendation: To prevent the loss of information, have the system automatically save where users were working and allow them to pick up where they left off. Don’t limit them to just one task at a time. Create a navigational mechanism that allows users to know what tasks/screens are open or active, easily find them and toggle between them.

By Amy Cueva, Mad*Pow co-founder and chief experience officer


Issue 128: October 17, 2007
Five Interface Design Tips to Act Upon
If call center associates can get to what they are looking for quickly and easily, your customers will reap the rewards and their satisfaction will improve. Here are five tips that you can put to use with your next redesign. 1) Unify, unify, unify Theme: Call center systems have grown over the years. As products, services and tasks are added to the associates’ responsibilities, different systems are born to support them. This leads to associates having to work within several different systems to handle one call, which has negative effects on learning curves and call-handling time. Recommendation: Unify as many systems as allowed. Ideally, most calls would be handled within one system only and all information and tasks necessary in that system. If multiple systems must be dealt with, create consistency between the systems in terms of the interface design. 2) Design a modular interface that accounts for unpredictable call flow Theme: You never know what a customer on the other end of the line is going to say. There may be a script for associates to follow, but it is sometimes difficult to get the customer down a defined path. Recommendation: Build an interface where top tasks are instantly accessible. Allow a user to depart from the task at hand momentarily, go down a different path and then come back to the original task. Integrate information and tasks that may support a main flow into the experience so those items are right on-hand. 3) Improve your conversion rates Theme: Sometimes up-sell opportunities or tips for addressing certain prospect/customer concerns are not immediately evident to newer associates. It is something they learn over time through trial and error, through formal training or through learning from those around them. Recommendation: Ensure the interface allows the user to jump into a revenue-generating transaction at any point. Make it clear through the interface what a natural up-sell could be. Integrate tips into the interface that make the user aware of what a customer may need or be concerned with at any point in the process. 4) Search smart Theme: Initiating searches and displaying the results is often handled differently from system to system within a call center, or even within the same system. This makes it difficult for new users to learn because they have to get up to speed on multiple search styles. It also slows down more experienced users. Recommendation: Create an intuitive search, display and select interface patterns that can be repeated throughout the application consistently. Allow users to search or filter on as many criteria as possible to narrow the search and more easily locate what they are looking for. Don’t separate your search fields and results onto separate screens. Keeping the search fields and results visible at the same time will prevent the user from having to go back and forth between screens 5) Let the users toggle! Theme: If an associate needs to find a different piece of information or jump to a different task, what they are working on is often lost. Also, users are often alt-tabbing or clicking through open windows as a way of toggling between tasks and there is no way to know how many windows were actually present/open. Recommendation: To prevent the loss of information, have the system automatically save where users were working and allow them to pick up where they left off. Don’t limit them to just one task at a time. Create a navigational mechanism that allows users to know what tasks/screens are open or active, easily find them and toggle between them. By Amy Cueva, Mad*Pow co-founder and chief experience officer

Complimentary Webcasts You Won't Want to Miss
October 18, 1:00 Eastern: Calibration 101: Best Practices in QM Calibration for Contact Centers of All Sizes. Presented by Verint. Calibration of scoring is a critical component of any successful quality monitoring program, but calibration sessions are all-too-often inefficient and difficult to measure, not to mention challenging to find the time for in the first place. In this webcast, we’ll discuss the what’s and how’s of calibration between call evaluators. October 23, 1:00 Eastern: The High Performance Contact Center. Presented by NICE. This webcast examines the issues surrounding organizational performance in today’s complex business environment. Looking at performance at three levels – employee, operational and enterprise – we learn how they interrelate and the keys to successfully managing performance at each level and overall. October 25, On Demand: Understanding the Benefits of Speech Analytics Solutions. Presented by SER. During this webcast, you'll hear from Datamonitor industry analyst, Ri Pierce-Grove, who will discuss the key drivers for uptake in speech analytics solutions. October 30, 1:00 Eastern: Workforce Optimization for the Small-to Mid-size Contact Center. Presented by Bay Bridge Decision Technologies. Geoff Meester of Fidelity Investments will outline his experience of radically improving strategic and tactical call center planning at Fidelity’s brokerage contact centers. November 2, 1:00 Eastern: Virtual Workforce Management Symposium. Presented by CRMXchange and SWPP. In real-time over three days, contact center workforce planning professionals will learn from industry experts at virtual workshops, chat with peers in an online networking group, meet top vendors in the cyber exhibit hall and have access to a reference room with the latest information on the hottest industry topics.

News and Commentary
Live Chat: A Growing Customer Service Option It's like a call center without the calls. The ringing phones and chatter associated with call centers for customer service and sales are replaced by the clicking of keys and muted conversations between colleagues at adjacent desks. Don't Ignore Your Work's Benefit Offerings Workers should read the benefit packages provided by their employers and not hesitate to ask questions about them from human resources offices or call centers set up by benefit providers. Call Center's Customers, Employees are Satisfied An inspirational account of the evolution of a very successful contact center. The Nitty-Gritty on Loyalty Programs If your customers take the time to communicate preferences, they should be readily deployed enterprisewide, meaning call centers and properties should have access to that information. Stream Opens Third Contact Center in Dominican Republic "The opening of Stream's third Santo Domingo site indicates the great success we've experienced here," said Toni Portmann, CEO and president. "The Dominican Republic has been a critical part of our global Smart Shore ^(SM) strategy over the past two years and we look for that to continue well into the future." Six Steps to Reducing Attrition in Your Contact Center Read this white paper and learn the six functional processes of staffing your contact center that will drive toward the goal of finding, hiring and keeping your new employees. Ensuring a Successful Migration to Voice over IP in the Contact Center Explore this white paper for six areas to consider when implementing VoIP in the contact center and how implementing the right testing and monitoring approaches can lead to a successful deployment.

Smart Quote
"It's choice - not chance - that determines your destiny." -- Jean Nidetch

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	Contact Professional magazine provides useful management tools and resources to the contact center professional. Written for executives, managers and directors of contact centers, the editorial focuses on real world solutions to issues faced on a daily basis. From hiring and training to technology implementation, each article emphasizes ROI and increased efficiency within the contact center. CP Wire, the electronic counterpart to Contact Professional, is delivered biweekly and focuses on daily obstacles facing the contact center professional, offering firsthand opinion and expertise in a brief, entertaining format along with the latest news affecting contact centers around the world. Some links in CP Wire are time-sensitive. These links may move or expire as the news changes throughout the day. Sponsorships or product announcements appearing in CP Wire are paid advertisements and do not reflect actual CP Wire or Contact Professional endorsements. The news and advice reported in CP Wire or Contact Professional magazine does not necessarily reflect the official position of CP Wire or Contact Professional magazine. The information contained herein has been obtained from services believed to be reliable.
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