Software Solutions with Opportunity / Bringing Technology, Communication and Information Together
1 Mar, 2004
By: Bob Brittan,Christopher R. CapoPart 1: Display the Possibilities: Software Solutions that Offer Opportunity
Highly adaptable display solutions are often the answer to a busy contact center’s reporting needs. Spectrum Corp. offers everything from Unix-based middleware to robust PC-based server/client applications that deliver productivity tools for the modern contact center. Product applications like V-Display, UltraLink II and UltraData Enterprise are designed to make the difference and give your center a competitive edge.
The evolution of the modern contact center requires supervisors, agents and non-agent personnel to be concerned with more than just voice traffic; they also have to effectively manage the overflow of data from email, Web, IVR and other contacts. An adaptable display system allows for on-the-spot configuration with customized reporting features that save time and money.
While the traditional LED wallboard continues to be the reliable “display of choice” for contact centers, management continues to search for the appropriate mix of information and education to accomplish corporate goals. They want answers to questions such as: How would this new way of looking at data respond to trends, fluctuations and normal daily contact center activities? Would it be able to accommodate real-time and historical ACD information as well as “non-phone” data? And if it could, how would contact center managers, agents and other employees use these tools to better and more efficiently accomplish goals?
The solution lies not only in the display devices, but also in the software solutions provided by Spectrum Corp. These applications can collect, aggregate and publish information to the display devices, which can be virtually any hard or soft medium type and can be as complex as high-definition monitors or as basic as scrolling messages to LED wallboards.
Today’s contact center supervisors cover a lot of territory: call centers on multiple floors, different buildings or even separate cities. A reliable and effective solution must provide mobile managers with information to mobile devices including PDAs, RIM devices, WAP-enabled mobile phones, etc. Let’s not forget that no solution would be complete without the ability to provide the “C-level” manager with a virtual or printed report of the aggregate data from across the entire enterprise. Reliable software applications are essential to collect this crucial data, assemble it and ultimately provide knowledge-based information that will allow your employees to take an active role in the success of the organization. Even more important may be the software application’s ability to acquire a wide-variety of data. It must be able to distribute this data in real-time, across networks and be easily administered from anywhere on the globe.
With this new breed of display solutions can contact centers ignore the opportunity? Not if they want to be productive. Empowered with this knowledge, contact centers can now take an active role in the success of the organization while contributing to the growth of revenue that keeps shareholders happy.
Consider this question: Should your center use traditional LED boards, TV monitors, or desktop clients, or would a more complete approach provide greater visibility? Many competitive, revenue-producing contact centers tackle this dilemma with a variety of display devices that complement the user’s expertise and work environment. Plasma screens and TV monitors have gained popularity due to their ability to display video and full-color graphics. Desktop virtual wallboards and scrolling ACD messages add a convenience factor for employees working in cube areas, while remote agents can utilize Web-driven statistics. For the desk agent, a wall display and or desktop client provides information in real time. For remote employees the web is an obvious and potent distribution method. For supervisors and other personnel, monitor dashboards make for an excellent and easily understood graphical interface. The mobile manager needs the flexibility of getting their information via cell phone, pager or PDA.
These “Business Intelligence” solutions provided by Spectrum Corporation (V-Display, UltraLink II, and UltraData Enterprise) empower employees, increase efficiency, produce measurable return on investment, and make certain that the right people see the right information at the right time using the right technology.
Provided by Christopher R. Capo, Director of Global Alliances for Spectrum Corporation, an international provider of call center solutions, www.specorp.com.
Part 2: Bringing Technology, Communication and Information Together, With Wireless LED Displays
Today’s contact centers and enterprises need increased productivity, faster response times, monitored service quality and overall general awareness of critical business metrics to remain competitive. Though many leaders strive for achieving and sustaining excellence, they often find themselves just putting out fires in a reactive mode rather than being prepared with a proactive response.
Responding reactively leads to frustrated callers and customer service representatives, excessive transfers between CSRs, inconsistent customer service, ineffective outbound calls and lost sales. Reactive response is often based on the lack of real-time technology that would allow companies to provide better service for their customers, both internal and external. The value and perceived high cost of this technology are lost in the fray of day-to-day survival, resulting in turmoil. Inefficiency and waste, two huge expenses, become part of the system, robbing organizations of profits, productivity, and competitive advantage.
However, there is an answer that will give businesses the real-time information they need and not break the bank doing it. The wireless real-time LED technology offered by Symon Communications’ NetLite II display panels are the most technologically advanced and only wireless LED panel available on the market today, and their low cost of installation and ease of maintenance result in a low cost of ownership. This technology is the ideal display vehicle for Symon’s real-time enterprise information for productivity and performance management solutions.
Two major benefits of NetLite II are better management of risks and opportunities and cost-effective installation and maintenance.
• Better management of risks and opportunities. With the real-time enterprisewide data posted to NetLite II LED panels, PC desktops, mobile and other devices, required information is available immediately, enabling better and more consistent decision-making at every level. End-users and managers instantly see the status of the enterprise and react immediately to both risks and opportunities as they occur, without having to wait hours or days for a printed report. This gives companies the competitive advantage of knowing how their operations are running in real-time and the ability to respond immediately to business impacting events.
For example: A key business system goes down, and upset users begin calling the help desk because they no longer have access. Via Simple Network Management Protocol, NetLite II has already identified the down server and has sent a visual and audible alert not only to the wallboards but also to desktops, thereby notifying management, IT staffers and others that a problem exists. The IT department can send out a companywide email or voice alert notifying users that an outage has occurred and that it is already being corrected.
• Cost effective installation and maintenance. With NetLite II, Symon has made the use of wallboards easier, more effective and affordable by offering the industry’s first wireless LED panel that can be configured using a standard browser. This eliminates the need for expensive cabling and the need for conduit enclosures (although CAT-5 is still a connectivity option). With optional remote or internal power supplies, the wallboards can be located just about anywhere they are required. The NetLite II’s ultra thin panel (1.64” thick) and flexible mounting capability simplifies maintenance activities for IT departments, thereby reducing their costs and resource investments.
The innovative real-time LED display technology of NetLite II satisfies an enterprise’s need to know and the customer’s demand for quality service, meeting the requirement for a proactive process and response environment that delivers enhanced efficiency and profitability to the call center or enterprise.
Provided by Bob Brittan: Senior Product Manager, Symon Communications, Inc.
