288 Index
Automatic call distribution (ACD) (cont’d.)
skills-based routing, 49
small, requirements for, 50
stand-alone, 47
switching and routing systems, 52–53
types of, 46–47
Automatic call distributors (ACDs), 41
Automatic number identification (ANI),
29, 267
Automobile manufacturer, CRM gains
for, 222
Avaya
Proactive Contact Management, 184
Self-Service Solutions, 184
Average speed of answer (ASA), 101–102,
268
Axtel, 167
Bandwidth, of trunk interfaces, 31
Bargain Network, 187–188
Basic rate interface, 268
Bell Canada, 186
Bell Contact Centre Solutions, 144
Benchmarking
competitive, 109–110
Purdue study, 62–63
service goals, 112
Bibliography, 283–285
Blue Pumpkin software, 188–189, 191, 197
Borders Group, 188–189
Browser-based interface, 197
Browser-based publishing tools, 86
B2B communications companies, CRM gains
for, 222
Budget
for building call center, 5
call center management and, 91–92
finalizing, 11
Business drivers, 279
Business-focused CRM, 241–242
Business sectors, CRM gains for different, 222
Call accounting, 268
Call blockage, 103
Call center
benefits of, 3
building internal, 5
communicating with, 46
communication channels, 8
CTI in, 34–38
customer inputs to multimedia, 107
defined, ix, 268
distributed, 92
employee environment, 112–115
fully automated, 35
incoming. See Incoming call center
integrated, 8–9
integrating customer data and, 59
linking multisite, 49
location and size of, 6
location clustering, 63
managing. See Call center management
measuring and monitoring performance, 8
overview, 1–5
requirements, 5–9
role in CRM strategies, 240–243
software tools for, 2–3
staffing and training, 7–8
technologies, 6–7
10-point development process, 10–11
typical infrastructure, 62
use of term, 96
vendor solutions, 9
websites, 8
See also Contact center; Customer
interaction center
Call center management, 61–135
budgets and, 91–92
challenge of, 62–63
characteristics of best-managed centers,
87–94
disaster and contingency planning,
119–124
Index 289
Index
future of, 94
incoming call center, 94–98
key statistics for, 91
outsourcing, 124–135
overview, 61
productivity guidelines, 64–87
role in corporation, 98–99
service level and, 99–100
staff costs, 63
workforce optimization, 110–118
Call center managers. See Managers
Call Center Monitoring Study II Final Report, 83
Call center staff. See Customer service
representatives; Employees; Staff
Call control, 269
as basic CTI service, 31–33
capabilities of, 27
first-party, 32
third-party, 32–33, 50
Call duration, 84
Caller ID, 269
Caller preview function, 181, 193
Call forwarding, 33
Call-handling guidelines, 143–144
Calling line identification (CLID), 180
Call load
forecasting, 95
patterns, 88–89
“Call-me” button, 19, 53, 56
Call processing, 27–29, 269
applications, 30–31
defined, 30
software, 30
Call volume, managing high, 191
Campaign management, 279
Canada
Group Telecom in, 169
Oxford Properties Group, 185–187
service level regulation in, 107
Toronto Community Housing corporation
(TCHC), 179
Canadian Radio and Telecommunications
Commission (CRTC), 107
Carriers, 128
future as outsourcers, 133
value-added services from, 130–131
See also Telephone companies
Case studies, communications
Axtel, 167
CLEAR Communications, 167–168
diAX, 168–169
Group Telecom, 169–170
GTE Telecommunications Services,
170–171
Nokia, 171–172
Case studies, energy, PPL EnergyPlus West,
173
Case studies, financial services, 174–175
The Depository Trust Company (DTC),
174–175
Liberty Funds Group, 175–176
MetLife Investors Group, 176–177
Nordea, Merita Bank, 178
PNC Bank, 178–179
Case studies, government, Toronto
Community Housing Corporation
(TCHC), 179–181
Case studies, health care
Delta Dental Plan of Kentucky, 182–183
Philips Oral Healthcare, 183–184
University of Alabama Health Services
Foundation, P.C., 184–185
Case studies, real estate, Oxford Properties
Group, 185–187
Case studies, retail
Bargain Network, 187–188
Borders Group, 188–189
HSN (Home Shopping Network),
189–190
Case studies, technology
Crystal Decisions, 192–194
Primavera Systems, 194–197
290 Index
Case studies, technology (cont’d.)
SGI (Silicon Graphics, Inc.), 191–192
3COM Corporation, 190–191
Case studies, travel, Thomas Cook Direct,
197–198
Categorical knowledge, 116
Central office (CO), 27, 269
Centrex, 269
Channel management, 279
Channel parity, 177
Chief customer officer (CCO), 279
Churn, 279
Circuit switching, 269
CLASS. See Custom local area signaling
service
CLEAR Communications, 167–168
Client/server architecture, 3, 16–18, 269
CTI implementation and, 38–39
flexibility with, 43
Clustering, 279
CO. See Central office
Coaching
guidelines, 161
workshops on, 159–161
CODEC (code and decode), 31, 269
Coleman, Richard, 111
Coleman Consulting Group, 111
Collaborative CRM, 279
Collaborative planning process, 88–89
Collections
problem, at UAB Health Services Founda-
tion, 184
workshop on, 150–152
Communication, with call contact center, 46
Communication channels, 8, 10
Internet as low-cost, 55
Communications
customer premise equipment (CPE),
29–30
network structures and, 26–30
public network model, 27–29
Communications companies
case studies about, 167–172
CRM gains for, 222
Communications environment
call control and, 20–21
standards for CTI, 19–20
switch-to-host integration, 21
voice response, 21
Communications protocol, 25
Competition, benchmarking abandonment
levels of, 109–110
Competitive advantage, sustainable, 212
Computer environment, 16–18
client/server computing, 18. See also
Client/server architecture
mainframe, 17–18
Computer telephony, 2. See also Computer
telephony integration
Computer telephony integration (CTI),
14–25
application layer, 41–42
applications, 22
basic services, 31–34
benefits of, 23
in call center, 34–38
call center applications, 24
call control, 31–33
client/server architecture, 3
communications environment, 19–22
component selection and integration,
40–41
computer environment, 16–18
as core technology, 7
defined, x, 20, 270
evolution of, 15–16
fax processing, 37
feature activation, 33–34
fully automated call center, 35
impact of, 2
implementation guidelines, 38–45
integration of, 22–23
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