News

Contact center software and applications

• November 19, 2019 19 Nov'19

  Salesforce Service Cloud Voice, Einstein Voice Assistant unveiled

  Salesforce unveils a voice assistant and call center tools to enable real-time natural language processing for agents to connect customer data and supervisor help on a single screen.

• October 10, 2019 10 Oct'19

  Calabrio rolls out contact center self-scheduling technology

  The new technology aims to enable flexibility in scheduling for contact center agents and to reduce managers' workloads in monitoring and requests handling.

• August 19, 2019 19 Aug'19

  LivePerson Inc. adds new capabilities to Maven AI

  Maven AI's updates are aimed at enabling new conversational commerce use cases. The new capabilities include Maven Assist, Maven AI-Powered Routing and Maven Developer APIs.

• July 15, 2019 15 Jul'19

  TechSee Smart uses AI vision to aid contact center support

  TechSee Smart aids live agents in contact centers by using AI and deep learning to analyze customer product images, identify issues and guide customers through the resolution process.

• June 27, 2019 27 Jun'19

  8x8 Contact Center launches as a stand-alone CCaaS offering

  8x8 Contact Center is a stand-alone, cloud-based contact-center-as-a-service offering, aimed at organizations that feel restricted by legacy contact center infrastructure.

• June 07, 2019 07 Jun'19

  Companies entrust CX to customer service chatbots, but only so far

  Depending on the vertical, chatbots can relieve human agents of simple, repetitive customer-support tasks. But brands await smarter tech to fully trust them with CX.

• May 29, 2019 29 May'19

  Contact center-as-a-service platforms here, but face hurdles

  Cloud contact center platforms offer promise, migrating agents into a flexible environment. Contact centers, a long-established on-premises IT world, are slowly starting to adopt them.

• May 15, 2019 15 May'19

  Effective customer surveys help contact centers drive CX

  As companies try to figure out who will run customer experience initiatives, contact centers make a strong case for the customer support team, using the right technology.

• May 14, 2019 14 May'19

  CX initiatives driving contact center technology trends

  Making contact center agents more present across all channels is a new focus, as tech vendors rush to give customer service operations more tools to improve customer experiences.

• May 06, 2019 06 May'19

  ICMI co-founder on contact center technology trends

  Contact center technology stacks now include pervasive AI and CX-oriented tools, enabling agents to do a better job more efficiently, said ICMI co-founder Brad Cleveland.

• March 30, 2017 30 Mar'17

  With Amazon Connect, AWS puts experience to work in contact center space

  By offering an inexpensive cloud-based contact center product, Amazon hopes to monetize its own software in a new growing market.

• November 02, 2016 02 Nov'16

  Election Protection helps voters with call center technology

  Election Protection handles upward of 100,000 calls per day as Election Day nears, routing calls from high-call-volume states using Genesys.

• April 08, 2015 08 Apr'15

  Bouquet Training hones contact center agent skills

  Bouquet Training, a module in the Bouquet CDM platform, enables managers to customize contact center agent training courses based on customer feedback.

• March 02, 2015 02 Mar'15

  Contact center knowledge management gives agents clickable intel

  Contact center agents are supposed to help customers with issue resolution. But that's tough when agents lack good working knowledge of products.

• June 05, 2012 05 Jun'12

  Service identifies cell phone numbers of call center customers

  A new offering from WhitePages Pro allows call centers to identify cell phone numbers when customers call in.

• July 18, 2011 18 Jul'11

  When is the right time to overhaul contact center technology?

  When legacy contact center systems no longer keep up with business needs, it’s time for new technology. Find out how to assess the need for an upgrade -- and how to make the case to decision makers.

• May 12, 2011 12 May'11

  Verint releases integrated call center software, offers centralized view of operations

  Verint has launched its Impact 360 Workforce Optimization and Voice of the Customer applications for the call center.

• February 03, 2011 03 Feb'11

  Companies looking ahead to customer service technology investments

  Cloud, social media and virtualization will be just some of the places organizations spend their discretionary IT dollars in the coming year.

• December 23, 2010 23 Dec'10

  Column: Tipping point -- B2B video is going mainstream

  Denis Pombriant explains how video can help marketers -- and who in the CRM industry is doing it well.

• December 16, 2010 16 Dec'10

  Customer service in 2011 driven by adoption of cloud, communities and mobility

  John Ragsdale offers up his predictions for the customer service technology market in 2011 -- and the driving forces behind them.

• November 15, 2010 15 Nov'10

  Service and support technology adoption and spending: The 2010-11 outlook

  Customer service organizations are ready to spend once again. The TSIA's John Ragsdale outlines some of the data and reasoning in his monthly column.

• June 10, 2010 10 Jun'10

  NICE to acquire eglue

  Call recording and performance management vendor NICE said today that it will acquire eglue for $29 million.

• November 21, 2008 21 Nov'08

  Linking call center agents and customer profit with Martha Rogers

  Learn about the link between call center agents and customer profit and find out how predictive analytics technology can help build customer profitability in this podcast.

• October 30, 2008 30 Oct'08

  Customer service software rankings look familiar

  The customer service software suites rankings have few changes, and tough economic times demand more investment in the customer experience, according to Forrester.

• July 10, 2008 10 Jul'08

  Gartner enterprise marketing management rankings show room for growth

  Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Marketing Management lists no leaders and no challengers, a reflection of an emerging market.

• May 05, 2008 05 May'08

  The ROI of speech analytics for the call center

  Because speech analytics is new and relatively unknown both within the call center and across the enterprise, it can be perceived as a risky investment. But early adopters have found that speech analytics has a rapid three- to 12-month payback, high...

• April 17, 2008 17 Apr'08

  Marketers missing the boat on customer data

  Marketers say they're leveraging customer data, but few have the right tools or strategies in place to do it, a new report suggests.

• December 13, 2007 13 Dec'07

  Contact center WFO market mature but growing, report says

  The contact center WFO market will build on its $2.3 billion in sales last year because of new functionality and demand from the midmarket, according to a new report.

• November 21, 2007 21 Nov'07

  Virtual call center helps Fetch keep tails wagging

  With the company expanding rapidly, Fetch Pet Care's CEO turned to hosted call center software to cost-effectively connect his 100 pet sitting and dog walking franchises.

• September 21, 2007 21 Sep'07

  Selecting the right call center technology

  The process of choosing the right call center technology is much more than a simple matter of comparing functionality, according to a speaker at last week's ACCE event in San Diego.

• May 31, 2007 31 May'07

  Speech analytics converts call centers to profit centers

  When used properly, speech analytics applications empower enterprises to enhance customer loyalty and improve the corporate bottom line by delivering the products and services that their customers want -- when they want them, where they want them...

• May 01, 2007 01 May'07

  CRM implementation: Top five headlines

  CRM implementation is the result of months, or sometimes years, of decision making. Software as a Service (SaaS), on-demand and open source options have broadened CRM software options, and a maturing market makes for smoother implementations. We've ...

• February 02, 2007 02 Feb'07

  Siebel 8.0 leaves users with CRM upgrade quandary

  In its first Siebel CRM release, Oracle is offering a new user interface and search, leaving customers to decide if they want to upgrade or wait for Fusion.

• January 25, 2007 25 Jan'07

  Minneapolis dials up a central call center

  Minneapolis is one of the many cities moving to one centralized 311 system, bringing disparate city departments together.

• October 18, 2006 18 Oct'06

  Numara answers the call for help desk support company

  Executives at My Computer Works turned to FootPrints to ease their growing pains. They say they have continued to get the support they need after UniPress was acquired by Numara.

• October 12, 2006 12 Oct'06

  Salesforce.com rivals sound off on Apex, security, ERP

  As Salesforce.com extends itself as a platform provider, competitors are questioning its security, back office plans and direction. CRM remains its core strength, analysts say.

• September 18, 2006 18 Sep'06

  Quality management and recording suites capitalizing on shifting contact center market

  Following a major transition period for the contact center market, expect quality management (QM) and recording vendors to come out on top, says Donna Fluss in her latest column. Winning vendors sell applications that facilitate this transition, ...

• August 10, 2006 10 Aug'06

  CDI takes more than just CRM, data warehouses

  Speaking at a recent industry event, consultant Jill Dyche said companies need more than CRM and a data warehouses to run a customer data integration project.

• August 01, 2006 01 Aug'06

  Voices of CRM: Zach Nelson on CRM and ERP integration

  Nelson, the CEO of NetSuite, talks about the future of on-demand software, CRM integration, the intersection of CRM, ERP and e-commerce and the CRM marketplace.

• July 25, 2006 25 Jul'06

  Contact center technology selection done right

  The state of Washington went through an intense process when selecting a hosted contact center vendor for its emergency response system.

• July 14, 2006 14 Jul'06

  Verint buys into call center with Mercom acquisition

  Verint will add Mercom's footprint in the small and midsized contact center market to its BI and quality monitoring tools.

• June 14, 2006 14 Jun'06

  Oracle extends CRM with hosted call center acquisition

  Oracle will complement its Siebel Contact On Demand application with the acquisition of Telephony@Work, a provider of IP-based software infrastructure.

• April 28, 2006 28 Apr'06

  NICE buys IEX, Performix

  NICE Systems made a significant move into the contact center workforce management market today, announcing plans to acquire two leading vendors.

• April 26, 2006 26 Apr'06

  OAUG to unveil new user forums at Collaborate '06

  The executive director of the OAUG tells Oracle business applications users what to expect from next week's Collaborate '06 conference in Nashville.

• April 05, 2006 05 Apr'06

  Aspect records quality monitoring buy

  With the purchase of SophistiCom, Aspect adds quality monitoring to its performance management suite.

• February 09, 2006 09 Feb'06

  The customer loyalty costs of data breaches

  Breaches of customer data are almost commonplace these days, but they can still mean a big cost and a big blow to customer loyalty.

• February 06, 2006 06 Feb'06

  CompUSA turns product reviews into customer insight

  Using a hosted application, the computer retailer is using reviews to increase loyalty and improve its site.

• January 19, 2006 19 Jan'06

  Microsoft expands its way into the contact center

  With the latest release of its Customer Care Framework, Microsoft is counting on SOA to move it into the contact center market.

• January 17, 2006 17 Jan'06

  North American outsourcing to rebound

  Backlash against offshore contact centers, new technology and distinct offerings is making North American outsourcers price-competitive again.

• October 07, 2005 07 Oct'05

  Microsoft scoops up speech technology

  The assets of Unveil Technologies will help expand Microsoft's influence in the call center market.

• October 05, 2005 05 Oct'05

  Blog etiquette for marketers

  Rapidly emerging as a marketing tool, blogs present a dilemma for companies wanting to communicate with customers. How much marketing is too much?

• May 17, 2005 17 May'05

  Traditional IVR faces extinction

  As open standards like VoiceXML and SALT emerge, call centers will slowly begin phasing out traditional touch-tone IVR, according to a recent report.

• May 16, 2005 16 May'05

  Detroit Medical makes a healthy call

  Skills and business rules routing has helped Detroit Medical's contact center improve efficiency while handling multiple channels.

• April 26, 2005 26 Apr'05

  Onyx focuses on BPM

  With its analytics release and a new BPM application announced today, Onyx is taking aim at business processes.

• April 12, 2005 12 Apr'05

  Making the virtual call center a reality

  Technology has advanced to make a contact center of home-based agents possible. However, companies need to prepare carefully for the transition.

• March 23, 2005 23 Mar'05

  A tale of two cities' CRM

  New York and Indianapolis have both implemented citizen relationship management initiatives. While they are different scales, there's a common requirement to better serve the public.

• August 27, 2004 27 Aug'04

  Report: U.S. call centers vanishing

  Expect about 3,000 U.S. call centers and 140,000 positions to go away in the next few years, a new report found.

• July 27, 2004 27 Jul'04

  Meet marketing's new best friend

  IVR systems aren't just a boon to the contact center. In some cases, they can maximize inbound marketing opportunities.

• June 22, 2004 22 Jun'04

  Contact centers due for an extreme makeover

  Two CRM industry observers say outmoded thinking masks the true beauty of the contact center: profitability.

• April 02, 2004 02 Apr'04

  New study ranks high-tech Web sites

  The news isn't good for some CRM leaders, whose sites came in well below the industry average.

• January 05, 2004 05 Jan'04

  Kana to be connected to Hipbone

  The CRM vendor announces a planned acquisition of an online interaction software maker.

• December 16, 2003 16 Dec'03

  Brief: Kana ramps up Response

  Kana adds to its iCare suite with a new version of its e-mail response management system.

• November 21, 2003 21 Nov'03

  IBM to call centers: Call-flow development is your job

  IBM has given the job of developing voice-application code to call center managers. Whether they will want the responsibility, however, remains unclear.

• November 13, 2003 13 Nov'03

  IVR hang-ups a bad call for companies, customers

  Contact centers are relying more on interactive voice response (IVR) to cut labor costs. But unless your system has ironed out the kinks, it may be doing more harm them good.

• September 25, 2003 25 Sep'03

  Study puts price on offshore service savings

  Specifically, the new research calculates how much a financial services firm can cut costs by outsourcing its contact center.

• September 22, 2003 22 Sep'03

  Kana extends Web services support to KM

  The contact center vendor's new knowledge management software makes good on a company pledge to support J2EE and .NET.

• September 22, 2003 22 Sep'03

  RightNow spruces up service suite

  A redesigned user interface, skills-based routing, analytics and a new module for managing outbound interactions are all part of the company's new hosted contact center software.

• September 16, 2003 16 Sep'03

  Salesforce.com updates contact center apps

  Salesforce.com has teamed up with Echopass Corp. and Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories to beef up its contact center applications.

• September 16, 2003 16 Sep'03

  PeopleSoft to incorporate JDE into CRM plans

  A new 18-month CRM road map from PeopleSoft includes two separate product lines and additional functionality brought over as part of the J.D. Edwards acquisition.

• August 25, 2003 25 Aug'03

  PeopleSoft pack soothes 'pain points'

  PeopleSoft's new CRM productivity pack zeroes in on integration, synchronization and the new federal do-not-call list.

• June 26, 2003 26 Jun'03

  With new tool, Kana plays Switzerland in call center

  With this week's release of its Service 8 multi-channel customer support package, Kana becomes a neutral technology player, supporting both J2EE and .NET infrastructures.

• February 24, 2003 24 Feb'03

  New software takes ACT online

  Small-market CRM vendor ACT is taking its software online, partly to pose an alternative to popular hosted services like Salesforce.com.

• February 20, 2003 20 Feb'03

  Contact center toolmaker tightens ties to Siebel

  A new agreement between Rockwell FirstPoint and Siebel may help shave some time off implementations in the contact center.

• July 09, 2002 09 Jul'02

  Quick Takes: Salesforce.com takes Web services route

  Salesforce.com announces a Web services partnership; PwC Consulting backs PeopleSoft EPM and Syntellect inks a powerful deal; Onyx tops expectations; Sovereign banks on Salesnet.

• November 30, 2001 30 Nov'01

  Customer voice management speaks to growing need

  Customer voice management is the newest CRM-inspired technology to help companies get closer to their customers.

• October 02, 2001 02 Oct'01

  VivaSonic aims to lower call center costs

  Startup VivaSonic claims it can take some of the sting out of call center costs, both at the back-end and delivery points.

• November 06, 2000 06 Nov'00

  Quick Takes � Speech recognition, integrated capabilities and 3D CRM