Speech Technology - October 2008 - (Page 38) Are You Doing Right BY YOUR CUSTOMERS? Enterprises must find the right balance between live service and self-service automation | BY DONNA FLUSS i nvestments in self-service applications have skyrocketed during the past two years, with companies large and small building or enhancing self-service solutions. Several companies have called me to ask for assistance in building a zero-footprint call center. This is an interesting concept—a customer service environment without any live agents to help customers. Four enterprise-centric trends are driving companies to invest in self-service automation, either to eliminate or minimize the need to employ live agents to assist their customers. These trends are: 1. the need to reduce call center operating expenses to improve the company’s margins and bottom line; 2. the desire to automate as many servicing tasks as possible prior to moving call center activities offshore; 3. the need to replace self-service applications that are either reaching their end of life or becoming too expensive to maintain; and 4. the current generation of self-service Web and voice portal technologies and solutions that can deliver high-value applications not previously available. Five additional call center departmental trends are pushing even the most quality-conscious managers to consider self-service to eliminate or dramatically reduce their need for live agents. These trends are: 1. the ongoing agent attrition problem; 2. the challenge of finding qualified agents; 3. the increasing cost of agents; 4. poor service quality and bad public relations associated with offshore outsourcers; and 5. increasing gas prices, which are exacerbating many agent-related issues. While all of these enterprise and call center-centric issues 38 | Speech Technology OCTOBER 2008 www.speechtechmag.com http://www.speechtechmag.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Speech Technology - October 2008 Speech Technology - October 2008 Contents Editor’s Letter Industry View Inside Outsourcing Interact Keynoter Highlights the Shrinking Technological World Former Hacker Tackles IVR and Biometrics ‘Press 1’ for Caller Thoughts Soundbytes Voice Vote A New Dragon Emerges Overheard/Underheard An Emotional Mess Emotional Intelligence The Case for Call Recording Unified in Care and Communications An Education in E-Learning Guest Column Standards Speech Solutions Voice Value Forward Thinking Speech Technology - October 2008 Speech Technology - October 2008 - Speech Technology - October 2008 (Page Cover1) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Speech Technology - October 2008 (Page Cover2) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Contents (Page 1) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 2) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 3) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Industry View (Page 4) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Industry View (Page 5) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Inside Outsourcing (Page 6) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Interact (Page 7) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Keynoter Highlights the Shrinking Technological World (Page 8) Speech Technology - October 2008 - ‘Press 1’ for Caller Thoughts (Page 9) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Soundbytes (Page 10) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Voice Vote (Page 11) Speech Technology - October 2008 - A New Dragon Emerges (Page 12) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Overheard/Underheard (Page 13) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Emotional Mess (Page 14) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Emotional Mess (Page 15) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Emotional Mess (Page 16) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Emotional Mess (Page 17) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Emotional Mess (Page 18) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Emotional Mess (Page 19) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Emotional Intelligence (Page 20) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Emotional Intelligence (Page 21) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Emotional Intelligence (Page 22) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Emotional Intelligence (Page 23) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Emotional Intelligence (Page 24) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Emotional Intelligence (Page 25) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 26) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 27) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 28) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 29) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 30) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 31) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 32) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 33) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Unified in Care and Communications (Page 34) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Unified in Care and Communications (Page 35) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Education in E-Learning (Page 36) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Education in E-Learning (Page 37) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Guest Column (Page 38) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Guest Column (Page 39) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Standards (Page 40) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Speech Solutions (Page 41) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Voice Value (Page 42) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Voice Value (Page 43) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Forward Thinking (Page 44) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Forward Thinking (Page Cover3) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Forward Thinking (Page Cover4)
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