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In this expert guide, one of the leading computer-telecom integration (CTI) consultants in the United States shows you call center deployment and operation from the inside out.  Exposing new uses, cost-cutting technologies, efficiency-boosting strategies, and assessment methods with superior accuracy, famed authority Charles E. Day makes it clear why call center operations increased by more than 700% between 1983 and 1997, and continue to grow.

The heartbeats of many of today's businesses - serving functions as diverse as telemarketing, customer ordering and service, help desks, inside sales, reservations, and financial services by phone-call centers offer one of the best paradigms for coaxing every bit of efficiency-boosting power from new communications and computing technologies.

In these pages, Charles E. Day, and expert who has helped hundreds of well-known businesses deploy and improve call centers, demonstrates how to maximize call center efficiency, yields, and cost savings in your business.  Inside, you'll find page after page of ways to:

• Analyze the gains possible from call centers

• Fill a variety of business needs with integrated telephone and computing technologies

• Integrate telephone services and computing with efficient, effective technologies

• Link databases, call handling, workstations, GUIs, legacy systems, software packages, and networks for a better bottom line

• Explore practical, profitable applications of CTI in depth

• Test-run a call center with out-of-house resources

• Get new ideas for call center uses from examples throughout the book

• Expand your customer base and improve relationships with existing customers

• Boost employee performance

• Design a state-of-the-art call center that optimizes use of available resources and potential return

Packed  with detailed strategies that translate technology into business solutions, this guide is clear enough for a novice to use.  Charles E. Day's Call Center Operations is a resource likely to pay for itself by several orders of magnitude.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Call Center Operations
2. Management, Business, and Marketing
   • Call Center Business Applications
   • Business-to-Consumer Campaigns
   • Business-to-Business Teleservices
   • Technology Vendor Management
   • Facilities Issues
   • Human Resource Management and Motivation
   • Disaster Recovery Preparedness
   • Call Center Organization and Structure
   • Database Management and Value
   • Teleservices Laws and Federal Regulations
3. Telecommunications and Network Facilities
   • Analog Systems and Facilities
   • Digital Network Facilities
   • Long-Distance Common Carrier Services
   • LEC Capabilities
   • Independent Telephone Companies,Aggregators, and Integrators
   • Network-Based PBX/ACD Functionality
   • Integrated Services Digital Networks(ISDN)
   • ISDN Basic Rate Interface(BRI)
   • ISDN Applications
   • Centrex Services
   • Central Office Network Provisioning and Facilities
   • Independent Network Features: Voice Response, Voice Messaging, and Automated Attendant
4. Premise-Based Telephone Systems
   • Private Branch Exchange (PBX)
   • Private Branch Exchange Features
   • Automatic Call Distributor (ACD)
   • Analog Facilities and Channel Banks
   • Key Equipment
   • Voice Messaging, Prompting, Automated Attendant, Interactive Voice Response
   • Station Equipment and Consoles
   • Private Networks, Inter-Machine Trunkage, Virtual Networks
   • Local Trunkage and Facilities
5. Telecom Industry Perspective
   • Industry Organization and Participants
   • Federal Regulations
   • Rates and Tariffs
   • Special Assemblies and Negotiated Rates
   • Competition Among Local, Long Distance, and Cable Providers
   • Bypass and Private Networking
   • The Emerging Role of Internet and Call Centers
6. Automatic and Predictive Dialing
   • Why Automated Dialing
   • Manual Dialing Procedures
   • Federal Regulations and Industry Views
   • Relationships and Business with a Called Party
   • Technology Differences in Voice Detection and Predictive Algorithms
   • Blended Call Center Applications for Callbacks
   • Key Measurements on Dialing Effectiveness, Database Penetration, and Productivity
7. Client/Server Technology
   • Screen Presentations for Call Center Representatives
   • Typical System Configurations
   • Operating Performance Considerations
   • Advanced Applications for PC-Based Systems
   • Interfaces with Legacy Host Processors
   • Server Versus Client Applications and Data Access
   • Thin PCs and Remote Server Applications
   • Internet Interfaces
   • Computer-Telephone Integration
8. Graphical User Interface (GUI) and Legacy Hosts
   • Windows Versus Character-Based Systems
   • Using the Mouse in Call Center Applications
   • Organizing Data for Telephone Conversations
   • Screen Scraping Opportunities with Character-Based Systems
   • Multiple Sessions with Host Processors and Other Applications
   • Hot Keying to Different Systems
9. Relational Database Management Systems (RDMS)
   • Popular RDMS Choices and Why
   • Operating Performance
   • Sales-Related Information
   • Marketing, Trend, and Planning Analyses
10. Call Center Software Packages and Systems
    • Key Performance Criteria
    • Evaluation and Selection Process
    • What Typically Goes Wrong with Implementations
    • Mixing and Matching System Components
    • Know Thou Primary Applications, Priorities, Affordable Requirements, and Supplier Capabilities
    • Blended Applications Environment
    • To Build or Not to Build
11. Computer - Telephone Integration (CTI)
    • Established Link Interfaces
    • PC Software, PBX/ACD, LAN Vendor Standards
    • Popular Applications
    • What Can Go Wrong
    • Overlooked Opportunities
    • IVR Applications
    • Operating Performance and Cybernetic Considerations
12. Workload Management, Forecasting, and Staff Schedule Modeling
    • Fundamental and Historical Reporting Requirements
    • Operating Versus Sales/Production Data Collections
    • What's an Erlang?
    • Busy-Hour Analyses with Central Offices and Common Carriers
    • Staff Scheduling Models
    • Economies of Scale in Sizing Functional Agent Groups
    • Blended Agent Environments
    • After-call Work, Fulfillment, and Correspondence Handling by Agents
13. How Does Your Call Center Measure Up?
    • Using Technology That Complements Clientele and Employees
    • Industry Standards for Call Center Benchmarking
    • Areas Often Overlooked in Performance Gains
    • Motivating Your Call Center Employees
    • The Significance of Universal and Blended Agent Environments
    • Physical Facilities Standards
    • Compensation and Benefit Planning
    • Multiple Call Centers and Remote Agent Benefits
14. Service Bureaus, Outsourcing, and Overflow
    • Applications Fitness for Service Bureaus and Outsourcing
    • Major Players
    • How to Select Call Center Service Agencies
    • What Can Go Wrong
    • Special Help Desk Considerations
    • Benchmark Considerations
    • Payment and Charging Methodologies
15. Reference Materials
    • Magazines and Periodicals
    • Vendors, Products, and Services Listing
    • Conferences and Exhibits
    • Associations and Related Organizations
    • Selecting Consulting Services
    • Major Works and Publications

• Appendix A: Glossary
• Appendix B: Vendor Services and Products: A Call Center Buyers' Guide
• Appendix C: Service Bureaus and Outsource Agencies: A Teleservice Agency Roundup
• Appendix D: Erlang Tables: Calculations for Staff Scheduling
• Appendix E: Listing of Call Center Consulting Organizations
• Appendix F: Knowledge and Skill Assessment Action Plan: CSR/TSR Coaching  and Monitoring Tool