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Call Center Operations: Profiting From
Teleservices by Charles E.Day,softcover, 486 pages, 2000, $65.00 |
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:
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Analyze the gains possible from call centers
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Fill a variety of business needs with integrated telephone and computing technologies
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Integrate telephone services and computing with efficient, effective technologies
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Link databases, call handling, workstations, GUIs, legacy systems, software packages, and networks for a better bottom line
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Explore practical, profitable applications of CTI in depth
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Test-run a call center with out-of-house resources
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Get new ideas for call center uses from examples throughout the book
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Expand your customer base and improve relationships with existing customers
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Boost employee performance
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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
- Introduction to Call Center Operations
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Relational Database Management Systems (RDMS)
- Popular RDMS Choices and Why
- Operating Performance
- Sales-Related Information
- Marketing, Trend, and Planning Analyses
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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