Date: September 1, 2010

Host: Bruce Belfiore, CEO of BenchmarkPortal

Guest: Dayne Petersen, Call Center Expert

Below is the Recording of the show:

For more show recordings please visit www.calltalk.tv/Audioarchives or Calltalk archives in Benchmarkportal’s website

Date: August 18, 2010

Host: Bruce Belfiore, CEO of BenchmarkPortal

Guest: Steve Silver, Consultant

Below is the Recording of the show:

For more show recordings please visit www.calltalk.tv/Audioarchives or Calltalk archives in Benchmarkportal’s website

AVAYA International Predictive Dialer User Group

Sharing knowledge and experience for over 19 years

http://www.avayapdsusergroup.com/

Dear, Call Center Manager

It’s that time again! Plan to join us Monday, September 20 through Wednesday, September 22, 2010 for the AVAYA Predictive Dialer User Group Training Summit & Vendor Expo, being held at the Suncoast Hotel & Casino in exciting Las Vegas, Nevada. This year we have continued the focus on dialer productivity, utilization, reporting mixed with a host of ancillary product offerings and opportunities. The summit will feature “how to” sessions on some of the more advanced uses of your equipment. We have also included self-help sessions such as project management. Meet new key vendor partners offering award-winning solutions to make your call center even more successful. We hope you will invest your time to get the most out of your system to increase your customer contacts effectively and efficiently. Here are just a few of the highlights to help get you there-

Call Center Idol:

We all know that no two call centers are alike and many users are able to overcome challenges by some time utilizing the PDS in ways it was never intended to be used. This will be an open discussion session for users to share those ideas. At the end of the session, the audience will vote on the most significant deployment in PDS utilization. In 2009 it was SWBC and this year it could be you! The 2010 winner will receive a digital SLR Camera!

Becoming more than an average call center: Stephen Vieau the winner of 2009 call center idol will conduct a session showing how to get the most out of your system including troubleshooting, data mining and open source application available to increase performance and utilization.

Dialer Problem Survivor: A fun, interactive session designed to teach skills necessary to keep your AVAYA PDS up and running at maximum efficiency including dialer maintenance.

AVAYA Voice Portal: Not only an industry leading IVR & Self Service application, it is the foundation for the next generation outbound application from Avaya -Proactive Outreach Manager(POM). In addition, Voice Portal is the entrée point to

Avaya’s next generation contact center, Aura, and as such it brings with it SIP connectivity, increased scale, access to web services, multi-channel capabilities, and much more. This session will cover how current and future releases of Proactive Outreach Manager combines with Voice Portal to raise the bar for proactive outbound contact.

Managing Your Projects: Self Improvement, presenting, justifying and completing projects in a timely, effective way is the key to success. This session will show you best practices on managing all your projects not just dialers!

Call Center Round Table: This open session provides you with the ability to help build a world-class call center by listing the issues we all face as a part of our daily business. With the help of our vender partners, we’ll work together on resolving them.

AVAYA: Proactive Contact - 4.2 & 5.0  A look at what's new, what's coming and roadmap of feature changes.

Call Center Incentive Plans: Is your call center incentive plan helping, hurting or doing nothing? This session will look at the myths misconceptions of numerous plans including a study conducted as to what the agents think. After the session an open forum will be held to build the ultimate incentive program.

Open Forum with AVAYA: Your chance to ask AVAYA representatives what’s in store for 2011.

Strategies and Record Selections: We continue drilling down into functionality and usage of this critical part of the system . This session conducted by  both AVAYA staff and experienced users. Have your questions or problems ready.

…and So Much More..!

Gold Service Award: You have the opportunity to nominate an AVAYA employee for the 2010 AVAYA User Group Gold Service Award which is presented each year to an AVAYA employee that has gone above and beyond the call of duty in providing help or solutions to call center problems. This is a great way to thank someone for a job well done. To enter your nomination, simply bring a brief write-up of the circumstances, along with the employee’s name and submit the information at the registration desk or to any committee member no later than 12:00 noon Wednesday, September 22, 2010. If you don’t recall the individual’s name, provide as much information as possible, including the approximate date of the incident and we will make every attempt to identify the nominee.

Meeting Agenda Summary

Ø Monday, September 20, 2010 6:30PM-10:00PM Cocktail reception & Vendor Exposition*

Ø Tuesday, September 21, 2010 8:00AM Breakfast, followed by user sessions.

Ø Tuesday evening, September 21 Networking dinner event & early registration prize drawing

Ø Wednesday, September 22, 2010 8:00AM Breakfast, followed by user sessions. Gold Service Award after lunch.

Ø Wednesday, September 22, 2010 4:30PM Conference ends with door prize drawings.

*Vendor Exposition runs concurrently throughout conference

*Special Pre-Conference Training Session–Advanced Use of Microsoft Excel

Training takes place on Monday afternoon, before the start of the conference, but space is limited. Participants work from a laptop using data from their systems. The laptop is yours to keep at training’s end! The cost is $1,200.00 per person which includes conference fees. Contact the registration office at: 724-947-5453 for more details or email info@avayapdsusergroup.com. *Registration for this training session ends 8/15/10 or when class is filled.

REGISTRATION/FEES:

AVAYA PCS / PDS users: $ 429.00 (US) All Others: $ 679.00 (US)

All registration fees are per person and cover all meals and networking opportunities. You may invite a spouse or guest to the reception and networking event for a cost of $129.00 (US) per person. Please complete a registration form for each attendee. Fax to (724) 947-5676, call to register by phone (724) 947-5453

Cancellation Policy: Cancellations received 60 days or more prior to conference are subject to a 30% handling fee; no refund for cancellations received less than 60 days prior to conference.)

We sincerely hope to see you in September for an exciting, information-packed event! Once registered, you will receive an email confirmation letter and a more detailed agenda. If you require travel directions or have any questions regarding the conference, please visit the group’s web site at: http://www.avayapdsusergroup.com/ or contact any member of the Executive Committee listed below.

Sincerely,

The Executive Committee of the AVAYA PDS User Group:

Bill Schmiedecke Tammy Givens,

(412) 762-5651 (214) 505-0477

Tony Chambers Alex Demczak

(804) 594-1055 (724) 947-5453

AVAYA PDS USER GROUP MISSION STATEMENT

To provide a vehicle for AVAYA predictive dialer users to increase their knowledge on proper operation, utilization, and maintenance of their systems and other call center solutions in an environment conducive to networking.

http://www.avayapdsusergroup.com

Training To Build A World Class Call Center

2010 AVAYA International Predictive Dialer User Group

Meeting & Training Expo

Monday, September 20 – Wednesday, September 22 2010

Registration form- Please complete one form for each registrant. Return by mail, email or fax.

To register by phone call the Conference Office at (724) 947-5453 Fax 724-947-5676.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

First Name Last Name Spouse name if guest

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Company & Title

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Business Address

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

City State Zip Country

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Phone Email Address

*Please provide User Information: #Number AVAYA PDS Dialers You Have: ________Total Seats:________

Registration/fees

(All funds due in US dollars; fees include conference and meals; excludes hotel accommodations)

$ 429.00 (US) AVAYA users $698.00 (US) non-users

*spouse rate (reception/networking dinner event) $ 129.00 (US) AVAYA users $229.00 (US) non-users

* Advanced Excel Training (includes one registration) $ 1,200.00 (US)

$______________TOTAL PAID

Payment method: _____ By Check; All checks payable to MUG ENTERPRISE

_____ By Credit Card (M/C____ VISA____AMEX_____ Discover_____)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Card Number Expiration Date Card code (3 digits on rear of card)

Name on Card/Authorized Signature______________________________________________________________________________

Billing address (if different from above)____________ _______________________________________________________________

Mail to: AVAYA Predictive Dialer System User Group

1199 Eldersville Road

Burgettstown, PA. 15021

Hotel details: Suncoast Hotel & Casino www.suncoastcasino.com/groups

Phone: 866-636-7111

9090 Alta Drive,

Las Vegas, NV 89145

Rate: $55.00 Single or Double occupancy - these rates will be held until August 25, 2010.

Reference note: AVAYA User Group room block AVAYA10,

Credit card settlement service provided by MUG Enterprise

Date: July 21, 2010

Host: Bruce Belfiore, CEO of BenchmarkPortal

Guest: Tom Falkowski, Director, Patient Access Strategies — Allina Hospitals & Clinics

Below is the Recording of the show:

Speaker’s Notes:

Use of Auxillary states for call centers:

Purpose: Manage the workload, create effective schedules, maximize service level, budget accurately for staffing. When you know what it takes to complete all the work, you can manage more effectively and make better decisions on resourcing the services.

Types: Aux states-
Unpaid - Lunch
Paid - Break, Meeting, Training, Project, Email, Bio-Break, Automatic (Default, Extension Calls In or Out).

Using Aux and Call Activities together will represent all staffed time in a center.

Agent purposely select Aux to take themselves out of the call answering work state.  Generally it can be coded by the agent, using phone features to represent the activity that is being performed.

Have a feature button programmed on the phone or the computer screen if CTI. Be sure everyone uses it the same, and understands the meaning.

Great for mid to large call centers, especially ones that use WFM tool.  Create an understanding of shrinkage factors for scheduling, and also for budgeting.  Details can also be used performance management and for process improvement.  Some WFM packages can also use the AUX time to manage other processes, helping to appropriately schedule non-call activities.

WFM can build in Aux segments to be timed best with staffing.  Projects, Meetings, Breaks and Lunches.

Best to use real-time reporting to show AVAIL and AUX agents, and the length of time in state.  You can quickly lose control and have everyone in AUX states if you don”t watch.

There is a tendancy for staff to use AUX when it gets really busy, and when staff is new or lacks training on calls that are coming in.

The consideration for keeping simple non-aux workstates is when there are limited resources to answer calls.  These states need to be managed closely, both from a schedule adhearance as well as a real time call handling.  Can”t always count on blinking queue lights to get agents to change to available.  Can often see non-available work states abused, especially when supervisory resources are slim.   So, sometimes it is better to emphasize “Availability” vs. the details of non-call workload.

Sometimes having an “everyone” available timeframe is essential.  It makes sense to limit the reporting needs of Aux when either seasonal volume or promotional volume hits unexpectedly.  When calls go deeply into queue and seem endless, adopting the everyone available methodology can get calls out of queue and fairly distribute work.  People in AUX are the reserve to call on.  Typically can adjust non-call activities or delay that work in a manner which is much less visible to a customer.

Abuse can include changing the workstate of the phone to make other team members look available longer….therefore avoiding calls. The other is to login, but not to hit the available button…show as logged in but not getting calls routed.  If you don”t set specific parameters on projects or other activities, agents will spend more time than planned or do it when they need to be on calls.  Use scheduling and adherence rules?

Many center have rules to minimize AUX for agents, especially the areas with high productivity needs.  Those same centers use “Escalation” teams, “Seniors” or “Leads” who take the more difficult calls or work on other projects.  Those teams generally have liberal AUX rules.  Be sure to monitor those teams closely, as they often turn the most productive people into much less productive people, as the supervision watches everyone else.

Generally speaking, AUX utilization needs to be determined by the management of the team.  It is better to control the use of it, and monitor all activity. But it can be extremely beneficial when used correctly.

For more show recordings please visit www.calltalk.tv/Audioarchives or Calltalk archives in Benchmarkportal’s website

Date: June 14, 2010

Host: Bruce Belfiore, CEO of BenchmarkPortal

Guest: Barbara Burke, Call Center Consultant

Below is the Recording of the show:

for more show recordings please visit www.calltalk.tv/Audioarchives or Calltalk archives in Benchmarkportal’s website

Date: June 30, 2010

Host: Bruce Belfiore, CEO of BenchmarkPortal

Guest: Dr. Bill Davis, Director and Account Executive

Below is the Recording of the show:

for more show recordings please visit www.calltalk.tv/Audioarchives or Calltalk archives in Benchmarkportal’s website

“Certification is such a distinction because it is based on best-practice metrics drawn from the world’s largest database of contact center metrics,” explains Dr. Jon Anton, Director of Benchmark Research at Purdue. “This achievement confirms the call center’s ability to deliver service that is both efficient and effective.”

Participation in the program “demonstrates Concordia’s ongoing commitment to achieving service excellence in the most cost-effective ways possible,” shares Jeffrey Johnson, Customer Service Manager for the company. “Said another way, its good stewardship by this company on behalf of the congregations, schools, and individuals we serve.” Johnson emphasizes, “This award is a testament to the entire Customer Service team; it was a team effort. We are proud of the entire group.”

CPH’s Customer Call Center averages more than 98,000 calls per year. Calls are managed by 8 full-time employees. More than 95% of CPH customers give their experience with the CPH Call Center a perfect score for overall satisfaction. “We are serious about building longtime relationships with our customers,” shares Gerry Puglisi, Emeritus Executive Director of Quality Systems “Our customers are loyal, engaged advocates for CPH’s mission and we applaud our Customer Service team for their outstanding contribution at the front-line of our customer-focus efforts.”

“We are proud of the CPH team,” says President & Chief Executive Officer, Bruce G. Kintz. “This recognition is a clear affirmation of their dedication to our mission and vision. We exist to strengthen and support the ministry of congregations; excellence in service at all levels is essential in pursuing that mission.”

Call Centers achieve the Center of Excellence distinction based on a best-practice metrics drawn from the world’s largest database of objective and quantitative data that is audited and validated by researchers from the BenchmarkPortal in conjunction with the Center for Customer-Driven Quality at Purdue University.

Since companies spend vast amounts of money implementing and operating call centers to ensure a competitive edge in customer service, it is vital that the call handling process be conducted at best practice standards. This need to function at best practice levels has, in turn, created the need for third-party certification that shows when call centers are operating at this high level of call handling performance. Please follow the link do discover what the 4 steps to certification are and how they will improve your centers performance. www.benchmarkportal.com/certification

About BenchmarkPortal

BenchmarkPortal is the custodian of the Purdue Research Foundation database of contact center performance metrics, the largest such database in the world.  The data is collected in conjunction with the Center for Customer-Driven Quality™ at Purdue University. In 2005, BenchmarkPortal received U.S. Patent #6,877,034 for its unique methodology of call center performance evaluation through metric gap analysis. BenchmarkPortal provides industry reports, and professional services for contact centers in the areas of operational metrics, customer satisfaction measurement, and agent satisfaction measurement. For more information about BenchmarkPortal visit our Web site at: www.BenchmarkPortal.com

Please visit one of our communities: Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter

About Concordia Publishing House

Concordia Publishing House is a not-for-profit publishing company and the publisher of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The company offers more than 8,000 products for use in Christian congregations, schools, and homes.

Tags: Call Center, Call Center Consulting, Call Center Certification, Concordia Publishing House, BenchmarkPortal

BenchmarkPortal

Purdue Research Park

3000 Kent Avenue

West Lafayette, IN 47906

Direct 805-465-7201 ext.1

Date: June 17, 2010

Host: Bruce Belfiore, CEO of BenchmarkPortal

Guest: John Chatterley, Call Center Industry Expert

Below is the Recording of the show:

for more show recordings please visit www.calltalk.tv/Audioarchives or Calltalk archives in Benchmarkportal’s website

“The certification of Delta Dental of Arkansas is a direct result of its leadership’s commitment to balancing cost-effective service solutions with best-in-class service performance,” said Dr. Jon Anton of Purdue University’s Center for Customer-Driven Quality. “It is an achievement of distinction.”

Call Centers achieve the Center of Excellence distinction based on a best-practice metrics drawn from the world’s largest database of objective and quantitative data that is audited and validated by researchers from the BenchmarkPortal in conjunction with the Center for Customer-Driven Quality at Purdue University.

Ed Choate, president and CEO of Delta Dental of Arkansas said, “This distinguished certification tells us we are achieving our goal of delivering world class customer service. It also validates the feedback we consistently receive from our subscriber satisfaction surveys that show an overwhelming majority of respondents pleased with their call center contact.”

The certification is based on best-practice metrics drawn from the world’s largest database of call center information. Centers that attain certification do so on the basis of objective, quantitative data, which is audited and validated by researchers from BenchmarkPortal and the Center for Customer-Driven Quality.

About BenchmarkPortal

BenchmarkPortal is the custodian of the Center for Customer-Driven Quality’s database of contact center metrics, the largest in the world, founded in 1995 by Dr. Jon Anton at Purdue University. BenchmarkPortal is an industry leader in call center industry reports, call center training, and call center certification worldwide. BenchmarkPortal’s Web site can be found at: http://www.benchmarkportal.com

Please visit one of our communities: Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter

About Delta Dental of Arkansas
Delta Dental has been writing group dental insurance since 1982 and currently serves more than 1,000 participating Arkansas dentists, 2,700 employer groups and more than 1.7 million lives. Delta Dental is the largest dental benefits provider in the state of Arkansas and is a member of Delta Dental Plans Association, a national network of independent not-for-profit dental service corporations specializing in providing dental benefits programs to 51 million Americans in more than 93,000 employee groups throughout the country. For more information about Delta Dental visit www.deltadentalar.com.

BenchmarkPortal

Purdue Research Park

3000 Kent Avenue

West Lafayette, IN 47906

Direct 805-465-7201

January 7th, 2010 by Peggy Carlaw

pcarlaw@impactlearning.com

Impact Learning Systems, a call center training company

Keeping customer service costs low while keeping customer satisfaction high is especially difficult in a struggling economy. Many companies respond by cutting staff in order to meet short-term financial targets. When the economy improves, they then ramp back up in an attempt to regain lost customers and boost the loyalty of the customers who remain.

While this approach can certainly reduce costs, it also reduces customer satisfaction and loyalty. A better way to approach the issue is to put more focus on taking care of the customer’s issue during the first call. Improving first call resolution (FCR) not only impacts the cost of operations, but simultaneously affects customer satisfaction and retention. By improving FCR and reducing the total volume of repeat calls, you can significantly lower service time and the overall cost to serve the customer. From a customer’s perspective, improved FCR translates directly to higher customer satisfaction which ultimately impacts the bottom line by boosting customer loyalty and revenues. As a matter of fact, having the issue resolved on the first call has been cited in many studies as being the number one driver of customer satisfaction.

Let’s look at a few numbers:

• According to the Yankee Group, 30% to 35% of calls coming into the average center are repeat customer calls that require expensive “rework” by customer service representatives. What does this mean to you?
  • Start with your cost per call. If you’re not sure what that is, use $5-$10 for a basic consumer customer service inquiry and $20-$45 for a Level 1 technical support issue.
  • Multiply that by the number of your repeat calls. If you don’t currently measure, use 30-35% of your total calls.
  • Calculate what the operational savings would be if you improved resolution rates by only 10%

As an example, let’s say a call center gets 100,000 calls per month. If the cost per call is $10, and 30% of calls are repeat calls, the cost of the repeat calls is $300,000 per month. A mere 10% reduction would yield a savings of $30,000 per month or $360,000 per year. Make the cost of a call $25, and the annual savings would be $900,000.

Not sure this can be done? Check out Motorola and Altitude Software. These two companies recently improved their first call resolution rates while simultaneously increasing customer satisfaction. With commitment from the top and a modest investment, you can do it too.

And if you have a complex situation where first call resolution isn’t realistic, just reducing the time to resolution can make a big difference. Industry Week reported on a large automotive manufacturer trying to increase market share in a new market by establishing a strong brand name and a superior customer service reputation. They wanted to deliver high quality service coupled with quick resolution of customer issues. One of their biggest challenges in achieving their goal of superior customer service was the time dedicated to warranty claims resolution. Once the issue was addressed, claims resolution time went from 174 days to 52 days. Warranty costs were reduced by 34% and customer satisfaction sky rocketed.

How do you improve first call resolution?

Unfortunately, there’s no silver bullet. You need to focus on three areas: people, process, and product.

People

In order to speed call resolution rates, be sure your agents have good listening skills, are focused on solving the right problem, and employ top-notch troubleshooting skills. They need to sound confident, anticipate related questions that the customer might have, and follow-through on the commitments they make to the customer.

Process

Sit with agents and watch them handle calls. They need to have information at their fingertips if they’re going to resolve issues on the first call. That could be as simple as a binder with procedures in it or as complex as an online knowledge base. Look at the accuracy of the information they’re giving callers. For example, are agents saying the product will arrive in 5-7 days when shipping has changed procedures and it’s now 7-10? Can you give agents the authority to handle basic issues-like authorizing returns up to a certain dollar limit-in order to avoid escalating or returning the call?

Product

Are you having quality issues? Is something continuing to fail time and time again? Are people calling back about the same failure issue? If so, what can you do to fix it?

Listen to the types of complaints that are driving repeat calls and examine your people, processes, and product to see what you can do to improve first call resolution.

Tags: First Call Resolution, Call Center, Contact Center, FCR, Impact Learning, BenchmarkPortal