Call center performance management software is now recognized as a valuable solution to a long-standing problem. Much of the information within most contact centers is still collected and stored in disparate systems. Each system typically has its own reports, making it very difficult to make cohesive and accurate decisions based on data that can’t be properly compared and analyzed. With the advent of call center performance management software, companies can now cost-effectively merge all of their bits and pieces of inter-related intelligence from multiple applications and multiple locations into one big chunk of consolidated, actionable information.

With real-time call center performance management software, organizations can collect data pertaining to the vast number of interactions handled, such as how they are classified and evaluated. Call center performance management software can show managers which and how many coaching sessions have been taken, review employee skills, their performance over time, and much more. With color-coded drill-through reports, managers can rapidly identify employees displaying outstanding and poor performance. Reasons for poor responses to sales and marketing campaigns or product launches can be accurately identified much more quickly – based upon detailed, just-in-time analysis of specific areas of concern. To help enable this, innovative call center performance management software systems offer the most meaningful, consolidated performance metrics used by contact centers today and standardized data collectors for popular PBXs, ACDs, WFM and CRM solutions.

Empowering Front-line Employees with Real-time KPIs and Notifications:

Given that contact center agents account for two-thirds of contact center overhead costs, companies are also looking for ways to get more out of these front-line employees. Typically, contact center employees want to do well and are competitive in nature. A real-time call center performance management software system that helps deliver real-time information provides immediate feedback and reinforcement to motivate quality and performance improvements – it empowers employees to quickly get where they want to be. The combination of greater, faster responsiveness and better decisions translates to increased staff morale, productivity and utilization.

Rapid, Outstanding Results:

A group of highly successful, progressive contact centers have achieved rapid, outstanding results with the latest real-time call center performance management software systems. By delivering the right information to the right employees at the right time, based on individual or contact center performance, they are empowering their staff to make immediate, accurate decisions and properly change direction on an intraday basis. For example, shortly after implementing real-time employee desktop tickers and integrated electronic coaching, major retailer 1-800-FLOWERS.COM experienced five additional sales per employee per day and a significant three percent increase in overall sales conversions. A leading U.S. bank achieved a 16 percent reduction in outbound talk time, a 34 percent increase in average speed of answer, and a 37 percent improvement in abandon rate – resulting in a quick return on their investment in less than 60 days. By empowering their employees with real-time desktop performance tickers and notifications, a global telecommunications leader recently reduced talk time by ten percent, decreased their post-call wrap time by 12 percent, boosted call quality scores by 14 percent, increased instant payments by 13 percent and increased dollars collected by five percent – resulting in the generation of several million dollars.

To learn more about best practices for using and the latest developments in Call Center Performance Management Software, visit VPI-corp.

Patrick Botz serves as Corporate Vice President of Solutions Marketing for VPI (Voice Print International), the leading provider of interactions recording, contact center quality management and performance optimization solutions. Leveraging more than a decade of field experience as a CRM and contact center practitioner, he focuses on the mission-critical aspects of capturing customer intelligence and optimizing business processes and workforce performance. Patrick’s work has been published in Customer Inter@ction Solutions, Business Management, Contact Professional, Call Center Magazine, Connections Magazine and Contact Center World. Patrick holds an MBA from Pepperdine University and a BSE in Engineering from Arizona State University.

All too often, business teams are hamstrung because they receive untimely information that reports performance rather than actionable metrics. “In a variety of ways, these executives say the same thing: they get balance sheets and profit and loss statements, but they have no way of knowing what’s causing the numbers to trend up or down,” says Emaus. “Because they don’t know the cause of the trend, it is largely unknown whether to focus efforts on certain offices, targeted geographic locations, certain salespeople, specific products, or a particular type of client.”

“In today’s environment, the growth organization needs to think fast, move fast, and embrace change,” says Emaus. With the global economy pressuring the market to build virtual and instant locations, executives need accurate, real-time, standardized information that is accessible to all levels of management and key employees. “That actionable information is especially crucial for growing a business or a multi-location enterprise,” says Emaus, whose company integrates NetSuite for businesses of all sizes, particularly multi-location, global and/or franchise organizations. “Now we are talking about the NetSuite 360-degree view of a business, department, and/or location.”

NetSuite’s two primary advantages are ease of integration and information accessibility. NetSuite integrates its four major components – sales (CRM), back office (ERP), support, and eCommerce – and makes them accessible in one system via the Internet, offering a business owner no limits on growth, management, and reach. According to Emaus, “NetSuite provides a true single view of the customer – the lead, the prospect, the product or service, the invoice, and the support. So, when a salesperson needs a history of buying patterns, they see it in real-time. When someone from accounting wants to see which products or services have been invoiced, he or she can reference the same record as the salesperson. And, when the support staff needs to view the knowledge base, they can refer to the same record and attach alerts back to sales.”

Because NetSuite is an on-demand solution, it triggers positive payback by eliminating the restraints of the traditional client/server environment. The result enables users to access relevant and timely information from anywhere/anytime.

But Emaus emphasizes that the software alone isn’t enough. “Our customers generally understand immediately that an integrated, on-demand Software as a Solution (SaaS) requires business engineers who understand their industries and goals. It requires an understanding in business first, and technology second. Delivering 360-degree collaboration tailored around a variety of industries is the true differentiator for eEnterprise.”

Concludes Emaus, “Larry Ellison pioneered the Internet for the Enterprise. Now he and NetSuite are pioneering it for the SMB market. The Internet has been his baby, and for him to acknowledge that the Small-Medium Size Business (SMB) market is where the drive is tells me he hasn’t lost his game. We’re thankful for that.”