ISG Software Research Analyst Perspectives

Cicero Has Smart Agent Desktop for Contact Centers

Posted by ISG Research on 28 November 2010

My research over seven years persistently shows that the two main business objectives in a contact center are to reduce average call-handling time (AHT) and improve customer satisfaction. It doesn't seem unreasonable to ask why after all this time most companies haven't come up with solutions to these challenges. To find the answer, I think you have to look at the causes. I believe the big two... Read More

Topics: Operational Performance, Analytics, Contact Center

Contact Center Analytics Help Reduce Average Call-Handling Time

Posted by ISG Research on 28 November 2010

My research continues to show that the most important key performance indicator (KPI) for call centers is average call-handling time (AHT). Furthermore, second in importance only to improving customer satisfaction is the challenge of reducing operating costs, which invariably involves trying to reduce AHT, which contact centers need to do without negatively impacting customer satisfaction. An... Read More

Topics: Operational Performance, Analytics, Call Center, Contact Center, CRM

Will Cloud Computing Finally Bring Innovation to the Contact Center?

Posted by ISG Research on 27 November 2010

I have been associated with the contact center industry for more than 20 years, first as a systems integrator building centers and more recently covering it as an analyst with Ventana Research. From this experience I have distilled three major observations: that centers are dominated by technology, that they change very slowly and that performance is largely judged by the average handling time... Read More

Topics: Operational Performance, Cloud Computing, Contact Center

Upstream Works Helps Improve Contact Center Performance

Posted by ISG Research on 27 November 2010

Anyone involved in running a contact center is aware of the imperatives my research has highlighted: reduce operating costs, transition to multichannel support, raise customer satisfaction levels and increase up-sales. On a daily basis, these demands spur managers to focus on reducing average handling times, increasing first-call-resolution rates, optimizing agent utilization, delivering more... Read More

Topics: Operational Performance, Call Center, Contact Center, Upstream Works