Remote call forwarding for enterprises with local business branches might become a thing of the past. Verizon Business, today, announced a new service called Verizon VoIP Inbound with Local Originations.

The new voice-over-Internet-protocol service from Verizon allows businesses to create a local face using a local phone number that can direct overflow calls as needed to off-site (centralized) call centers adding a new level of personalization to businesses handling customer calls. "Enterprises may want to demonstrate that they have a local presence even though they use contact centers," explained Alla Reznik, Director of Global Contact Centers for Verizon in an interview with FierceVoIP.

Generally prior to this new service, companies would use the same toll-free number for all their branches, and if a company wanted to have a local number presence they had to employ a work around using remote call forwarding to route to a toll-free number and call center. "Remote call forwarding has been used very widely, to the point where managers didn't realize how inefficient it is," said Reznik. With the old remote call forwarding, enterprise customers must design the route, pay for local calls, pay for the toll free charges as well as other charges.

Additionally, the new service integrates with Verizon IP Interactive Voice Response, can deliver customer calls to either traditional or IP-based contact centers, and by being a network solution it can stay up in the event of local network outages.

Frost & Sullivan has named Alcatel-Lucent its EMEA Inbound Contact Routing Systems Market Penetration Leader for 2009. The Frost & Sullivan Award for Market Leadership Penetration is presented each year to the company whose product innovation, marketing and sales strategies have enabled it to gain the most market share in the past two to three years.


"Alcatel-Lucent is recognised for its clear understanding of EMEA's small- and medium-size business (SMB) contact center market requirements and its equally clear vision for addressing those demands," noted Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Joe Outlaw. "The company also leverages market-leading contact center technology from Genesys, a leader in customer service software, and a core part of the Alcatel-Lucent enterprise portfolio of which the company is commended for designing systems that are flexible, easy-to-use, and deliver lower cost of ownership - all critical SMB requirements."

Source: PR Newswire

Although the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector is still growing briskly after 10 years, labor supply remains to be a big concern of the industry.

A Call Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) study shows call centers have an attrition rate of 19 percent, with an employee acceptance rate of just 5 percent. Increasing attrition rates, higher demand for complex skills, and industry growth have intensified the demand for more specialized training services.

“The demand for skilled workers has risen as the BPO industry has become increasingly complex. We have seen training become a key differentiator among BPOs, as it drives talent acquisition, retention, and development,” says Jon Kaplan President of TeleDevelopment Services (TDS).

“We believe that successful companies in the industry are characterized not just by their technology, service offerings, and clients, but also by the skills of their workforce. As a BPO support services firm, we recognize our role in the development of a qualified workforce,” he explained.

Source : Manila Bulletin

A single negative experience with a customer call center would likely cause 68 percent of the respondents to take their business elsewhere, according to a recent survey released byTeleperformance ( News - Alert), an outsourced contact center vendor.

The results of the customer care survey, Teleperformance officials said, show that the quality of experience with a company's customer contact center determines consumer sentiment and brand loyalty.

Survey results also revealed consumers expect excellent service in return for brand loyalty, finding that 87 percent of people felt they had a right to a better contact center experience if they regularly spend money with a company or stay loyal to a brand.

Almost exactly half of people said the main reason for their dissatisfaction with a company is poor customer service or a bad contact center experience.

The survey was commissioned by Teleperformance and conducted by YouGov. Over 1,000 U.S. adult consumers completed the survey recently.

As its call center volume continues to dwindle, J.C. Penney is shuttering another facility. The general merchant will close its call center in Midlothian, VA, on March 26, according to company spokesperson Tim Lyons.

The Chesterfield County call center in employs 252 associates, who largely fill part-time positions, Lyons says. “Our call center network primarily handles incoming phone orders and customer service for our catalog business,” he says. “It's closing due to a continuing decline in call volume as customers continue to migrate to shopping online.”

J.C. Penney announced in November it will stop publishing its semiannual “big book” catalog. Instead, it plans to focus on specialty catalogs, and invest more in its Web store and digital services and social media.

Online orders already generate more sales volume than the paper catalogs, Lyons says. J.C. Penney’s online sales were about $1.5 billion in 2008.

The retailer shut down a catalog call center in Carmichael, CA, a year ago. It had closed a contact center in Scranton, PA, in 2008. Lyons says J.C. Penney has four other call centers--in Columbus, OH; Pittsburgh, PA; Grand Rapids, MI; Albuquerque, NM.

Empire State Development today announced that a call center will  locate in Penn Yan and create 450 new jobs.
Data Listing Services, LLC,  parent company of The Connection—a leader in outsourced call center services—will expand its existing presence in New York state. The Connection will invest approximately $4.5 million in this new call center.  This facility will be the company’s third location in state, with operations presently in Jamestown and Olean.

The call center will ramp up over a three-year period.  These workers will be hired in three phases, 150 employees at a time. The first phase of hiring will be completed in the first quarter of 2010, with the third and final phase being completed by the end of 2011.