Spectrum Analytics & ROI White Paper

TECHNOLOGY, ANALYTICS AND THE SUCCESSFUL CONTACT CENTER

SPECTRUM CORPORATION - TIMELY INFORMATION IS OUR BUSINESS! 1

Spectrum Corporation 10048 Easthaven Blvd. Houston, Texas 77075 Phone: 713-944-6200 Toll Free: 800-392-5050 www.specorp.com


Using Technology and Key Performance Data to Optimize Your Contact Center



INTRODUCTION Contact Centers want to provide the highest level of customer service at the lowest possible cost to its organization. Making sure your team is well equipped and informed is an important part of achieving that goal. The key to performance optimization is turning meaningful information into an actionable data item for the Contact Center/NOC. This results in a reduction of operating costs, revenue increases and higher levels of service to the customer. The purpose of this document is to provide a brief explanation of certain Contact Center technology and how this technology can provide useful information to Contact Center Managers. These technologies can be used as data sources where information can be extracted and displayed to agents and managers. This actionable information allows customer facing employees and managers the ability to make quality decisions essential to the day-to-day operations and the overall success of the company. WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT Workforce Management Software - Software systems that, depending on available modules, forecast call load, calculate staff requirements, organize schedules and track real-time performance of individuals and groups.

• Streamline time-consuming administrative tasks and reduce paperwork • Improve agent performance and morale by giving them a degree of control over their

own schedule • Give supervisors better information to manage agent performance and schedule

adherence • Execute scheduling changes and trades fairly, reducing agent complaints and relieving

supervisory headaches

The most common functions that call centers with WFM systems are able to perform are: skills-based scheduling (75.2%); historical adherence (72.9%); intraday (62%); real time adherence (58.9%); and payroll integration (22.5%). BenchmarkPortal, 10-1-2003 Agents have real-time access to current, future and past schedules, eliminating the need for manual paper schedule distribution. Supervisors use WFM tools to see their agents' schedules and to verify that agents have acknowledged schedule changes. If last minute changes are made, schedules are automatically updated and agents and supervisors are notified. WFM also improves agent adherence with pop-up windows with alerts to schedule changes and reminders of scheduled events like breaks, lunches and training as they occur throughout the day. The Workforce Management market is expected to more than double from $203.7 million today to $522.8 million by 2010, according to a report by Frost & Sullivan. Frost & Sullivan, 8-23-2004



Data Item Table:

Data Real time Historical Group Adherence Yes Yes Agent Adherence Yes Yes Schedule Yes Schedule Yes

Managerial review of schedule and adherence information provides a quick update of group/individual status. Managers with schedule and adherence issues will use this information to display current status. Information can be monitored in real time. Any problems or issues being addressed will show real time results. Managers can pinpoint any problem better and make the necessary adjustments to improve agent adherence. HELP DESK Help Desk- A term that generally refers to a call center set up to handle queries about product installation, usage or problems. The term is most often used in the context of computer software and hardware support centers. Help desks can be internal, supporting the organization or external supporting customers that purchased a product or service. The Help Desk is a central point through which problems or issues are reported and subsequently managed. From a wider perspective, it is also seen as a core part of the service function, responsible for bringing together multiple resources to address an issue. Because Help Desk users can be external or internal, the overall function is potentially critical in terms of both the organization's efficiency and the quality of direct support offered to customers. Help Desk Statistics not only constitute the current or past events, but also can help a Help Desk set goals for the next year. Example (Short list of activity and goals):

2003 Help Desk Statistics Work orders opened in 2003 = Work orders completed in 2003 = Average work orders opened per month = Average work orders completed per month = Average work orders completed per day = Average backlog level = Current backlog level=

7105 7002 592 584 27.6 291 299

Work Orders Completed by: Help Desk Staff = Programming Staff = Database Staff = Telecommunications Staff = Network Staff = Nicole Duplanty closed the most work orders with:

3526 814 368 1169 1125 713 66/month



Marian Bakan had the highest monthly average with: Jeff Keen had the most closed in one month with:

100

Help Desk goals for 2004: 1. Reduce number of work orders by aggressively training users. 2. Reduce backlog by increasing the number of completed work orders. 3. After bringing backlog under control; assign help desk staff projects designed to

reduce work orders, make processes more efficient and save money for the City. 4. Develop procedures that will allow help desk staff to close a majority of calls over

the phone instead of visiting workstations.

Data Item Table:

Data Real time Historical Tickets Closed – Group Yes Yes Tickets Opened – Group Yes Yes Tickets Closed – Agent Yes Yes Tickets Opened – Agent Yes Yes Unresolved Tickets – Group Yes Yes Unresolved Tickets – Agent Yes Yes Ticket Types: (Gold, Silver, Bronze) Yes Yes E-Tickets (Web, Email) Yes Yes Service level – Group Yes Yes Service level – Agent Yes Yes Average Answer Time – Group Yes Yes Average Answer Time – Agent Yes Yes Resolution Time – Group Yes Yes Resolution Time - Agent Yes Yes

When a Help Desk Agent is paid by the number of tickets taken and closed or by service level or resolution time these statistics become highly important. At first glance most of these statistics do not appear to be actionable items. However, when an agent is paid or receives a bonus based on these numbers, they become important and quickly become actionable by the agent and/or manager. Sometimes a manager’s department is rated by these statistics. In this case, there is a requirement to display these statistics to remind agents to perform to their expected level. The highest level of customer service to Elite customers (gold, platinum, etc.) is expected in any organization. Problems should be addressed and resolved quickly. A visual reminder is a key method to ensure agents respond quickly to Elite customers. Managers and agents are aware of the status of tickets that are open, closed, unresolved, etc. based on these statistics. This information is crucial in maintaining or increasing the service level of the group.



AUTOMATIC CALL DISTRIBUTOR (ACD) An Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) is a system that manages incoming calls and routes them to an agent. The routing may be based on a number of criteria such as agent availability, skill level, language, etc. so that the caller is connected to someone who can help them efficiently. Typically agents are assigned a group or a split and the calls are routed directly to one of the agents in the group or may be held in a queue until an agent is available. Agents may be located in a single location or remotely. Since call volume varies throughout the day or season, managing the contact center’s ACD is a constant challenge. Usually a supervisor is assigned to a group(s) and is charged with making sure that incoming calls are taken in a timely manner, agents are properly trained, and staffing is adequate. Access to real-time data is critical for the supervisor to manage the ACD system in a Contact Center. Data Item Table:

Data Real time Historical Average Speed of Answer Yes Yes Calls Abandoned Yes Yes Calls Answered Yes Yes Calls Completed Yes Yes Calls Answered Delay Yes Yes Calls Answered after Threshold Yes Yes Calls not Responded to Yes Yes Calls not Responded to Delay Yes Yes Calls not Responded to after Threshold Yes Yes Calls Waiting (in Queue) Yes N/A

INTEGRATED VOICE RESPONSE (IVR/VRU/ARU) Voice Response Unit (VRU) - Also called Interactive Voice Response Unit (IVR) or Audio Response Unit (ARU). A VRU responds to caller entered digits or speech recognition in much the same way that a conventional computer responds to keystrokes or clicks of a mouse. When the VRU is integrated with database computers, callers can interact with databases to check current information (e.g., account balances) and complete transactions (e.g. make transfers between accounts). Voice response unit systems can reduce customer service costs and enhance a call center by:

• Complete 800 number voice response service • Toll Free Service Applications • Extending hours of operation (24/7) • Automating routine tasks thereby freeing agents to concentrate on more complex

service requests • Speeding response times to callers • Expanding call capacity faster and at a lower cost



• Providing multi-lingual support • Reducing the cost of call center agent turnover

IVR/VRU systems can be used for:

• Customer Satisfaction Surveys • Market Research Surveys • Locator Services • Literature Fulfillment • Order Entry • Order Status • Inventory Confirmation • Lead Generation & Capture

• Employee Benefit Surveys • Message and Recording Services • Customer Service • Employee Testing and Evaluation • Credit Card Processing • Voice Mail • Account Status • Contests and Opinion Polls

Data Item Table:

Data Real time Historical Calls Abandoned Yes Yes Calls Answered Yes Yes Calls Completed Yes Yes Calls Answered Delay Yes Yes Calls Answered after Threshold Yes Yes Calls not Responded to Yes Yes Calls not Responded to Delay Yes Yes Calls not Responded to after Threshold Yes Yes Calls Waiting Yes N/A

Respondents to a study conducted by Prosci indicated that, by far, the largest change in their call centers over the past two years was enhanced usage of technology and automated systems, namely (in rank order) IVR, ACD, new desktop systems/software, CTI, and VoIP. Call Center Learning Center: 2004 Call Center Best Practices Report, 5-1-2004 Customers have become more accustom to using automated telephone services (IVR) and more companies use IVR as a method to reduce costs and improve customer service. Monitoring IVR statistics becomes increasingly important. Rather than relying solely on incomplete user surveys, internal design specifications and historical evidence, IVR design changes made using real-time data. Maintenance or improvements to the level of customer service is often achieved through the IVR System. Using actual data from the IVR, managers are able to recognize areas within the IVR which are creating poor customer service points. IVR statistics are typically more manager related but can be helpful to the agent. When calls go unanswered or there is a slow response, customer service levels are affected. Also, IVR statistics can be viewed by IT to determine problems with the system. Problems could include the IVR is down, it is confusing to the customer or is not working properly. These issues can be addressed as they arise and provide a more efficient work environment in the contact center. This data empowers managers, agents, IT personnel, etc. to become proactive rather than reactive in the contact center, therefore, increasing performance levels and better serving the customer.



PREDICTIVE DIALERS (PDS) Predictive Dialing- A system that automatically places outbound calls and delivers answered calls to agents. When the dialer detects busy signals, answering machines or ring no answer, it puts the number back in queue. A predictive dialer is an outbound call processing system designed to maintain a high level of utilization and cost efficiency in the contact center. The dialer automatically calls a list of telephone numbers, screens the unnecessary calls such as answering machines and busy signals, and then connects answered calls to the agents. This dialing system is designed to monitor the length of each call and develop an average call length. Once the system knows the average call length, the predictive dialer can make the next call and "hand it off" to the agent as soon as the first call has ended. More customers are contacted in a shorter length of time. Predictive Dialers save both time and money by increasing productivity. The agents spend less time dialing and more time talking. With a predictive dialer, the phone numbers are automatically dialed and there is a lot less wait time in between calls. The objective:

• Maximize the number of agent contacts to maximize your revenue generating opportunities

• Increase agent productivity • Effectively manage agent and campaign results • Ensure efficient list penetration

Data Item Table:

Data Real time Historical Campaign Name N/A N/A Calls Attempted – Agent Yes Yes Calls Attempted – Group Yes Yes Number of Contacts made – Agent Yes Yes Number of Contacts made – Group Yes Yes Talk Time – Agent Yes Yes Talk Time – Group Yes Yes Calls Back – Agent Yes Yes Calls back – Group Yes Yes Total Count (Records Dialed) Yes Yes Contacts Dialed by interval – Agent Yes Yes Contacts Dialed by interval – Group Yes Yes Busy Detects Yes Yes Voice Detects Yes Yes Answering Machine Detects Yes Yes SIT Tones Yes Yes No Answers Yes Yes Abandon Detects Yes Yes

This data gives you information on the dialing system throughout the day. Managers and agents are aware of call levels and different status information at all times. This information becomes important when agents have to make a certain number of dials and contacts in a



certain period of time. For example, in a collections call center, a good collector would average at least one contact every 10 dials, and depending on the average balance of the accounts being worked, the collections per contact standard should equal at least 15% of the average balance. Some of the common metrics used for agent performance are: DPH (Dials per Hour), CPH (Contacts per Hour), CPC (Collections per Contact) and Compliance with the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. QueueTips: Collection Call KPIs, August 2005, www.incoming.com This dialing system also helps managers effectively manage agents and campaign results. Campaign results are a managerial tool that when combined sales financial statistics truly show the results of the campaign. By reporting on these statistics managers get a real time visual picture of the PDS campaign results. EMAIL MANAGEMENT DATA SOURCE

The Contact Center Email Service Environment: Many organizations today are deluged with customer-generated email. Email is the single most often used Internet activity. While email currently supplements telephone-based service in many contact centers, others are moving towards making email their primary channel for customer service (eGain, 2001). The growth of email based communication between customers and contact centers is increasing at an outstanding rate. In the past 4 years email contacts have grown from 8% of the total 15 billion contacts to a projected 20% by the end of 2005.

Customer Contacts in 2000

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Other

Web Chat

Website Self-Service

Email

Telephone

Percentage of an estimated 15 Billion

In comparison to today…the trends indicate a shift to only 45% of all customer contacts will be via the telephone; with the combination of Web site contacts and email contacts rising to 45%.



Customer Contacts in 2005

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Other

Web Chat

Website Self-Service

Email

Telephone

Percentage of an estimated 30 Billion

With a shift to email based communications more problems arise for contact centers. Studies reveal a consistent list of customer complaints regarding email. The top three items on this list are:

• Customers never receive a response to their email or their response was delayed; which has been recorded as two out of every five emails going unanswered.

• The response customer’s received contained too little or incorrect information.

• The customers received poorly written replies.

When customers are dissatisfied with a company’s reply to their email message, they will frequently end up placing a call to that company’s contact center, elevating the cost of doing business, as is depicted in the following chart.

Average Cost per Access Channel

$0 $2 $4 $6 $8 $10 $12 $14

Phone

Email

Web Self-Service

Cost per Interaction

Note: varies by industry (Forrester Research, May 2001; Forest & Sullivan)

To fuel this customer dissatisfaction, typically the telephone agent has no record of their email messages, requiring the customer to repeat their issue or inquiry.



There is currently a significant gap between current email service performance and customer expectations. Poor contact center email systems is a primary reason for this gap since most companies start out using applications like Lotus Notes or Microsoft Outlook as the bases for this customer communication medium. Very quickly customer email traffic can overtax personal email systems like these. The Gartner Group recommends that organizations that receive 50 or more emails a day consider an Email Response Management System (also called ERMS). It is not uncommon for a contact center to answer a customer’s email, only to discover that the customer had called in by phone in the interim... or sent several emails with the same issue. For this reason contact centers introducing email service often find that phone volume stays the same while overall costs have increased. Even with the obvious cost advantages email customer communication has over phones, the typical initial reaction to this condition is to push customers away from email and back into the phone system; however many case studies have shown that customers choose non-phone options 80%-90% of the time; and the cost savings opportunity will ultimately be seriously addressed by all contact center managers. The following case study of a major software company shows that a cost reduction, in this case an outstanding 80%, can be achieved though the implementation of an ERMS solution.

Challenges ERMS Solution Implementation Results Before Solution After Solution Increase customer base Contacts per

Month 88,000 425,000 Declining product prices Phone 80,000 25,000

E-mail (with Chat) 8,000 70,000 Uncontrollable customer support costs Web Self-Help - 330,000

Poor customer experience ASA 5 minutes 1 minute

Decreasing customer loyalty Support Costs $850K per month $110K per month

Limited operating hours Cost per

Contact $7.50 $0.73

This particular company earned a Customer Service Award from this implementation. Today’s high tech customers expect quick, quality, personalized service, at a time that is convenient for them. By the end of 2005 it is estimated that 70% of all business interactions will be conducted over the Internet. (eGain, 2001) To address this growing email service demand by customers, and driven by cost savings, most companies are implementing eService solutions containing ERMS (Email Response Management System) technology powered by CSRs (Customer Service Representatives). Data Item Table:

Data Real Time Historical Emails in Queue – Agent Yes Yes Emails in Queue – Group Yes Yes Average Response Time – Agent Yes Yes



Average Response Time – Group Yes Yes Service Level – Agent Yes Yes Service Level – Group Yes Yes Failed Response – Agent Yes Yes Failed Response – Group Yes Yes Emails by Interval – Agent Yes Yes Emails by Interval – Group Yes Yes Time in Queue – Agent Yes Yes Time in Queue – Group Yes Yes Number of Emails Offered – Agent Yes Yes Number of Emails Offered – Group Yes Yes Emails for the Day – Agent Yes Yes Emails for the Day – Group Yes Yes

A contact center is not just about taking phone calls and reporting on these calls. Today’s contact center also takes and responds to emails. It is necessary to report on key data from emails serviced through the contact center by the agent or group. A study showed that 64 percent of retail customers would likely stop doing business with a company that did not respond to their email within what they consider to be an acceptable time frame (eGain, 2001). That “acceptable time frame” is an allusive amount of time that varies based on the industry. Having a complete view and a true status of the contact center enables managers to make proactive adjustments based on these indicators. An acceptable level of service can be maintained and thus retain customer satisfaction and business. CRM APPLICATION SUITES VENDORS Many CRM application suite vendors (e.g., Siebel Systems, Nortel Ebusiness, PeopleSoft, SAP, Onyx Software, Pivotal, epiphany and Oracle) provide ERMS and eService functionality. Although these vendors have been slow in providing eService functionality, including the most basic ERMS, a number of them have re-architected their products to include ERMS capabilities. In almost all cases, both pure ERMS vendors and CRM vendors with ERMS capabilities have embedded ODBC-compliant databases underneath their software applications providing for a preferred access and data collection point for ERMS real-time statistics. The top operational statistics from an ERMS system that are typically important to an inbound email contact center manager are:

Data Real Time Historical Number of messages received Yes Yes Number of single replies Yes Yes Average CSR reply (in minutes – 0.0) Yes Yes Average total reply time (in hours – 0.0) Yes Yes Inside Service Level (percentage to 100%) Yes Yes Unanswered Yes Yes

A key ERMS feature is the “auto-response feature”. However, an emphasis on customer touch and enhancing relationships is at the core of many customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives. Some companies prefer to have agents "QA" every response before it goes out, so



even support organizations with a fully implemented ERMS may not be using the auto-response feature. For support centers using multi-channel queuing and routing, this may be a viable approach, since every interaction (phone calls, emails, chat requests, etc.) is processed by agents in the order it is received – which is the targeted wave of the future. Only this approach requires a common database to enable customer information to be accessible by all the CSRs no matter whether they are manning the phones, email or web. CRM – CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT AS A DATA-SOURCE CRM can be broadly defined as any tool used during the interaction with a customer, but for our purpose we shall only include software systems that manage all channels of communication collectively and use CTI to automatically pull up customer data during the “call”. Communication Channels

• Voice • Email • Fax • Web Chat • FAQ Sessions • Self Service on web • Mail

The metrics associated with CRM are directly related to the goals you have for each facet of the overall system. From the customer point of view they want to complete their ‘session’ quickly, easily and with accuracy. 1st Contact Resolution is achieved when the customer attains the information they were seeking or completed their transaction on the first attempt using the Communication Channel in which they originally initiated the session. From the corporate standpoint you not only want high customer satisfaction, but you also concern yourself with the cost of each contact, so you may have goals set for customer Self Service Rate. How many customers that visit our website end up submitting an email and therefore engage an Agent versus completing their session without agent interaction? If you can free up agents from handling non-revenue related contacts and direct their efforts where you as a company feel communicating directly with an agent makes the most bottom line impact you can effectively increase your agent productivity. When customers contact an agent directly, CRM is used to enhance the ability of the agent’s effectiveness by giving them Actionable Insight. The most common method employed is during voice calls. The CRM system uses CTI to scan their customer database with the caller ID information and pull up customer history and purchasing trends. In a sales environment the buying history could trigger Cross-sell/Up-sell Opportunities. The overall goals of CRM are to provide seamless Customer Service across all communication channels, direct agent activity to where it is needed most, provide that agent with relevant customer history and keep customer service satisfaction to customer interaction costs balanced. The ACD style of statistical reporting focuses on efficiency (How do I lower my Average Speed of Answer?). The CRM statistics are more concerned with effectiveness (Was the contact handled by the right agent (or system) and was it handled during the 1st contact?).



A very specialized sector of CRM is Contact Management Software or Sales Force Automation Software. These applications provide sales information that Contact Centers and highly proactive Sales Offices might want to use as a method of improving customer service and sales revenue. Spectrum focuses on applications that provide real-time and historical data that can be collected, administered and displayed to agents, sales people and managers to improve their efficiency and effectiveness within the Contact Center. SALES FORCE AUTOMATION AS A DATA SOURCE There are over 100 SFA programs available today, more if you include some fringe SFA programs for pure contact management or lead management programs. However, from an Input point of view the data that can be and should be mined from SFA is sales figures, quotes open, orders sold, orders lost, appointments set up by the sales dept. Therefore, information from contact management and lead management does not contain the statistics that are suitable to be collected and republished by an Enterprise software program. The value of this data is the competition that it creates within the sales department, the knowledge it provides to active salespeople and managers and the level of awareness of one’s status against their goals. When the sales team sees the sales made, orders closed, etc. a competitive atmosphere is created and sales people get motivated and sell more. This is seen as a tool for sales oriented companies as opposed to traditional call centers. To have the statistics easily accessible is a true benefit to the busy salesperson. Data Items Table:

Data Real Time Historical Sales Revenue by Agent Yes Yes Sales Revenue by Territory Yes Yes Sales Revenue – Total Yes Yes Number of Quotes – Agent Yes Yes Number of Quotes – Territory Yes Yes Number of Quotes – Total Yes Yes Quotes Open Yes Yes Quotes Closed Yes Yes Orders by Agent Yes Yes Orders by Day Yes Yes Orders by Week Yes Yes Orders by Month Yes Yes Orders YTD Yes Yes Appointments made by Agent Yes Yes Appointments for the Day Yes Yes

Mining data on Sales Force Automation Software programs provides you with the ability to review and monitor sales activity from all aspects of the sales. The organization is able to track the results of the proposal process including the number of proposals in house at anytime. These proposals can be a key indicator of future revenue for the organization. And the data that is mined from the Sales Force Automation software can be consolidated into reports for each team member to review their own performance as it relates to others within the organization or department.



ODBC – CUSTOM DATABASE AS A DATA-SOURCE ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) is an accepted standard for accessing Database Management Systems (DBMS) from 3rd party software. ODBC drivers are used to translate the requests (“queries”) to the particular DBMS’ format. Most of the systems described above use an ODBC Database to store both real-time and historical data. Each system has its own method or schema of storing the data in various tables. Most systems have various “canned” reports that can be run to view the information, but are not easily customizable, and typically not dynamic. With such a vast amount of data, the challenge is to provide a method to allow Contact Center Managers to extract meaningful data that is relevant to their business and present it in an easy to view format. Providing actionable information allows customer facing employees and managers the ability to make quality decisions essential to the day-to-day operation and the overall success of the company. ACTIONABLE INFORMATION Spectrum Corporation specializes in interfacing with a multitude of Contact Center systems with various software and display systems that allow the user to define specific data associated with their business. This data is delivered in real time to the employees that need it to make decisions throughout the day. As an example, Spectrum software can read data from an ACD, IVR and Predictive Dialer and allow the user to define message templates that contain data items from any of these systems. The software’s engine reads and refreshes the data every few seconds so when it appears on a display such as an LED wallboard, plasma screen or desktop, it is current and specifically addresses the user’s needs. By targeting specific users with real-time data tailored to their needs, more intelligent decisions are made resulting in better services to the customer. Spectrum’s Ultra-Link, neXorce, and VectraView software are all designed to provide a total real-time communication solution. Contact Centers are improving technology at a rapid rate and generating incredible amounts of important data. Spectrum provides a real-time data delivery solution that directs the data to the right people in a timely manner which increases effectiveness and productivity in the Contact Center.

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