“INI has gained invaluable insight into market trends, user sentiment and breakthrough technologies over the last 21 years that we have been attending the users group conference,” says Chuck Van Meter, President of INI. “We are able to translate this knowledge, along with the experience we’ve gained over thousands of deployments, into practical solutions for our clients that deliver superior customer engagement and a significant return on investment.”

During the conference, representatives from INI will be presenting breakout sessions as follows:

Delighted Customers and Self Service: Five Ways to a Perfect Match!
June 3, 2013 (1:00 PM – 2:00 PM) | Session: 1336 | Room: Tallahassee 1 & 2
IAUG Ignite! Speaker Gary Van Gordon, Vice President of INI

Outbound Notifications: Customer Satisfaction and ROI are Mutually Attainable
June 6, 2013 (8:30 AM – 9:30 AM) | Session: 630 | Room: Sun A
Co-presented by Gary Van Gordon, Vice President of INI and Tore Christensen, Corporate Consulting Engineer for Avaya

Best Practices Designing Avaya Aura® Experience Portal for High Availability, Security, and Virtualization
June 7, 2013 (10:30 AM – 12:00 PM) | Session: 643 | Room: Sun 3 & 4
Presented by Glen Taylor, PhD, Solutions Architect for INI

About Interactive Northwest, Inc.
Interactive Northwest, Inc. (INI) develops innovative interactive voice response (IVR), computer telephony integration (CTI), and self-service applications for high-volume call centers in markets such as government, healthcare, finance, utilities and service industries. A strong commitment to platform expertise, seamless systems integration, and project management excellence uniquely position INI to provide value to its customers. As a long-standing partner in the Avaya DevConnect program and developer of call center speech applications, INI has a deep history in deploying applications on Avaya platforms—making it a reliable partner capable of delivering results that promote the success and profitability of its customers. For more information, call +1.800.732.3236, email at sales@interactivenw.com or visit www.interactivenw.com.

At the core of INI’s business model lies a deep commitment to provide reliable solutions that deliver measurable value to our clients, and to make the entire process as easy as possible for our business partners and their customers. We accomplish this through a series of unique approaches that set us apart from our competition.

INI Does the Heavy Lifting

As experienced professionals, INI takes ownership of our role in the project management process and shoulders the responsibility of configuring and implementing all the soft components of the IVR platform and application server deployment. By relieving our clients and partners from the burden of installing the server environment, we are able to pre-configure the required software and operating system to maximize efficiency, compatibility and security. This results in an extremely stable environment with fewer variables that could hinder the deployment process or compromise overall quality. INI clients enjoy the benefits of a streamlined, professional installation with minimal impact to their workflow and our partners can focus on implementing the contact center hardware and infrastructure.

INI Builds from Proven Components

INI builds its solutions from proven application modules that have been tested and refined over thousands of successful deployments. Each application is designed to maximize efficiency, integrate with back-end systems, and meet specific customer requirements. With a recognized talent for end-user dialog design, INI front-loads the user interface for an enhanced customer experience, which has been shown to increase customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

INI Hardens to NSA Security Standards

From the earliest stages, security is built into INI’s development process. Because we install a pre-configured Linux operating system on the application server, we are able to harden the system to NSA standards eliminating most security risks long before test scans are run during the deployment phase. While additional hardening is often required to meet specific industry and customer requirements, our process provides an extremely secure base platform that minimizes the number of patches required during customer validation.

INI Sets the Standard for Quality Assurance

INI has engineered its Project Life Cycle to be a comprehensive managed process, incorporating rigorous control protocols from various disciplines along each stage of the project to ensure delivery of a sound and reliable product. The Project Life Cycle consists of six distinct and clearly defined stages, each with an important deliverable provided to the customer.

Each engagement is assigned a project manager who meets regularly with the customer and business partner to document requirements, update status, acquire input, and to ensure expectations are captured and contained. As the project progresses through INI’s design, development, quality, and deployment phases, each team works off extensive checklists that include validation test points at key stages. In addition to verifying adherence to agreed upon requirements, these checklists minimize distractions to the customer and ensure on-time, in-budget delivery.

Because of INI’s thorough project management process, we are able to capture a complete picture of the customer’s requirements. We validate these findings by providing thorough documentation all along the Project Life Cycle, each containing a comprehensive level of detail.

INI Develops to the Customer Platform

INI develops its solutions on a fully functional, stand-alone testing server configured to match the customer’s IVR environment as closely as possible. By the time the final product is deployed at the customer site, it has been verified to ensure optimum performance and is ready for integration testing and customer validation under actual conditions. This results in a shorter and less complex deployment that significantly reduces the strain on customer resources and their contact center.

At the end of the day, our customers and business partners enjoy a satisfying deployment process that provides an easy-to-use, best-in-class IVR solution–an interactive engagement tool that provides end users with an exceptional customer experience. To get a more thorough understanding of our unique approach to contact center automation solutions, please schedule a consultation with one of our knowledgeable team members.

The INI Project Life Cycle

1. Project Definition
2. Project Planning & Requirements
3. Application Design
4. Application Development & Testing
5. Deployment & Customer Validation
6. Support & Maintenance

read more

INI Project Life Cycle Deliverables

1. Statement of Work
2. Project Workbook
3. Application Design Document
4. Validation Test Plan
5. Software Delivery
6. Customer Support Guide

read more

Imagine if you could implement a contact center solution that gave you an edge over your competitors, a foundation for protecting and generating revenue, and strengthened your valuable customer relationships. Now imagine that same solution provided you with a flexible platform for future development and expansion that grew with your organization as business objectives changed and customer expectations evolved.

It’s not a pipe dream, it’s the Avaya Aura® Experience Portal (AAEP), and it’s your gateway to superior customer relationships. With nearly endless possibilities for engaging your customers, AAEP gives you the power to connect across all media formats for both inbound and outbound communication.

Consider these three significant advantages to including AAEP in your contact center infrastructure.

Greater Flexibility

Experience Portal is a powerful platform with a robust feature set that provides maximum flexibility to meet the current needs of your contact center while accommodating future growth. It can be configured with a handful of port licenses at the point of deployment and scaled to tens of thousands of ports over time.

Because AAEP is a scalable platform that provides a multi-tenant application environment, new capabilities and features can be developed as the needs and goals within your various business unit contact centers change. AAEP lays the foundation for custom application development that unleashes a myriad of possibilities for implementing an effective customer engagement model for each segment of customer interaction within your organization.

Improved Customer Engagement

With AAEP, working with Aura Communication Manager, your contact center is no longer limited to hardwired land-line communication. AAEP allows you to connect with customers from a centralized platform across multiple media formats (voice, SMS and email) and modes including phone, mobile devices and the Web. With the addition of an outbound calling application using Avaya’s Proactive Outreach Manager (POM), your contact center is extended further with the ability to reach out to your customers with important account information, appointment reminders or special offers. Read a success story utilizing POM.

AAEP is a powerful platform for enhancing the customer experience. You are able to engage customers according to their preferences, automating routine to even complex tasks that give them 24/7 access to the help they need. Allowing customers to engage with you on their schedule enhances customer sentiment and increases the amount of time they interact with your brand. By providing these added conveniences and choices, you are able to energize your customer relationships, bring increased customer satisfaction and often create advocates for your brand. Learn more about increasing customer satisfaction in the contact center.

Increased Profitability

AAEP, as we’ve already shown, allows you to add services that improve the customer experience by providing them with added convenience and cost savings, and by assisting them in meaningful ways. These capabilities increase revenue significantly by building brand loyalty, increasing mind share, and encouraging coveted repeat business. Learn more about increasing revenue in the contact center.

In addition to increasing revenue, automation increases profit margin. Self-service applications cost only one tenth to one hundredth as much as employing an agent, allowing you to expand service and product offerings without having to add staff. Operational expenses decrease, agent efficiency increases and your customers are provided with added convenience. It’s a true win/win for you and your customers. Learn more about continuous improvement in the contact center.

INI is committed to helping you discover additional cost-effective solutions that will help grow your business and enhance your customer engagement model.

Entry Level AAEP Solutions

AAEP with POM
Engage customers proactively with outbound calling

AAEP with INI LaunchPort
Route inbound calls intelligently with advanced caller identification technology

AAEP with INI EQuilibrium
Provide high availability for continuous uptime

Benefits of AAEP

Engage customers across all media types

Give customers 24/7 access to self-service features

Improve customer satisfaction and brand loyalty

Reduce resources, operational expenses and equipment costs

In the first article of our three part series, Getting the Most Out of your Contact Center, we looked at the importance of prioritizing the customer experience when automating the contact center. In our second article, we considered the three ways that automation in the contact center can affect profitability. In this article, we conclude our series by taking a look at metrics and how they can be used to increase the effectiveness of the contact center.

Okay, so you’ve automated your contact center with the latest applications and technology, trained your staff to be at their peak, and are serving your customers in a manner that is fast, thorough and full of customer conveniences–how do you know if it’s working? Measure and refine!

Measure the right data

Sounds simple, right? But it’s not. It’s very easy to have a misguided focus, measure the wrong things, or interpret data incorrectly. When it comes to metrics, there is a tendency in our industry to turn a disproportionate amount of focus inward on efficiency and cost reduction. Analyzing data only through this lens often results in shortsighted business decisions that can leave a lot of revenue on the table. For example, if your primary goal is to reduce the cost per contact center interaction, you can only drive a fixed amount of savings on your operating expenses. Sure, it’s important to run as efficiently as possible to maximize your profit margin, but if you look through the lens of the customer experience and prioritize increasing the Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)*, you can significantly grow revenue and profitability.

Focus on the customer experience

In the book Outside In**, the authors provide a great deal of evidence for a customer experience focused approach to metrics and continuous improvement. In their model, the foundation to customer perception lies in three critical areas:

• Ensure the customer’s needs are met
• Make the process easy
• Provide an enjoyable experience

If you are able to obtain clear insight about your customer’s interactions with your products, people and automated systems in these three areas, you will be equipped with the data needed to make improvements that matter and to set business objectives that will enhance your customer’s experience. Organizations that implement improvements effectively based on customer insight gain competitive advantage, increase brand loyalty, and encourage repeat business; and that means increased CLV!

Take your cues from the voice of the customer

The best way to measure the customer experience is to go right to the source by employing customer experience surveys. Well-crafted surveys provide real-time data to evaluate new implementations, uncover trends, and detect changes in customer sentiment, allowing for swift organizational response. When crafting surveys, it is best to avoid open-ended questions that are difficult to quantify. Tie questions to measurable responses using multiple choice, ranking, or yes/no formats. Consider questions that focus on what they did and didn’t enjoy, which features were easy to use and which were not, how satisfied they were that their needs were met, and if their needs were met in a timely manner. Survey questions like these empower organizations to focus their resources more efficiently. Features and services that customers respond well to are validated and serve as models for future development, while areas that receive negative feedback are highlighted for improvement or elimination.

Continuous improvement is the engine that propels an organization securely into the future. In our series on enhancing the contact center, we’ve emphasized the importance of leveraging the latest technologies and self-service applications to increase customer satisfaction, fine tuning the contact center for improved profitability, and, finally, measuring the success of the contact center through the lens of the customer experience. With these tools in place, continuous improvement efforts are tethered to the customer, laying a solid foundation for effective business decisions that position an organization for sustained growth.

Schedule a consultation with one of our knowledgeable team members to learn more about how contact center automaton can improve customer satisfaction, increase profitability, and establish a foundation for more effective continuous improvement.

*    CLV is the net profit attributed to the entire future relationship with a customer.

**   Manning, Harley; Bodine, Kerry (2012-08-28). Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers
at the Center of Your Business (pp. 10-11).

INI Call Center Survey

INI Call Center Survey is an easy-to-use tool for creating and implementing call center surveys. Results provide contact center administrators with access to real-time customer insights and data for measuring customer satisfaction, performance, and contact center effectiveness.

read more

Sample Survey Questions

How well was your issue resolved?

How easy was it to use our customer support?

How enjoyable was your experience of our customer support?

How likely are you to purchase a product or service in the future?

How likely are you to switch to a competitor?

How likely are you to recommend our products or services to a friend or associate?

In the first article of our three part series, Getting the Most Out of Your Contact Center, we emphasized the importance of enhancing the customer experience, the heartbeat of the contact center. In part two, we continue our series by focusing on enhancing the contact center for profitability.

The 3 Rs of Self-Service Profitability

Contact center automation affects profitability in three distinct areas and each can have a significant impact on the bottom line of your organization: Reduced Cost, Revenue Protection and Revenue Generation. Something as simple as implementing a payment reminder campaign with a pay-by-phone option can have a huge financial impact by saving the expenses associated with collection efforts, recapturing lost revenue and increasing customer satisfaction. You don’t need a crystal ball to know that happy customers are repeat customers.

REDUCED COST: We all know that an IVR system costs less than utilizing an agent–10 to 100 times less. But that doesn’t trump the fact that your agents are the most valuable assets of your contact center; their skill and intuition are attributes that are difficult to replace with automation. The cost saving lies in strategically applying self-service applications. Automating tasks that don’t require an agent increases your contact center capacity by freeing your agents to address important customer issues that require agent interaction. In addition, when agents engage in meaningful interactions, their satisfaction is increased which helps decrease turnover and reduce the costs associated with recruitment and training.

REVENUE PROTECTION: Lost revenue is one of the most frustrating losses a business faces. In fact, acquiring new customers can cost five to ten times more than satisfying and retaining current customers. Couple that with the reduction of the Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)* and you can see there is a significant financial impact. Intelligently applied automation can protect revenue streams. One powerful example is the use of an account status application with a pay-by-phone option. Service renewal and collection efforts can be very emotionally charged interactions. Allowing customers to resolve these transactions without human intervention can ease the discomfort for customers and agents alike. Implementation of automated solutions like these have been shown to recapture lost revenue, reducing the receivables that must be pushed out to collections by as much as 25%. See Success Story

REVENUE GENERATION: Of all the financial gains contact center automation can provide, revenue generation is one of the most significant and is entirely dependent on elevating the customer experience. Increasing revenue from existing customers is much less expensive and more profitable than the efforts to gain new customers. According to Inc.com, the average spend of a repeat customer is a whopping 67 percent more than a new one. Once a customer has been acquired, their continued relationship depends on their satisfaction with your product, service and support. Any service you can offer that improves the customer experience–whether through added convenience, cost savings, or assisting them in a meaningful way–builds brand loyalty, increases mind share, and encourages repeat business. See Article on Increasing Customer Satisfaction

Take it One Step at a Time

As technology evolves, consumer expectations shift. Assessing your contact center platform and interface periodically allows you to make incremental adjustments that align with current customer expectations and business objectives. Performing regular modifications to your contact center platform and applications not only manages cost by spreading them over time but, more importantly, significantly improves profitability.

Consider fine-tuning your Avaya portal by adding IVR or self-service applications, upgrading outdated applications, and optimizing existing applications to deliver value to your business. Contact INI to learn more about solutions that can improve your contact center for increased profitability!

*CLV is the net profit attributed to the entire future relationship with a customer.

Schedule a consultation

INI Profitability Solutions

• INI LaunchPort
• INI SureConnect
• Outbound Apps
• Call Routing Apps
• Information Access Apps
• Information Collection Apps
• Transaction Apps

learn more

Improving Profitability

• Add self-service apps
• Provide appointment reminders
• Provide Pay-by-Phone service
• Provide added convenience
• Provide significant information
• Provide pre-op instructions
• Utilize new technology
• Update existing applications

“Providing an exceptional customer experience is at the core of every solution that INI develops for contact centers built upon the Avaya Aura® Experience Portal and its supporting technology. The cost savings of incorporating self-service applications in the contact center environment are well documented,” stated Gary Van Gordon, Vice President at Interactive Northwest, Inc. “At this summit, we are proud to showcase solutions that go beyond efficiency with features designed to enhance customer satisfaction and convenience. Our clients have also appreciated how these features strengthen brand loyalty and promote repeat business.”

“A well-designed IVR self-service solution can improve a business’ profitability while enhancing customer satisfaction,” states Glen Taylor. “During my presentation, I’ll demonstrate use cases, citing examples from our portfolio of deployments that have helped businesses increase profitability through significant cost savings and the protection of valuable revenue streams.”

Glen Taylor, PhD, has over 25 years of experience in the IVR industry and is widely recognized for his expertise in self-service application solutions. Prior to joining INI, Glen led many Avaya initiatives associated with the Avaya Voice Portal and self-service applications. He was one of the founding members of the Bell Labs development team that engineered the first AT&T IVR system. Today, Glen works with INI development teams to design best-in-class solutions – including the introduction of INI EQuilibrium™.

About Interactive Northwest, Inc.
Interactive Northwest, Inc. (INI) develops innovative interactive voice response (IVR), computer telephony integration (CTI), and self-service applications for high-volume call centers in markets such as government, healthcare, finance, utilities and service industries. A strong commitment to platform expertise, seamless systems integration, and project management excellence uniquely position INI to provide value to its customers. As a long-standing partner in the Avaya DevConnect program and developer of call center speech applications, INI has a deep history in deploying applications on Avaya platforms—making it a reliable partner capable of delivering results that promote the success and profitability of its customers. For more information, call +1.800.732.3236, email at sales@interactivenw.com or visit www.interactivenw.com.

Let’s Face It, We Love Automation!

Think about it:  how many of us choose to go to the bank to withdraw money when we can access an ATM? Would you wait in line for an airline ticketing agent when you can check in at a kiosk or, better yet, from the Web before you even leave your home? When you consider that we use our thumbs to type on tiny little keyboards rather than talk on the phone, there’s no denying that we love to push buttons to communicate. So, why is it that Interactive Voice Response (IVR) applications have gotten such a bad reputation?

Companies use Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology because it saves a great deal of money. Minute for minute, IVR costs only one tenth to one hundredth as much as employing an agent. And therein lies the problem:  most annoying user interfaces have been designed primarily to improve contact center efficiency, while neglecting the user experience.

Design Your IVR with Your Callers in Mind

The fact is, your customers are calling your business for a reason. If you serve them quickly, efficiently, and with respect, your IVR application will increase customer satisfaction significantly, resulting in improved brand loyalty and repeat business. The overriding principle to keep in mind is the IVR equivalent of the Golden Rule:  “Treat your callers as you would want to be treated if you were calling your own business.” In other words, design every aspect of the application with consideration of the caller’s perspective.

First, understand who your callers are. Are they a mixed demographic or a homogeneous community–the very young, very old? Do they speak one or more languages? Are they casual callers, or do they call frequently? These characteristics play a huge role in the design of an intuitive IVR application that your customers will appreciate using. When an IVR application speaks to callers in a clear, concise way with words that are easily understood, callers respond favorably.

Next, don’t waste the caller’s time. The length of the IVR interaction has a cost to you and to your caller. One of the worst offenders is a message telling the caller to use your company website, often when the website directs customers to call! In today’s tech-savvy world, no one needs to hear a long winded exhortation to “use our website.” In fact, it’s more likely they are calling about something they couldn’t accomplish on-line; sending them back to the Internet is a plain insult.

Make it a Smooth Ride

These are just a few examples of the numerous best practices used in effective end-user dialog design. Other examples include:

• Access all the available information about the caller to quickly and efficiently route them to the best resource to resolve their issue. >>Learn More
• When your contact center experiences call spikes, give your callers a choice of how they wait by indicating expected wait times and offering a callback option. >>Learn More
• Don’t wait for your customers to call you for important information that you know they want. Proactively notify them by implementing outbound capabilities. >>Learn More
• Keep your system current by periodically reviewing your voice applications to ensure that they are still relevant, achieving your business goals and, most importantly, still satisfying your customers. >>Learn More

These best practices and numerous others are employed every day by INI on behalf of its customers and their callers, building economically valuable and customer satisfying applications. Consider fine-tuning your Avaya portal by adding IVR applications, upgrading outdated applications, and optimizing existing applications to deliver value to your business. Contact INI to learn more about solutions that can improve your customer’s experience and increase satisfaction!

Schedule a consultation

IVR Solutions for Improved Customer Satisfaction

• INI LaunchPort
• INI SureConnect
• Outcalling Apps
• Call Routing Apps
• Information Access Apps
• Information Collection Apps
• Transaction Apps

learn more

Improving Customer Satisfaction

• Keep interactions short
• Minimize waiting
• Use relevant language
• Provide added convenience
• Provide significant information
• Provide wait times
• Provide alerts
• Provide reminders
• Provide Pay-by-Phone service
• Avoid repeat inquiries

Keeping in touch with your client base is critical to the success of your business. Unfortunately, pending amendments to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) appear to cast a dark shadow over companies attempting to maintain a healthy level of interaction with their customers. But the fact is, the TCPA has been put into place to impede the actions of opportunistic telemarketers utilizing auto dialers to make uninvited “robocalls” attempting to sell their wares. Responsible companies have nothing to fear from the existing legislation, as long as they maintain the required records and follow a few simple guidelines.

OK, so how do I comply?

It is important to point out that if you are not making promotional calls with sales content, the law really does not apply to you–with one caveat: calls made to wireless numbers can only be made with express prior consent.** However, many of the guidelines represent common courtesy and may be advisable for maintaining healthy customer relations. If you do intend to run promotional campaigns or if there is ambiguity around the nature of your contact, keep the following high-level guidelines* in mind.

• Restrict calls to between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.
• Implement and maintain a Do Not Call list.
• Implement and maintain a clear solicitation policy and make it easily available upon request.
• Make solicitation calls to clients only after having obtained prior express written consent.**
• Make non-solicitation calls to wireless numbers only after obtaining prior express consent.**
• Keep a record of express, written and electronic consent.
• Provide an automated, interactive opt-out mechanism during calls.

Enough with all the restrictions, what CAN I do?

The beauty of the legislation is that its restrictions are focused around telemarketing and calls that are of a sales nature. Utilizing outbound messaging applications like Avaya Proactive Outreach Manager (POM) that are designed to strengthen established business relationships falls well outside the targets of the TCPA. POM is an ideal tool for protecting revenue streams, managing schedules, building customer satisfaction and contributing to brand loyalty, all while significantly reducing potential customer frustrations. Ideal uses for outbound messaging and notification include campaigns that provide customers with important information, added convenience or reduce their risk of incurring expense.

What are some useful outbound notification campaigns?

Think of your campaigns from the perspective of your customers. Here are just a few useful applications for outbound messaging and notification utilizing the Avaya POM engine that customers will really appreciate.

Payment Reminders - Have you ever opened a credit card line at a department store to take advantage of a 25% discount on a product you were going to buy anyway? Not such a great deal if you get charged a late fee for missing that first payment. A simple account status notification with the option to make a credit card payment over the phone easily eliminates this frustration, preventing late fees for the customer and protecting store revenue.

Appointment Reminders - Lets face it, we’ve all made dental appointments a month or more in advance and completely forgotten them by the time the scheduled date arrives. A simple reminder call a day or two before the appointment avoids the frustration of a no-show fee for the patient and prevents the dentist, assistants and hygienists from sitting idly by as the receptionist scrambles to find a client to fill the empty spot.

Pre-op Instructions - Imagine showing up for a costly surgery after having a delightfully satisfying breakfast only to find you were required to fast for 12 hours before the procedure. Still satisfied? Not when you’re stuck with an extra $500 on your bill for postponing the surgery!  A call prior to your appointment date providing pre-op instructions, reminding you of the necessary steps to ensure you are properly prepared for your procedure avoids the excess expense and optimizes schedules for surgical staff.

Overage Notifications - Surprise! That pic of your new car you posted on Facebook just cost you an additional $10 on your phone bill – you’ve exceeded your data limit! If your mobile service provider had sent you a notification that you were near your limit, they might have avoided that irate call you just made about their preposterous charges. Moreover, they’ve maintained your loyalty and secured your continued patronage – you are a satisfied customer who will likely speak well of your experience to others.

   

Are you starting to see the value of outbound messaging and notification campaigns? Contact INI to schedule a consultation with a knowledgeable representative to discuss how outbound messaging and notification applications utilizing Avaya POM can add value to your business.

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* This article is intended as an overview. Please refer to actual legislation when establishing policies and practice.
** See actual legislation for definitions of express consent and express written consent.

Uses for Outbound Messaging

• Welcome Calls
• Appointment Reminders
• Bill Payment Reminders
• Pre-op Instructions
• Time Sensitive Tasks
• Broadcast Messages
• Account Status Notifications
• Emergency Notifications
• Surveys
• Secure Messaging

learn more

Benefits of Outbound Messaging

• Reduced collections efforts
• Reduced revenue loss
• Reduced agent overhead
• Reduced paperwork
• Reduced mail costs
• Direct bill-pay options
• Supports PCI compliance
• Customer satisfaction
• Upsell opportunities
• Dispense critical information

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Wouldn’t it be great if your phone system could read a caller’s mind and connect them to the exact resource they need as soon as they enter into your contact center? Sure, it seems kind of like Captain Kirk meets Lily Tomlin – the kind of stuff that makes for good prime-time sci-fi, but until our smart phones are equipped with thought transmission apps – intelligent call routing solutions offer an impressive alternative without having to be a mind reader!

In today’s technology driven world, people’s expectations are rising at a dizzying rate; solutions like automatic call distribution (ACD) technology, that offer basic routing, simply will not do. Leveraging a targeted routing application, like INI LaunchPort™ 2.0, expands upon this basic functionality by gathering information from a number of sources to more accurately connect callers to the most appropriate agent or self-service application.

Ultimately, the goal is to decrease the number of transfers and the overall time required to resolve a customer issue, thereby offering optimum customer service. You don’t have to be telepathic to know that this makes for happier customers. In addition, agents are utilized according to their skill level and more of their time is spent resolving customer issues, significantly increasing productivity. The result—a much more effective call center.

That all sounds great, right? No annoying Klingons, fewer ringy-dingys—everybody’s happy! But, let’s take this concept for a spin and see exactly how beneficial INI LaunchPort can be when the rubber meets the road!

Priority handling of valued clients

Suppose you direct a contact center for an airline that offers enhanced benefits to your repeat customers through a frequent flyer program and one of your premium members calls. INI LaunchPort can be configured to access the caller’s account infromation, check it against your database*, recognize the callers status, and route them through to a priority queue.  Your most valued customers are offered a superior level of service, contributing to a better rate of customer retention.

Bill pay/collections interception

Imagine you are managing a contact center for a financial institution, and a call comes in from a customer with a delinquent credit card account. INI LaunchPort can be configured to look at the person’s account* and automatically connect them to an agent who can receive their payment or escalate as needed—protecting valuable revenue streams and minimizing expenses associated with collection activities.

Last agent/caller history

Let’s assume that you are the administrator of a technical support center for a software company and a customer makes a call on an open ticket. INI LaunchPort can be configured to access the customers account and route the call to the agent they have been working with throughout the process, while supplying the agent with the client’s account information and a history of the service to date*. The customer avoids the frustrating process of repeating information that should already exist in the system and speaks with a familiar agent that can offer faster service.

Floodgate message

Now let’s imagine that you are responsible for managing the contact center for a utility company during severe weather conditions. Entire sections of your grid are without service and your call center is flooded with calls from concerned customers. INI LaunchPort can be configured to deliver a floodgate message to all callers from specified areas, informing them that you are aware of the service outage, and provide a timeline of when you expect service to be restored. The message can be changed with status updates as the repairs are being implemented thus resolving a plethora of calls, without the need for an agent.

INI LaunchPort is a highly configurable application offering an affordable option for intelligent call routing. Contact center administrators are given the the ability to manage how callers are identified as early in the call as possible. Early identification speeds call resolution resulting in an improved customer experience. Contact INI to speak with a representative about how INI LaunchPort can streamline your call routing needs.

*This functionality requires integration with additional applications or systems.

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Features of INI LaunchPort™

Configure multiple caller ID collection points

Define caller profiles with unique routing
instructions

Create custom greetings and floodgate
messages

Ensure security with SSL encryption and
data masking

learn more

Benefits of INI LaunchPort™

Improve first call resolution through more
accurate routing

Employ floodgate messaging to resolve
common concerns

Improve agent productivity with screen pop
integration

Connect callers to desired resource more efficiently

learn more

“With INI LaunchPort 2.0, contact center administrators can create more sophisticated caller profiles that allow for deeper and more targeted call routing,” stated Gary Van Gordon, Vice President of INI. “The floodgate messaging capability and the ability to integrate with self-service applications increase first call resolution, boost agent productivity, and drive overall contact center effectiveness. Callers benefit from a faster and more personalized transaction.”

Danette Craig, Director of Operations at INI, added, “Security and the handling of sensitive information has become a complicated issue for enterprise contact centers, with public relations implications that can be devastating to corporate reputation and revenue. INI LaunchPort 2.0 contains powerful security features that allow contact center administrators to protect sensitive information from being stored in system logs. SSL enhancements ensure the secure handling of information with industry standard data encryption. Our clients benefit from knowing their customers not only have a satisfying experience but a secure one as well.”

Features of INI Launchport 2.0

Advanced Caller Identification: INI LaunchPort acquires the caller ID as well as the number dialed and may be configured to collect additional information from the caller and the enterprise database. The combined information is used to accurately place calls into predefined caller profiles.

Sophisticated Call Routing: Contact center administrators are able to define multiple caller profiles and assign actions for each, passing the call to an appropriate self-service application or qualified agent.

Custom Greetings and Floodgate Messaging: Administrators may assign custom greetings for each caller profile or floodgate messages that provide temporary information to callers, in some cases resolving the call without the need to speak with an agent.

Enhanced Security Features: INI LaunchPort supports Secure Socket Layer (SSL) web services encryption and has options for masking sensitive customer information from being recorded – even in system logs.

Seamless Integration and Expandability: INI LaunchPort includes a web services API and support for adding capabilities that include screen pop, automatic speech recognition (ASR), and integration with interactive voice recognition (IVR) self-service applications.

About Interactive Northwest, Inc.

Interactive Northwest, Inc. (INI) develops innovative interactive voice response (IVR), computer telephony integration (CTI), and self-service applications for high-volume contact centers in markets such as government, healthcare, finance, utilities and service industries. A strong commitment to platform expertise, seamless systems integration, and project management excellence uniquely position INI to provide value to its customers. As a long-standing partner in the Avaya DevConnect program and developer of call center speech applications, INI has a deep history in deploying applications on Avaya platforms—making it a reliable partner capable of delivering results that promote the success and profitability of its customers. For more information, call +1.800.732.3236