In this series of four blog posts about Virtual Customer Service I will reveal a new use case for considering Virtual Customer Service. In the introduction you can read about the rationale behind Virtual Customer Service.

Use case one: Virtualize multi-site operations

The most obvious use case for virtualizing your customer service operation is to make use of economies of scale. Due to multiple requirements, contact centers have often been decentralized. Generally it’s cheaper to find resources in remote areas but there is usually a limit to the number of qualified people you can find. Having multiple locations is a good way to protect yourself from local power outages or other hazards such as floods, storms, or worse. As a result, many companies have deployed numerous locations both within and outside their country.

Typically these operations work independently of each other, somewhere at the network level a percentage of the work is allocat... read more >

I am a true aficionado of great actors in bad movies. In fact, to fully celebrate my quirky cinematic tastes, I developed an idea called the Denzel Dud Double Feature— the first edition would include a back-to-back viewing of Denzel Washington’s 1995 virtual reality trashterpiece “Virtuosity” and the 1998 evil soul terrorizes Philadelphia misfire “Fallen.”

My appreciation for films like these stems from seeing that even the most acclaimed actors, in this case including Denzel Washington, John Goodman, James Gandolfini, Louise Fletcher, and Russell Crowe, cannot rise above their material; I savor the juxtaposition of actors able to convey a huge range of emotions with just their eyes trapped in a film with a script seemingly written by a second-grade student or a director who could not organize two cans into a line, let alone orchestrate a huge cast and crew into making a work of art.

Like unfortunate Denzel, many enter... read more >

For many years customer service professionals  have implemented the concept of “virtual call centers’’ to optimize efficiencies across their operations, but today companies can benefit from a new vision we call ‘virtual customer service’. This series of blogs will introduce Virtual Customer Service and its benefits to you, presenting four use cases that are making a difference for companies worldwide.

What is Virtual Customer Service?

At the heart of the concept is the idea that work needs to be done by people who have the right skills and availability, wherever they are in the organization. This not only delivers an improved customer experience by connecting your customer to the best possible resource across your company, but it also uses your resources in the most efficient way. 

However, in most organizations the need to manage and monitor resources forces us to “corral” them into teams ... read more >

Enterprise Connect — How Communications and Collaboration Transform Business Wireless, video, Unified Communications, contact centers, SIP Trunking, the Cloud...all of these topics and more make up the focus for Enterprise Connect 2013, the leading conference and exposition on enterprise communications and collaboration.

Enterprise Connect delivers a unique opportunity for you to meet the industry's thought- and market-leaders and hear comprehensive analyses of the products, technologies and applications that are — or soon will be — in the market. Through in-depth technical sessions, and the largest and broadest exhibition, Enterprise Connect is focused on one over-riding goal: To help you make the best decisions possible about migrating, designing and implementing the right communications and collaboration products, services, software and architecture for your enterprise.

The Enterprise Connect conference program reflects is both technically ... read more >

As a female, I have no problems asking for directions – unlike my male counterparts. However, when it comes to shopping, I’m always weary when a retail associate approaches me as soon as I walk in, asking if I need any help.  This isn’t a sexist comment, just a fact, where a lot of studies have been done that have identified that male shoppers exhibit very different shopping traits from their female counterparts.

This past Saturday, I went on a quest to find the perfect pair of black pants – a staple in every woman’s wardrobe.  I decided to start my expedition at a very well known and highly regarded luxury brand name store.  As soon as I walked in and started browsing the rack where the pants were hanging, a helpful and smiling sales associate approached, eager to assist. 

Against better judgment, I explained what I was looking for and she pulled two styles, both my size, and showed me to a dressing room.... read more >