Outbound Call Center Featured Article

TMCnet Outbound Call Center Week in Review

By Tracey E. Schelmetic
TMCnet Contributor

This week in the world of outbound call center technologies and services, TMCnet's Anil Sharma wrote about Digerati Technologies, Inc., a provider of cloud communication services, and its introduction of a cloud-based predictive dialer solution specifically designed to meet the needs of businesses with call center or telesales departments. Officials with Digerati said that its Only in The Cloud solution automatically initiates an outbound call, distinguishes between a live person answer and an answering machine or voice mail system, then transfers “live” calls to a call center agent.

Also this week, TMCnet's Chris DiMarco wrote about using outbound dialing technology to reach out to customers in advance, alleviating customer concerns and lessening the load of inbound calls. “Outbound call centers are typically associated with auto-dialers and telemarketing, but companies can use them to their advantage by proactively employing them to alleviate customer concerns,” wrote DiMarco. “Say, for example, an issue arises with plans made in advance by a customer; your contact center can use outbound dialers to automatically get an agent on the phone with a customer as soon as possible. The result is an informed customer appreciative of your commitment to service.”

Auto-dialers, while they are important to any contact center's outbound calling campaign, must be used in compliance with telemarketing laws, as two firms found out – the hard way – this week. Though collection agencies have long used auto dialers to contact debtors who either have completely stopped paying their bills or are severely lagging behind on payments, it's important to comply with the laws that govern both auto-dialers and debt collection. This week, the FTC (News - Alert) announced fines and restitution reaching $44 million against two debt relief organizations that were utilizing auto dialers to “get a hold of consumers,” wrote TMCnet's Jamie Epstein.

“An article from insideARM.com states that the two groups named Advanced Management Services NW LLC and Dynamic Financial Group, concocted a fraudulent service which promised customers a high level of debt relief that none of them ever received,” wrote Epstein. “In addition, the groups used auto dialers to call numbers that were clearly part of the Do-Not-Call Registry, completing undermining the law designed to protect consumers.”   

Jamie Epstein also covered news of another misuse of the auto-dialer: a new scam called “vishing.” Vishing is a combination of voice and phishing. According to a recent article in India's Daily News & Analysis, this is how it works: the scammer sets up an auto dialer and when the phone is answered, a pre-recorded message is played that tells the customer that his/her credit card has had illegal activity and the customer should call the recorded phone number immediately.

Finally, TMCnet's Chris DiMarco covered the benefits of using a hosted solution to tie together a disparate group of agents into a cohesive whole. “With a hosted solution, call center managers have the option of utilizing a diffuse workforce. All agents are still connected to a centralized system and have access to the same utilities, but because all the software needs are hosted, all an agent requires to access them is a reliable Internet connection. With monitoring and recording tools, quality assurance is reinforced and agents are held to the same stringent standards they would be in an office,” he wrote. 

“By outsourcing the majority of communications to a workforce that logs in from home, call center managers can save considerably on the amenities typically needed to furnish a call center. Cubes, chairs, phones, air conditioning – not to mention IT staffing and equipment; the costs of each can be eliminated by using a hosted solution versus premise based technology,” he said.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.