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With Demand For Contact-Center Professional And Managed Services On The Rise, Decision Criteria Addresses More Than Just Functionality

During the past three years, the percentage of contact-center decision makers who are planning to consider contact-center professional services has risen from 7.9 percent to 21 percent. Keeping pace with this trend, the percentage of contact-center decision makers who are planning to consider managed and/or hosted contact-center solutions has risen from 8.4 percent to 20.1 percent. Read more

U.S. Contact-Center Industry Continues Growing Despite Outsourcing Pressures

As we recently reported in our 2006 InfoTrack for Converged Applications: Full Year 2006 – Contact Center report, the contact-center industry showed healthy growth in the United States for 2006 despite the outsourcing of agent positions overseas and some inroads on the part of hosted contact-center services. However, the majority of this growth was not based on the needs of companies, government agencies and others to start new centers. It was based on the industry pattern of consolidating and flattening existing center networks, combining centers in companies that experience merger/acquisition activity (resulting in new equipment sales), and the use of virtual centers and remote agent capabilities to put new agent seats where they are most effective and productive. Read more

Contact-Center Industry Continues To Experience Healthy Growth

The InfoTrack for Converged Applications 2006 Report on Contact Centers shows the volume of new agent seats shipped in 2006 continued to grow and reached a total of slightly more than 2.6 million, with new systems of 50,900.

The distribution by manufacturer showed Avaya with more than one third of the total shipments. Nortel, Cisco, Alcatel, Genesys, NEC, Toshiba and Aspect were the second-tier leaders.



In terms of year-over-year growth, Aspect led all U.S. manufacturers with a growth rate of 130 percent (fueled in part by its merger with Concerto in 2005. Mitel had the second-largest growth rate for 2006, followed by Cisco, Genesys and Nortel. Avaya showed a small decline in the United States, while Siemens had the largest decline (down 73 percent) in the United States due in part to the lack of contact-center functionality on the HiPath 8000 in 2006 and general marketplace concerns about its business status.

The report forecasts growth in all regions of the world, with APAC and CALA likely to grow at a double-digit rate due to outsourcing from regions with higher-salaried employees. But even the higher-salaried regions will continue to improve productivity, customer satisfaction and increase revenues/lower costs per employee with new IP-based capabilities. As contact-center managers (supported by a host of contact-center consultants) make progress convincing upper management that the center is a strategic asset, this will result in additional functionality being sold to centers, although it may not be reflected directly in additional agent seats. More information on this report




Market Snapshot: Consumer Knowledge Key For Contact-Center Consulting & Design Services

According to a recent InfoTech research report, contact-center consulting & design should be considered a strategic professional service and not just a product add-on service by service providers that represent contact-center products.

Nearly percent of the total market has purchased contact-center consulting & design services. Moderate to strong demand is projected for this service through 2008, positioning it as an attractive revenue opportunity for contact-center services or as a potential standalone opportunity (regardless of the contact-center brand). The critical success factor of contact-center consulting & design service is knowledge of the customer.

As such, all service providers must make sure processes and procedures are in place to utilize and to develop this customer knowledge in the delivery and/or design process. Successful contact-center consulting & design service providers will position and market their expertise, skills on staff, methodology and tools as well as capitalize on existing customer relationships developed through the provisioning of other professional services and/or contact-center products.

For more information on InfoTech products and services, contact Craig Born at 973/602-0123.

Survey Sez: Cellular Subs Demand More Customer Care

Wireless customers who have problems or issues with their service are more likely now to contact their current providers than they were in the past, and the incidences of users dialing their carriers for customer care are at an all-time high.

According to the J.D. Power and Associates most recent semi-annual study on the subject, now in its fourth year, the average incidence rate has climbed steadily since measurement began in 2000, when the figure stood at 47 percent. The study found that 59 percent of wireless customers contact their service providers within a 12 month period - the highest level since 2000 and up from last year's 54 percent. More