Aberdeen Group Study Reports Successful Contact Centers Implementing New CRM Applications, Technologies and Best Practices

Business Wire, Oct 29, 2002

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 2002

New Technologies Are Helping Call Centers Evolve

Into Customer-Centric `Contact Centers'

New technologies and Customer Relationship Management-centric best practices are breathing new life into call centers, helping them to evolve into multi-channel, customer-centric "contact centers," according to a recent study by Aberdeen Group, a leading market analysis and positioning services firm.

The study, "What Works: Ten Significant Implementations in CRM - Call and Contact Centers", highlights ten customer contact centers that have successfully integrated new technologies to reduce costs, improve agent effectiveness and increase customer satisfaction.

"Surprisingly, traditional call centers are only now beginning to adopt a CRM-centric view of their customers and are looking at technologies such as IP-based contact centers (IP-CCs), customer experience management (CEM), and workforce optimization tools to focus on effectiveness," said Christopher Fletcher, vice president and research director with Aberdeen. "The good news is that leading, innovative contact centers are moving away from metrics of efficiency that measure calls per agent, and instead are focusing on the customer."

"Our research shows that even as companies place an emphasis on ROI through cost reduction to navigate today's market, those that focus on their customers and invest in empowering agents with tools, training, and information, not only realize improvements in customer satisfaction, they save money at the same time," said Stephen Lane, research director with Aberdeen.

Lane noted, for example, that by working toward first-call resolution, companies could reduce repeat call volumes. This finding comes from companies that, by their own, as well as commonly accepted industry criteria, have achieved success with their contract center initiatives.

Aberdeen Group's research on the CRM industry extends back more than eight years and has been based on one of the largest dedicated and experienced CRM practices in the industry. For more information about Aberdeen's What Works: Ten Significant Implementations in CRM - Call and Contact Centers, please visit www.aberdeen.com.

About Aberdeen

Founded in 1988, Aberdeen Group is a leading IT market analysis and positioning services firm that helps Information Technology vendors establish leadership in emerging markets. The firm provides IT market intelligence, positioning, and market acceleration services to established and start-up technology companies.

Aberdeen's consultants provide up-to-the-minute global IT market insights in more than 25 IT market segments. Research practices focus on emerging market opportunities, market growth rates, important industry trends, and customer buying patterns. The firm also helps clients to identify new market opportunities, enter those markets successfully, and accelerate the adoption of new technologies. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Aberdeen has research and consulting divisions in Palo Alto, California; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Aberdeen is accessible via the Web at www.aberdeen.com.