Ventana Research Unveils Research Results in Contact Center Performance Management Benchmark; Keys to Improving Customer-Centric Operational Performance to be Discussed at April 12th Webinar

Business Wire, March 30, 2006

SAN MATEO, Calif. -- Ventana Research, the leading provider of Performance Management research and advisory services, will unveil the results of the Evaluating Maturity in Contact Centers research study at a live, interactive webinar on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 at 9am Pacific. To sign up for the webinar, visit www.ventanaresearch.com.

Analyzing responses from over 850 companies, the research applies the Ventana Research Maturity Model(TM) for benchmarking contact centers at one of four levels of increasing maturity: Tactical, Advanced, Strategic and Innovative. Each level deploys more channels for customer communications, supports more types of services, uses more granular, business-oriented measurements to manage performance and deploys more innovative technologies.

The research, sponsored by technology providers Enkata, Verint Opus Solutions and Witness Systems and media sponsors TMCnet, Call Center Magazine, callentre.co.uk, SearchCRM, CRM Project, CRM Advocate, Questex ICCM and Contact Professional, Intelligent Enterprise, revealed:

--The two main drivers for centers are cost and customer satisfaction -- factors that are not necessarily compatible, and may even conflict.

--Few centers have business analytics that enable them to monitor customer satisfaction in a meaningful way; most are missing out on the possibility of improving customer satisfaction by finding ways to change their processes and reduce costs at the same time.

--The average tenure of agents is less than two years. An intelligent desktop could provide more assistance to inexperienced agents, helping them handle interactions in a consistent and effective manner.

--Nearly half of all centers plan to involve remote workers, mobile workers, knowledge workers or a combination.

The full text of the Ventana Research study contains many details about how contact centers work today, what they do and intend to do, and new technologies and process innovations that are available to help them improve and do more. You'll also find:

--Contact center maturity levels by geographic region, size and industry

--Best practice performance management techniques being used by the more mature centers

--How to improve customer satisfaction levels

--Financial and technology initiatives planned for improving contact center performance

Additional Performance Management education will be offered at Ventana Research's upcoming analyst summit this June 11-14 in San Francisco. To learn more, visit www.ventanaresearch.com/connections2006.> About Ventana Research

Ventana Research is the leading Performance Management research and advisory services firm. By providing expert insight and detailed guidance, Ventana Research helps clients operate their companies more efficiently and effectively. These business improvements are delivered through a top-down approach that connects people, process, information and technology. What makes Ventana Research different from other analyst firms is a focus on Performance Management for finance, operations and IT. This focus, plus research as a foundation and reach into a community of over two million corporate executives through extensive media partnerships, allows Ventana Research to deliver a high-value, low-risk method for achieving optimal business performance. To learn how Ventana Research Performance Management workshops, assessments and advisory services can impact your bottom line, visit www.ventanaresearch.com.

(C) 2006 Ventana Research