Category Archives: News

This is the main new Category

Avaya Endgame?

By on
Reply

Avaya's Wild Ride through Bankruptcy

It’s been known for months that industry behemoth Avaya was interested in finding a buyer. Private equity suitors include Apollo, Pemira, and Searchlight (according to this Bloomberg report). There is also interest from Mitel, first reported in April and then reported again – more definitively – this week. (We wrote about an Avaya-Mitel tie-up here: Ghost of Nortel Comes Home.)

During last week’s earnings call, CEO Jim Chirico said that there would be a decision about the company’s fate in 30 days. That’s the strongest indication yet that we’re truly in the “endgame” for Avaya. It’s fair to say the whole industry is on the edge of its seat right now.

Continue reading →

Who Will Control the Customer Service Messaging Channel?

By on
Reply

Who Will Control the Customer Service Messaging ChannelText or talk? Voice conversations are still critical, but data shows that the former is becoming a bigger part of customer service interactions. This trend is driven partly by consumer preferences and partly by companies striving to lower costs. Companies are also leaning towards text because of the promise of increased automation, which is easier to do once a conversation has shifted to text.

To facilitate text conversations, you also have to ask the question: “Which channel?” There is SMS, of course. And then there are the big messaging platforms: Messenger and WhatsApp (both from Facebook), Apple’s Business Chat, and Google’s offering called (for now) Google My Business Chat. Among those platforms, a big battle is raging.

 

Continue reading →

Acquisitions Point to Messaging’s Future in Customer Service

By on
Reply

Acquisitions Point to Messaging’s Future in Customer ServiceBig question: How should text-based communication work alongside voice for customer service? In the dark ages, the only answer to this was email, in its own silo, and a call center, in its own silo. Then real-time chat came along. And then messaging, powered by massive platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp, made an appearance. Meanwhile, driving in its own lane, is good ‘ol SMS.

For now, you can find companies trying any or all of these strategies. You can read success stories in each. But, at some point, it’s likely that one of these channels will become the dominant companion to voice. By that I mean it will have enough critical mass that it’s just assumed by consumers that any large company will offer it, in the way we assume any large company has a toll-free number and an email address.

 

Continue reading →

The Contact Center Guide to Managing Spikes in Call Volume [Industry Report]

By on
Reply

Managing Call Volume Spikes Industry Report

Contact center managers are, at their core, problem-solvers. One of the most challenging problems they often face is dealing with unpredictable spikes in call volume. Sometimes the causes of call spikes are understood, even anticipated. Yet, in many cases, these periods of peak call volume come as a real shock to everyone in the contact center. For example, a marketing event promoting a product sale would be an easy predictor for an influx in calls, whereas an unexpected power outage or sudden bout of the flu in the contact center isn’t something that can be readily planned for. Or is it?

This guide will tackle those questions, and more, head on!  Continue reading →

Success Story: How Canada’s HVAC Experts Deliver Customer Excellence with Call-Backs

By on
Reply

Reliance Home Comfort and Fonolo Call-Backs Success Story Customer service is a serious business.

We know this better than anyone else: On a daily basis, we witness our customers working tirelessly to provide exceptional journeys for their own customer base. They are able to achieve greatness because of one important thing: They take service seriously, and in the long-run, this worldview results in success. Today, we bring are pleased to present you with one particularly inspiring success story, featuring a Canadian HVAC, plumbing, and water-heating service provider (and beloved Fonolo customer): Reliance Home Comfort.

Trusted by 1.8 million homeowners and businesses, Reliance Home Comfort is one of Canada’s largest and full-service providers of heating, cooling, water heaters, water purification, plumbing, and protection plans.

 

Continue reading →

We’re Back: Join Fonolo at the 20th Annual Customer Contact Week in Las Vegas

By on
Reply

Fonlo at CCW 2019If your feet are firmly planted in the customer service and experience industries, you’re probably as excited as we are about next month. Fonolo is pleased to announce that we’ll be making our triumphant return to Customer Contact Week (CCW), held this year from June 24-28th at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now in its 20th (yes, 20th!) year, the conference, considered the #1 event in the industry, is synonymous with education and inspiration in the customer service ecology. We can’t wait to return.

While Customer Contact Week began as a forum for call center managers to gather annually and discuss best practices, over the course of two decades it has evolved to become the place where customer service leadership can excel professionally, engage with colleagues, and educate themselves, all through community-oriented networking and interactive experiences.

 

Continue reading →

Survey Shows Call-Back Deployments Have Doubled in Some Regions

By on
Reply

Survey Shows Call-Back Deployments Have Doubled in Some RegionsMore and more call centers are offering a call-back option as an alternative to putting customers on hold. At Fonolo, we see this trend through the increased demand of our own call-back solution. We also see it in survey results such as this one from Contact Babel last year. We just received an early copy of a new report, by Ryan Strategic Advisory, that surveyed 491 enterprise executives who had decision-making authority of their company’s contact centers. The data results show impressive growth.

 

 

Continue reading →

The Avaya-Mitel Tie-up: The Ghost of Nortel Comes Home

By on
1

The Avaya-Mitel Tie-up: Ghost of Nortel Comes HomeNews broke last week that Mitel is proposing an all-stock buy-out of Avaya. The week prior, rumors were circulating that Avaya was engaging bankers to find a buyer. This is the latest twist in a long, zig-zagging road for the company. It’s only been 16 months since they emerged from bankruptcy.

There’s a tasty irony to an Avaya-Mitel merger. Part of Avaya’s call center business was the result of an acquisition of Nortel assets, following the latter’s bankruptcy in 2009. That collapse is still a psychic wound for the Canadian tech industry. It’s one of those “Where were you when you heard?” kind of moments.

Mitel too holds a special place in the Canadian tech world. Co-founder Sir Terry Matthews is an actual gosh-darned knight. The company is now owned by private equity but is still headquartered in Ottawa.

While the Canada angle is entertaining, the impact of a Mitel-Avaya merger would have very material affects on the contact center world.

 

Continue reading →

Fonolo to Exhibit at ICMI’s 2019 Contact Center Expo and Conference

By on
Reply

Fonolo at ICMI Expo - Visit Booth 909It’s getting warmer, which means this year’s vibrant trade show season is upon us! And we at Fonolo know how to kick things off: We’ll be exhibiting at the highest-rated event for contact center professionals: ICMI’s 2019 Contact Center Expo and Conference, taking place May 13-16 at The Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida. This time, Fonolo will be spreading joy at Booth #909!

ICMI, The International Customer Management Institute, is the authority on contact center excellence, and produces this annual, stellar event geared at educating, motivating, and providing a solution-packed expo for professionals looking to stay on top of their customer service game. Industry professionals trust in the expo’s ability to deliver a comprehensive and intuitive program.

ICMI gives us the opportunity to showcase the power of our cloud-based call-back solution in resolving recurring problems for the contact center, like caller abandonment, volume spikes, and cost-per-call,” says Shai Berger, CEO, Fonolo. “ICMI has historically been a transformative experience for Fonolo. We look forward to networking with contact center professionals and sharing our powerful solution with them.

– Shai Berger, CEO at Fonolo

 

Continue reading →

Announcing the Winners of Fonolo’s 2019 Customer Experience Excellence Awards!

By on
Reply

… And wFonolo announces CX Awards 2019e’re back with another round of the latest and greatest in the customer experience game.  Let’s put our hands together and give it up for the 2019 winners of Fonolo’s Customer Experience Excellence Awards!

Now in its 4th year, the Customer Experience Excellence Awards examine the work of outstanding contact centers from all industries and regions. It recognizes those who are leading the pack and spearheading the delivery of a superior customer experience for their customers by significantly reducing hold times. This year we are honored to acknowledge two distinguished businesses for their outstanding achievement in improving their customers’ experiences through the offering of call-backs.

Let’s roll out the carpet and congratulate the 2019 Customer Experience Excellence Award Winners of 2019 (#CXAwards):

Continue reading →

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7