There are three things we can all agree with when it comes to phoning a contact center: Callers don’t like to be on hold, agents don’t enjoy talking to callers who have been on hold, and no call center wants to have long hold times. Unfortunately, these things occur all too often. It should come as no surprise that call abandonment is on the rise, as call centers are being asked to do more with less, while facing increasing call volumes (growing at 20% per year).
You can only tell customers that “your call is important to us, please be patient” so many times before they simply hang up the phone. Each abandoned call reduces First Call Resolution (FCR) rates and, more importantly, becomes a bad memory for that customer. Continue reading
Investing in a call-back solution is a strategic way to lower abandon rates, smooth out spikes in call volume, improve the customer experience and lower telco costs. When implemented 
One of the easiest ways to lose a customer is through a poor call center experience. For example, a survey by YouGov showed that 
Telecom companies conduct themselves differently from most other companies.
Improving performance has always been an area of importance for contact centers. However, as the service industry grows to new heights, it’s important for professionals to see beyond the horizon.
For many years, the contact center industry has been using the term “multi-channel” to describe the transition from communicating by phone only, to communicating by email, chat and social media. It was this shift, in fact, that got the “call center” renamed to the “contact center”. (Today, 
Agents! Agents! Agents! Remember Steve Ballmer’s famous chant? The one where he screams “developers!” over and over again? If you haven’t seen it yet, take a quick 
If you’ve ever wandered up and down the aisles in a contact center, listening to the background drone of conversation, you have no doubt wondered about the people that work in this environment. What makes a good call center agent? Can you predict an individual’s potential – who will stay and thrive, and who won’t? All other things being equal, does personality matter for call center agents?
Today, the generation gap inside the contact center is more complex than ever, putting tremendous pressure on supervisors who can’t employ a one-size-fits-all approach to managing. Even though multi-generational staff may perform the same roles, treating every agent the same way can have undesirable effects, creating difficulty in a diverse workforce. 
When it comes to the contact center and customer service space, two analyst firms dominate the landscape of thought leadership: Gartner and Forrester. Let’s compare side-by-side what they say about some of the leading issues of the day.
