Avaya Proactive Contact Management Solutions help firms expand customer retention, service programs

Avaya Inc, a leading global provider of voice and data networks to businesses, today introduced two new solutions in its Avaya Proactive Contact Management Solutions portfolio for customer relationship management (CRM). The solutions are designed to help companies increase sales and improve customer retention and satisfaction through proactive service strategies.

"When people think of proactive customer contact, they often think of telemarketing, but there`s a world of other information that customers expect to receive from companies, such as account status, that could be handled more effectively through proactive contact," said Keith Larson, Avaya vice president and general manager, CRM Solutions Group.

"For instance, utility customers benefit from early warning of possible area service interruptions, and consumers appreciate rapid notification of product recalls. This kind of innovative proactive outreach requires businesses to act quickly, with the right information at the right time."

The latest software for Avaya Predictive Dialing System, an automated telephone dialling solution for proactive customer contact, offers enhanced capabilities in a multi-dialler office environment that greatly increase a company`s outreach capacity.

New functionality includes the ability to manage up to four diallers in a distributed architecture using a single, unified administration and supervisor interface for faster implementation of large-scale outreach programs. The system can also be integrated with a company`s desktop e-business applications to provide service agents with rapid onscreen access to information the customer requires, such as account history, product details or specialised service updates.

In addition, Avaya is delivering a solution that integrates Avaya Interactive Voice Response (IVR), an Avaya Self-Service Solution, with Avaya Predictive Dialing System. This solution creates an easy way for companies to contact customers proactively by telephone, and provides a readily available avenue for the customer`s action. Once contacted, the solution provides customers with an automated method to complete transactions, or re-directs their calls for additional assistance via touch-tone or spoken commands.

"Companies are increasingly re-evaluating proactive contact strategies in terms of how to satisfy and retain existing customers, rather than simply attract new ones," said Brian Bingham, senior analyst of Customer Care Research at IDC. "The new solutions introduced by Avaya offer higher capacity for rapid, large-scale outreach initiatives, with integrated self-service options to make follow-up activities easier for customers and the ability to leverage information from existing systems and databases for better on-the-spot service."

The multi-dialler software upgrade for the Avaya Predictive Dialing System offers significant enhancements to meet the needs of small, mid-size and large contact centres. The solution builds on a history of outstanding functionality that has made Avaya Predictive Dialing System a market leader, with more than 1 100 implementations worldwide.

The Avaya Predictive Dialing System can work as a standalone system or as a vendor-agnostic network component in conjunction with voice platforms from major voice communications systems suppliers. A single Avaya Predictive Dialing System server can dial up to 130 000 outbound calls per hour. With the software upgrade, the system can manage up to four diallers on a single campaign with list sharing across a distributed dialler network, enabling increased outbound call volume of up to 500 000 calls per hour. Voice detection on the system is nearly instantaneous, providing rapid connection to a live agent for faster service.

The software also provides an updated version of the Campaign Director Graphical User Interface (GUI), which makes it easy for supervisors to manage operations and monitor traffic and workload across the multi-dialler network. Integration with existing databases and desktop e-business applications, to provide agents with needed information from the company`s knowledge bases, can be performed by Avaya Professional Services CRM specialists.

Avaya Predictive Dialing System Multi-Dialer upgrade will be available in March 2002 in the US and Canada, with worldwide roll-out scheduled through June 2002.

Avaya Self-Service solution for proactive contact integrates Avaya Predictive Dialing System for outbound call initiation with Avaya IVR for instant response. Avaya IVR offers touch-tone and speech-enabled options so that customers can readily perform activities such as order products, pay bills, confirm information or request assistance.

One of the first customers to take advantage of the integrated solution is University of Alabama Health Services Foundation, PC. Using the technology, the foundation created a virtual payment centre, designed to automate outgoing calls to patients via predictive dialling and immediately provide patients with an avenue for self-payment using interactive voice response.

Integration services were provided by Avaya Professional Service Organization, a team of contact centre consulting and project management specialists.

The integrated solution has enabled the foundation`s billing and collections department to reduce staff requirements by 27% while increasing monthly collections by an average of $50 000 per month.

"The new system is easy for our customers to use, and allows us to allocate resources to other priorities," said Tom McAvoy, associate director of Business Operations, University of Alabama Health Services Foundation. "We`ve been impressed with the results, both in terms of return on investment and customer satisfaction."