Council gets virtual contact centre

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Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) in Queensland has chosen to deploy Interactive Intelligence IP communications software suite, Customer Interaction Centre (CIC), at its customer service call centre due to open in early 2011, writes Government News.

TRC's decision to build a new 35-seat 'virtual' contact centre follows the merger in 2008 of the Cambooya, Clifton, Crows Nest, Jondaryan, Millmerran, Pittsworth and Rosalie shire councils with Toowoomba City Council.

Up until now, the customer contact points were scattered throughout the organisation, both within Toowoomba and each of the original shires, the report says. TRC's customer service manager, Malcolm Angell says the council went through a thorough analysis of a number of products before going with Interactive.

KnoahSoft has entered into a strategic alliance with Teleopti, provider of VOIP-based call recording, agent performance management and analytical tools for contact centres, reports TMCnet.

KnoahSoft says the two companies have formed an alliance which will provide SMEs and their customers with a comprehensive suite of call recording, quality assurance and workforce management solutions for contact centres.

KnoahSoft says Harmony helps businesses improve customer satisfaction and increase operational awareness by providing IP-based contact centres with a low-cost, modular Web-based solution.

The Cromarty Firth area could get up to 300 jobs thanks to an Indian company's plans to expand its call-centre operation in Scotland, according to The Press and Journal.

In June, Hinduja Global Solution (HGSL) took over call-centre operators Careline Services, which provides services to more than 20 clients covering cars, media and telecoms, financial services, retail and government.

HGSL is looking to use the takeover as a springboard into Europe, and later this month management will visit Scotland to develop their expansion plans.