Although automated call response systems are a valuable resource for reducing costs, instead of increasing customer satisfaction and providing a higher level of service, they often have the opposite effect by trapping callers in endless loops, blindly transferring them or forcing them to listen to all the options several times before reaching an operator - if ever.
Greg Bezhuidenhout of Siemens Communications says the new HiPath ProCentre Agile is optimised for small and medium companies. With intelligent call routing and presence management, the HiPath ProCentre Agile is easy to implement and will work with Ethernet-based data networks, classic telephone networks or hybrid environments.
This call centre solution features an easy to use Windows-based user interface that can be customised to a company's requirements, a powerful application generator for defining routing strategies, and excellent reporting abilities.
When a call is transferred from one person to another, the Siemens HiPath ProCenter Agile ensures someone is always available to respond. With its Agent desktop with integrated presence management and collaboration tools, the system quickly displays an employee's current availability and information about their competency.
"By telling the user who in the company is currently available, it takes advantage of a company's entire knowledge base and leverages this expertise to increase productivity and customer satisfaction," says Bezhuidenhout. "All the resources and technical knowledge of a company can now be used to answer customer questions more quickly and more efficiently, reducing frustration for both the agent and the customer while increasing service satisfaction."
The call centre agent simply clicks on the team list to find and contact the most qualified employee, who can either be added into a conference call with the agent and the customer using the 'Click-to-Conference' feature, or be consulted by the agent offline with 'Click-to-Consult'.
The HiPath ProCenter Agile application also provides a unified Manager desktop with a flexible interface and a familiar 'Outlook-style' screen layout for faster, easier design and configuration with an integrated tool for all management functions.
"As a complete solution, the HiPath ProCenter Agile application provides caller prompting menus, intelligent call-routing strategies, user and group administration tools as well as flexible, visual monitoring and reporting capabilities," says Bezhuidenhout.
"It is very easy to implement and manage, meeting the special needs of small and medium companies. The user can easily customise the desktop and personalise it for their individual needs to make it more efficient, and because the application is so user-friendly, it's easy to learn, eliminating the need for expensive training and allowing for faster start up."
HiPath ProCenter Agile supports the Siemens HiPath 3000, 4000 and 5000 product family, the Enterprise Convergence Architecture that enables customers to further expand existing voice and data infrastructures, safeguard their existing capital investment, and implement second generation IP (2gIP) applications that optimise company processes and lead to sustained improvements in productivity.
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Siemens Communications is one of the largest players in the global telecommunications industry. Siemens is the only provider in the market that offers its customers a full-range portfolio, from devices for end-users to complex network infrastructures for enterprises and carriers as well as related services.
Siemens Communications is the world's innovation leader in convergent technologies, products and services for wireless, fixed and enterprise networks. It is the largest group within Siemens and operates in more than 160 countries around the world. In fiscal 2003 (year-end 30 September), its 60 000-strong workforce posted sales of about 17 billion euros.
More about Siemens Communications at www.siemens.com/communications.
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