Avaya and Zeacom Deliver Preparation and Flexibility: Keys for Contact Center Marketplace

Avaya’s (News - Alert) advancements in Contact Center technology provide specific answers to questions facing 21st century enterprises. The reality is that with today’s plethora of communications options (social media, instant messaging, texting, voice, video, e-mail, fax) customers desire – expect, in fact – you to not only handle their questions or concerns successfully, but to also do so swiftly.

It is simply not enough to just “handle” situations as they arise with customers; rather companies, facing stiffer and stiffer competition for repeat and new business opportunities must go further and work harder to develop solid relationships with customers.
Implementing a contact center is a tremendous first step toward striking a balance between keeping customers happy and the ever-present aims to cut costs, improve efficiency, and maximize value. Contact Centers today, however, are starkly different than those of years past. Gone are the days of large office spaces filled with hundred of call agents.
Natalie Romano, managing director of Strategic Consulting Services with Avaya, recently authored a whitepaper titled, “Five trends making news and driving change in contact centers.” Romano’s five trends include: 1) Investing more – and more wisely – in contact center personnel, 2) Focusing on the quality of customer interactions, not quantitative yardsticks, 3) Preparing for an influx of social media contacts, 4) Embracing customer and employee mobility, and 5) Proactively outreaching across multiple channels.
Romano encourages companies not to overlook the value of customer complaints.
“Many businesses still look on complainers as customers who are difficult to satisfy,” explains Romano. “Yet other businesses, such as supermarkets and fast-food restaurants, have for decades understood that addressing customer complaints is a sure path to customer loyalty, increased customer retention and positive reputation.”
“Contact centers can play a pivotal role in this process of building long and successful relationships with customers.”
Some of the ways contact centers and their employees can facilitate this process include being open to discussion, listening carefully, being personable, apologizing if necessary, and always staying current on trends and innovations.
Zeacom, a Gold level member in the Avaya DevConnect (News - Alert) program, integrates seamlessly with Avaya products providing a single interface to manage business communications across all media.
According to Avaya, the DevConnect program promotes the development, compliance testing and co-marketing of innovative third-party products that are compatible with standards-based Avaya solutions. Member organizations have expertise in a broad range of technologies, including IP telephony, contact centers and mobility applications, helping companies extend the value of multivendor networks and transform voice into an intelligent business application that delivers true value to the bottom line.
Zeacom executives just returned from spending the week at the International Avaya Users Group (IAUG) Global Conference 2011 in Las Vegas, which combined the previous Avaya and heritage Nortel (News - Alert) user groups into one of the world's largest international organizations for communications technology professionals.
According to Zeacom’s Ernie Wallerstein (News - Alert), the event was incredibly well attended and an exceptional platform to interact directly with the Avaya User community. Wallerstein noted in a podcast that behind Avaya’s success and ability to repeat as the world leader in the contact center space, is its DevConnect program. Also, Wallerstein lauded Avaya’s commitment to technological innovation, as well as Zeacom’s (News - Alert) expertise and proven ability to empower Avaya resellers with powerful solutions that deliver high-levels of customer satisfaction.