In addition to a fantastic view, the festivities included a band, plenty of ice cream, and lots of time to socialize with CallCopy friends and their families before the “Ooohs” and “Ahhhs” ensued.

Happy belated Fourth of July from all of us here at CallCopy!

Whether your organization performs manual or automated quality assurance (QA), call center coaching forms are an integral component of an overall QA program.

Developing Call Center Coaching Forms

There are several components you’ll want to consider when developing call center coaching forms for your organization.  For example, your call center coaching forms and the weighting of different sections should mirror your organization’s customer service goals and priorities.  In addition, ensure that all requirements are met by involving staff from different areas and levels of the organization.  Regardless of these special considerations, there are certain components that all call center coaching forms should include, such as:

• A section analyzing the opening and closing of the call.
• Space to define strengths and weaknesses associated with system knowledge, resolution skills, product knowledge and familiarity with business processes.
• A section reviewing the overall communication skills of the agent.
• An area to identify applicable best practices and up-training opportunities.

Because these requirements overlap from industry to industry, many companies choose to base their call center coaching forms on a pre-existing or sample form (CallCopy provides several sample forms in our Contact Center QA Guide).

Once a form is completed, review the results with the agent, either by scheduling time with the agent for a coaching session, or by using a tool like CallCopy to share the evaluation with the agent.  Follow up with the agent directly, or use our tracking tools to ensure that the agent has reviewed the content.

Why Use Call Center Coaching Forms

Ultimately, the end goal of any QA program should be to facilitate increased customer satisfaction.  In addition, call center coaching forms can help improve agent productivity, ensure better transaction quality and reduce enterprise risk.

Learn more:

• cc: Quality | Quality Management
• cc: Agent | Agent Coaching & Training
• Download our Contact Center QA Guide
• Download our Improving the Customer Experience with Peer-based QM Whitepaper

With this in mind, CallCopy has partnered with Dick Bucci of Pelorus Associates to bring you 10 Secrets to Boosting First Call Resolution, a new eBook loaded with best practices on how to improve satisfaction and cut costs through increased FCR.

“First call resolution is an essential metric for any best-in-class contact center for two simple reasons: it drives customer satisfaction and reduces operating costs.”

This eBook provides an inside look at the many benefits associated with increased FCR, alongside real-world techniques on how to do so, including steps you can take to measure FCR, ways to identify the causes of repeat calls, insight on how FCR relates to customer satisfaction, and, of course, the 10 secrets to boosting FCR.

So, whether your focus is on the bottom line, keeping customers happy, or striking a balance between the two, chances are your organization can benefit from improving FCR.  Download the eBook now to get started.

» Download 10 Secrets to Boosting First Call Resolution

We spent part of the day this past Friday moving, unpacking and getting settled in at the new digs.  Everyone helped out to make the move go as smoothly as possible and we’re all happy to have more space with room to grow!

As you may know, we’ve seen rapid growth in recent years and this move is a direct result of our continued organizational expansion.  We’d like to thank our customers and partners for their continued support.

When the brunt of the storms rendered other Columbus, Ohio offices (and offices across the country, for that matter), non-operational, we were able to work from home thanks to our communications infrastructure and our own CallCopy software.  As the Avaya Insights blog points out, snow days don’t mean what they used to….

For many organizations, hazardous weather conditions have historically meant that when school districts close, parents are forced to either try to find a babysitter at the last minute or take the day off to watch their kids. Inclement weather also traditionally means longer, more dangerous commutes for employees, shorter work days, and above all else, lost productivity.

But that was then, and this is now: our software can record our work-at-home IP phones, and our tools can be accessed remotely via VPN. To ensure our continued operations, we utilize the same technologies that our customers rely upon.

One customer leveraging this functionality is Mohawk Flooring. Using CallCopy software alongside their Avaya Unified Communications infrastructure, Mohawk was able to ensure business continuity despite a crippling ice storm impacting their Dallas, Texas facility several months ago. Agents were able to work from home during the ordeal, eliminating risky commutes and decreased productivity.

To remain competitive, businesses need to be well-equipped to handle inclement weather or even more extreme scenarios such as a pandemic, flu outbreak or natural disaster.

Fortunately, CallCopy’s solutions allow businesses to rest easy knowing that their employees can maintain productivity regardless of the situation. Our contact recording and screen capture technology allows organizations to manage the performance of remote workers – so they remain both safe and productive.

You can trust that CallCopy is working hard to bring you the absolute best solutions and service possible.

“Having a relationship with customers rather than viewing [each one] as a number…that’s [CallCopy’s] number-one differentiation.”

As Ray Bohac, CallCopy’s president and CEO put it in an email to the CallCopy team, “Time and time again, we’ve won customers not only as a result of our first-rate solution offering, but also because we provide something unique and rare in today’s business world – a solid relationship with our prospects and customers.”

“[CallCopy is] beginning to encroach upon the Tier 1 revenue stream, thanks to solid technology, a much-lower price point, and a higher level of support.”

Since the beginning, innovation has been one of CallCopy’s core values.  Our product roadmap is driven by customer suggestions and feature requests – meaning that it’s customers like you that influence and shape the solutions we build.

We would like to thank you for your business, your support, and for the part you play in making CallCopy an industry leader.

» Read the press release
» View the CRM magazine article
» Learn more about CallCopy’s WFO solution

According to the Columbus Dispatch:

“Mary Ann O’Garro said a request for records in her grandson’s case revealed that Franklin County Children Services recorded some of her phone conversations with the agency. […]

O’Garro and her attorney, Susan Eisenman of Upper Arlington, said the recordings are especially troubling because the O’Garros live in the state of Washington, whose phone-recording law requires consent from both parties. […]

Ohio requires the consent of just one of the parties. Federal law is single-consent, too, but observers say past cases have left it unsettled as to whether federal or stricter state laws apply. […]

State government doesn’t have a policy on recording calls, and a few agencies surveyed say they avoid the practice.”

Advanced call recording systems can block call recordings by certain area codes, preventing situations like this all together.

Additionally, as a best practice, agencies and employers can require anyone on the phone to give notice to their customers that the call is taking place on a recorded system.  A robust quality management program can help managers enforce these policies.

CallCopy helps businesses and agencies solve problems like this every day.

» Download our Recording Laws Whitepaper today to get more information and best practices

» Learn more about how CallCopy can help your business achieve and maintain compliance

Because PCI compliance is such an important issue for contact centers, CallCopy recently sponsored DMG Consulting’s whitepaper, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Guide for Contact Center Managers. This guide provides critical details about PCI DSS, how it affects call recording applications and what you can do to ensure your contact center operates in compliance with the PCI DSS.

Some of the topics include:

• What is PCI DSS? The PCI DSS is a security standard that includes requirements for security management, policies, procedures, and other critical protective measures and is intended to help organizations proactively protect customer account data.
• The Implications of PCI DSS for Contact Centers – Contact centers are responsible for ensuring that all data transmission systems, network segments and data storage solutions comply with the data security standards.
• Which Standards Apply to Contact Centers? While all 12 requirements may be applicable to some degree, requirements three (protect stored cardholder data), four (encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks) and 12 (maintain a policy that addresses information security) are especially relevant to contact centers.
• How Should Contact Centers Protect Cardholder Information? There are many steps you can take to protect customer data. For example, you’ll want to ensure that all employees are properly trained about all security policies and procedures. You’re also required to make sure that the data is encrypted using strong encryption protocols.
• PCI and At-Home Agents and Supervisors – At-home agents can present additional risks to PCI compliance, but certain precautions, like ensuring that agent screen and voice conversations are recorded, can help lower the overall risk.

Download the whitepaper now or visit our PCI compliance page for more info.

As we mentioned back in December, we were named as a semi-finalist for a TechColumbus Innovation Award in the category of Outstanding Technology Team. Winners will be announced on February 4.

Our team members are all contact center industry veterans who love to lend a helping hand to our clients. They take a lot of pride in their work and love going above and beyond to make sure our clients are running at peak form.

Customers are noticing our efforts!

The support team was given a gift card this week by a satisfied customer thanking them for their ongoing support and customer service. Last fall, the CIO of one of our major accounts called in and gave our support manager his credit card number, telling him to buy lunch for the staff to thank them for going above and beyond.

We constantly receive compliments and rave reviews from clients and this shows in analyst reporting as well. We were rated #1 in Overall Vendor Satisfaction by DMG Consulting and regularly receive praise from our customers for our responsiveness, industry expertise and professionalism.

Great customer service and support is a major focus for everyone at CallCopy – props to our own CallCopy support team for their dedication!

On Saturday we enjoyed a delicious meal followed by a casino night featuring Black Jack, Texas Hold ‘Em, Roulette and Craps. At the end of the night, we exchanged our chips for raffle tickets to win awesome prizes, including a 47″ LCD TV, airline tickets for two, PS3, XBOX 360, Wii, Kindle and tons of other great prizes and gift certificates.

By all accounts, the night was a huge success and definitely got us into the holiday spirit – happy holidays from all of us at CallCopy!