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Contact Solutions On Demand IVR Service Powers Voter Information and Complaint Hotlines for Historic McCain-Obama Election

Industry Leading IVR Solution powers Voter Alert Hotlines to Support Hundreds of Thousands of Calls Per Hour, Simplify Access to Voting-Related Information and Enable Voters to Report Election Day Problems

Reston, VA (October 20, 2008) - Contact Solutions, Inc., the industry leader in contact automation, today announced that it has deployed its shared interactive voice response (IVR) services to enable InfoVoter Technologies to promote voter access through CNN's 1 877 GO CNN08 and the Tom Joyner Morning Show-affiliated 1 866 MY VOTE1 hotlines during the 2008 McCain-Obama presidential election.

To meet the expected large-scale spike in election-related calls to both hotlines, Contact Solutions (CSI) built an IVR application — a solution enabling computers to detect and respond to a telephone caller's voice and touch tones — to deliver the only service available capable of quickly aggregating hundreds of thousands of voter complaints into actionable intelligence. Web-based services built around the customized IVR application enables InfoVoter Technologies to retrieve and analyze data, including original audio files of irate voters, from the platform every minute throughout Election Day. The application is an important piece of the overall automated service that CSI is offering InfoVoter.

"The historic nature of the McCain-Obama race has pushed new voter registrations to record levels. But with increased turnout and the long-standing issue of under-investment in election infrastructure, voters can expect long lines and potential problems at polling stations that are not equipped to handle the sheer number of new voters," said Ken Smukler, president of InfoVoter Technologies. "InfoVoter Technologies expects the hotlines to receive hundreds of thousands of voting-related complaints, and no other IVR solution comes close to CSI's On Demand IVR services for scalability to handle this extraordinary call volume and reporting capability to help us get the information we need in real time on Election Day."

InfoVoter Technologies, the leading election administration technologies and services provider, is leveraging CSI On Demand IVR services to offer a comprehensive automated resource to voters reporting any voting-related problems — from missing absentee ballots and malfunctioning voting machines to polling stations with insufficient ballots and poll workers turning away eligible voters. By providing a mechanism for voters to report problems that can be turned into real time, actionable intelligence, CSI's innovative contact automation services are helping drive the democratic process.

"CSI offers InfoVoter Technologies real-time, on demand scalability to ensure the high volumes of expected callers are handled," said Contact Solutions Chief Executive Officer Paul Logan. "It is because of our IVR expertise — backed by the industry's leading infrastructure, reporting and host integration capabilities — that Contact Solutions is able to ensure that hotline callers have access to the information they need to participate in the democratic process."

Logan said that CSI had been working with InfoVoter Technologies for the past six years to continuously improve the application and service that had been delivered in the past, including a similar application for the 2004 election.

Real Time Intelligence for Live Election Coverage

To heighten awareness around — and ultimately prevent — voting day irregularities like those of past election cycles, InfoVoter Technologies has partnered with cable news leader CNN and the largest syndicated urban radio show, the Tom Joyner Morning Show (TJMS). By calling CNN's 1 877 GO CNN08 or the TJMS-affiliated 1 866 MY VOTE1 hotlines and entering their zip code and phone number, new and existing voters can lodge a complaint about any voting day irregularities or obtain the address of their polling station and information on absentee ballot voting.

With information provided by Contact Solutions in real time, InfoVoter Technologies will plot specific polling stations on a map by zip code where voters are reporting any election-related problems. These complaints will be recorded in a WAV audio file and electronically delivered to TJMS and CNN, which is mobilizing a team of 200+ staff members to sort through, categorize by type and identify by voting precinct reported election-day irregularities. The media outlets plan to report on these irregularities on air and online throughout their election night coverage.

Hotline Statistics

Since January 1, 2008, the CSI On Demand IVR service has enabled 1 866 MY VOTE1 to log more than 226,000 calls that run the gamut from requests for information on registration to information on polling stations and absentee ballots deadlines. Almost half the total calls to the hotline — more than 110 000 — have been logged in September 2008 alone, and fully 43 000 calls have been taken since October 1, which suggests voters' increased interest in the election ahead of state-wide registration and absentee ballot deadlines.

About Contact Solutions

Contact Solutions (CSI) saves its clients millions of dollars by improving their contact automation significantly while uplifting customer satisfaction levels. Deploying time-tested On Demand IVR services, world-class IVR applications and procedures, and an industry-leading project management approach around six distinct Centers of Excellence, the company has helped the contact center industry redefine contact automation standards. Large enterprises such as American Express, Delta Airlines, Motorola and many public sector entities benefit from the company's focused, cost-effective contact automation approach. Contact Solutions is based in Reston, VA. Visit Contact Solutions at www.contactsolutions.com.

© 2008 Contact Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.