In the News

Speech Technology magazine highlights a Contact Solutions customer who capitalized on the bitterly contested 2000 presidential election, creating a business to identify election problems. Using Contact Solutions On-Demand Services, InfoVoter developed a service that took 300,000 calls leading up to the 2008 presidential election; a service CNN touted as ‘a huge success’.

In what many deemed one of the most important votes of our time, the 2008 election inspired millions of Americans to cast ballots-between 126.5 million and 128.5 million Americans, in fact, or approximately 60 percent of all eligible voters, according to a study conducted by the Center for the Study of the American Electorate at American University. InfoVoter, the Bala Cynwyd, Pa.-based provider of election technology delivered two services during this past voting cycle: a forum (hotline) for voters to call in and complain about any problems occurring at their polling locations, and a repository of voter information for those who needed it, both based on Contact Solutions’ On-Demand IVR Services.

"[The network, CNN] was looking to fill several hours of airtime with some form of news before the polls closed," explains Paul Logan, chief executive officer of Reston, Va.-based interactive voice response (IVR) provider Contact Solutions, which powered CNN InfoVoter’s IVR. "CNN business correspondent Ali Veshi turned to me at one point and told me 70 [percent] to 80 percent of their news was coming from the hotline."

Logan says his company’s biggest concern was making sure the platform could handle the expected call spikes. InfoVoter’s Smuckler recalls that the night the hotline officially opened in October, 1,700 simultaneous calls were handled without a crash. “These applications put unique stress on an infrastructure, and it’s very hard to replicate in advance of the actual day," Logan says. Even so, the initial success provided confidence for Election Day, when the line’s 130,000 calls included spikes of up to 3,000 calls within a five-to-10-minute period-and still no hiccups.

Read Full Article

Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) published Interactive Voice Response: An ACS Expertise in Action White Paper touting the success they have had in saving its government customers money by teaming with Contact Solutions for its IVR solutions. The white paper discusses the continuous improvement processes that call centers need to consider to increase automation while improving customer service.

A strong IVR solution requires continuous monitoring and analysis to identify patterns. How are people using the system? What are the commonalities? When and at what point do people opt to transfer to an agent — or simply hang up? By monitoring IVR patterns within its call centers, ACS and its IVR partner, Contact Solutions, identify ways to increase automation by changing service offerings.

In one instance, we discovered that 85 percent of the people calling in to the state of Georgia’s IVR system were checking their debit account balances. Based on that information, ACS and Contact Solutions revised the solution. Instead of having to “press 2” for account balances, every caller received this information automatically. Not only did this save time and improve caller satisfaction, it increased automation use by as much as 8 percent. Even an incremental increase of this magnitude can increase savings by thousands of dollars, all while improving the user experience in the process.

Read Full Article