|
|
|
February, 1998 |
  
|
The Web-Enabled Call Center$220 Billion in sales revenues by the year 2001 on the Web? Hard to believe. Yet once the Web goes beyond a "voyeur’s" medium and transcends being a "mausoleum of dead information," it will go beyond mere speedy "surfing" and become a substantial channel for a global economy. When voice telephony and video teleconferencing are woven into application after application the excitement we experienced over receiving our first fax or first e-mail will seem small in comparison to the new feature-rich online environment that is on its way. Here are three applications that are bound to change the way we all do business: TopWeb Conference Calls With Visual ProjectionsThe InterCall conferencing service says it can now provide simultaneous phone and visual displays for World Wide Web-based conferences. The for-fee service, called Present Online, lets conference leader develop presentations in Power Point or Corel Draw 8 and then send the show to registered participants. Beth Behland, an InterCall marketing specialist, explained the service: "Leaders design their presentation with either Power Point or Corel Draw 8 and our service downloads their completed presentation from their "C" drive. The leaders do not need special software. "Participants dial into an InterCall conference call 800 number, then dial into http://www.presentonline.com and register as a conference call attendee. They get an assigned a conference call number and attend the conference online, with full visual and audio effectiveness." "We have used the presentation ourselves, but this is a brand new service, so we haven’t had anyone post their visual presentations," she said. Inter-Call has provided basic conference calling services for several years now, and the firm’s server capacities are "unlimited." Behland said the service costs $14 for each participant to attend the visual presentation. The InterCall Internet conference call center is located in West Point, Georgia, with one hundred different operator bridges, Behland said. Each bridge is capable of handling up to 72 conferences, she added, using Netscape browsers. The calls are routed through large Java-based servers. Intercall’s new service is on the Web at http://www.presentonline.com. (Contact: Katy Homburger or Doug Dome, DNW Communications, 312-467-0760; or Eric Lochner, InterCall, 773-399-1528) TopClick ‘N ConnectMCI has added a new dimension to the Internet enhancing online commerce and customer service with the announcement of networkMCI Click’nConnect. The new product enhances business Web sites by allowing Internet-users to speak directly with a company’s customer service or sales representative with the click of a mouse - and with a single telephone line. networkMCI Click’nConnect does not require Internet users to have two phone lines, nor does it require that they log-off, to make the connection. "By allowing online users effortless instant access to a ‘live’ company representative, businesses can use their corporate Web sites to increase sales, improve customer service, speed up their sales cycle, and reduce the cost of doing business." networkMCI Click’nConnect allows Internet users to browse through a company’s Web site and originate a voice call by clicking an icon on the site. Once the icon is clicked, a call is launched over the Internet, connecting the Web user to a company representative at a toll-free number. The representative will be able to ‘talk’ with the Internet user. This process is made possible by MCI Vault architecture which seamlessly integrates the traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN) with the Internet. In support of this architecture, MCI has selected NetSpeak Corporation - a leading developer and marketer of IP telephony technology - to provide Internet Telephony Gateway capabilities. Requirements for the service include a Web site and an MCI toll-free number installed at the company’s place of business. According to industry experts, there are 30 to 40 million multimedia-enabled PCs on the market today - and the numbers are growing fast. "This is a market with huge potential," said Ron McMurtrie, VP of Product, Local and Global Marketing. "The market indicators are very positive - businesses are looking for ways to extend traditional sales and service operations to the Web, the number of Internet access subscribers is expected to grow, and multimedia PC costs are coming down." To utilize networkMCI Click’nConnect, end-users will need: 486 multimedia IBM-compatible personal computer Internet connection with a 28.8 kbps modem (or faster) Internet browser - Microsoft(R) Internet Explorer (3.0 or greater) or Netscape Navigator (3.0 or greater) — full duplex soundcards — speakers (internal or external) — microphone (internal or external) — NetSpeak(TM) Mini-WebPhone (available as a free download as part of the networkMCI Click’nConnect application). TopBank Boston Launches Call NowBankBoston has launched a new service on its Web site (www.bankboston.com) called Call Now. The only bank in New England to implement this new feature, Call Now enables customers who are visiting www.bankboston.com to connect immediately with a sales associate in BankBoston’s 24-hour Telebanking Center to open an account. This new capability integrates the bank’s Web site and Customer Service Center and adds a personal dimension to the Internet for those customers who like to conduct business on the Web. It also provides Web site customers with a seamless sales process, giving them a preferred way of communicating with BankBoston. "This new service not only provides the customer with a speedy, efficient way to open an account, 24 hours a day, but also enables the bank to deliver a level of personalized banking service not previously seen on the World Wide Web," said Patricia Capello, director of Consumer Payments and State Marketing at BankBoston. "What it also allows us to do is talk with the Web customer as soon as he or she is ready to make that buying decision," added Capello. "Previously we have been limited to responding to e-mails for information or brochure requests. As such, the sales process can be somewhat slower. That’s not the case with Call Now." By simply clicking on the Call Now icon and typing in a phone number, a customer automatically receives a telephone call within seconds from a BankBoston sales associate who already knows the account number to be accessed. To implement Call Now, BankBoston is using AT&T interactiveAnswers4 Service, a network-based technology that integrates call center operations with the Internet. The AT&T network makes the connection between the Web site browser and BankBoston’s toll-free Customer Service Center number. The Web site receives between 8,000 and 9,000 visitors a week.
|
