What Is A Contact Center - Nortel Contact Center Manager Release Note

Introduction

What is a contact center?

Contact centers are constantly evolving to meet existing needs. Once an
environment designed to process telephone calls, call centers have evolved to
become customer contact centers, processing all types of media transactions.
The contact center is now seen as the core of a business due to its critical role in
maximizing customer satisfaction, while at the same time realizing efficiency.
The integral parts of a contact center consist of
representatives who handle customer transactions (also called agents)
management personnel
technology to handle each customer contact, including routing to the best
qualified agent, treatment, and fulfillment of the contact
A contact center is often a department in a company, or it can be the sole
business unit in a company. Frequently, the contact center is the only point of
contact between a company and its customers or suppliers. Regardless of the
size and complexity of a contact center, its objectives and goals remain
consistent:
to deliver customer satisfaction through prompt, professional contact
handling
to control costs by using resources and technology more efficiently
to help staff work more productively
to increase profitability
Contact centers are accessed globally with customer satisfaction support
becoming increasingly important. Cohesive contact center presence requires
multiple contact centers with different switch platforms.
Some contact centers use Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) technology to enhance
the capabilities of their agents. SIP is the latest development in contact center
technology, and enables converged voice and multimedia services such as voice-
enriched e-commerce, Web page click-to-dial, and instant messaging with buddy
lists, personalized music, forms, and customized video clips.
10
Standard 4.01
Contact Center