Aspect Communications announces VoIP for contact centres
Announcement posted by Aspect Communications 11 Jul 2001
Convergence of voice and data in contact centres will help companies reduce costs and improve the customer experience
Customer Contact World Melbourne, July 10, 2001 - Aspect Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: ASPT), the contact centre expert, today launched the Aspect IP Contact Suite, a suite of pure Internet Protocol (IP)-based contact centre products, for the ANZ region.
Last year Aspect announced its first enterprise VoIP solution that enabled customers to integrate VoIP into their telephony-based call centres. With the addition of the IP Contact Suite, Aspect now allows companies to add IP capabilities with or without existing contact centres.
Sage Research says that more than 50 percent of large enterprises have or will deploy VoIP in the next 12 months, and nearly 50 percent of small and medium organisations will do the same.
According to Peter McNamee, Aspect's managing director for Australasia, convergence technology is available now, and contact centres can start reaping the cost savings benefits.
"Aspect not only has contact centre expertise but can also provide companies with a clear vision of how to translate convergence into dollars by building contact centres that will provide a superior customer experience while reducing operational costs. Our contact centre platform offers businesses the advantages of VoIP: reduced infrastructure costs, reduced toll charges and improved customer service. The IP Contact Suite will enable businesses to receive, track and respond to all customer communications from voice and data networks over one merged voice and data network", he said.
Stream International has selected the Aspect IP Contact Suite to add IP capabilities to their contact centre. Stream International is a global provider of eCRM support solutions - an outsourcer of technical support services for leading technology companies and eBusinesses.
"Until today, the voice and data networks in companies were two separate worlds. Now that technology allows us to merge them into one network, businesses have tremendous opportunities to boost customer service and reduce costs. When we decided to add IP to our contact center, we chose Aspect because they are the experts at providing multichannel contact center solutions. Aspect focused on the complex problem of managing contacts from
all channels and made it easier with the Aspect Contact Server-and then they simply added IP. Also, they understand how to bring the voice and data worlds together in a way that also allows us to focus our strategy around our customers while remaining an aggressive and competitive business," said Lloyd Linnell, chief technical officer of Stream International.
"There are two areas customers should consider when evaluating an IP solution for the contact centre," said Elizabeth Ussher, vice president, convergence, GNS, META Group. "First, the experience of the customer and the agent should be at least equal to what they get with traditional voice today and can become better as companies choose to integrate other channels to enhance the experience. Second, the solution should fully leverage the benefits of convergence and prepare companies to continue doing so into the future."
VoIP from Aspect will also enable companies to:
* Eliminate dedicated telephony lines for remote users and sites;
* Rapidly deploy new contact centres without requiring additional telephony ACDs;
* Centrally administer all centres, thereby reducing the administration infrastructure;
* Rapidly deploy new call centres without waiting for new phone lines to be set up;
* Easily integrate other channels and be prepared for powerful, next-generation applications such as streaming, personalised video.
More than 150 customers in Australia and New Zealand have selected Aspect's technology to enhance their CRM strategies. Companies who have selected Aspect include Western Power, BankWest, Carlton and United Breweries,
E-trade, Microsoft, Vodafone, American Express, AXA Australia, Avis, Cellular One and Amway.
About Aspect Communications
Aspect Communications Corporation is the leading provider of customer relationship portals, contact servers for managing dynamic customer contact transactions across all wired and wireless communication channels. The Aspect Portal contact server allows businesses to manage all customer contacts dynamically and turn them into relationships, opportunities and loyalty. Aspect is the only company today that delivers a complete multichannel contact centre - the core of any company's CRM strategy. Aspect's contact server synchronises all contact points, including live and self-service, with demonstrated customer return on investment. Aspect's leadership in CRM is based on more than 15 years of experience and over 7,600 implementations deployed worldwide. Aspect powers 78 percent of the Fortune 50. Aspect is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with offices in major cities worldwide. For more information about Aspect, visit the company's Web site at http://www.aspect.com or call the Sydney Head office on (02) 8923 1300.
###
Aspect, the Aspect logo and the phrases and marks relating to other Aspect
products and services discussed in this press release constitute one or both
of the following: (1) registered trademarks and/or service marks of Aspect
Communications Corporation in the United States and/or other countries or
(2) intellectual property subject to protection under common law principles.
All other names and marks mentioned in this document are properties of their
respective owners.
Last year Aspect announced its first enterprise VoIP solution that enabled customers to integrate VoIP into their telephony-based call centres. With the addition of the IP Contact Suite, Aspect now allows companies to add IP capabilities with or without existing contact centres.
Sage Research says that more than 50 percent of large enterprises have or will deploy VoIP in the next 12 months, and nearly 50 percent of small and medium organisations will do the same.
According to Peter McNamee, Aspect's managing director for Australasia, convergence technology is available now, and contact centres can start reaping the cost savings benefits.
"Aspect not only has contact centre expertise but can also provide companies with a clear vision of how to translate convergence into dollars by building contact centres that will provide a superior customer experience while reducing operational costs. Our contact centre platform offers businesses the advantages of VoIP: reduced infrastructure costs, reduced toll charges and improved customer service. The IP Contact Suite will enable businesses to receive, track and respond to all customer communications from voice and data networks over one merged voice and data network", he said.
Stream International has selected the Aspect IP Contact Suite to add IP capabilities to their contact centre. Stream International is a global provider of eCRM support solutions - an outsourcer of technical support services for leading technology companies and eBusinesses.
"Until today, the voice and data networks in companies were two separate worlds. Now that technology allows us to merge them into one network, businesses have tremendous opportunities to boost customer service and reduce costs. When we decided to add IP to our contact center, we chose Aspect because they are the experts at providing multichannel contact center solutions. Aspect focused on the complex problem of managing contacts from
all channels and made it easier with the Aspect Contact Server-and then they simply added IP. Also, they understand how to bring the voice and data worlds together in a way that also allows us to focus our strategy around our customers while remaining an aggressive and competitive business," said Lloyd Linnell, chief technical officer of Stream International.
"There are two areas customers should consider when evaluating an IP solution for the contact centre," said Elizabeth Ussher, vice president, convergence, GNS, META Group. "First, the experience of the customer and the agent should be at least equal to what they get with traditional voice today and can become better as companies choose to integrate other channels to enhance the experience. Second, the solution should fully leverage the benefits of convergence and prepare companies to continue doing so into the future."
VoIP from Aspect will also enable companies to:
* Eliminate dedicated telephony lines for remote users and sites;
* Rapidly deploy new contact centres without requiring additional telephony ACDs;
* Centrally administer all centres, thereby reducing the administration infrastructure;
* Rapidly deploy new call centres without waiting for new phone lines to be set up;
* Easily integrate other channels and be prepared for powerful, next-generation applications such as streaming, personalised video.
More than 150 customers in Australia and New Zealand have selected Aspect's technology to enhance their CRM strategies. Companies who have selected Aspect include Western Power, BankWest, Carlton and United Breweries,
E-trade, Microsoft, Vodafone, American Express, AXA Australia, Avis, Cellular One and Amway.
About Aspect Communications
Aspect Communications Corporation is the leading provider of customer relationship portals, contact servers for managing dynamic customer contact transactions across all wired and wireless communication channels. The Aspect Portal contact server allows businesses to manage all customer contacts dynamically and turn them into relationships, opportunities and loyalty. Aspect is the only company today that delivers a complete multichannel contact centre - the core of any company's CRM strategy. Aspect's contact server synchronises all contact points, including live and self-service, with demonstrated customer return on investment. Aspect's leadership in CRM is based on more than 15 years of experience and over 7,600 implementations deployed worldwide. Aspect powers 78 percent of the Fortune 50. Aspect is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with offices in major cities worldwide. For more information about Aspect, visit the company's Web site at http://www.aspect.com or call the Sydney Head office on (02) 8923 1300.
###
Aspect, the Aspect logo and the phrases and marks relating to other Aspect
products and services discussed in this press release constitute one or both
of the following: (1) registered trademarks and/or service marks of Aspect
Communications Corporation in the United States and/or other countries or
(2) intellectual property subject to protection under common law principles.
All other names and marks mentioned in this document are properties of their
respective owners.