Contact Center End-User Survey

Potential buyers of contact center solutions are looking for innovative products that integrate traditional phone-based customer contact with web-based media. Winning service providers will successfully develop complete products that utilize speech recognition, fax, text-chat, and e-mail while also offering seamless interoperability with back-end systems.

More than half of this survey's respondents who were planning their next purchase had yet to choose a supplier. Consequently, companies that can bring products to market that satisfy customers' Internet-based requirements will see impressive gains. This Frost & Sullivan research analyzes the results of an in-depth end-user study on contact center solutions. By interviewing potential customers from a wide variety of industries, including banking, telecom, government, and medicine, this study gives participants a comprehensive overview of end-user preferences.

Fostering Strong Brand Name Recognition Crucial for Success

"Contact centers are likely to continue buying solutions from well-known product suppliers," says the analyst responsible for this study. Participants that have invested deeply in advertising and marketing have been rewarded with increased brand recognition among customers.

"Furthermore, contact center clients view brand name market participants as reliable, stable, and customer-service oriented," states the author. Understanding how customers select solution providers is critical for maximizing gains. This research, which identifies end-user perceptions and assesses their impact on market share, can help your company develop an image that multiplies sales opportunities.

Optimizing Productivity Must Be Top Priority for End Users

"The need for increased productivity and cost reduction within contact centers is abundantly clear," says the analyst. The combination of the economic slow down and the complexity of managing multimedia contact points is driving contact centers to reduce their high agent turnover rates. Contact centers are looking for solutions that will help them attain their customer service goals.

To be responsive to the competitive pressures that challenge participants, contact center solution providers must identify and employ today's best business practices. With its insights into end-user industries, this analysis will help current participants and prospective entrants make the most out of this emerging market.

1. Executive Summary

A. Overview

B. Major Findings

C. Scope and Methodology

2. Customer Demographic Analysis and Utilization Profiles

A. End-User Industry Distribution

B. End-User Number of Agents

C. End-User Function Type Profiles

D. End-User Product Type Utilization Profiles

E. End-User Inquiry Type Utilization Profiles

3. Major Findings and Interpretations

A. Purchase Decision Making Factors

B. Market and Technology Trends

C. End-User Purchase Assessments

4. Contact Center Vendor Product Evaluations

A. Overall Requirements

B. Customer Satisfaction

C. Vendor Sales and Marketing Efforts

5. Market Engineering Awards

A. Introduction

B. Market Engineering Leadership Award

C. Business Development Strategy Award

D. Marketing Strategy Award

E. Brand Awareness Development Award for Workforce Management Software

F. Brand Awareness Development Award for CRM Software

List of Charts

Contact Care Center End-User Analysis— Customer Select the Winning Vendors

Percent of Interviews by Industry Type

Percent of Interview by Number of Agents

End-User Call Center Activity: Customer

Service, Telemarketing, Help Desk, Inbound Sales

End-User Production Utilization

End-User Inquiry Type Utilization Profile

End-User Top Technology Desires

End-User Purchasing Factor Ratings

End-User Aggregate Product Type Evaluations

IP Utilization Trends

Comparison of Contact Centers' Year 2001 Budget vs.Year 2000

End-User Contact Center Needs Based on Year 2001

Budget Increases -Which of the Following Areas Best Describe Where Your Company will be

Investing the Increase in Year 2001 Budget Dollars?

Vendor Preferences -Which Vendor Would You Likely Select When You Purchase "The One and Only Technology" This Year?

Text-Chat Costs vs. Inbound Calls -Indication the Relative Cost of Servicing a Text-Chat Contact vs. an Inbound Call

E-mail Costs vs. Inbound Calls -Indicate the Relative Cost of Servicing an E-mail Contact vs. an Inbound Call

Voice-Chat Costs vs. Inbound Calls -Indicate the Relative Cost of Servicing a Voice-Chat Contact Versus an Inbound Call

End-User Vendor Selection Preferences -When Expanding, Upgrading, or Starting up a Call Center, Would You Purchase a Total Solution from a Single Vendor or Take a "Best of Breed" Approach?

End-User Single Source Contact Center

Solution Providers -Which Vendor Would You Most Likely Select and State the Primary Reasons Why You Would Select the Vendor?

End-User's Assessing Call Management Solutions -Are You Currently Assessing Call Management Solutions?

End-User Product Type Purchases -Indicate Which of the Following Contact Center Products You Will Be Purchasing in the Next Two Years

End-User Product Preferred Vendors A Comparison of ACD Vendors Evaluated for Customer Satisfaction

Most Active Contact Center Sales and Marketing Efforts -Which Contact Center Product and Service Vendors Do You Regard as Being the Most Active and Responsive in Terms of Sales and Marketing Their Products and Services?