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Contact Centre Awards 2009 - update

Posted Fri 3 July 2009 @ 10:49 a.m. by Megan

Sadly I have to report that after weeks of behind the scene planning TUANZ and IDC have decided not to go ahead with the TUANZ Contact Centre Awards for 2009. Instead, the decision was made to postpone the awards to 2010, when we will once again also host the TUANZ Contact Centre conference.It’s heartbreaking to miss a year of celebrating excellence in our industry, but TUANZ and hosting partners IDC worked tirelessly to try and make the 2009 awards happen. Unfortunately the economic climate...

Categories: Events | Profile

Outbound sales calling...it's not working

Posted Thu 2 July 2009 @ 1:38 p.m. by Megan

As a follow on from last month's blog, I received a call about eight weeks ago and then surprisingly another call again yesterday from the same New Zealand owned telephone and internet company. The experience was awful and my opinion of this company is now at an all time low. The call scripting of the call was at best poor and there was no flexibility from the outbound caller in what they were saying to me. There was zero relationship building at the start of the call and the...

Categories: Lifestyle | Profile

Live Ambassador for your website.

Posted Fri 26 June 2009 @ 10:09 a.m. by Megan

I love new to see the lastest and greatest technology and as a customer I like to see whether it will hold my attention. I must say 'Live Ambassador' technolgy did that. I couldn't stop staring, and thinking: "Wow, that's smart".Live Ambassador is a live interactive tool which includes a real person who walks and talks visitors through a company’s website, directs them around it and making it easier to do business.Developed by New Zealand IT company, Genesis Interactive, Live Ambassador...

Categories: Profile | Technology | Vendors

'Hello, how are you today?'

Posted Thu 18 June 2009 @ 2:02 p.m. by Megan

I received some interesting feedback from a TUANZ member a while back about why contact centre staff say ‘Hello, how are you today?’ when making an outbound call. This member believes nobody making a genuine call ever uses those words. Since I am a hard customer to please when I receive these types of calls and we are talking about the full scripted ‘How are you today?’ (pause, next paragraph on script), I am going to agree with this comment.I tend to tense up, as soon as I answer...

Categories: Leadership | Lifestyle | Profile

Nortel Contact Centre luncheon

Posted Thu 11 June 2009 @ 1:55 p.m. by Megan

I attended the last two Nortel Contact Centre Luncheons in Hamilton and Auckland last week. Luckily I knew after the Hamilton session that I had the opportunity to listen to it again in Auckland as there was a lot of information given in speaker Darren Leffler's presentation and as much as I scribbled notes, I knew I could still take in more.Entitled Communications Enablement, this was a presentation I would have insisted my general manager to attend - if I was still working for one. This would...

Categories: Events | Leadership | Technology | Vendors

Avaya buys Agile Software

Posted Wed 3 June 2009 @ 2:07 p.m. by Megan

This is another good story for a New Zealand company... Agile Software has been aquired by Avaya. Agile has been providing contact centre software technology for Avaya globally and has been seen as a world class software developer. The software is used by Avaya currently under OEM license in 84 countries and has 3,000 customers. Agile has always been known as a key partner in the local market for Avaya and has been a major part of Avaya’s new contact centre mid-market expansion. Keeping...

Categories: Lifestyle | Profile

Nortel Asia gives its take on unified comms

Posted Wed 3 June 2009 @ 12:48 p.m. by Ernie

Nortel Asia is running around New Zealand this week giving its take on unified communications. Speaker Darren Leffler, a veteran of the TUANZ circuit, hails from Sydney, and is accompanied by colleague Steve Harris from Melbourne. There are a lot of messages in Leffler’s presentation which I found rich in insight. To me it lifted the case for unified communications to a new level. Check here for more on UC. He talked a lot about the notion of “human latency” – the delays caused by people’s unavailability...

Categories: Benchmarking | Events | International | Leadership | Technology | Vendors

Contact Centre profile - Dunedin City Council

Posted Thu 28 May 2009 @ 1:46 p.m. by Megan

When I was down in the beautiful south earlier this year, I was lucky enough to visit the Dunedin City Council Contact Centre and was hosted by William Robertson, who is the manager of the council's Customer Services Agency. This means he looks after the contact centre, the front reception area, and any other customer services related jobs.Not only did I get a tour of William's work area, he also took my on a driving tour of Dunedin to show me the sights and sounds of Dunedin (yes, it was my...

Categories: Lifestyle | Profile

Do we have to tell customer that we are recording their calls?

Posted Thu 21 May 2009 @ 1:13 p.m. by Megan

I get emails every once and a while about this topic and it’s got to a point where we need this cleared up. So I’m putting my neck on the line and starting the discussion with my take on it all. One contact centre manager works from the guidelines that the privacy laws only require one party to be aware that calls are being recorded. So they currently don't advise callers but do record 100% of their calls. When other contact centres having the 'recording' statement as a standard message at...

Categories: Leadership | Lifestyle | Recruitment and HR

New date for TUANZ Contact Centre Awards

Posted Fri 15 May 2009 @ 3:15 p.m. by Louis

The date of the 2009 TUANZ Contact Centre Awards has been changed to allow us more time to bring you a high-quality event. The awards will now take place on Thursday, 22 October 2009 and entries will now open on Monday, 13 July. There has been no change to the award categories and the event will still be held at the Hilton Hotel in Auckland. We are working closely with our events partner IDC to ensure the 2009 TUANZ Contact Centre Awards will be yet another successful event. The categories...

Categories: Events

I love the latest TV ad from AXA

Posted Thu 14 May 2009 @ 1:32 p.m. by Megan

Who would have thought that a company would have an ad campaign running based on informing customer that when you call their call centre you will talk to someone in New Zealand? I love it. It is not something you would have seen years ago, as call centres didn’t have the profiles or were even thought of as important assets to businesses. Oh how times are changing. If I was big softie, I would have a tear in my eye.This confirms my theory that Kiwis want to talk to Kiwis not...

Categories: Lifestyle | Profile

Are our contact centres prepared for a flu pPandemic?

Posted Thu 7 May 2009 @ 3:52 p.m. by Megan

I am assuming that every contact centre management team in New Zealand has in the last few weeks sat down and ensured their own contingency plans are up to date and in place for a flu pandemic. Keeping in mind this type of plan is different to other disasters such as a fire, flood or power outage.I know the hype has gone from the pandemic but it does make us stop and check our processes and plans for the future.You only have to start thinking about it and it sends a shiver down your...

Categories: Leadership | Profile

An insight to the Ezibuy Contact Centre

Posted Thu 7 May 2009 @ 3:01 p.m. by Megan

I always have visions of what contact centres look like when I’m talking to them on the phone. (I assume this is normal behavior or have I been in the industry too long?) Anyway, I’m always thinking; are they in rows or pods, what colour are the walls, have they got rewards and recognition programmes. And if they are a centre that sells products, do they have the product available to them?Take the Ezibuy Contact Centre. Years ago when you could only order via the free phone number with Ezibuy,...

Categories: Leadership | Profile

Is this NZ’s most interesting contact centre?

Posted Fri 1 May 2009 @ 5:33 p.m. by Ernie

Ok guys, be as jealous as you like! Last Friday night I had a fascinating experience, with a visit from 10pm until 2am to an amazing contact centre – the Police Northern Communications Centre which takes the 111 emergency calls. I was lucky to get in there through my role on the Board of the Telecommunications Carriers Forum which does a bit of work with the emergency services and issued an invitation. It helps us to understand the issues they have around call clarity, CLI and others. This is,...

Categories: Events | Leadership | Profile | Technology

Resource Library - another benefit for TUANZ members

Posted Thu 30 April 2009 @ 2:17 p.m. by Megan

Since creating our Contact Centre Resource Library in the middle of last year, it has grown into a hub of valuable information. With all the information and links that gathered we have decided to make this a TUANZ members-only resource. We are committed to looking after and providing information to our contact centre section of our membership and will continue to grow the Resource Library. This is another great example of the benefits of being a TUANZ member. If you...

Categories: Profile

Contact Centre Awards 2009 - An important update

Posted Fri 24 April 2009 @ 10:08 a.m. by Megan

Excitement is running high as we countdown to the 2009 TUANZ Contact Centre Awards and we are delighted to announce the award categories and key dates. We have been busy working with the IDC team through the details of the awards. There is a lot of interest in the awards once again, and we are delighted to now share these details with you.We have changed some of the award categories and added a new Supreme Award – Overall Contact Centre Award 2009.The categories for the TUANZ Contact Centre...

Categories: Events | Profile

TV3's report on India's call centres

Posted Wed 15 April 2009 @ 10:55 a.m. by Megan

If you missed it last night, Campbell live did a segment on the secret world of call centres in India. I watched it this morning trying to work out what they were trying to achieve. And I don’t mean the Campbell live report; no I’m talking about Infosys. They showed the wonderful outside grounds or cosmetic things for their call centre business but didn’t show the heart or inside the buildings.I am wondering why Campbell Live wasn’t allowed in the buildings? Giving no access...

Categories: Events | International | Profile

Contact Centre Awards 2009 - book it in your diaries

Posted Tue 7 April 2009 @ 2:52 p.m. by Megan

The great news for this week is the partnership created between TUANZ and IDC that ensures the TUANZ Contact Centre Awards for 2009 are happening. The partnership will ensure that the awards will be more accessible to members and maintain its high standards. Book 18 August 2009 in your diaries NOW. With the current climate, TUANZ understands the importance to continue with the awards to give the industry a focus and process for centres to be judged or benchmark themselves against...

Categories: Events | Profile

Mirrors in centres - a vanity or service tool?

Posted Thu 2 April 2009 @ 11:27 a.m. by Megan

I received an emailed recently from a contact centre manager who has been advised to supply each staff member with mirrors. It was recommended they they install a small mirror at each desk in the contact centre to encourage staff to smile and therefore project a friendlier tone of voice. Should they do it or not?I remember seeing this in a centre I came into, it was in its final stages and staff had either broken them or thrown them into the drawers. I don’t know whether they were given...

Categories: Events | Leadership | Lifestyle

So many ideas - it's all about sharing...

Posted Thu 26 March 2009 @ 1:34 p.m. by Megan

It’s all done, the kilo of ideas from the contact centre Survival Through People & Processes sessions have been transferred into a document and are ready to be distributed to all the attendees in the next day or so. Even as I worked my way through the flip charts, there were still ideas and tips that I had missed during the sessions!Some things noted on the flip charts were agreeing with the ideas that came from the presentation and then we have a bucket load of ideas and tips from...

Categories: Events | Profile

ANZ to increase Wellington Call Centre headcount

Posted Wed 25 March 2009 @ 4:03 p.m. by Louis

ANZ’s announcement yesterday that it will increase headcount in its Wellington call centre must be great news to the call centre industry in the city. The bank plans to shift 100 jobs from its Melbourne call centre to Wellington to gain better efficiencies and to adapt to changes in banking. Part of that solution is for the two centres to share their work load.ANZ also states no redundancy will be made in Australia due to this change, as natural attrition and the period of time that it will...

Categories: International | Leadership | Recruitment and HR

Wow... a kilo of ideas and tips

Posted Fri 20 March 2009 @ 2:15 p.m. by Megan

I’m back in my home town after a wonderful tour of the main centres presenting the ideas and tips on how to survive the recession. I had a great time and many laughs along the way; I got to catch up with old friends and meet some new people to the TUANZ sessions or the contact centre industry. I now have an extra kilo of paper which has come from the workshops in each of the four sessions. My mission next week is to get this collated and sent out to every attendee. You will see...

Categories: Events

Thoughts on Managing Through a Recession

Posted Fri 20 March 2009 @ 7:17 a.m. by Ernie

I rarely blog here on Mouthpiece but thought I'd make a break after attending a couple of Megan Lacy's "Managing your contact centre through a recession" sessions this week. Megan's going to post a major summary of the conclusions once she's back in Tauranga and has recovered her composure and voice. She did a great job, along with all those who contributed their thinking by video or in writing - thanks from TUANZ to you all.I guess if I had one big "takeaway" it is this:Over the years when I've...

Categories: Benchmarking | Events | Leadership | Recruitment and HR

Leadership Development section live now

Posted Thu 12 March 2009 @ 9:27 a.m. by Megan

I learnt early on that I don’t know everything all of the time about leadership and just because it works for other leaders or it did work for me in the past, doesn’t mean that the team I’m working with now will respond the same way. Luckily, I had some wonderful mentors that corrected and pointed me in the right direction over the years. Part of my learning was to always look for new information or articles on leadership development for myself and for my staff. These days the...

Categories: Events | Profile

Survival through People & Processes - a Contact Centre Event

Posted Fri 6 March 2009 @ 12:17 p.m. by Megan

It’s all go here, we have just finished recording further tips and ideas from some leading contact centre managers to incorporate into the presentation for our upcoming Survival through People & Processes event. We are really excited to get out and about in the main centres to help contact centres get though the downturn. There will be lots of ideas and strategies spoken about and a workshop at the end to discuss ideas or issues and find solutions with your peers. Not to forget...

Categories: Events

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