Ventana Research Unveils Research Report on State of Contact Center Technology

PLEASANTON, CA, March 11, 2011 (Press-News.org) Contact centers are in desperate need of technology transformation to meet the demands of their customers and agents, according to the largest benchmark research ever done on the state of the contact centers worldwide. This landmark research from Ventana Research, which is based on input from almost 500 contact centers in all industry sectors, makes clear for the first time the little-understood challenges faced by management, agents and customers in trying to navigate the landscape of immature processes, lack of information readiness, siloed applications and outmoded technology involved in the typical multi-channel contact center.

Applying the well-regarded Ventana Research Maturity Index, the research found that more than half of organizations' contact centers are currently at the Tactical level of maturity, the lowest of the four levels. Although many centers now support multiple channels of communications only a few can track interactions across channels and even then it is typically only for traditional channels like telephone, interactive voice response (IVR) systems and e-mail. The analysis placed only 11 percent of the centers at the highest Innovative level because they have integrated new channels of customer interactions, are utilizing knowledge management to support agents and use advanced analytics to guide customer experience management. On the wish list for those contact centers aspiring to mature, the research found, are speech and social media analytics and real time agent analytics.

The research found much potential for improvement in the typical contact center. Among the possible improvements are optimizing the system using modern tools and process; only one in five companies have done so. Also, more than half of contact centers have deployed eight different applications including quality management (79%), workforce management (67%), customer feedback management (59%) and CRM (57%), leaving substantial room for integration. With respect to knowledge management, two-thirds of organizations indicated it is very important to successful customer management yet only 43 percent have implemented a knowledge management system.

This report on the state of contact center technology, the culmination of six months of research to assess the maturity and direction of contact center efforts, is now available to educate organizations. Ventana Research undertook this research to acquire real-world information about maturity, trends and best practices in how contact center organizations apply technology and applications to their processes. It explores how they do this now, how teams view their current processes and tools, plans they have to change or improve them, and benefits they hope to gain by doing so. The findings offer new insights on contact centers attitudes toward technology for driving process improvement. They confirm that these organizations have a variety of technologies available but have not fully automated many of the underlying interactions.

"The explosion in the ways customers interact with companies has introduced significant new challenges for organizations and many contact centers have not adapted to met these new demands," noted Richard Snow, VP of research at Ventana Research. "Without strong leadership and a commitment to understanding and optimizing the customer experience across multi-channel interactions, contact centers will not be able to keep up with the demands of customers or cope with them airing their feelings and issues rapidly across the Internet, influencing other current and would-be customers. Those organizations that invest in modern contact center technology are most likely to improve both the efficiency and the effectiveness of their overall operations and business performance."

Ventana Research will release and detail the findings of this benchmark research in a live interactive webinar on March 10, 2011 at 10:00 am Pacific time that will discuss the research findings and offer recommendations for improvement. Key research findings to be discussed will include:

- top ten recommendations for contact centers.
- the current state of use of technology for contact centers.
- top patterns in the adoption of new approaches to customer interactions.
- the types of technologies that make organizations more mature.
- the current state, future direction of and potential investments in contact centers.
- the competencies required for maturing contact centers.

Register for the Webinar
The research was sponsored by NICE Systems. The Contact Center benchmark research executive report will be made available following the webinar. Those interested in learning more about the benchmark research or the webinar can find additional information at http://www.ventanaresearch.com/cct. As a part of your registration you will receive insights and education from Ventana Research on using technology effectively in business.

About Ventana Research
Ventana Research is the leading benchmark research and advisory services firm. We provide expert guidance to help organizations manage and optimize performance - to become not only more efficient but more effective. Our unparalleled insights and best practices guidance are based on our rigorous research-based benchmarking indexes of people, processes, information and technology across business and IT functions worldwide. The combination we offer of benchmark research, rigorous market coverage and in-depth knowledge of hundreds of technology providers means we can deliver business and technology education and expertise to our clients where and when needed. The Ventana Research Indexes - the Value Index and the Benchmark Index family - have redefined the research industry by providing accessible, easy-to-use research-based business and technology guidance to businesses.

Ventana Research provides the most comprehensive analyst and research coverage in the industry; the many business and IT professionals worldwide who are members of our community benefit from Ventana Research's insights, as do highly regarded media and association partners around the globe. Our views and analyses are distributed daily through blogs and social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Business Week's Business Exchange. Ventana Research was ranked the #1 analyst firm you can trust in enterprise software for 2009 for its relevance to the industry. We focus on business and technology trends and best practices that maximize organizations' potential to perform while reducing the time, cost and risk and still achieve optimal outcomes.

Media: Copies of benchmark research report and interviews are available upon request.

Media Contact: Marisela Reynoso (925) 474-0060 marketing@ventanaresearch.com
Website: http://www.ventanaresearch.com