2009 | Telax - Part 2

Archive for 2009

H1N1 Business Issues Raised by Mercer LLC Report Easily Solved by Cloud Computing, Proposes Software Firm Telax Hosted Call Center

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

A report recently released by Mercer LLC found that businesses surveyed struggled significantly with a number of H1N1-related issues in 2009. Taras Kapanaiko, VP Operations of Toronto-based software firm Telax Hosted Call Center, confirms that in 2010, businesses should look to cloud computing to provide solutions.

TORONTO, December 31, 2009 — A survey report released late last week by global HR leader Mercer LLC found that the number of companies expecting employee illness to have an adverse effect on business grew steadily in 2009. Telax Hosted Call Center VP Taras Kapanaiko commented on the report today, confirming that cloud computing provides the answer to the widespread business continuity issues emerging in the wake of H1N1.

The Mercer survey report outlined that many companies are committed to implementing “telecommuting options for employees if there is an H1N1 outbreak,” a solution that cloud computing makes all the more viable confirms Kapanaiko. “In order for the efficiency of a shared office to be transferred to the employee home, certain technologies are required to keep people connected. Cloud computing allows users an incredible amount of functionality with as little as access to a web browser.”

The Telax VP went on describe how, during the SARS crisis, a Telax client implemented a remote working strategy for its employees, and never went back. “Not only does remote working alleviate the business continuity concerns associated with pandemics, it also delivers added efficiency. It’s a highly sought after perk for in-demand professionals. Viable remote working solutions should be a 2010 resolution for every company.”

The Mercer report listed business continuity as one of the top concerns among employers surveyed. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that more than 9,800 people have died and 213,000 more have been hospitalized as a result of H1N1 flu in 2009.

About Telax Hosted Call Center:

Telax Hosted Call Center is North America’s leader in hosted call center solutions. Based in Toronto, Canada, Telax has been providing cloud-based business solutions to prominent public and private sector organizations since 1999. The simplicity delivered by Telax services enables clients like Burberry, CI Investments, Globalive Communications, Health Canada and the U.S. General Services Administration, to reduce costs and improve efficiency, so that they can do more with their most critical resource: people. For more information, visit Telax on the Web at www.telax.com. For the latest Telax news, visit http://www.telax.com/category/news.

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Contact:

Koray Parmaks
Phone: +1 647.277.1020
Email: koray@telax.com

To print, download or send this press release to a colleague, visit the PRWeb version: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/12/prweb3393534.htm

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4 Essential Tips for Building a Killer IVR

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Your IVR is your customer’s first point of contact. It’s the step in the customer experience that sets the tone for the entire interaction. When you make a good impression, accomplish a conversion or lose a customer altogether, your IVR was a factor. So to help you build a killer IVR that will leave you customers and your customer service staff smiling, we’ve compiled 4 essential tips:

Let the customer drive your IVR design. Put the options that’ll be most selected first. If you get twice as many calls for sales than you do for technical support, your menu should reflect that. “For sales, press 1, for technical support, press 2.”

Respect your customer’s time. Your customers have got better things to do than navigate through your IVR. Do everything you can to make the IVR interaction short and efficient. Indicate to the customer how many options will be available in a menu. “Please select one of the following three options.” Give your callers an easy way to return to the previous menu or to speak to a real agent.

Make your customers feel at home. Use language that’s comfortable for your primary demographic and keep it consistent. Employ the same professional voice talent for all of your prompts and ensure that an appropriate tone is used.

Leverage available technology. Take advantage of CTI technology to improve the customer experience: look at implementing advanced functionality like virtual queuing and smart call routing.

We’re all somebody’s customer and simply put, life is too short for crappy IVRs. If you’d like to find out more about keeping your customers and staff happy, get a free demo of what Telax can do for you.

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Top 5 pleasures of working from home

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Pyjamas: Some work-from-homers are sticklers for a regular work routine, including business casual, even when sticking close to home. I, however, am of the school that believes, “Thou shalt have pyjamas.” I work better in flannel: it’s a fact of nature. Everybody’s different and it’s hard to accommodate those differences with a corporate dress code. Having the ability to wear whatever my little heart desires allows me to focus less on the runs in my pantyhose and more on what’s important: my work.

Savings: It’s truly incredible the money (and time) you can save by avoiding transit to and from work, a coffee here and there, a food court lunch. In the context of my spending habits, working from home is equivalent to about $65 a week or $3250 a year in savings, plus the time saved in interminable commutes which I won’t even begin to calculate. It’s practically like getting a raise (which is not to say I wouldn’t still accept a real one…).

Pets: Speaking on behalf of my two cats and two rats (yes, rats), working from home is really the best. They’re happier, I’m happier. There are tons of studies that say that animal companionship helps regulate mood and is good for general health. Those studies may not have dealt specifically with rats, but I’m sure they would have, had they realized how cool rats are. For people who don’t have pets, the same principles apply to plants. A very scientific study (conducted by yours truly) concluded that plants tend to die less in the care of work-from-homers, with the exception of cacti, which seem to die more, from overwatering.

Solitude: I don’t remember the last time I was able to sit quietly and reflect at the office. “Kate, can I ask you a question?” (Internal dialogue: That WAS a question.) Happens all the time. But when I’m working from home, I can take fifteen minutes to truly dedicate my grey matter to a particular strategy or report. Some of my best work happens in solitude. As one my favourite Telaxers likes to say, “No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.” I can’t give him full credit: it’s Voltaire. We’re cool like that.

Flexibility: I couldn’t possibly list the pleasures of working from home without touching on one of the most appreciated of them all: flexibility. Particularly for people with kids, the flexibility of working from home is an amazing gift. Of course there are still deadlines, meetings and expectations of availability that must be met. But if you have to run out for an errand or an appointment, the time is easily made up in the early morning or late afternoon from the comfort of the home office. It’s magical and a MAJOR perk, not to mention the fact that cloud-based solutions like Telax Hosted Call Center allow you to access that kind of flexibility from anywhere with an Internet connection and a telephone. Working holiday, anyone?

I could go on a great deal longer about the benefits of working from home, but the rats are dying for celery snack and I’ve got an appointment with some sustained thinking. Telax remote worker, over and out.

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Western Canada’s Largest School Board Launches Telax Hosted Call Center

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

CALGARY, October 20, 2009 – Western Canada’s largest school board, the Calgary Board of Education (“CBE”), launches Telax Hosted Call Center this week to support the growing service demands on its IT Department Helpdesk. “We’re very excited about having CBE as a customer,” said Telax founder and CEO, Mario Perez. “Our solution brings a lot of value to non-traditional call center spaces like this one.”

The 24-month contract was secured by Telax following a successful bid in response to a Calgary Board of Education RFP, which closed on March 12, 2009. The RFP stressed the importance of scalability, reliability, location portability and features.

The CBE, which boasts an annual budget of $940 million, precluded hardware-based solution providers from responding to the RFP, indicating that it was seeking “a hosted solution” and that all solution-specific equipment should be “owned, hosted and maintained by the service provider.”

The contract for the cloud-based call center solution provided by Telax runs for 24-months with multiple subsequent option years. Telax secured a similar contract earlier this year with the Dallas Independent School District, the 12th largest school district in the United States.

About the Calgary Board of Education:

The Calgary Board of Education (“CBE”) is the largest school board in Western Canada serving approximately 100,000 students from early childhood education through to Grade 12. In addition, the CBE serves adults through Chinook Learning Services. The organization employs over 10,000 full time and temporary staff with programs operating from over 218 schools and buildings. The annual operating budget for the CBE is approximately C$940,000,000. For more information, visit the Calgary Board of Education on the Web at www.cbe.ab.ca.

For media inquiries, contact the CBE Communications Department at +1 403.819.2317.

About Telax Hosted Call Center:

Telax Hosted Call Center is Canada’s leader in hosted call center solutions. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Telax has been delivering cloud-based call center solutions to public and private sector clients across North America since 1999. Our products leverage hosted technology to improve efficiency and reduce costs, so that our clients can focus on their most critical resource: people. For more information, visit Telax on the Web at www.telax.com. For the latest Telax news, visit http://www.telax.com/category/news.

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Contact:

Koray Parmaks
Phone: +1 647.277.1020
Email: koray@telax.com

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Telax releases free screen-pop integration for any edition of Salesforce.com

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Telax Hosted Call Center today announced the release of a free screen-pop for any edition of Salesforce.com.

The Telax screen-pop for Salesforce.com can save an average of twenty seconds per call by delivering real-time customer data to agents just before the call arrives. The free screen pop for salesforce.com can be enabled using information automatically collected by the IVR, the caller ID information or information inputted by the caller, like a helpdesk ticket number, for instance.

Until now, the screen-pop feature for Salesforce.com had only been provided by vendors for the two premium editions of Salesforce.com: Enterprise and Unlimited and required the installation of CTI connector software. The feature also required the Salesforce.com API. Telax has now enabled the screen-pop for free, with no additional software required, for ANY edition of Salesforce.com.

To enable your Telax Hosted Call Center with free screen pop for any edition of Salesforce.com please contact your account manager or request a free demo now.

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