For Customer Experience Professionals

Top Customer Experience Takeaways From SpeechTEK 2009

by Adele Sage, November 10, 2009

Forrester recently attended SpeechTEK 2009, where presenters focused on using speech technologies to improve the phone self-service customer experience. Among speakers' top recommendations: Don't ignore customer experience, do focus on target users and . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Premise-Based IVR/Voice Portals, Q2 2009

Genesys Leads, With Avaya And Cisco Systems Closely Following

by Elizabeth Herrell, June 17, 2009

In Forrester's 52-criteria evaluation of IVR/voice portal premise-based offerings, we found that Genesys, Avaya, Cisco Systems, and Nortel Networks lead the pack. These vendors deliver innovative solutions with advanced capabilities on their end-to-end . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Network-Based IVR/Voice Portals, Q2 2009

Tellme And Nuance Are Leaders, With Verizon And Voxeo Close Behind As Strong Performers

by Elizabeth Herrell, June 15, 2009

In Forrester's 53-criteria evaluation of network services providers for IVR/voice portal (VP) vendors, we found that Tellme and Nuance lead the pack with their all-inclusive platform support for advanced capabilities and innovative solutions. Verizon . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Inquiry Spotlight: UC IVR And IP Contact Centers, Q2 2009

by Elizabeth Herrell, April 23, 2009

The landscape for unified communications (UC), interactive voice response (IVR), and Internet protocol (IP) contact centers is talked about constantly. Forrester answered the inquiries of numerous end users from February 2008 to February 2009 on these . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Ten Steps For Reducing Contact Center Expenses

Slow Economy Necessitates You Take A Close Look At Contact Center Costs

by Elizabeth Herrell, March 13, 2009

During an economic slowdown, customer service managers need to take a close look at their contact center operations to find ways to reduce costs while maintaining high levels of customer support. Too often, customer service managers continue with established . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Hot Companies To Watch: Q3 Update

Profiles of Emerging Companies And Technology Trends That Tech Vendors Should Consider When Planning Strategy

by Chris Andrews, September 10, 2008

In this series, we highlight interesting new vendors and important technology trends. At Forrester, we've seen a strong interest in emerging technologies among our technology strategist clients as vendors seek to stay innovative and identify the "next . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

2008 Contact Center Technology Trends

by Elizabeth Herrell, August 13, 2008

In 2008, contact centers are leaning toward an increased emphasis on self-service and applications that provide greater insight into customer experience. Organizations are also considering how to support their customers more proactively and reach beyond . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Criteria For Evaluating Speech Analytics

Vendor Selection And Key Benefits For Customer Insight

by Elizabeth Herrell, August 5, 2008

Speech analytics is becoming an important business tool that allows organizations to mine customers' conversations and better understand their attitudes and needs. Improved audio mining technology enables you to respond quickly to your customers and gather . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Inquiry Insights: Contact Center Technologies,Q3 2008

by Elizabeth Herrell, July 17, 2008

From January 2007 to April 2008, Forrester's IT infrastructure and operations (I&O) team fielded 3,246 inquiries on a myriad of topics; 350 of those dealt with the key I&O themes in enterprise communications, including contact centers. As contact . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Innovative Speech Apps Deliver Value

New Uses For Speech Improve Customer Support

by Elizabeth Herrell, June 5, 2008

Speech applications provide an opportunity to deliver higher value support by offering customers more options when interacting with companies. Speech applications also reduce high staffing expenses by directing more callers to complete self-service transactions. . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Speech Analytics Helps Improve Contact Center Process And Quality: An EarthLink Case Study

by Elizabeth Herrell, Christine E. Atwood, April 4, 2008

As a customer-centric business with outsourced contact centers around the world, EarthLink was challenged with maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction and interaction quality across all of its centers, improving agent productivity while reducing . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Speech Trends For Contact Centers And Beyond

Forrester's 2007 Survey Indicates That Adoption Of Speech Platforms Continues

by Elizabeth Herrell, August 21, 2007

Forrester interviewed 250 North American and European contact center decision-makers. About half of the respondents had plans to adopt speech applications on interactive voice response (IVR) or open-standards speech platforms. Enterprises with partially . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Optimizing Investments In Speech Applications

Best Practices For Upgrading To Speech-Enabled IVRs

by Elizabeth Herrell, February 28, 2007

To support investments in speech technology for customer support, IT operational managers need to demonstrate the financial benefits in making this upgrade. Successful deployment of speech applications promotes higher customer satisfaction and fosters . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Voxeo Is A Strong Performer In Hosted Speech Self-Service Platforms

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2006

by Elizabeth Herrell, August 31, 2006

In 1999, Voxeo came to market with its Prophecy, a standards-based speech self-service platform. It demonstrated strong support for speech standards and VoiceXML 2.0 and 2.1. Voxeo's Prophecy platform is built entirely based on SIP protocol and the company . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Voxify Is A Strong Performer In Hosted Speech Self-Service Platforms

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2006

by Elizabeth Herrell, August 31, 2006

Voxify offers an interesting alternative to traditional speech self-service platform vendors. Voxify's value proposition is its vertical templates for automated agents that allow applications to be deployed quickly, often in only eight weeks. Voxify supports . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Cisco Is A Strong Performer In Premise-Based Speech Self-Service Platforms

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2006

by Elizabeth Herrell, August 31, 2006

Cisco Systems considers its Customer Voice Portal (CVP) an important part of its unified communications strategy, which supports an integrated framework for multiple communication channels. Cisco offers its speech voice portal solution through its partners' . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Convergys Is A Leader In Hosted Speech Self-Service Platforms

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2006

by Elizabeth Herrell, August 31, 2006

As a leading contact center outsourcer, Convergys supports its customer base with its SpeechPort platform and offers a wide range of speech solutions for its diverse customer base. Due to its extensive network for supporting its outsourced contact center . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Nortel Is A Leader In Premise-Based Speech Self-Service Platforms

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2006

by Elizabeth Herrell, August 31, 2006

Nortel Networks has a sizable presence in speech self-service platforms with customers around the globe. Nortel offers its customers premise-based solutions and, through its many partners, also supports hosted speech solutions. Nortel supports extensive . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Avaya Is A Leader In Premise-Based Speech Self-Service Platforms

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2006

by Elizabeth Herrell, August 31, 2006

Avaya supports two speech self-service platforms, its legacy Interactive Response (IR) and newer software based Voice Portal (VP) platform, to provide its customers with a choice on their migration path to speech self-service solutions. Both platforms . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Aspect Is A Strong Performer In Premise-Based Speech Self-Service Platforms

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2006

by Elizabeth Herrell, August 31, 2006

Aspect Software's Customer Self Service system provides a well-rounded solution for managing speech applications. The platform supports large grammars and integrates with multiple back-end data systems. Aspect provides its own professional services and . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Tellme Is A Leader In Hosted Speech Self-Service Platforms

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2006

by Elizabeth Herrell, August 31, 2006

Tellme Networks once again rose to the top leadership category for its hosted speech self-service platform. As a company with a clear focus on speech self-service platforms, Tellme has developed product expertise to deliver large complex networked solutions . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Genesys Is A Leader In Premise-Based Speech Self-Service Platforms

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2006

by Elizabeth Herrell, August 31, 2006

Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories acquired VoiceGenie earlier this year to significantly increase its market presence in speech self-service platforms. Currently, the platforms have not yet been fully merged — this evaluation is based on both platform . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Speech Self-Service Platforms, Q3 2006

Nortel Leads In Premise-Based Solutions And Tellme Leads Hosted Services

by Elizabeth Herrell, August 31, 2006

Forrester evaluated vendors of leading speech self-service platforms, also referred to as voice portals, across 54 criteria and found that Nortel Networks gained the top position, joined by Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Intervoice, and Avaya, . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

West Corporation Is A Leader In Hosted Speech Self-Service Platforms

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2006

by Elizabeth Herrell, August 31, 2006

West Corporation offers its customers two choices for its speech self-service platform: It offers a fully managed, outsourced hardware/software system and a platform hosting option. West supports its speech platform on its secure network, used to support . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Intervoice Is A Leader In Premise-Based Speech Self-Service Platforms

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2006

by Elizabeth Herrell, August 31, 2006

Intervoice is an experienced interactive voice response (IVR) vendor with a large presence in standard- based speech platforms. Intervoice offer two platforms, legacy IVR and open-standards Voice Portal solutions. Although its primary market is delivering . . .