Overview of FCC National Broadband Map

Understanding Broadband Technology

This class teaches students about the various types of broadband technologies available to connect homes and businesses to the Internet. We discuss the pros and cons of the different options so that students can make an informed decision about purchasing their Internet service. 

Topics Covered......

Basic Broadband Concepts 

T1 

Carrier Grade Ethernet 

Point to Point Wireless 

Wireless 

DSL 

Cable 

Satellite 

A Funny Look At The Unintended Consequences Of Technology

Technology should work for us, but what happens when it doesn't? Comedian Chuck Nice explores the unintended consequences of technological advancement and human interaction -- with hilarious results.

What Our Digital World Will Look Like In 2020

Smart Move....How Artificial Intelligence Can Transform Your Contact Center Operations

Alexa, Google Home, and other rapidly advancing digital assistants have increased customers’ willingness to engage with machines as they have come to not only expect, but appreciate their conversational nature. This attitude shift is transforming how traditional call centers should be doing business – using conversational AI bots to deliver positive user experiences and operational savings.  Identifying where and how to implement Artificial Intelligence is one of the biggest challenges companies face when considering self-service.  Read on to see how SmartAction has solved this issue, and many more, to enable true integration of AI into call center operations.

SmartAction was founded as an artificial intelligence research company and has since evolved into the leading provider of AI-powered customer self-service solutions. Their cloud-based platform is built for enterprises to satisfy growing expectations for self-service. They focus on building an environment where intelligent virtual agents are handling complex customer requests in multiple mediums such as voice, SMS text, chat, social media, and mobile. This leaves call center agents with time to focus on more meaningful, human-only conversations. SmartAction is currently working with over 85 clients today in the contact center space, they are taking conversational AI and helping those organizations create an easier and effortless customer experience. SmartAction typically comes in on the complex side of the conversations that most live agents are dealing with today. These are high-volume but low value-added conversations that most contact centers want to automate.  

 

So, what is IVA capable of handling?  

• Phone conversations  
• Web Chat 
• Skype 
• Facebook Messenger 
• Text Message  

SmartAction lowers the customer effort in many contact centers which give customers a better customer experience. They can deploy in a matter of four to six weeks so that your clients can realize ROI quickly. Most clients see immediate ROI with 60 percent savings over live agents, the ability to handle call surges without extra staffing, and 45 percent faster handle times on calls. It is a one-build, omnichannel engine which is done at a fraction of the cost saving you about 80-90 percent. There are a few ways to tell if your customer is a good fit for SmartActtion:  

• If they are talking about customer self-service (Any channel: Voice, SMS Text, Web Chat, Social Media)  
• Advanced IVR/ASR needs (100% Natural Language) 
• Omnichannel Artificial Intelligence (AI)  
•  If they want a Virtual Agent 
• CC call deflection  
• Intelligent Front Door Routing & Authentication  
• Are their agents taking high volume, repetitive calls that do not add revenue or value to the customer? 
• Are they wanting to support customers 24/7?  

For free assistance designing a custom contact center technology solution from SmartAction, or from other contact center technology providers, simply ask at the following link.  It's as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Contact Center Technology

How Your Contact Center Can Gain Competitive Advantage With Nice InContact

NICE inContact is the world's number one cloud customer experience platform. Through a powerful combination of their technology, people, and partner they help organizations transform their customer experience into a business-driving competitive advantage. They make it easy for contact centers to win every customer interaction, deliver great customer experiences, and achieve their business goals all from the flexibility and reliability of the cloud. NICE inContact is recognized as a market leader by Gartner, IDC, Frost, Ovum, and DMG. They support over six billion interactions per year for enterprise, midmarket, government organizations and business process outsourcers (BPOs) who operate multiple divisions, locations and global regions.
  

There are two core components an agent needs to communicate with the consumer. One of the components is Contact Center Infrastructure which is the means to route inbound and outbound calls from consumers. The second component is Customer Relationship Management. Once an agent gets a call, they have to know who the customer is, so they use their CRM system to track the account data. Nice inContact's platform focuses on the contact center infrastructure. Below you can see a high-level view of the inContact Customer Interaction cloud.  

 

Nice inContact owns every component of the Customer Interaction Cloud, which gives you the most complete contact center solutions. Because they own it all, these components work together seamlessly to help you win on every front. They have put your goals at the center of their solution. Starting on the left and moving around the graphic clockwise you have Omnichannel Routing, Voice as a Service, and Workforce Optimization. With Analytics you get data-driven tracking and visibility to drive performance, and efficiency. Finally, it's all built on their global Open Cloud Platform with guaranteed 99.99 percent uptime.  

PRODUCTS

Omnichannel Routing is a contact routing and interaction management suite that empowers your agents to positively and productively interact with customers in any channel. Gain business flexibility by quickly deploying agents anytime, anywhere, for maximum operational flexibility, and by implementing routing and interactive voice response changes in hours. Seamlessly connect customers to the right agent across any channel. 

  

Workforce Optimization unlocks the potential of your team by inspiring employees' self-improvement, amplifying quality management efforts to enhance the customer experience, and reducing labor waste. Their patented technology provides the industry's most accurate forecasts, helps foster employee ownership & accountability, and is fully integrated with NICE inContact CXone. 

Analytics turns insights into results by making data relevant, easy to consume, and actionable to drive measurable improvements and understand the omnichannel experience customers receive. Create a data-driven culture that fosters better decision making at all levels to achieve employee productivity, customer satisfaction, and other strategic business goals. 

 

All of this technology puts you into what NICE inContact calls the CXone platform. CXone, the world’s number one cloud customer experience platform, helps organizations be first in their industry by powering exceptional experiences for customers and employees. CXone is the first and only platform unifying best-in-class Omnichannel Routing, Analytics, Workforce Optimization, Automation and Artificial Intelligence, all built on an Open Cloud Foundation. Only CXone delivers one unified experience. 

Are You A Good Candidate For A CONTACT CENTER IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITY With nice incontact?

  

It's important to know what a good candidate for a contact center improvement opportunity is. The great thing about being in the customer experience industry is that there are many verticals. You'll usually find a mid-sized call center in verticals like retail, utilities, technology, financial, hospitality, healthcare, BPO, insurance, etc. When it comes to pricing, NICE inContact does have a $2,000 minimum MCR, but they can have some flexibility with that number especially if a company is planning to increase their call center staff during peak season. A thirty-seat contact center will easily hit the minimum. Average seat cost is anywhere between $100-$150 or more. This varies based on the products a potential client may need. In other words it will always be customized to fit your specific requirement....both price and performance. So how does NICE inContact perform? 

• Average Deal Size - 12k to 15k per month (this is continuing to grow)  
• Average Turn up Time -  60-90 days  
• Customer Retention Rate – 95% 

For free assistance designing a custom contact center technology solution from NICE inContact, or from a host of other contact center technology providers, simply ask at the following link.  It's as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Contact Center Technology