Our Call Center Solutions® platform has provided us with a foundation upon which to build custom applications that address a company's unique way of doing business with customers. Below are some examples of how we have expanded our standard solution set.

Managing a Service Bureau

When an international distributor of CDs and DVDs began to experience a routine surplus of calls, it made a strategic decision to outsource the surplus to a service bureau rather than add staff to meet it. The service bureau contract, based on number of calls handled per month, provided no discount for a lower number of calls, but included heavy surcharges for any calls above the negotiated number. The distributor wanted to maximize use of the service bureau while carefully managing the level of service and associated costs.

Chadbourn designed a CTI application that overflowed incoming calls into the service bureau based on two criteria: 1) relative service levels of the two sites; and 2) cumulative calls being handled by the service bureau throughout the month. Custom decision software effectively managed the calls and costs so that the service bureau usage was optimized, while keeping usage within the company's budget.

Since first delivering this application to the client, they've changed switch platforms and outsourcing organizations three times. Each time, we've successfully ported over our solution.

Meeting the Budget for Data Warehousing

A leading financial institution with four call center locations, serviced by four different switch types, attempted to reconcile various ACD reports provided by each center. The goal was to create a centralized data warehouse to be used for performance analysis. The task proved to be more challenging than they originally imagined.

After months of failed interpretation, a company officer contacted Chadbourn for help. Using our Call Center Solutions® database to provide common measurements across multiple switch types, the bank was able to create its own custom reports. These reports have become the basis of the organization's performance and budgeting analyses. Because the bank can now assess the relative performance of each call center, it can establish more pragmatic staffing and budgeting expectations.

Providing Cost Effective Network Routing

A provider of network call distribution software wanted to upgrade its offerings to the major long distance services and the Bell Operating Companies. Chadbourn and the provider jointly designed and implemented a solution that allows for real-time call processing information to be assembled across dozens of sites to serve as the basis for routing calls.

Call Center Solutions® monitored real-time statistics across call centers with different switch types to construct an estimated wait time for different types of callers. This information, transmitted on the company intranet, provided the basis to route calls to multiple sites via a network Service Control Point (SCP). Since this capability was introduced to companies, hold times and abandonments have been dramatically reduced. Network-based routing allows for callers to be directed to the service center where they can be answered most effectively.