INTRACTVE INTLGNCE : ARC Improves Customer Service Using Communications Software from Interactive Intelligence
01/26/2011| 10:05am US/Eastern
Recommend:
Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC), a provider of sales and settlement
solutions for the travel and hospitality industry, has enhanced customer
service by deploying the all-in-one
IP communications software suite from Interactive Intelligence
(Nasdaq: ININ).
The Interactive Intelligence software suite, Customer
Interaction Center? (CIC),
has helped ARC improve customer service by adding multichannel
functionality and remote agent support.
?CIC has given our customers the ability to contact our agents via
voice, e-mail, an automated call-back feature and very soon using Web
chat as well,? said ARC's manager of network services, Tim Henley. ?CIC
queues these interactions in the same priority they were received
regardless of the communications channel for optimal consistency and
faster response times.?
ARC's CIC
deployment replaced a Nortel system, which the company said was
outdated. ?We needed to streamline our communications system without
sacrificing sophisticated applications,? Henley said.
In addition to reviewing CIC
by Interactive Intelligence, ARC reviewed systems from Cisco, Nortel,
ShoreTel, and Siemens.
?We ultimately selected CIC based on its all-in-one platform and
ease-of-use,? Henley said. ?This meant we could eliminate ?bolt-on'
third-party products, thus simplifying management and lowering costs –
and all while adding more advanced features.?
Today, CIC
supports a total of more than 250 ARC employees, including agents at its
Arlington, Virginia-based contact center, along with remote agents.
About half of ARC's agents work from home. CIC also supports ARC's
business users at its headquarters in Arlington and at a remote office
in Puerto Rico, which staffs Spanish-speaking agents.
?CIC's find-me/follow-me feature, along with its ability to enable
employees to manage voice messages regardless of their location, has
further helped us improve service,? Henley said. ?CIC's remote agent
support has ensured our ability to hire the best agents by offering
flexible hours and the convenience of working from home.?
ARC also deployed a CIC add-on application for call
recording and agent
scoring. The company now records and scores calls to help train
agents and give them feedback for improved call handling.
In addition, ARC will be integrating CIC to its Microsoft Dynamics CRM
package, which will give agents a screen ?pop? containing caller and
account history information simultaneous with the call.
Since deploying CIC, ARC has purchased another CIC add-on application
for workforce management called Interaction
Optimizer?. The company will use the application to
better match fluctuations in call volume with agent staffing. ?We
anticipate saving money by tracking patterns in call volume to help us
optimally staff our contact center, especially during peak times,?
Henley said.
ARC plans to add another 180 CIC
users across its multiple locations, including at offices in Tampa and
Louisville. For business continuity, ARC also plans to install a second
server at its Louisville office to route calls there in case of outages
at headquarters.
?Last year we had more than 50 inches of snow in Arlington and we
experienced power outages throughout the city,? Henley said. ?By using
CIC's disaster recovery capabilities we will be able to effectively
route calls to employees at any location, thus eliminating lost calls
and better serving our customers.?
About ARC
Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) is a technology solutions company
providing transaction settlement and data information services.
Airlines, travel agencies, Corporate Travel Departments (CTD),
railroads, and other travel suppliers process more than $80 billion
annually through ARC's world-class settlement system, making it the
financial backbone of travel distribution. ARC COMPASS®, the
leading, trusted source for travel transaction information, powers data
and analytical tools that help ARC customers make confident business
decisions. ARC is an airline-owned company serving the travel industry
with financial services, data products and services, ticket
distribution, original travel solutions, and settlement in the United
States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. ARC is
headquartered in Arlington, Virginia and employs more than 250 people.
It can be reached at +1 703.816.8000; on the Net: http://www.arccorp.com.
About Interactive Intelligence
Interactive Intelligence Inc. (Nasdaq: ININ) is a global provider of
unified business communications solutions for contact center automation,
enterprise IP telephony, and business process automation. The company
was founded in 1994 and has more than 4,000 customers worldwide.
Interactive Intelligence is among Software Magazine's 2010 Top 500
Global Software and Services Suppliers, and Forbes Magazine's 2010 Best
Small Companies in America. The company is also positioned in the
leaders' quadrant of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Contact Center
Infrastructure, Worldwide report (Feb. 22, 2010). Interactive
Intelligence employs more than 800 people and is headquartered in
Indianapolis, Indiana. It has 19 offices throughout North America, Latin
America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Interactive
Intelligence can be reached at +1 317.872.3000 or info@inin.com;
on the Net: www.inin.com.
This release may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve
a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially are described in the company's SEC filings.
Interactive Intelligence Inc. is the owner of the marks INTERACTIVE
INTELLIGENCE, its associated LOGO and numerous other marks. All other
trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their
respective owners.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6585458&lang=en
ININ-G
ARC
Jeannine Rahe, Communications Director, 703-816-8081
jrahe@arccorp.com
or
Interactive
Intelligence Inc.
Christine Holley, Director of Market
Communications, 317-715-8220
Christine.holley@inin.com
or
Follow
Interactive Intelligence:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/IN_Intelligence
Blog:
www.inin.com/blog
© Business Wire 2011
Recommend :
