BroadConnect Brand, Call and Contact Centres

BroadConnect Telecom has been providing solutions for contact centres for quite a while now and has developed a reputation for quality, easy set up and only minimal investment risk.  Thanks to BroadConnect’s technology, now contact centres can improve upon their infrastructure without having to learn a very complex new system. 

Enterprise Class Technology Comes to the Contact Center

Using BroadConnect technology, now companiescan oversee and operate multiple call contact centres through one centralizedsystem.  This is a great advantage to outsourced centres, as they will be able to quickly and easily scale in operation whenever there is a centralized change.  More importantly, the system allows users to scale up or down, depending on their needs. 

Scaling is a Great Advantage

Naturally, this is a major concern as many technology companies have qualms about planning for the future since it’s hard to estimate where technology will be.  Of course, the beauty of BroadConnect is that it allows companies of multiple sizes to scale things according to their own pace.  The system lets company owners or managers add or remove agents, according to business developments. 

Furthermore, BroadConnect’s web technology allows clients to access the system through a web browser directly, on any PC or any web-friendly device, for that matter.  Since the operations are very easy to learn, managers can change the number of agents available for customer service within minutes.  Why, managers or company owners can even add an agent or move them around between different contact center “groups.”

Customizing Your Experience

The ability to add new agents or subtract them only as needed is a tremendous opportunity for companies that are attempting to control costs by outsourcing.  Customers will no doubt have very different requests and so BroadConnect maximizes flexibility.  The system allows businesses and contact centers to add and remove functionality as needed.  For example, they can change statuses or IVR options by just clicking the mouse.  Debit and credit card actions are also easily handled using only a web browser.  Flexibility means companies can evolve as rapidly or slowly as they require. 

Consistency is Key

IVR, CTI and ACD (via network) allow companyworkers to use the same scripts, messages and databases to conductbusiness.  This will help to make customer interactions consistent and reduce misunderstandings and miscommunications, which can be quite costly. 

Live Viewing

The fact that the company lets agents see “live” changes helps tremendously with keeping the entire contact center operation accurate and standardized.  Why, managers can now even monitor staff when they are online.  This is ideal for studying performance and for access statistics from live phone calls. 

A Boost for Remote Employment

Remote workers are certainly at an advantage with this amazing system, as they will not have the ability to make or receive calls from anywhere in the country or beyond, using only a telephone or web browser.  Managers and CEOs will be able to setup new users easily and offer remote work for a reduced cost.  The integrated, highly flexible and centralized system will allow easy management of agents, to the point where it is a virtual office staff, with little or no room for unmonitored performance. 

Disaster Recovery and Maintenance Reduction

Lastly, consider the advantages in cloud-based disaster recovery (meaning permanent and continual backups of information) as well as lower maintenance cost.  Perhaps what’s most amazing about the system is that it is remotely based and there is no physical hardware or installable software to worry about.  Customers pay only for what they use.  Goodbye huge investment costs and ongoing maintenance fees. 

The business model of pay-as-you-go contact center telephony is bound to revolutionize how we conduct remote business and customer service! For more information or to speak to an account manager please visit our websites at:

CDA www.broadconnect.ca

USA www.broadconnectusa.com

Visit us at Avaya Evolutions Toronto, November 20, 2012 for a chance to win two tickets to the already sold-out Grey Cup Championship game!

Avaya Evolutions, a unique one-day event taking place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, provides you an opportunity to engage, interact and collaborate with telecommunications executives, peers and industry leaders. Visit us any time on November 20^th at Booth 8 to learn more about what real-time advanced business communications can do for your enterprise. Attend our breakout session from 9:00 – 10:00 am for a chance to win two Grey Cup championship game tickets.
Breakout Session:

“VoPI™ vs VoIP: Two Letters Make All of the Difference”

Session Abstract:

As data connectivity becomes increasingly cost effective for reliable dedicated speeds, learn how BroadConnect’s VoPI™ (Voice over Private Internet) model allows you to leverage bandwidth to support Voice and Video on existing and future deployments. We will explore the gains of stabilizing your SIP rollouts by having greater control over the first and last mile of service thus making deployments both predictable and seamless. Join us and discover how SIP Trunking & Radvision’s Video Conferencing solutions, using BroadConnect’s VoPI™ can help your current and future Voice, Data and Video Conferencing requirements.

Ask us about VoPI™! 

Simply post a question below with your name, company name, and job title, and we will answer them at our session on November 20.

OR

Post a tweet with the hashtag #BCTevolutions.

Contest Details:

The Contest « Win a Pair (2) of 2012 Grey Cup Tickets» will start on October 23rd, 2012 at 12:00 AM (EST) and will end on November 20th, 2012 at 11:59:59 PM (EST). (Here after the «Contest»).
Eligibility
The Contest is open to everyone who has reached the legal age of its respective province at the time of entering the contest. Employees of BroadConnect Telecom or their immediate family members and people living with them cannot enter the contest.
How to enter:
No purchase necessary. Contestants simply have to respect the eligibility requirements. The start of the Contest will be announced Via Email and Social Media outlets (Google+, Twitter, Facebook) and winner will be showcased on the BroadConnect Telecom website and BroadConnect Social Media Networks. All existing and non-existing BroadConnect Telecom customers will be invited to ask questions regarding “Ask us about VoPI™!”  for entry to the contest. Contestants simply have to post a question on blog.broadconnect.ca, facebook.com/broadconnect or twitter.com/broad_connect with your name, company name, and job title. Only one ballot per person will be allowed. Further terms and conditions of this specific contest will be posted on BroadConnect Telecom’s website.
Winner:
The winners will be picked from all the valid formatted questions received on BroadConnect Telecom servers during the Contest valid time frame. The winner will be picked on November 20^th , 2012 at 11:59:59 PM (EST) at 11:01 PM (EST), in BroadConnect Telecom offices. Prize will be given to the winner if all mentioned rules and regulation are fulfilled.
Prizes Description:
A Pair (2) of 2012 Grey Cup Tickets: Section 109B Row 7 (Double Blue)
Everything not mentioned as included in the prize will be to the charge of the winner. BroadConnect Telecom has the right to replace the Prize for another one of the same value or to give the same value in money for any given reason as mentioned in the general rules section.

Better Support for Social Media and Mobile Devices with Call Center Software

Avaya Flare is starting to offer quite a few benefits to help improve call centers and provide unified communications. Now, it’s possible for employees to have better access to the contact center, as well as tools that they need to do their job better. One of the ways that Avaya Flare is helping is with the various mobile device options and social media features that it offers now. All of these tools should help to improve the performance of the contact center.

The advanced technology in the smartphones that we use is quite impressive, and they certainly help to make unified communications, no matter where one might be, a simple task. The technology actually makes it possible to interact with contact center operations. Some of the options that Avaya Flare was able tointroduce with call center functionality include automation, self-service options that customers can use, and it makes it easy to connect with a person, all in the quest for more unified communications.

The company also created some better support for social media outlets including YouTube and RSS feeds. They are even offering better support for Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook, the kings of social media. Video collaboration is even possible now, making it a good tool for a contact center. While software is certainly a huge part of the company’s unified communications goal, they excel in other areas as well. Their phone hardware is also high quality. With Avaya Flare and Aura, companies are starting to really see all of the great things that this type of technology is able to do – from better and easier relations in the contact center to easier, better quality unified communications through the company.

The pricing is something that is going to be a concern for many companies. Avaya has their social and mobile capability service starting at $30,000 and up for a session. They also offer Call Center Elite for the contact center for between $350 and $750 for each license. Avaya is one of the most popular choices when it comes to this type of technology and support. They announced that they would continue to offer support for mobile devices other than phones as well, such as the iPad.

When looking for unified communications solutions, companies need to make sure that they are dealing with a vendor who will be able to provide them the support and help that they need for their contact center and other areas of their business. Choose the right company for help.

Did You Know That Expertly Made Telecommunications Systems Can Still Be Compromised?

You would think brilliantly designed and supposedly foolproof technology would be impenetrable; that’s not always the case. If you’re talking about telecommunications systems from overseas, you would be wrong.  What a lot of people don’t understand about technology is that it is far from standardized.  Consider that hardware and software provided by foreign suppliers ARE vulnerable to attack.  This is especially true in the cases of companies that have strong government ties. 

What Could Go Wrong?

In theory, you could be opening your telecommunications systems to a major threat from overseas.  If you are doing business with a company from another country, you are not governed by the rules and standards of the United States or Canada.  You are buying hardware or software that is outside of your country’s jurisdiction.  You have no control over what the software or hardware might be doing to your system.  This could even leave your system vulnerable to security threats,hacking attacks or all sorts of spyware.   Professor David Skillicorn at the school of computing at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario states that "If you buy…software that's essentially produced by the government of another country, then you have no control over what that [system] might be doing.”  Skillicorn added, "It's the reason we don't buy fighter planes from the Russians. If you're running on hardware that somebody else built, and you don't trust the somebody else, then it's never going to do.”

Indeed, trust is a major concern in these matters.  And since globalization is a relatively new phenomenon, this principle of trust must be emphasized to North Americans who naively download everything on the net, regardless of its origins.  Thomas Dean, a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering at Queen's stated that “[Companies] can hide things in software.  Hardware components…can record things.  They can transmit things.”

Yes, some so called telecommunications systems that you find overseas could literally be built just to be a “backdoor”, just a thinly veiled attack on your system.  Canada recently had an altercation worth reporting.  The government allowed China's Huawei Technologies to do business with major Canadian companies, including Bell, Telus and WIND Mobile.  This raises the threat of rogue telecommunications systems, and it’s all the more scary when you consider that the United States and Australia have already blocked Huawei Technologies from doing virtual business in their territories.  Accusations have been made regarding Huawei performing espionage for China, though predictably, the company denies such allegations. 

These supposed rogue telecommunications systems are largely conspiracy theory at this point, since even suspicious computer experts cannot produce any evidence that any tampering has occurred.  Huawei stated publicly that “All stakeholders, including governments, have a clear understanding of the tools we use…We've worked openly and transparently in consultation with our customers and governments…”

Naturally, if the company were corrupt and performing clandestine operations they could not openly admit it.  This is hardly a “new” issue, as intelligence agencies have always been cautious when dealing with foreign-controlled technology.  After all, such a company would have easy access to North American secrets, or could ever install a virus or malware program to disrupt business.

It’s not only a matter of countries doing war, but even international competitors who are itching to get ahead in business.  Skillicorn further commented, “It means that if you buy a switch from a company it [could] take a copy of everything that passes through it and send it off to another [country].”

Why It’s a Risk

Why can’t North American competitors simply inspect the telecommunications systems and ensure there is no tampering?  Because you’re talking about very miniscule additions, the likes of which are not easily found.  Companies and computer experts would literally have to tear the units to pieces and examine them…hardly worth the investment! 

Skillicorn expressed confidence that intelligence briefing between Canada and other countries on friendly terms would not consider using any overseas company for secure communication.  However, there is a certain laxness at the so called “next level down.”  For instance, consider the fact that governments are already using encrypted communication over shared channels.  Shared channels,in essence, means public infrastructure.  That means you are open for a threat, just as with “shared hosting.”  Now it’s just a matter of determining, more like hoping, that your encryption is strong enough to protect your information. 

Remember that even if data cannot be extracted from supposedly secure telecommunications systems that it is fairly easy for an expert programming team to disrupt a system using what is called a kill switch.  That could have huge ramifications for the military, not to mention commercial companies.  So how secure is your country, your company, your business?

If you're concerned with your present telecommunication security levels, please feel free to contact one of BroadConnect Telecom's experienced staff.

American Contact Information

Canadian Contact Information

Polycom Telemedicine Carts: Can They Actually Reduce Medical expenses and Hospital Stays?

One of the most problematic situations in life is the long-term hospital stay.  So imagine the excitement in the air, as Polycom announces its new Polycom Telemedicine Carts Technology, a system that can reduce or even eliminate long-term hospital stays.  Thanks to the cart, namely a RealPresence Practitioner Cart 8000, patients will be able to connect live with onsite caregivers using HD remote technology.  In real HD, patients will be able to speak with doctors and nurses and have “instant” remote conversations regarding health issues.  This will take place easily, even if the patient is separated from the doctor by miles and miles. 

In fact, a patient will no longer have to stay in the hospital just for medical consultations.  The new cart technology conforms to the FDAClass I Medical Device Data Systems requirements.  The system works on mobile device as well as PC connection. 

Ultimately, this project is not just about convenience but also about cost-cutting.  This “telemedicine” technology will help to reduce the cost of transporting patients to large medical facilities or sending out doctors or nurses to patients’ homes.  The cart is built off Rubbermaid Healthcare’s small and lightweight mobile cart platform.  In addition to the HD technology, the system is also resistant to spills and is easy to clean and hold. 

Naturally, this level of video conferencingdoes require major hardware, and so the unit comes with a Polycom EagleEye camera with Polycom StereoSurround technology.  This ensures clarity and easy communication—a vital component when dealing with medical care as communication is essential to recovery. 

So what kind of savings are we looking at here?  According to one source, the South Carolina Department of Mental Health, putting only a selected number of Polycom’s charts in patient rooms, it saved $21.7 million.  This form of telepsychiatry in this case, gave patients the opportunity to talk to doctors as clearly, as if they were in the same office in person. 

These carts are not stationary but can be moved to wherever a patient is situated.  Time wise, hospital stays have been reduced as much as six days, and in some cases, completely eliminated, as patients were able to go home the same day. 

These are exciting times for technology, and improvements in convenience and savings are definitely encouraging in recessionary times.