CRM: The Boss Is Listening

Joe, a call center supervisor, sits at his computer to analyze his team’s productivity from the previous day. His records show that Bob had several customer contacts that resulted in arguments. Wouldn’t it be great if Joe could zero in on the heated moments of those conversations to learn what went wrong?

A new trend in CRM software could make that possible. Replay Studio from Eyretel, a CRM solutions developer based in Calverton, Md., is one such product that records all of a call center’s calls (as opposed to random monitoring and recording) for later review and analysis. The software also provides visual graphs of voice recordings. In the example above, color-coded voice graphs let Joe see the exact point in the conversation when Bob and the customer were talking at once?typically indicating an argument. Joe can then click on the area prior to the argument and hear how it started.

Louisville, Ky.-based HCA Inc. NPAS, which provides billing, customer service and accounts receivable management for HCA’s hospitals worldwide, has been using Eyretel’s Replay Studio for several months. HCA’s CEO Curtis Warfield says that the 100 percent recording and graphic depiction of conversations has improved his company’s interactions by enabling supervisors to pinpoint the company’s deficiencies and take appropriate action, such as employee retraining or recontacting disgruntled customers.

Warfield adds that prior to installing Eyretel’s products, HCA had “subpar customer service; we had bad relationships with hospitals and patients.” The company has improved its image within the company as well as with its patients since it began using the call recording system. “People love it,” he says. AT&T Long Distance and Equiserv are also implementing the Eyretel product.

Other vendors, such as Nice Systems and Comverse Infosys, offer similar products. The goal for this CRM niche is to record and graph conversations in real-time, so supervisor interventions can occur in real-time as well. Bob, our hypothetical customer service person, may not appreciate that feature, but you can bet the customer on the other end of the phone would.