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A contact center is a central point in an enterprise from which all customer contacts are
managed. The contact center typically includes one or more online call centers but may also include
other types of customer contact as well,including e-mail newsletters, postal mail catalogs, Web
site inquiries and chats, and the collection of information from customers during in-store
purchasing. A contact center is generally part of an enterprise's overall customer relationship
management (CRM).
automated
speech recognition (ASR) - a technology that allows users of information systems to speak
entries rather than punching numbers on a keypad. ASR is used primarily to provide information and
to forward telephone calls.
Automatic
Call Distributor (ACD) - a telephone facility that manages incoming calls and handles them
based on the number called and an associated database of handling instructions.
call
center - a central place where customer and other telephone calls are handled by an
organization, usually with some amount of computer automation.
chatterbot-
a program that attempts to simulate the conversation or "chatter" of a human being.
collaborative
browsing - a software-enabled technique that allows someone in an enterprise contact center to
interact with a customer by using the customer's Web browser to show them something.
contact
center - a central point in an enterprise from which all customer contacts are managed.
CRM(customer
relationship management) - an industry term for methodologies,software, and usually Internet
capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way.
customer
service chat - an Internet service included as part of a business' Web site that allows the
user to communicate in real time with a customer service agent by using an instant messaging (IM)
application.
FAX- the
telephonic transmission of scanned-in printed material (text or images),usually to a telephone
number associated with a printer or other output device.
middleware-
a general term for any programming that serves to "glue together" or mediate between two separate
and often already existing programs.
intelligent
virtual agent - a chatterbot program that serves as an online customer service representative
for an organization.
IP
telephony (Internet Protocol telephony) - a general term for the technologies that use the
Internet Protocol's packet-switched connections to exchange voice, fax, and other forms of
information that have traditionally been carried over the dedicated circuit-switched connections of
the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
issue
tracking system (ITS) - a software application that allows an enterprise to record and follow
the progress of every problem or "issue" that a computer system user identifies until the problem
is resolved.
Interactive
Voice Response (IVR) - a software application that accepts a combination of voice telephone
input and touch-tone keypad selection and provides appropriate responses in the form of voice, fax,
callback, e-mail and perhaps other media.
speech
recognition - the ability of a machine or program to receive and interpret dictation, or to
understand and carry out spoken commands.
media
gateway - any device, such as a circuit switch, IP gateway, or channel bank that converts data
from the format required for one type of network to the format required for another.
PBX(private
branch exchange) - a telephone system within an enterprise that switches calls between enterprise
users on local lines while allowing all users to share a certain number of external phone lines.
The main purpose of a PBX is to save the cost of requiring a line for each user to the telephone
company's central office.
personalization-
the process of tailoring pages to individual users' characteristics or preferences.
predictive
technology - a body of tools capable of discovering and analyzing patterns in data so that past
behavior can be used to forecast likely future behavior.
proprietary-
describes a technology or product that is owned exclusively by a single company that carefully
guards knowledge about the technology or the product's inner workings.
queue- a
line of people or things waiting to be handled, usually in sequential order starting at the
beginning or top of the line or sequence.
real
time - a level of computer responsiveness that a user senses as sufficiently immediate.
sales
automation software - a type of program that automates business tasks such as inventory
control, sales processing, and tracking of customer interactions,as well as analyzing sales
forecasts and performance.
text-to-speech(TTS)
- a type of speech synthesis application that is used to create a spoken sound version of the text
in a computer document, such as a help file ora Web page.
unified
messaging (sometimes referred to as the unified messaging system or UMS)- the handling of
voice, fax, and regular text messages as objects in a single mailbox that a user can access either
with a regular e-mail client or by telephone.
virtual
call center - a call center in which the organization's representatives are geographically
dispersed, rather than being situated at work stations in a building operated by the organization.
Virtual call center employees may be situated in groups in a number of smaller centers, but most
often they work from their own homes.
VoIP(voice
over IP - that is, voice delivered using the Internet Protocol) -a term used in IP telephony for a
set of facilities for managing the delivery of voice information using the Internet Protocol
(IP).
voice
portal (sometimes referred to as a vortal) - a Web site or other service that a user can reach
by telephone for information such as weather, sport scores, or stock quotes.
Web
analytics - the process of analyzing the behavior of visitors to a website. The use of Web
analytics is said to enable a business to attract more visitors, retain or attract new customers
for goods or services, or to increase the dollar volume each customer spends.
Web
self-service - a version of electronic support (e-support) that allows customers and employees
to access information and perform routine tasks over the Internet, without requiring any
interaction with a representative of an enterprise.