Contact Center: Glossary

A contact center is a central point in an enterprise from which all customercontacts are managed. The contact center typically includes one or more onlinecall centers but may also include other types of customer contact as well,including e-mail newsletters, postal mail catalogs, Web site inquiries andchats, and the collection of information from customers during in-store purchasing.A contact center is generally part of an enterprise's overall customer relationshipmanagement (CRM).

automated speech recognition (ASR) - a technology that allows users of informationsystems to speak entries rather than punching numbers on a keypad. ASR isused primarily to provide information and to forward telephone calls.

AutomaticCall Distributor (ACD) - a telephone facility that manages incoming callsand handles them based on the number called and an associated database ofhandling instructions.

callcenter - a central place where customer and other telephone calls arehandled by an organization, usually with some amount of computer automation.

chatterbot- a program that attempts to simulate the conversation or "chatter" of ahuman being.

collaborativebrowsing - a software-enabled technique that allows someone in an enterprisecontact center to interact with a customer by using the customer's Web browserto show them something.

contactcenter - a central point in an enterprise from which all customer contactsare managed.

CRM(customer relationship management) - an industry term for methodologies,software, and usually Internet capabilities that help an enterprise managecustomer 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 mediatebetween two separate and often already existing programs.

intelligentvirtual agent - a chatterbot program that serves as an online customerservice representative for an organization.

IPtelephony (Internet Protocol telephony) - a general term for the technologiesthat use the Internet Protocol's packet-switched connections to exchangevoice, fax, and other forms of information that have traditionally been carriedover the dedicated circuit-switched connections of the public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN).

issuetracking system (ITS) - a software application that allows an enterpriseto record and follow the progress of every problem or "issue" that a computersystem user identifies until the problem is resolved.

InteractiveVoice Response (IVR) - a software application that accepts a combinationof voice telephone input and touch-tone keypad selection and provides appropriateresponses in the form of voice, fax, callback, e-mail and perhaps other media.

speechrecognition - the ability of a machine or program to receive and interpretdictation, or to understand and carry out spoken commands.

mediagateway - any device, such as a circuit switch, IP gateway, or channelbank that converts data from the format required for one type of networkto the format required for another.

PBX(private branch exchange) - a telephone system within an enterprise thatswitches calls between enterprise users on local lines while allowing allusers to share a certain number of external phone lines. The main purposeof a PBX is to save the cost of requiring a line for each user to the telephonecompany's central office.

personalization- the process of tailoring pages to individual users' characteristics orpreferences.

predictivetechnology - a body of tools capable of discovering and analyzing patternsin 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 singlecompany that carefully guards knowledge about the technology or the product'sinner workings.

queue- a line of people or things waiting to be handled, usually in sequentialorder starting at the beginning or top of the line or sequence.

realtime - a level of computer responsiveness that a user senses as sufficientlyimmediate.

salesautomation software - a type of program that automates business taskssuch 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 spokensound version of the text in a computer document, such as a help file ora Web page.

unifiedmessaging (sometimes referred to as the unified messaging system or UMS)- the handling of voice, fax, and regular text messages as objects in a singlemailbox that a user can access either with a regular e-mail client or bytelephone.

virtualcall center - a call center in which the organization's representativesare geographically dispersed, rather than being situated at work stationsin a building operated by the organization. Virtual call center employeesmay be situated in groups in a number of smaller centers, but most oftenthey 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 deliveryof voice information using the Internet Protocol (IP).

voiceportal (sometimes referred to as a vortal) - a Web site or other servicethat a user can reach by telephone for information such as weather, sportscores, or stock quotes.

Webanalytics - the process of analyzing the behavior of visitors to a Website. The use of Web analytics is said to enable a business to attract morevisitors, retain or attract new customers for goods or services, or to increasethe dollar volume each customer spends.

Webself-service - a version of electronic support (e-support) that allowscustomers and employees to access information and perform routine tasks overthe Internet, without requiring any interaction with a representative ofan enterprise.

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