Service Cloud Workforce Engagement, available globally in June, helps customer service teams unify their people, planning and process to accurately route cases to the right agents with the right skills at the right time. In 2020, customer service contact centers underwent dramatic change. Agents started working from home, customers increasingly turned to digital channels, and many industries saw surging demand for service. More than ever, businesses faced pressure to have the right agents readily available to help customers when they needed support the most. As the landscape of the pandemic shifts, the future structure of the contact center is uncertain. But the goal remains clear: provide unimpeded service with highly qualified agents. Service Cloud Workforce Engagement, Salesforce’s dynamic workforce planning product, is helping service leaders do just that. Melissa Matross, SVP of Product Management, sat down with one of them — and he happens to work just down the virtual hall. Jim Roth, EVP of Customer Support at Salesforce, has...
Read MoreEighty-eight percent of service professionals report that the pandemic exposed technology gaps in their jobs New Service Cloud innovations give organizations the technology they need today to support agents working from home, in the field or in a hybrid model – all in one system Estee Lauder, Smile Direct Club and Sonos embraced Service Cloud 360 to meet new customer expectations San Francisco — April 21, 2021 — Salesforce, [NYSE: CRM], the global leader in CRM, today introduced the next generation of web security and SaaS — technology to support changing customer service expectations and provide connected, personalized service from anywhere on one digital engagement platform. Over the last year, service agents moved quickly to work from their kitchens and living rooms, but relied on legacy technology—disparate, on-premise solutions and spreadsheets—that wasn’t designed to manage globally distributed workforces. At the same time, agents were reeling from a monumental surge in the volume of customer requests across all digital channels and...
Read MoreINDIANAPOLIS, June 2, 2021 – Sharpen Technologies, developers of the agent-first omnichannel cloud contact center platform, secured $14 million in growth funding, announced CEO Bill Gildea. Bridge Bank and Multiplier Capital led the investment round, along with participation from the company’s existing investors, including Cultivation Capital. This raise will be used across all departments to support the company’s rapid growth. “Bridge Bank is excited to help lead this latest round of financing and partner with the team at Sharpen to support their strong growth,” said Brian McCabe, senior director in Bridge Bank’s Washington D.C.-based Technology Banking Group. “We look forward to seeing them continue growing in the CCaaS industry.” The latest round of financing brings the total amount raised by Sharpen to over $55 million. It follows a year where the company experienced a +100% upsurge in revenue and a +40% increase in new bookings. At the same time, Sharpen was named to the 2020 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing...
Read MoreWestford, MA. May 10, 2021. Today, Aspect Software will merge with Noble Systems of Atlanta Georgia, to form Alvaria™, (pronounced: ahl-vahr-ee-uh), a new global company delivering optimized customer experience and workforce engagement software and cloud services technology solutions. The newly combined company will be led by Patrick Dennis, Aspect President and CEO. “This merger will combine two of the leaders in the customer experience space into a major unified force for innovation and growth,” said Patrick Dennis, President & CEO of Alvaria. “Our unified customer base represents the largest financial institutions, healthcare, online retail, and travel and transportation companies in the world. We are so excited to embark on this next stage of our corporate development.” Abry Partners (“Abry”), a Boston-based private equity firm, spearheaded the merger and is now the majority owner of the combined company. Vector Capital, owner of Aspect, will continue as minority equity holder. The total value of the combined transaction is over $1 billion USD....
Read MoreMinneapolis — April 20, 2021 — Calabrio, the customer experience intelligence company, today announced the availability of Enterprise Customer Experience Intelligence (CXI) to better connect and elevate the modern enterprise with voice-of-the-customer business intelligence. Using the out-the-box solution, organizations gain immediate value with comprehensive dashboards that disseminate intelligent, analytics-driven insights from the contact center and focus on metrics that matter most to key functions, beginning with marketing, finance and the contact center itself. The foundation of a successful customer-centric organization lies with positioning the contact center at the heart of the business intelligence (BI) platform. Businesses know that the market landscape is evolving rapidly, led by changing customer needs and expectations. To meet the demands of today’s customer, automated AI-driven business intelligence can help the wider enterprise dynamically stay in tune with the true voice, needs, and behaviors of customers and frontline employees. “Too many businesses are spending valuable time and resources searching for answers that are right in front...
Read MoreMINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Calabrio, the customer experience intelligence company, today announced the availability of Enterprise Customer Experience Intelligence (CXI) to better connect and elevate the modern enterprise with voice-of-the-customer business intelligence. “Too many businesses are spending valuable time and resources searching for answers that are right in front of them. Calabrio Enterprise CXI are out-of-the-box dashboards designed to amplify voice-of-the-customer insights captured in the contact center, and then packaged and shared with other functions that need to hear them” Using the out-the-box solution, organizations gain immediate value with comprehensive dashboards that disseminate intelligent, analytics-driven insights from the contact center and focus on metrics that matter most to key functions, beginning with marketing, finance and the contact center itself. The foundation of a successful customer-centric organization lies with positioning the contact center at the heart of the business intelligence (BI) platform. Businesses know that the market landscape is evolving rapidly, led by changing customer needs and expectations. To meet the demands of today’s...
Read MoreNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – April 5, 2021 – The Society of Workforce Planning Professionals (SWPP) has announced Anton Nithianandarajah of TD Bank Group as the winner of the 2021 Workforce Management Professional of the Year Award, which recognizes a workforce management professional who has shown outstanding leadership in the industry. “We are so thrilled to announce Anton as the winner of this prestigious award,” said Vicki Herrell, SWPP Executive Director. “His knowledge, leadership, and vision have helped him achieve great results for his company. We believe he is truly representative of the great workforce management professionals around the world.” Anton Nithianandarajah is Senior Manager, Workforce Management for TD Bank Group. The bank employs approximately 90,000 people and is the second largest bank in Canada. The company operates 19 centers 24 x 7 with 10,000 agents. They handle 7.5 million inbound customer service, sales, investing and insurance contacts per month utilizing NICE IEX, Genesys Decision, and CISCO. The WFM team consists of...
Read MoreINDIANAPOLIS, March 15, 2021 – Sharpen Technologies, developers of the agent-first omnichannel cloud contact center platform, expanded its leadership team by promoting Traci Shaw to Chief Financial Officer and Adam Settle to Chief Experience Officer (CXO). The moves come as Sharpen grew rapidly in 2020 with a +100% upsurge in revenue and a +40% increase in new bookings compared to 2019. “Traci and Adam have been instrumental in our growth over the past few years,” said Sharpen CEO Bill Gildea. “Their expertise, leadership, and commitment to our product and customers have been vital to our success as we continue to scale the company.” As CFO, Shaw oversees Sharpen’s finance, accounting, and IT teams, while also managing its capital-raising initiatives and shareholder relations. She joined Sharpen in 2019 from Genesys, formerly Interactive Intelligence, where she spent 20 years in a variety of roles, helping grow the business into a publicly-traded company that sold in 2016 for $1.4b. Shaw holds a BS...
Read MoreNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – April 1, 2021 – The Society of Workforce Planning Professionals (SWPP) has announced the five finalists for the 2021 Workforce Management Professional of the Year Award, which recognizes a workforce management professional who has shown outstanding leadership in the industry. The finalists are Dr. Debra Bentson of Kaiser Permanente, Richard Dean of Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Cherri Lindquist of Company Nurse, Aaron Jacobs of GE Appliances, and Anton Nithianandarajah of TD Bank Group. “I am very proud to present these five workforce management professionals as finalists for this distinguished award,” said Vicki Herrell, SWPP Executive Director. “Each year, there are so many outstanding nominations that it continues to be a difficult task for the SWPP Board of Advisors to select the top five. Each one of these individuals has demonstrated great skills, leadership, and ability in our industry, as well as delivered measurable results for their companies.” The SWPP Board of Advisors selected the five finalists from nominations...
Read MoreNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – July 23, 2020 – The Society of Workforce Planning Professionals (SWPP) has announced the five finalists for the 2020 Workforce Management Professional of the Year Award, which recognizes a workforce management professional who has shown outstanding leadership in the industry. The finalists are Christine Kolbeson of Rackspace, David Nietz of Telus International, Julie Reed of Pepco Holdings, Sharon Jones of National Debt Relief, and Rachel Johnson of WPS Health Solutions. The SWPP Board of Advisors selected the five finalists from nominations submitted on the SWPP website. “These five workforce management professionals are truly representative of the “best of the best” in our industry,” said Vicki Herrell, SWPP Executive Director. “They have all demonstrated leadership and ability in the field, as well as shown measurable results for their companies. We are pleased to present them as finalists for this distinguished award.” The Workforce Management Professional of the Year award is chosen from the five finalists by the Board...
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