Author: Joe Salisbury

When Time Is Of The Essence … But Lasting Value Matters Too

Posted by Joe Salisbury on Posted in Education, Intelligent Call Routing, Unified Communications Tagged , , ,

A Wichita Public Schools Case Study

Certain circumstances demand swift action. And there is nothing wrong with getting results when pushed by necessity. But real value comes when there are benefits that extend well beyond the original situation.

Take for instance our customer – the Wichita Public Schools. As the largest school district in the state of Kansas, it supports nearly 50,000 students and 7,000+ teachers and staff across more than 90 schools and special program sites.

NETWORK CONNECTWhen the pandemic hit, the school district needed to quickly switch to virtual learning and remote work. It was only natural for them to turn to NEC. After all they were already a customer and were successfully using our on-premises Unified Communications solution.

In just 4 weeks after the request for help came in, we were able to deliver a modern approach to hybrid accessibility and academic achievement with our Microsoft-certified NETWORK CONNECT for MS Teams intelligent call routing solution.

Teachers and staff could route calls directly to specific numbers in Teams as well as to their NEC UC platform’s desk phones, providing seamless accessibility regardless of location. Additionally with unmatched carrier redundancy, regulatory compliance and failover assurance, our solution successfully delivered rich and reliable home teaching, remote advising and simplified teacher-parent support.

Read the complete experience: Download your free copy of this case study or read our press announcement.

NETWORK CONNECT For MS Teams Long-Term Effect

But what started from necessity has also become a long-range win for the school district.

“The silver lining during these difficult times is that we’re better prepared for disruptions, weather emergencies and other fast-changing circumstances thanks to our partnership with NEC,” according to Rob Dickson, CIO of Wichita Public Schools.

Take a closer look at the Wichita Public Schools experience

NETWORK CONNECT Has So Many Uses To Keep Your Organization Up & Running

Interested in exploring what NETWORK CONNECT could do for your organization?

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Stop Struggling With Global Connectivity

Posted by Joe Salisbury on Posted in Cloud, Customer Experience, Intelligent Call Routing Tagged , , , ,

International call routing should be simple but it isn’t.

Take for instance a U.S. phone call to a call center in Delhi, India. Before reaching that destination, this call will bounce around … going through Tokyo, Singapore, then Bangalore before finally arriving in Delhi.

Not only is this costly and involves numerous disparate carriers but indirect routing leads to such issues as call latency and poor service quality. Then there are the compliance and regulatory challenges between and within countries to be concerned about. And this call hopping is common practice for international calls. Not ideal when looking to build or maintain a brand reputation or a global business.

Is there an alternative … yes there is!

Imagine achieving effortless international and multi-national connectivity. Where simple call paths and quality replace the complexity of complicated and costly global communications. Where a single contract and U.S.-based management ends the frustration and the inconsistency of internationally calling.

NETWORK CONNECTGlobal Orchestration – powered by NETWORK CONNECT – simplifies global telecommunications by delivering international U.S.-based calls directly to their destination anywhere in the world. No more contending with call hopping from one country to another, no assorted carriers, nor excessive costs or poor performance.

Instead Global Orchestration delivers:

  • Direct calling paths
  • Optimal call quality
  • Dramatic cost savings
  • One global bill
  • Managed compliance and regulations

All consolidated into one contract and a single support contact.

Its global connectivity made simple

Global Orchestration – powered by NETWORK CONNECT – is an innovative call routing solution. You work with just one provider – us – for your international carrier services and support as we consolidate over 375+ U.S. and global carriers into a single consumable provider-neutral service.

Call traffic becomes more direct, transparent and extremely dependable with five-nines reliability. Plus you can get started right away without the need to change any day-to-day operations and with little to no upfront costs.

  • M2M and AI algorithm-based call routing automatically directs calls to the best quality-of-service and most direct path
  • A single pane of glass management interface provides insight into your entire voice network with visibility down to the individual call regardless of where in the world

Take a closer look at what’s possible

Stop struggling

Let us show you how our global presence and our unmatched carrier diversity can transform your global reach and brand reputation.

Join us for a no-obligation lunch and learn demo and an assess of your current calling plan.

You Have Choices . . . In How To Improve Your Contact Center

Posted by Joe Salisbury on Posted in Cloud, Contact Center, Intelligent Call Routing, Unified Communications Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

With our world increasingly becoming multi-channeled, companies – especially larger organizations with call centers – must come to terms with this.  Whether by text, chat, email, social or phone, support agents must be empowered to engage with customers in the way the customer wants and do it seamlessly regardless of contact choice.

Such agility doesn’t come easy, especially for contact centers managed in-house or at large enterprises where the complexity of on-site, remote and even overseas operations can impede highly integrated and consistent experiences.

So what can be done …

The most obvious choice is to concentrate on the customer experience. Smart companies are doing this by unburdening themselves from the technical aspect of contact center management by moving to the cloud.  Cloud Contact Center as a Service solutions – such as those provided by NEC UNIVERGE BLUE® – deliver relevant multi-channeled environments that integrate telephony, collaboration, responsiveness, security and transparency into a single, fully managed and interconnected ecosystem.UNIVERGE BLUE CONNECT

Some of the value we bring includes:

  • Interactive voice response wizards, voice prompts, customized call journeys and self-serve call management that make the customer experience crazily simple to implement, change and maintain
  • AI interactive analysis with sentiment tagging and automated phrase alerts for insight into trending customer requests and reactive agent amendments
  • Automatic call distribution synchronized to specific functions, regions, time of day and organization or industry-specific criteria for faster and more direct handling
  • Multi-channel options like chat, email and text to take the conversation beyond voice easily
  • Customizable desktop and browser agent clients that effortlessly integrate with standard CRM platforms and critical business apps for broad and intuitive access to vital information and resources
  • Call monitoring to help assess agent performance so reps are always ready to meet incoming requests and service gaps are quickly filled
  • Status alerts for heighten visibility into call center performance to improve staffing levels, conditions and availability

Hesitant or unable to totally transform …

Cloud adoption doesn’t have to be an all or nothing business directive.  Take for instance NEC’s partnership with T-Metrics and our ability to deliver an advanced blended omni-channel contact center solution – with comprehensive cloud-based services – that sits on top of existing infrastructure.
UNIVERGE BLUE CONNECT

By integrating with most unified communications systems, cloud contact center adoption and expansion is easy to achieve and without having to replace existing or still valued tech stacks.

This is ideal for organizations with current contact centers or those  looking to build highly responsive, productive and cost efficient call centers but without having to contend with a major overhaul.

There’s even disaster recovery from the cloud …

Imagine the ability to move 1-800 and contact center numbers from one carrier to another instantaneously during an outage, ensuring inbound call continuity. This way customers can access agents and support without disruption.

It is possible with NEC NETWORK CONNECT Toll-Free Dynamic Protection – our cloud-managed disaster recovery solution for toll-free connectivity. Our service provides inbound call continuity by programmatically moving 1-800 numbers from a nonworking carrier to a working one. Our built-in inbound failover provides optimal toll-free and contact center resiliency by circumventing issues that are the root cause of downtime and outages and protecting against poor service quality.

This innovative toll-free protection service is easy to deploy, cloud-managed, and comes with no or minimal upfront cost and five-nines reliability. It also provides operational cost efficiency due to our carrier plan’s wholesale pricing.

Want to learn more …

Let us show you what’s possible and would work best for your organization with a no-obligation demo of our cloud contact center services and a free gap analysis of your current contact center environment.

Contact Us Today

Is Your Customer Service At Risk?

Posted by Joe Salisbury on Posted in Contact Center, Customer Experience, Intelligent Call Routing Tagged , , , ,

So much depends on your company’s 1-800 numbers and call center.  Periodic outages, dropped calls and poor signal service can leave a lasting negative impression.  Such incidents aren’t easy to recover from, tarnishing your brand name and possibly even leaving your organization scrambling if a disappointing experience goes viral.

What is your disaster recovery plan for Toll-Free Number (TFN) connectivity?

Lacking such a plan could be a costly financial and reputational mistake for your organization.

What to do …

Imagine having the ability to move your 1-800 and contact center numbers from one carrier to another instantaneously during an outage, ensuring inbound call continuity. This way your customers can access your agents and their support with no disruption.

It’s totally doable …

NETWORK CONNECTWith NETWORK CONNECT Toll-Free Dynamic Protection – our disaster recovery solution for toll-free connectivity – call traffic is protected regardless of carrier outages at your location. Our built-in out-dial and inbound failover provides optimal toll-free and contact center resiliency by circumventing issues that are the root cause of downtime and outages while protecting against poor service quality.

  • NETWORK CONNECT’s M2M and AI algorithm-based call routing automatically directs out-dial calls to the best quality-of-service from over 375 U.S. and international carriers.
  • Our Toll-Free Dynamic Protection Service provides inbound call continuity by programmatically moving your 1-800 numbers from a non-working carrier to a working one.

This innovative toll-free protection service is easy to deploy, cloud-managed and comes with no or minimal upfront cost. It also provides operational cost efficiency due to our carrier plan’s wholesale pricing.

NETWORK CONNECT platform of services provides five-nines reliability, optimizes cost, and adds an extra layer of service assurance without the need to change any day-to-day operations. Additionally, it provides a single pane of glass management interface for your entire voice network, with visibility down to the individual call level.

Want to learn more …

Explore firsthand how we can protect the integrity of your major customer touchpoints with uninterrupted access from everywhere and in the most proficient and cost-efficient way possible.

Request your no-obligation toll-free disaster recovery lunch and learn demo to get started.

Contact Us Today

How Prepared Are You For An Emergency Call?

Posted by Joe Salisbury on Posted in Intelligent Call Routing, Unified Communications Tagged , , , ,

Don’t wait for a problem to find out

It’s concerning enough should someone within your organization or facility find it necessary to dial 911. It’s even more worrying if there’s any uncertainty about your company’s ability to handle such a call.

Recent legislation has made improving onsite safety a company matter. Whether it’s Kari’s Law for direct 911 dialing and personnel alerts at locations using multi-line phone systems or the RAY BAUM’s Act that requires dispatchable locations of 911 callers, organizations must be confident in their compliance with such regulations.

Of course you can verify that your communications system supports a flexible dialing plan. Or you can check that your communications platform is upgraded with the necessary software or hardware. But perhaps the most important question is … is your carrier the best in supporting emergency situations? Are they equipped to handle Dynamic E911 calls quickly and efficiently? What’s their plan should a network issue occur when it’s needed the most?

If there’s any hesitation to these questions, then we have something for you – NEC NETWORK CONNECT. This intelligent carrier call routing solution is ideal for day-to-day business communications and collaboration. But for emergency situations that demand urgent E911 assistance, it’s unmatched in reliability and control.

So how does it work?

With NEC NETWORK CONNECT you gain open access to a network of Dynamic Emergency Service Providers with built-in automatic failover, re-routing capability and carrier diversity. We use M2M and AI algorithms to automatically route calls – including those to emergency services – through the network with the best quality service for optimal accessibility and performance. If a network issue exists, calls are simply rolled to the next preferential network in real-time, putting an end to possible carrier downtime and outages.

There are other benefits too

With NETWORK CONNECT you work with just one provider – us – for carrier service and support, as we consolidate over 375+ U.S. and global carriers into a single consumable provider-neutral service. No more relying on a single carrier or juggling multiple ones instantaneously. Call traffic and activity becomes totally transparent while billing gets consolidated into one monthly invoice. If you have more than one location, our Global Orchestration service can combine your multi-site, multi-vendor network for greater oversight and simplified management.

Explore the advantage of NETWORK CONNECT with the following short, informative video:

NETWORK CONNECTThen there are the cost savings. Standard carriers use retail pricing, rates that are rounded up and there might even be hidden costs. Not NETWORK CONNECT. We offer wholesale pricing, with no hidden costs. Our usage charges are accurate to the second for cost efficiencies. Plus, our services are quick and easy to deploy with minimal upfront costs … so you can get started and begin saving and feeling confident in E911 responsiveness quickly.

Let us show you how our global presence and unmatched carrier diversity can help ensure E911 compliance in the routing of emergency calls while improving carrier billing and cost savings.

Contact Us Today

Schedule a no obligation assessment with one of our NETWORK CONNECT experts NOW.