The Connection Inbound Call Center Services News & Events

BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Connection (www.the-connection.com), a U.S.-based, award winning outsourced contact center company, has announced the addition of a 400-seat contact center to be located in Rockford, Illinois. The facility is expected to begin operation in August, 2010. The Connection reports that it is expanding in order to meet the needs of new clients and growth of existing clients whose customers are calling for customer service or tier one or tier two help desk in the areas of wireless telecommunications, life and health insurance, financial services and retailing. These services will be supported in the Rockford facility via inbound live operator, live web chat and email response.

This is the second contact center opening for The Connection this year; they had previously opened a 330 seat facility in Penn Yan, New York in April. Rockford will be their sixth U.S.-based contact center.

When asked about the decision to open in Rockford, Fred Weiner, President of The Connection, stated: "the positive results from our labor force analysis, in combination with our clients’ desire to have a Midwestern location makes Rockford, IL the ideal location. We are very excited to get started and to bring much needed jobs to the community.”

The Connection®, founded in 1981, has been ranked by Customer Interaction Solutions magazine as one of the top 50 outsource contact center 3rd party service agencies nationwide since 1995, placing in the top 15 for the past seven years. In addition, The Connection was recently awarded with the 2009 MVP Quality Award. Their reputation as a quality focused, fast-moving, outsourced contact center provider has attracted many new clients in the telecommunications, wireless, catalog, financial services and health care industries. The Connection will have a total of six contact center facilities throughout the U.S. totaling over 1,500 workstations. In addition to this new facility The Connection has contact centers located in Minnesota, New York and Nebraska.

For more information on The Connection®, call 1-800-883-5777 or visit their website at www.the-connection.com.

In a recent article posted in the Connections Magazine, Mark Wilson discusses how the recent U.S. economic conditions have forced many companies to reevaluate their current contact center expenditures and look for ways to reduce operational costs yet improve call quality. Wilson discusses how in years past many organizations chose to outsource their contact center services to offshore companies solely based on cost reduction strategies only to realize that although they experienced short-term cost savings they quickly noticed a negative impact on the customer experience. This negative impact in the customer experience resulted in lower profit margins in order to retain customers. As a result there has been a “paradigm shift” in the way companies are strategically outsourcing their contact center services. Today’s strategy combines cost reduction measures along with a strong focus on the customer experience. With this in mind many companies are bringing their offshore outsourced contact center services back to the U.S. and are seeing happier customers resulting in long-term customer loyalty and larger profit margins. View the full article here

www.the-connection.com/news_reverseshoring.html

BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Connection (www.the-connection.com), a U.S.-based, award winning outsourced contact center company, has announced the opening of a new 340-seat contact center located in Penn Yan, New York. The facility is up and running and is bringing up to 450 new jobs to the Penn Yan area. The Connection is expanding in order to meet the needs of its growing client base in the areas of wireless, broadband, telecommunications, healthcare, financial services and retailing. Services that will be supported in the Penn Yan facility include live operator inbound voice, email response and live web chat, customer service, and tier-one customer/help desk support.

Over the last four years, The Connection has successfully opened two other contact centers in the Western New York area. The first was a 300-seat facility which opened in Jamestown, New York in 2006 and the second was a 350-seat facility in Olean, New York in 2008.

When asked about the decision to open in Penn Yan, Fred Weiner, President of The Connection, mentioned both the quality of the workforce and the success of the Jamestown and Olean facilities as instrumental in the decision to open the center in Penn Yan, New York. Weiner said in a statement: "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to expand in upstate New York. The quality of the workforces in Jamestown and Olean have been superb and we trust that, in Penn Yan, we will be able to replicate those qualities."

The Connection, founded in 1981, has been ranked by Customer Interaction Solutions magazine as one of the top 50 outsource contact center and service agencies nationwide since 1995, placing in the top 10 in 2010. In addition, The Connection was recently awarded with the 2009 MVP Quality Award. Their reputation as a quality focused, fast-moving, U.S.-based, outsourced contact center has attracted many new clients in the telecommunications, wireless, broadband, catalog, healthcare and financial services industries. The Connection has a total of five contact center facilities throughout the U.S. totaling over 1,200 workstations. In addition to the three facilities in New York, the company also has contact centers in Nebraska and Minnesota.

For more information on The Connection, call 1-800-883-5777 or visit their website at www.the-connection.com.

The Connection® Named in the top 10 of the 2010 Top 50 Teleservices Agencies Ranking

Burnsville, MN, March 30, 2010 — The Connection announced today that Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC®), a global integrated media company, has ranked The Connection as the 9th largest inbound contact centers in the U.S. on its 25th Annual Top 50 Teleservices Agencies by its publication Customer Interaction Solutions®.

The Connection (www.the-connection.com) is an award winning, U.S.-based outsourced contact center service provider. The Connection provides extensive sales and customer support specializing in inbound and outbound teleservices, email response, live web chat and interactive voice response (IVR) services. With multiple contact centers located throughout the nation, The Connection provides uninterrupted 24x7 support 365 days each year. The Connection has provided contact center support since 1981. Industries include: telecom, wireless, broadband, cable, healthcare, pharmaceutical, Life and Health Insurance, financial services, Internet retailers, catalog, publishing, crisis management, product recall and direct response.

The 25th Annual Top 50 Teleservices Agencies Ranking recognizes the top inbound teleservices agencies, both domestic and international, well as outbound Teleservices and interactive inbound, as measured by the amount of billable teleservices minutes they have completed during the past year.

The Connection has met the stringent criteria set by the editors of Customer Interaction Solutions. Their billable minutes were verified by the editors for accuracy and reliability and submitted a letter of verification from its telephone service providers certifying the number of minutes billed during the 12 month period from November 1st, 2008 to October 31st, 2009.

For additional information contact:
Erin Brooks, Sales and Marketing Specialist 1-800-883-5777 or sales@the-connection.com

BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Connection®, an outsourced contact center company, was recently named as a 2008 MVP Quality Award winner by Customer Inter@ction Solutions® magazine, the leading publication in CRM, call centers and teleservices industries. In addition, Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC®), has ranked The Connection 11th on its Annual Top 50 Teleservices Agencies.

Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine has honored companies that have exemplified the highest commitment to quality, excellence and customer service with an MVP Quality Award. Again this year, a select group of contact center industry standouts have been honored with MVP Quality Awards in various categories.

“The Connection has proven excellence in taking and improving quality measures. They have impressed our editors at Customer Inter@ction Solutions with their ability to build a feeling of community within their company, while providing the best service they can give to their clients,” said Nadji Tehrani, Executive Group Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Customer Inter@ction Solutions. “The Connection has demonstrated a true commitment to high ethical standards, stringent policies and challenging goals.”

The Connection® is an award-winning, US-based live operator call center and service agency. Since its inception in 1981, The Connection has evolved into one of the largest outsource call center service agencies in the country, as well as one of the leaders in quality and performance. The Connection provides sales and customer service and has five call center facilities, located in Minnesota, New York, New Mexico and Nebraska. www.the-connection.com

For additional information contact:
Our Lead Generation Specialist at 1-800-883-5777 or sales@the-connection.com

During this time of economic uncertainty, businesses are closely evaluating corporate spending and employee productivity in order to reduce costs and increase returns. Companies are now directing their focus to their call centers in order to control and reduce spending. In an article published on the ICMI Knowledge Center written by Brad Cleveland, several tips are presented to assist in controlling and cutting costs in the call center arena while maintaining optimal service levels. According to Cleveland, the following principles should be followed to reduce costs and increase productivity:

Outsourcing your contact center services allows you to focus on your primary business objectives while your calls, emails and live web chats are being handled by an organization that specializes in providing these services.

The Connection is an award-winning outsourced call center service provider that has implemented several unique practices that will help you to reduce your call center costs, increase productivity and increase your overall return on investment.

Learn more about these industry leading cost reduction strategies by visiting the-connection.com or contact us at 1-800-883-5777 or sales@the-connection.com to receive a personalized workforce staffing analysis and customized price quote.

The Connection is an award-winning U.S. based contact center that has been providing outsourced sales and customer service call center services for over 28 years. Our client base represents many industry segments, including wireless telecommunications, healthcare, pharmaceutical, government, internet retailers, catalog, financial services and direct response television (DRTV).

The Connection has been ranked by Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine as one of the top 50 outsource call center and service agencies nationwide since 1995. In addition, The Connection consecutively from 2004-2008 has been awarded with the MVP of Quality Award. The Connection has five call centers totaling over 1,000 workstations in cities within Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, and Minnesota.

The Connection® Lands a New Life and Health Insurance Client

BURNSVILLE, MINNESOTA – August 27, 2008 -- The Connection, an award winning US based outsourced call center company, announced today that the company is partnering with one of the nation’s leading consumer life and health insurance organizations to provide inbound, outbound and email contact center services. The Connection will assist in offering a choice-based platform to their partner's employees and retirees by providing licensed health insurance agents for the purpose of enrolling, revising and supplying customer care support for this leading provider.

In order to accommodate the high volume of specialized insurance related calls, The Connection is expanding by opening a new flagship call center at its headquarters location in Burnsville, Minnesota. The facility will begin handling calls in early September, 2008 and will bring many new jobs to the area. "We are very excited to be tapping into the vast resource of individuals with extensive healthcare related experience and knowledge in the Minneapolis area," said Fred Weiner, president of The Connection. "The Minneapolis, Minnesota area is home to many innovative healthcare organizations. This specialized knowledge base will aid in providing world-class call center services to this leading insurance company and will allow The Connection to continue to expand its ability to provide call center services to other leading insurance and healthcare organizations," Weiner added.

The Connection, founded in 1981, has been ranked by Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine as one of the top 50 outsource call center and service agencies nationwide since 1995, placing in the top 15 for the past five years. In addition, The Connection was recently awarded with the 2007 MVP Quality Award. Their reputation as a quality focused outsourced call center has attracted many new clients in the telecommunications, wireless, catalog, financial services and health care industries. The Connection has six call centers totaling over 1,200 workstations in cities within Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, and now Minnesota.

Contact The Connection at 1-800-883-5777 or sales@the-connection.com or visit their website at www.the-connection.com.

BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Connection (www.the-connection.com ), an award winning outsourced call center company, has announced the addition of a new 350-seat call center in Olean, New York. The facility is expected to be up and running by April-May 2008 and will bring up to 600 new jobs to the Olean area. The Connection is expanding in order to meet the needs of its growing client base in the areas of health care, telecommunications, and tier-one customer support.

In 2006, The Connection opened a 300 seat call center in Jamestown, New York.

Fred Weiner, President of The Connection stated that both the quality of the workforce and the success of the Jamestown facility were instrumental in the decision to open the center in Olean, New York. Weiner also mentioned the significant, prior call center experience of many Olean employees as another factor in deciding to open a facility in that community. Weiner said, “The combination of industry experience and exceptional work ethics in Jamestown and Olean, bodes well for the success of both facilities and the economy of Western New York.

The Connection®, founded in 1981, has been ranked by Customer Interaction Solutions magazine as one of the top 50 outsource call center and service agencies nationwide since 1995, placing in the top 20 for the past five years. In addition, The Connection was recently awarded with the 2007 MVP Quality Award. Their reputation as a quality focused, fast-moving, outsourced call center solutions has attracted many new clients in the telecommunications, wireless, catalog, direct response television, financial services and health care industries. The Connection also has call centers totaling over 1,100 workstations in rural communities in Nebraska, New Mexico and Jamestown, New York.

For more information on The Connection®, call 1-800-883-5777 or visit their website at www.the-connection.com.

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