Technology

With our state-of-the-art call center equipment, we can provide your company with seamless call center support. The Connection® has clients throughout the country who depend on us to provide information and handle transactions whenever their customers call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We strongly believe in enhanced security and have designed our data systems and telecommunications network to ensure that we have at least two of everything that is vital to your operations. This complete redundancy ensures that we are able to provide full service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and we have provided this service for over 29 years.

Investments in New Technology
The Connection® consistently updates technological systems based on the ever changing environment in the technological world. The process of updating and planning is therefore is ongoing.

Aspect ACD

At The Connection®, we use the Aspect Telephone switch, which is known as the premier switch in the telecommunications industry. The Aspect Telephone switch utilizes leading-edge technology when routing combinations of simultaneous calls to the agents.

The Aspect ACD intelligently handles all call routing by sending each call in sequence to the next available agent that has the proper skill level and training to take that specific call. By utilizing skills-based routing capabilities, the ACD is designed to direct groups of calls to specific agent groups based upon DNIS digits.

Our ACD in Burnsville can instantaneously deliver calls to any call center agents in any of our call center locations using our 2,200+ telephone lines. We have automated call routing programmed in our ACD to ensure that, in the event of a T1 outage, calls are delivered to all properly trained call center agents regardless of call center location. This automated call routing across all locations allows us to effectively load balance calls while our immediate response team, which is available 24x7, works with the network providers to ensure rapid recovery of the T1 service.

Data Systems

Our data system is a Pentium-Based Client/Server Network of Unix-based servers with multiple parallel processors. Each of the multiple servers on the system is linked to the others through a TCP/IP Ethernet network providing redundancy in case of failure. All components on the computer system have complete redundancy with at least one back up. In addition, the data storage devices utilize the latest version of RAID Technology with hot swappable disk drives for complete mirroring and redundancy. In case of power loss, the computer network is linked to dual uninterrupted power supplies (UPS), battery backup systems and a natural gas generator that automatically take over in case of power losses, surges, or drops.

Agent workstations are networked in a number of ways depending on the client’s needs, including SCO Unix and Windows NT operating systems; and proprietary software created in-house using Informix. We have great flexibility in client customized programming and we can accommodate a wide variety of systems.

Each of our five call center sites are networked together with redundant T1 lines. We can provide comprehensive reporting, online scripting, email, and internal routing of calls to available agents based on call volume at each individual facility. Our Aspect ACD has the feature that allows us to intelligently route calls to a primary and a secondary call center transparent to your customer.

We have extensive experience integrating with our clients' internal systems. Whether we are installing a server, tapping in with Frame Relay, VPN or Cisco routers with a 56K circuit or T1, The Connection®‚ has the technical experience to implement a smooth interface to the clients systems.

For more than 70 percent of our clients, we manage the real-time connectivity to their data systems. There hasn’t been a client that we have not been able to connect into their system. Typically we connect into their system by utilizing a point-to-point circuit and Telnet emulation (WRQ) or web browsers (Internet Explorer).

eBusiness – eGain

At The Connection®, we utilize eGain e-mail software in our call centers. This software allows your customers to contact us through website and e-mail.

We can create rules-based routing of all e-mails to prioritize and deliver e-mails to the appropriate agents. In addition, we can provide auto acknowledgement, auto suggest and auto reply configurations.

Intranet

To aid in enhanced and high level training, we have developed an Intranet site that we utilize as a real-time communication and training tool with our support representatives. If there are any changes, updates or new procedures we can quickly and efficiently communicate them to our agents using this tool.

Reports

The Connection® provides electronic daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly reports that are available (with hard copy back-up), outlining performance against metrics, costs, cost savings, quarterly highlights, etc. In addition, we have extensive call center reporting with coding/tracking to five levels. Because our Aspect ACD captures all information available from each inbound call, we can provide any or all of this information to you in customized reports. Our standard reports contain daily calls per hour, average call length, abandon rate, media sources, sales orders, inventory, etc.

Computer Telephony Interface (CTI) The Connection® has developed proprietary CTI applications, which allow automated screen pop and data population into any host scripting system that is web based or accessed via telnet emulation. This automated screen pop and data population can be easily integrated with host systems developed by The Connection® as well as host systems maintained at client locations. Use of the CTI system ensures accurate data capture, media tracking, and reduces agent talk time. Aspect eWorkforce The Connection uses Aspect eWorkforce version 6.3 for scheduling and forecasting. This version provides advanced functionality and robust client-server architecture to help solve the challenges of managing workforces in complex environments. eWorkforce seamlessly integrates with our Aspect Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) system for optimal forecasting and scheduling. Connection Quality Management (CQM) The Connection has taken quality assurance beyond quality monitoring, and into total quality management. Through the use of our quality web tool Connection Quality Management (CQM), participants are able to monitor calls, complete monitoring forms, provide agent feedback, and analyze results.