More potential distrubution:
Bell Atlantic Jump Starts Entry into Call Center Business
Company Brings Call Center Experts into the Fold with Purchase of
Customer Management Automation
NEW YORK, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Bell Atlantic signed an agreement today
to acquire Customer Management Automation (CMA), a privately held nationwide
leader in the growing call center business. Terms of the deal were not
disclosed.
The acquisition -- by Bell Atlantic Data Solutions Group -- expands the
company's suite of services for large businesses and enables Bell Atlantic to
participate in the $2 billion dollar call center market, which is growing
nationally by more than 25 percent per year.
Automated call centers use advanced technology to integrate data and voice
communications to more efficiently route inbound and outbound calls. Call
centers are a powerful tool that businesses can use to improve customer
satisfaction and cut costs.
"This acquisition supports our strategy of aligning with industry leaders
to provide large business customers a complete set of data networking products
and services," said Joe Farina, president and chief executive officer of Bell
Atlantic's Data Solutions Group. "In this case, we're gaining intellectual
property. We're tapping the extensive knowledge of the experts at CMA to
bring our nationwide client base superior call center systems and support."
CMA is a systems integrator that delivers total, integrated call center
solutions which are based on technologies such as CTI (Computer Telephony
Integration), IVR (Interactive Voice Response) and Workforce Management. In
addition to designing its own software, CMA works with other software and
hardware companies to create call center solutions that best meet the needs of
customers.
"More and more businesses view their call centers as critical customer
contact points where they can improve customer satisfaction, increase revenues
and create new business opportunities," said Farina. "Our aim in acquiring
CMA is to help our business customers achieve all these."
CMA -- A Perfect Fit
Since it was formed last year, the Bell Atlantic Data Solutions Group has
introduced a comprehensive portfolio of data networking solutions. Some
services were developed internally, while others were brought to market
through partnerships. The acquisition of CMA is the latest example of Bell
Atlantic's commitment to provide end-to-end managed solutions.
"CMA's product set and expertise fit perfectly with our strategy," said
Maureen Piche, vice president of business development for Bell Atlantic's Data
Solutions Group. "Our customers look to us to provide a total package of
products and services that help them better manage their business. This
acquisition enables us to immediately add call center services to our product
line."
Bell Atlantic and CMA have been working together over the past three years
to design and deliver call centers to enhance Bell Atlantic's ability to
effectively handle customer calls. The relationship has worked so well that
melding the companies was a natural next step.
"This is the right move at the right time," said CMA President James
Tiller. "Our employees will have an opportunity to grow with a leading edge
data solutions company, our customers will have access to a broader set of
products and services, and we will be able to offer our expertise throughout
Bell Atlantic's extensive sales channels."
Advanced Technologies Provide Powerful Call Routing Tools
Founded in 1995, CMA, based in Dallas, Texas, has quickly established
itself as a leading systems integrator that develops creative and effective
call center solutions. CMA managers are recognized in the industry as experts
in CTI systems integration, one of several key elements of a call center.
CTI software manages inbound and outbound calls between a company's
automatic call distributor, which routes calls, and the desktop. With CTI,
customer data is sent simultaneously with an inbound call and automatically
appears on the computer screen of the next available agent, which drives
efficiency and improves customer service.
For instance, when a customer calls an 800 number to order merchandise
from a mail order catalog, the call goes to a call center, or collection
point, where data and voice is integrated and the call, as well as information
about the customer, is automatically routed to an agent. The data -- such as
the caller's phone number, address and most recent purchases -- pop up on the
agent's computer screen, enabling the agent to better serve the customer.
Another call center component, IVR, enables callers to access information
from a database without talking to an agent. For example, with IVR software,
bank customers can find out their savings account balance by calling the bank
and entering their account number.
In addition, Workforce Management software helps companies manage
resources more efficiently by collecting information about daily work
schedules and calling volumes and forecasting how many agents are needed in
the office each day to handle calls.
CMA's set of solutions is known as Enterprise Telephony Integration (ETI),
which is open and non-proprietary and based on a client's call center
architecture. ETI makes it easier and less expensive to link multiple call
center technologies and existing systems and to integrate new technologies, as
they become available.
Piche said CMA has been delivering some of the highest quality products
available today including its flagship product, Infoview, which received the
1998 product of the year award from Call Center Solutions magazine. Infoview
is an innovative database that enables companies to store call detail
information, provision CTI applications and generate comprehensive reports on
the performance of call center operations.
About Bell Atlantic Data Solutions Group
Bell Atlantic Data Solutions Group (DSG) (http://www.ba-dsg.com) is
dedicated to providing globally integrated network solutions that seamlessly
connect businesses with their customers, partners and employees. DSG provides
all aspects of data networking from the management and operation of customer
networks and network integration, to network transport and advanced IP
services such as intranets and extranets, virtual private networks, web
hosting and multimedia services.
About Bell Atlantic
Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and
information industry. With 43 million telephone access lines and nine million
wireless customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies are premier providers of
advanced wireline voice and data services, market leaders in wireless services
and the world's largest publishers of directory information. Bell Atlantic
companies are also among the world's largest investors in high-growth global
communications markets, with operations and investments in 23 countries.
About Customer Management Automation
Customer Management Automation (CMA) (http://www.cmaeti.com) is a call
center solutions provider focused exclusively on computer telephony solutions
for the Fortune 500 market. CMA's strength is in bringing "best-in-class"
call center products together into one seamless solution to meet corporate
business objectives. CMA is a national company, headquartered in Dallas, with
regional offices in New York, Cleveland, Raleigh, Denver and San Francisco.
CMA partners with the call center industry's "best-in-class" providers
including Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, CMA's primary provider of
CTI, as well as Periphonics, IEX, HP, Sun and Oracle. CMA also maintains a
comprehensive professional services organization that provides applications
development, integration, implementation and product support services.
INTERNET USERS: Bell Atlantic news releases, executive speeches, news
media contacts and other useful information are available at Bell Atlantic's
News Center on the World Wide Web (http://www.ba.com). To receive news
releases by email, visit the News Center and register for personalized
automatic delivery of Bell Atlantic news releases.
SOURCE Bell Atlantic
CO: Bell Atlantic Data Solutions Group; Bell Atlantic; Customer Management
Automation
ST: New York, Texas
IN: TLS MLM CPR
SU: TNM
06/24/99 10:11 EDT prnewswire.com
|
