Find the forgotten channel

We all know that aggregated customer call data can provide rich business intelligence. Yet in these days of razor-thin margins, the voice channel is largely overlooked as a source of information because of the shortcomings of the legacy communications infrastructure that is typical in most retail businesses. Most retail organizations have little or no visibility into their customers' calling experience. Caller information would be of great value in allocating staff and stocking inventory, evaluating marketing programs and optimizing the communications infrastructure itself.

Unlike the Web and point-of-sale sales channels, which are well-suited to quantify incoming traffic, the traditional telephone systems common in the retail industry were not designed to meet the challenge of managing incoming traffic in a multi-store environment. Lacking such vital information, many retail organizations are operating "blind" with respect to the actual voice of their customers. They cannot quickly evaluate the success of a particular store or department, or a new campaign or special offer. Worse, they can't detect problems in the calling envionment until the problem is visibly affecting customers and undermining business; nor can they readily evaluate the impact of corrective action.

The cost of ignoring this forgotten sales channel is large. For example, studies of retail environments show that 20% to 30% or more of all inbound customer calls are likely to fail. Callers may experience long hold times, excessive transfers and be connected to associates who are unable to answer questions, because the call has been misdirected or because the right associate is busy.

A solid foundation to build on

Wave IP integrates desktop and enterprise applications with voice communications in a streamlined system that is easy to deploy and manage. Wave IP's unique 'Application-Ready' architecture means Wave IP offers a portfolio of voice applications are available "on-box", including the award winning ViewPoint Desktop Client, the Wave Client API that integrates ViewPoint functionality into your enterprise applications (e.g., accounting, billing etc), Wave Contact Center to turn your customer service department into an efficient call center, and much more.

Maximize the value of the customer voice

Envision a new category of communications solution - one that enables your infrastructure itself to listen and intelligently respond to many routine customer calls. Imagine a solution also providing detailed, real-time reports on all customer calls across a large, multi-site enterprise.

Wave IP from Vertical Communications is designed to achieve all of these goals by consolidating voice, data networking and voice-enabled applications into a single integrated platform. It is standards-based, runs over the data network, and scales to accommodate retailers with hundreds or thousands of stores. Wave IP proactively serves the caller by supporting powerful voice-enabled applications that respond directly to routine inquiries, off-loading them from busy in-store associates, or distributing them to the appropriate associates and managers.

In addition, Wave IP provides a radical series of unprecedented business benefits by collecting and aggregating customer call data for thoughtful and thorugh analysis. Examples:

• Customers can complete purchases 24/7 using their telephone or PC
• Immediately identify and resolve call management problems at the department, individual store or enterprise-wide level on the basis of call completion rates, busy answer, and hang-ups.
• Conversely, managers can recognize and reward good performance, as revealed by consistent call patterns and by examining call recordings across your entire network of stores or view data at the level of regions, individual stores, departments or even specific employees and phone lines.

Optimize staffing levels and increase agent productivity in response to the identification of peak calling periods and most frequently called stores and departments.

You can reallocate trunks and lines and eliminate unnecessary infrastructure costs on the basis of call traffic monitoring and analysis.

You can guide business planning and investment decisions with more assurance by understanding the customer experience in detail.

You can conveniently manage your communications infrastructure with surgical accuracy, including upgrades and moves, adds and changes from one location.

Invest with Confidence

We're eager to show you how the Vertical Wave IP Subscription Program can ensure that your Wave IP system continues to deliver the best return on your investment over the long term by keeping your system current at a fraction of the cost of non-subscription upgrades.