By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD When mapping out the future, it’s always wise to first look back to see where we’ve been. In 2009, the call center industry has gone through a lot. Like most industries in the United States, and likely around the world, the economy was – and continues to be – a […]
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More News Than You Can Use
As a publisher, I receive all manner of press releases. Some are appropriately targeted and end up in one of my magazines, newsfeeds, or newsletters. Others are close, but slightly miss our focus, while many are seemingly sent to me without forethought or strategy. Here are the headlines that I have received in the past […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. When my daughter visits, we often go for walks. Unfortunately, I had been finding it necessary to forego that particular pursuit, not because of a lack of interest, but because blisters would be a painful result. Although we were both dismayed at this, it was my daughter who took the […]
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Blogging about Technology
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I’ve been actively blogging for about two years (see blog.peterdehaan.com: 376 posts, 102,000 words, with 1,000 article views a week; the record is 2,065). I cover whatever is on my mind, anything and everything, from work to personal, from trivial to profound, from mainstream to geeky. I organize my musings […]
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Musings from the 2009 ATA Convention
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Having just returned from the 2009 ATA Convention and Expo in New Orleans, I am still processing all the valuable information that was presented and the insightful ideas that were shared. Between the several keynote addresses and multiple breakout sessions, there were over thirty presentations of which to avail oneself. […]
By Peter DeHaan, PhD The rate of success of agents transferring calls is often poor. Based on my experience, successful transfers occur less than half the time. In addition to being disconnected, there problems are being transferred to the wrong extension or being put on endless hold. To help here are some common sense, but […]
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Dealing with a Distributed Workforce
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD The label “call center” amuses me. Firstly, most call centers now process more than just calls, such as email messages and text chats. Though revising “call center” to “contact center” seems to adequately address that concern, it’s a moniker that’s never clicked with me. The second consideration is ironically that […]
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Tracking the Wrong Thing
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. I’m a numbers guy. I like to look at statistics and track data trends. I enjoy making spreadsheets, calculating ratios, and viewing time-sequenced facts graphically. It is great fun – and a waste of time when I’m tracking the wrong thing. A case in point is the owner of a […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I have long maintained – and increasingly so – that my body does not comply with the “normal” twenty-four-hour sleep cycle. Among the press releases I received recently is confirmation that sleep cycle deviations can occur and that one enzyme may be the central culprit. Although I don’t fully comprehend […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD A few years ago, Internet-centric companies were the next big thing; they were the dot coms! Their basic premise was insightful, if not simplistic. With the pull of the ubiquitous Internet and the support of massive server farms, their business models would be infinitely scalable, while customer service would be […]