Research Papers
Hosted Communications
Cloud-Based-Computing.mp3Business Communications: The Next Wave in Cloud-Based Computing?: Study compiled by IDG Research Services, in conjunction with CIO Custom Solutions Group
Cloud computing has quickly established its rightful place in modern IT organizations, helping enterprises become more agile while keeping costs in line. And with near-mainstream appeal, the new delivery model has proven its stripes with applications like messaging, storage and CRM. Now, technology innovators are applying what they’ve learned—and what they’ve gained—to business communications. This recent study by IDG Research Services explores how and why enterprises are taking communications into the cloud.
Business Process Automation (BPA)
BPA.mp3Automating for Efficiency: Business Process Automation Still an IT Priority
Recent research among CIOs and IT leaders reveals that, with communications as the foundation of automation, enterprises are striving to drive latency and human error out of business processes.
Communication-Based Business Process Automation - The Australian Perspective
common worldwide, Telsyte Senior Analyst Gary Tsang offers this particular view from Australia. Beyond a traditional definition of business process automation, read how the author defines communication-based business process automation, why organizations should automate now, and key considerations they should use.
The Contact Center
Frost-Emerging-CC-Trends.mp3Frost & Sullivan survey and report: Emerging Trends and Technologies Shaping the Contact Center Industry in the New Economy
After months of cost controls taking top priority, contact center executives say their organizations are finally planning to start investing again in new technologies and service initiatives. Among the top considerations: multimedia interaction channels, proactive customer contact, hosted contact center solutions, and social media. Read the full report for why these trends are at the top of the list.
CCAutomationNewsletter.mp3Contact Center Automation Newsletter
This is a Contact Center Automation newsletter featuring the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Contact Center Infrastructure, Worldwide report. This report provides an analysis of the major vendors in the market based on their ability to execute and their completeness of vision. This newsletter also profiles the Interactive Intelligence all-in-one IP communications software suite, Customer Interaction Center™ (CIC), and includes a message from the company’s CEO.
Unified Communications
Gartner-UC.mp3Gartner 2009 "Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications" report
Provides an analysis of the major vendors in the market based on their ability to execute and their completeness of vision. The report also highlights how this emerging generation of communication software and systems can improve business operations and processes. Click here to obtain a complimentary copy.
The All-in-One Research Report Series from Benchmark Portal Inc.
BenchmarkPortal1.mp3Report #1: BenchmarkPortal's Research Report: A comparison of All-in-One versus Multi-Point Contact Center Solutions
Contact center managers, CTOs and IT professionals surveyed by BenchmarkPortal say they prefer a single, all-in-one source for all technology needs-and that they want their chosen single-source vendor to provide best-in-class functionality. Read the report's full results.
BenchmarkPortal2.mp3Report #2: BenchmarkPortal's All-in-One Cost Report
In 2006 BenchmarkPortal published findings based on a contact center survey showing that all-in-one systems were preferred over multi-point systems. This report explores the costs of both systems, with survey findings showing a lower total cost of ownership for all-in-one versus multi-point contact center systems. Read the report's full results.
BenchmarkPortal3.mp3Report #3: Technology Adoption/Migration Strategies for All-In-One Contact Center Solutions
Last in the BenchmarkPortal Series, contact center managers tell what they learned about migrating to an all-in-one solution: That a rip-and-replace approach isn’t needed, that migration can successfully follow different paths, and that self-knowledge, meticulous planning and ongoing integration capability are key.
Enterprise IP Telephony
CXO-Internet-Protocol.mp3CXO Media Executive Summary: "Internet Protocol Communications on the Brain"
Read what CIO Magazine subscribers have to say about IP communications in a survey by IDG Research Services. Survey respondents represent industries from financial services and healthcare to government, high tech, manufacturing and other business sectors, and the things they want most from an IP solution might surprise you.
CXO-One-Size.mp3CXO Media Executive Summary: One Size Doesn’t Necessarily Fit All Enterprises
More CIOs are being tasked with selecting the “best” communications delivery model for their enterprise, and it ends up they’re having to make crucial trade-offs between control and the desired freedom to focus on core business activities. This executive summary from CXO Media reflects why “cookie cutter” solutions just don’t work for enterprise communications.
Remote-But-Not-Isolated.mp3Today’s Enterprise Workforces: Remote But Not Isolated : Survey Conducted by IDG Research Services, in Conjunction with CIO Custom Solutions Group
In conjunction with CIO Custom Solutions Group, IDG Research Services recently surveyed enterprise decision-makers on IP communications and remote employees, and the results were favorably uniform: IP telephony keeps remote employees connected, communicating and collaborating as effectively as their in-office counterparts. Read what else respondents had to say.
Peering-Past-UC-Frenzy.mp3Peering Past the Unified Communications Frenzy
Unified communication essentially is the extension of contact center functionality into the enterprise — driven by technological innovation that‘s allowed siloed enterprise communication applications to interoperate. Taking the same path and showing equal promise is communications-based business process automation. Read how Interactive Intelligence, with its standards-based software solutions and integration of contact center and business applications, takes this conceptual change to new depths in the enterprise.
IT-Spending-in-Down-Economy.mp3IT Spending in a Down Economy: Smart Investments Make for Competitive Advantage
The economy is the topic of many water-cooler discussions and boardroom debates worldwide. IDG Research discovers how today’s economic conditions are affecting CIOs' purchase decisions.
Interactive Intelligence Company Profile
Yankee.mp3Yankee Group: Company Profile: Market Understanding and Innovation Equal Success for Interactive Intelligence
Interactive Intelligence has become a major player in today’s global VoIP business communications software suite marketplace. The company’s success is a result of its research and development, entrepreneurial drive and early understanding of customer needs in the rapidly evolving IP telephony marketplace.
Book of Answers
Read about some of the communications industry’s most pressing issues in articles from some of its most respected experts. Unified communications, strategic IP communications, controlling call center costs, how to motivate agents, advances in unified messaging, Software as a Service and other topics affecting today’s business.
BOA1.mp3Volume 1, Issue 1
Read how to prepare your call center for "tomorrow's environment," what's really driving unified messaging, and how the macro-productivity of mobile users actually sets the priorities for migrating to unified communications. And is all the hype about VoIP real? You decide. Volume 1, Issue 1 also includes key findings of "The UK Contact Centre Operational Review."
BOA1-2.mp3Volume 1, Issue 2
With a focus on the contact center, learn what managers really need to understand about abandoned calls, and how new applications are leading to "excellence" in customer service. Also, could Software as a Service (SaaS) be the answer to your contact center's VoIP migration? On the messaging front, read how UM is moving ahead, and how unified communications and the wired IP "smartphone" might well attract on-premise customers.
BOA1-3.mp3Volume 1, issue 3
Motivating agents is one thing, but keeping them motivated is another. Read why principles are more effective than formulas for continued workforce motivation, and also what makes expert agents "experts." Learn too how ROI comes by aligning unified communications with business processes and applications, and how strategic IP communications benefit your organization. This issue also tells why SaaS has finally become a success.
BOA2.mp3Volume 2, issue 1
Everything you always wanted to know about unified communications? Read the "Who," "What," "Why," and "How" of business UC. Volume 3, Issue 1 also looks at the changing technology landscape of QM and WFM, and includes tips for controlling call center costs and saving energy in the enterprise. Or if security is a concern, be sure to read "More on VoIP Vulnerabilities: SANS."