Contact Center Automation Tools: 3 Signs It’s Time to Add an IVA

Today's customers expect quick, personalized, and timely responses when they interact with businesses.

How Virtual Agents Improve Retail Customer Service

E-commerce and online shopping continue to increase in popularity among consumers.

The Future of Employee Experience in Contact Centers

The job market is undergoing a transformation, with people thinking critically about where and how they work. At the same time, consumer demand for services is increasing.

AI in Healthcare Contact Centers: How to Improve Patient Care with Virtual Agents

Expectations for individual patient care have increased. Patients want to feel seen and heard by their providers.

Support Contact Center Staffing with Virtual Agents

Contact centers are undergoing a transformation.

Conversational AI vs. Conversational Design

In today’s digital world, consumers are communicating with computers more frequently through conversational artificial intelligence (AI).

An Introduction to Natural Language Processing

Can you have a natural-sounding conversation with a machine? 

Tips for Contact Center Automation: ACD vs. IVR vs. IVA

Evolving customer service expectations push companies to rethink historical approaches to

Contact Center AI Trends for 2022

Contact centers are undergoing a massive transformation. Due to Covid-19, call centers took a hit, as call volume increased and the amount of customer service agents decreased.

6 Misconceptions of AI Virtual Assistants in Customer Service

Smartphones and smart speakers give users nearly anything they want at the push of a button. AI virtual assistants like Siri, Google, and Alexa made these experiences easier and more personal.

Customer Service vs. Customer Experience

Not many people want to contact customer service. Usually, that means something went wrong, and it makes things worse when a customer doesn’t get what they expect.

101 Guide to Intelligent Virtual Assistants

Customers need digital support around the clock.

The Future of Personalized Banking: Virtual Assistants

The financial services industry is facing new demands.

101 Guide to Webex Suite

Cisco Empowers the Hybrid Workforce with Webex Suite Organizations require solutions that are flexible, supportive, and accessible in order to meet the needs of a hybrid workforce.

How Cloud Contact Centers Add Value to the Customer Experience

Providing an outstanding customer experience is essential, especially as businesses focus on modernizing communications to expand their existing cadre and better interact with customers.

How to Choose a Cisco Partner

Today, companies across diverse industries face the challenge of rapidly shifting IT investments to accommodate the changing digital landscape and move to hybrid work environments.

Frequently Asked Questions About VoIP

Business technology is constantly evolving.

Clearing Confusion Around Microsoft’s Operator Connect

In a recent TechDecisions article, Marcus Schmidt

What IT Leaders Should Know About Microsoft's Operator Connect

In a recent CloudTweaks article, Marcus Schmidt, vice president of product manage

SD-WAN Networks: Support Greater Connectivity with Intrado’s Thin Edge Solution

The rise of remote work, connected devices, and non-traditional workspaces contribute to more complex network infrastructure, larger volumes of data, and more areas of vulnerability for businesses.

What to Look for in a Communications Service Provider (CSP)

Communications service providers (CSPs) play an essential role in powering communication for businesses.

A Peek Behind the Curtain: What to Make of Microsoft’s Operator Connect

In a recent CIOReview article, Mar

The Best Webex Features for Video Collaboration

With telecommuting changing the culture of the workplace, a robust video conferencing tool is imperative.

Supporting the Gig Workforce With Hosted PBX Solutions

The landscape and preferences of today’s workforce are rapidly shifting.

Demystifying Microsoft Operator Connect

In a recent No Jitter article, Marcus Schmidt, vice president of product management, clears up confusion about Operator Conn

4 Steps to Create a Winning Microsoft Teams License Strategy

If you rushed to sign up for Microsoft Teams (Teams) in 2020 because of the rapid shift to remote work, there’s a good chance you didn’t have time to fully grasp user needs or licensing options.

SIP Trunking Basics

What Is SIP Trunking? Let’s start by covering a few definitions of key terms.

Microsoft Teams Voice: Select the Best Calling Option for Your Business

While Microsoft Teams (Teams) is a well-rounded productivity tool with millions of daily active users, the core capabilities don’t include the ability to make calls via the Public Switched Telephon

How to Choose Between Webex and Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams (Teams) and Webex offer a well-rounded set of features that drives business communication and productivity.

Navigating the Decision to Purchase a Microsoft Device or to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Businesses can choose from a variety of configuration options when it comes to setting up their communications with Microsoft Teams (Teams).

A Practical Guide to Adding Voice to Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams can be a full-fledged, cost-effective, and flexible business phone system. Yet, many companies struggle to implement voice for Teams, maximize its capabilities, and see the ROI.

How to Create a Winning Microsoft Teams Licensing Strategy

When planning your hybrid workspace, you may have considered how you could optimize your use of Microsoft Teams to provide unified communications in your organization.

How to Derisk if Your Phone Solution Goes Down

Nothing slows down a productive workplace like unexpected interruptions or long network outages.

Five Questions to Ask Yourself Before Scheduling a Meeting

Days of back-to-back meetings are more common than ever. Each time an issue pops up, a project idea comes to mind, or you hit a roadblock on a process, the reaction is to schedule a meeting.

Intrado Renews Cisco Advanced Customer Experience Specialization in USA

We are pleased to announce Intrado has renewed its Cisco’s Customer Experience Advanced Specialization in the United States.

Hybrid Work Is Here to Stay: How Webex Helps Business Adapt

During the 2020 pandemic, many employees worked from home for the first time in their careers.

It’s Time to Upgrade from Skype for Business Online to Microsoft Teams

Many of us use Skype for Business Online in our daily interactions within our organization.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Migrating From an On-Premises PBX to Microsoft Teams

The phone has been at the heart of business communications since its invention. But as technology evolves, so do the ways we work.

What’s the Difference Between Microsoft Calling and Direct Routing?

Establishing a Microsoft Phone System Microsoft Teams (Teams) powers connection and collaboration for workforces around the globe.

Torch Technologies: An SD-WAN Case Study

Torch Technologies is a 100% employee-owned company, headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama. Their employee-owners are located at numerous sites throughout the United States.

Microsoft Teams: What's the Difference Between Operator Connect & Direct Routing?

In recent years, Microsoft Teams (Teams) has become the

Microsoft Operator Connect 101

If you are an avid Microsoft Teams (Teams) user, you may have heard of Operator Connect.

Five Key Steps to Securely Connect your Remote Workforce

With social restrictions still in place and 77% of employees worldwide wanting to work remotely, hybrid working models are likely to play a critical rol

Seven Critical Success Factors for your Cloud Voice Strategy

An optimal Cloud Voice strategy should take into account your current IT infrastructure,the constantly evolving and increasingly complex work environmen

The Remote Working Handbook: A Practical Guide for HR Managers

As we move forward to a hybrid work model, managing autonomy and productivity will be one of the biggest challenges for every employer.

Eight Cloud Communications Trends to Watch in 2021

It is no secret that 2020 was a challenging year for everyone. IT departments played a big role in keeping organizations operational, enabling the overnight transition to working from home.

How to Increase Business Productivity With Microsoft Teams

Productivity Challenges in Today’s Virtual Environment Staying focused and productive can be a challenge in the modern workplace.

QIC: A Microsoft Teams Case Study

QIC Global comprises the international (re)insurance operations of Qatar Insurance Company, including the Qatar Re (with wholly-owned subsidiaries) an

The Essential Guide to Microsoft Teams Direct Routing

When Microsoft Teams debuted in 2017, it was created to be a one-stop shop for video calls, chat, voice calls, and other modes of collaborative working and efficient communications under a single p

The Best Microsoft Teams Features for Enterprises

Microsoft 365 Business or Enterprise subscribers who aren’t as familiar with Microsoft Teams (Teams) should know that the tool comes with useful features.

EnSafe: A VoiceMaxx CE Case Study

In the face of end-of-life calling technology, EnSafe had a decision to make. Since 1980, the company has been providing superior quality consulting services.

Berkeley Research Group: A VoiceMaxx CE Case Study

Berkeley Research Group depends on reliable calling to run their business.

Audio-Technica: A Microsoft Teams Case Study

Audio-Technica is a world-famous Japanese audio brand formed in 1962.

13 Roles of Continuous Integration in QA (Quality Assurance)

Collaboration can be tough for any software company. That’s why developers came up with continuous integration to solve problems as they occur. But can this process be used in other ways?

RCS Will Replace SMS: What’s That Mean for Customer Texting? | Inside CX

Not every piece of new customer experience (CX) technology has the potential to completely replace a tool most of us use every day.

Cargill: A Webex Case Study

Cargill Inc. is the largest privately held corporation in the United States based on revenue.

TrustFord: A Webex Case Study

With over 40 dealerships across the UK, TrustFord is the world’s largest Ford-dedicated dealer group for new and used cars, vans, servicing and repairs.

Survey Finds Meeting Fatigue a Myth

It’s no secret that work meetings have been deemed the enemy of productivity.

Intrado Mosaicx: Enabling a Modern AI-Driven Customer Experience

Companies across industries are adopting a more cu

3 Key Marketing Strategies for Your Contact Center

While brand messaging and audience reach have long been extremely important for most marketers, the arrival of digital and mobile communication has resulted in many marketers taking a closer look a

5 Annoying Conference Call Mistakes to Avoid

Business professionals today spend a lot of time on conference calls and in virtual meetings–statistics from a few years back estimate that 11 Million meetings take place every day in the U.S.

What Does Contact Center Agent Do?

Contact center agents are customer service or sales professionals that handle phone calls, emails, live chat messages, SMS texts, and support tickets for companies.

Christian Aid: A Microsoft Teams Case Study

Christian Aid is a global charity with over 70 years’ experience of working in partnership with local communities to expose poverty throughout the world and help in prac

7 Factors to Determine the Success of your Cloud Voice Strategy

Analysts have been predicting a significant rise in cloud communications for many years now, with some estimates predicting market growth from

Five Steps for IT Leaders to Prioritize Security

The overnight transition to remote work environments has exposed many companies to new security risks.

EUROCONTROL Case Study

EUROCONTROL is a pan-European, civil-military organization dedicated to supporting European aviation and committed to the European Union’s vision for a Single European S

Abzena: A Microsoft Teams Case Study

Abzena is a leading Global Partner Research Organization providing the most complete set of solutions in integrated early discovery to mid-phase biotherapeutic and bioconjugation dru

How to Master Remote Team Working with Microsoft

The way we live and work have been changed dramatically by the COVID-19 pandemic. With organizations now focused on how to empower teams as remote working becomes a way of life.

Planning for Productive & Secure Remote Work with Cisco

Monday, July 16, 2020 By Marcus Schmidt, VP Product Management, Intrado Chris Franke, VP Global Solutions Strategy, Intrado

Key Steps to Secure Remote Working

As lockdown restrictions begin to ease across the globe, how can organizations prepare for a future where home working is likely to become the norm for many?

Intrado – Actively engaged and ready to serve

As concerns related to coronavirus, or COVID-19, grow globally, Intrado remains focused on the health and safety of our teams as well as the importance of delivering the solutions our clients will

Supporting Remote Work with a Special Offer for Small and Mid-Sized Organizations

Intrado is committed to helping our clients and communities in their efforts to remain productive, engaged, and healthy as they implement remote work strategies.

Keeping Employees Safe and Productive During Challenging Times

Mathematician and bestselling author, John Allen Paulos, once said, “Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.”

5 Tips for High-performing and Collaborative Remote Workforce

Remote work has been steadily gaining traction over the past several years.

For Remote Employees: Six Best Practices for Working from Home

March 27, 2020 By Julie Kent-Ransom

The Do’s and Dont’s of Video Conferencing

Video collaboration is a core component of a modern Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solution.

5 Things to Look for in a Cloud Provider

Let’s talk about Cloud unified communications.

Applying 3 CX and UX Lessons Learned During a Pandemic

As a technology company operating with locations across the globe, remote work is embedded in Intrado’s DNA, and we’ve been at the forefront helping customers in other industries make the transitio

Meeting the Unified Communications Needs of Midsize Businesses

Midsize companies face unique challenges when it comes to addressing employee and customer communications needs.

MPLS Networks and the Rise of SD-WAN

For decades, Multi-protocol Label Switching (MPLS) networking has offered a flexible, stable and high-performing way for companies to connect offices.

Catapulted Into the Future of Work: How to Plan for the Long-Term

The recent pandemic catapulted all of us into the future of work. But what key trends are emerging and how can businesses turn these to their advantage?

7 Benefits of Using AI in Conversational Experience Design | Inside CX

Many customers today still try to bypass self-service options, like an IVR, as quickly as possible.

Meeting the Unified Communications Needs of Midsize Businesses

Midsize companies face unique challenges when it comes to addressing employee and customer communications needs.

How Customer Experience Management Gives You a Competitive Advantage | Inside CX

Everyone is looking for an edge over their competitors, and customer experience management may be the best way to gain a competitive advantage.

Get Ready for SD-WAN

Software-defined networking, otherwise known as SD-WAN, has proven a compelling alternative to the traditional wide area networ

IVR Trends to Watch in 2020 and Beyond | Inside CX

IVR, or interactive voice response, has been around for a long time, but these popular solutions have change

How Productive Remote Workers Close the Work Day

Walking out your office door after a day of demanding work to the relief of a relaxing, supportive environment is an ideal scenario for most people.

Work from Home UCaaS Solutions from Intrado

For IT departments across the globe, enabling a remote workforce has become top priority as more businesses shift operational models to accommodate social distancing and more broadly, business cont

How Does SD-WAN fit into a UCaaS Strategy

Unified communications as a service (UCaaS) has become increasingly critical to support the needs of today’s globally dispersed and remote workforce.

What Consumers Expect from Brand Communications

In the somewhat recent past, the brand and consumer relationship was much simpler. Most transactions were carried out person-to-person – either face-to-face or through a phone call.

3 Factors for Customer-Centric Product Management and Development

Even the most advanced technology may not resonate with customers. Instead, your customers want the best solution for their specific problem.

What is a Huddle Space? (And Why Your Office Needs One)

The uptick in mobile and remote work over the past several years has changed the footprint of today’s workplace.

5 Ways Stable Teams Can Transform Your Business (And 5 Fears That May Be Holding You Back)

Do you want to create the best experience for your customers? Do you want to thoroughly engage employees?

Seven Steps to Omnichannel Success

It’s pretty much impossible to avoid the hype around digital channels, chatbots and Artificial Intelligence (AI) if you are even remotely connected to the contact centre or CX industry today.  Indu

Directed Dialog or Natural Language: Is Conversational IVR Right for You?

Value of Conversational IVR One of the biggest hurdles companies face when interacting effectively with today’s evolving customers is supporting automated care that feels natural.

Whiteboard Fridays: Comparing Cisco and Microsoft in the Collaboration Space

When stepping up to the collaboration buffet, IT leaders now have more options to choose from than ever.

Press Release Templates to Boost Your Content Marketing & PR

A well-written press release can be an efficient and effective way to boost your content marketing and public relations strategy. The problem is, many people don't know how to write one.

How Video Can Help Enhance the Power of Teamwork

We agree, “teamwork makes the dreamwork,” and it turns out, there’s some science to back this up.

How to Reduce Customer Service Costs and Raise CX with Analytics

Every business owner or manager wants to provide the best customer care possible.

Visual IVR Demo: Mobile IVR Bridges the Customer Service Gap

Traditional interactive voice response (IVR) is still the golden standard for self-service.

What is Preference Management? – 11 Benefits and Best Practices

To create the best customer experience (CX), you may have to support many or all of these channels. But that doesn’t mean you have to communicate with every single customer on each one.

4 Ways to Reduce Call Volume With SMS

Most companies want to provide good customer service, but every second someone spends on the phone costs money.

5 Collaborative Questions to Ask at the End of Meetings

A meeting – in person, by phone, video, web or some combination of all three – is about to conclude. The session leader asks: “Any questions?” Silence ensues.

5 Types of SMS Conversations for Business

What’s the Big Deal with SMS? According to Pew Research Center, text messaging — most commonly done as SMS messaging — is the 

Real-World Best Practices in Manufacturing Operations

REAL-WORLD BEST PRACTICES IN MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS No matter the product, every manufacturer looks for new ways to improve quality while lowering costs.

Optimise These 5 Key Customer Experience Factors Within Your Business

Customer experience is often defined as the way customers perceive your brand. This includes your product marketing and the manner in which you stand behind those products.

How to Use an Outage Experience to Improve Customer Satisfaction

The power goes out, and a local utility company immediately springs into action to find a solution.

Customer Journey Mapping: 15 Plot Points Needed in Any Map

Customer journey mapping is perhaps the clearest way to discover what your customers want and how you can make them happy. But creating this type of visual depiction is not always easy.

Heads Up: How Proactive Notifications Can Help You Retain Customers and Maintain Loyalty

You have an opportunity to seal the loyalty of your customers and it is as simple as setting up alerts and notifications for important events surrounding their relationship with you.

5 Common Complaints Hurting Your Customer Experience

The ultimate goal of contact centres is to promote positive customer interactions and outcomes.

TCPA Compliance: 3 Things to Know Before Sending an Automated Call or Text

This article is for informational use only and should not be seen as legal advice.

5 Most Important IVR Authentication Best Practices

In customer service, you need to know what your customer wants. But it’s also important to know who they are.

5 Strategies of Successful Retail Pharmacy Chains

Customers have long turned to their trusted pharmacist for advice about managing their medications and their health conditions.

6 Tips to Improve Contact Center Quality Scores & Customer Service

The level of call quality may be the single most important determining factor in a contact center’s level of success.

21 Steps to Get Customers to Love Self-Service

Most businesses today agree that self-service adoption is one of their most important customer service goals.

Cheap, Fast or Good: Which Is Most Important?

You can have it cheap, fast or good. Pick two.

Improve Customer Experience by Integrating Your Contact Center and UC Solutions

In Microsoft’s “State of Global Customer Service” report,

6 Ways to Motivate Call Center Staff and Boost Morale

Substation Automation: The Best Way to Track Employee Check Ins

By Chandler Harrison, Account Development Executive

Why You Should Consider Combining CCaaS with UCaaS

Modern customer experience isn’t just about doing old things in new ways, but new things in ways that weren’t previously feasible.

5 Key Customer Experience Factors to Fix Within Your Business

Exceptional customer experiences don’t just happen.

How to Build Emotional Engagement With Your Customers

With customer experience set to overtake product and price as the distinguishing factor for companies by 2020, many companies are now starting to consider different ways of improving the delivery o

Call Center vs. Contact Center: 7 Key Differences

Call center vs. contact center. Many use these two terms interchangeably, but they are not the same thing.

5 Multilingual IVR Tips to Take Your Business Global

By Amy Goodwin, Senior Speech Technologist

30 Customer Experience Questions to Guide You Through the Jungle

By Jarrett Schmidt, Senior Vice President of Sales

How to Boost Participant Engagement in Online Meetings

“Great things in business are never done by one person, they’re done by a team of people.”– Steve Jobs Collaboration is proliferating in enterprise communications.

Motivational Games and Team Contests in Call Centers

Whether your contact center is geared towards inbound or outbound calling, sales or customer service, you want agents that stay motivated and energized to build a positive identity for your company

How to Build a Single Customer View

As competition rises in every industry, customers choose brands more often based on their experience with a company.

13 Benefits of a Pilot Project Before Buying

Starting a new project can be exciting, challenging, and scary all at the same time.

5 Ways to Overcome Multichannel Contact Center Challenges

Given the number of ways we communicate these days, it's not surprising to learn customers have high expectations when it comes to dealing with companies across multiple channels, whether it’s chat

5 Common IVR Complaints Killing Your CX

By David Orwick, Product Development Manager

What is Contact Center Virtualization?

The call centers of yesterday were often huge offices with row after row of agents answering calls that were routed to them using traditional PBX and ACD systems.  

An Introduction to SD-WAN Basics

Chances are if you keep up even a little bit with business technology trends, you’ve heard of SD-WAN.

3 Ways Technology Can Improve the Pharmacy Experience

By Mike Snyder, Director of Sales and Pharmacy Experience Strategist

3 Benefits of a Channel-Agnostic Platform

By Jarrett Schmidt, Vice President of Sales When it comes to your communication infrastructure, which is better: multiple providers or just one?

4 Ways Utilities’ Payment Process Can Improve Customer Experience

By Jody Kistaitis, Director of Sales

How to Prepare Customers for a Storm

You can’t control everything in business, but you can prepare customers and control how you respond.

5 Reasons You Should be Using Call-Backs in the Contact Center

Contact center call-backs can bring big benefits to businesses and customers alike. Rather than forcing customers to wait in queue, simply offer a call-back service.

How to Lead Brainstorming in a Virtual Setting with Moderation Tools

In their book The Net and the Butterfly: The Art and Practice of Breakthrough Thinking,

10 Key Points for Selling Inbound Contact Center Solutions

Many companies’ inbound technology is still the same as when they installed it 10 years ago.

Behind the Scenes at West’s Emergency Call Relay Center (ECRC)

On a Friday afternoon in the Emergency Call Relay Center (ECRC) at West, call volume is steady but manageable.

IP Communication Protocols 101

Most everyday users of the Internet understand that it provides them with access to searchable information across a public web of data; but how does this information get populated and transmitted t

The History of VoIP and Business Phone Systems

What is VoIP? Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) can be defined as “a technology or set of standards for the delivery of telephone calls and other voice communications over the Internet.

12 Questions to Ask When Choosing Contact Centre Software

When setting up a contact centre you’re going to be faced with choosing from a huge selection of software, including cloud contact centre solutions, hosted solutions and premises-based solutions to

5 Ways to Show Your Call Center Agents Appreciation

Making employees feel valued should be an ongoing priority for any organization.

How To Use A/B Testing In Your Contact Center

While A/B testing is often used within marketing and business intelligence, it's not something that contact centers have traditionally leveraged.

4 Ways to Increase Outbound Contact Center Connection Rates

While the evolution of the contact center, with its move towards the omnichannel customer service environment and the rise of the tech-savvy mobile consumer, generates a lot of coverage within the

What is MPLS?

What Does MPLS Stand For? Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a term commonly heard when discussing telecommunications protocols.

5 Tips to Improve Contact Center Performance Management

Managing contact center performance is not an easy task; however, it plays an essential role in contact center success.

6 Benefits of Enterprise Managed Network Services

The benefits of hosted and managed network services have made the service necessary to remain competitive at the enterprise level. Here are the top six benefits.

10 First Call Resolution Tips for Call Center Agents

First contact resolution (FCR) refers to when a customer's inquiry is resolved in a single contact.

The Only Call Center Agent Scripting Tool You Need

Agent Scripting: Do You Have What it Takes to Get it Right? Agent scripting within the call center can be a touchy subject.

What is the Mobile Shift?

It’s estimated that we spend 177 minutes (nearly one-fifth of our waking day) on our phones daily — habitually checking them for updates around 150 times.

A Day in the Life of Your Customer

When’s the last time you took a walk in your customers’ shoes? Mapping the journey from their perspective is the first step in building an actionable roadmap to improve customer ex

3 Ways to Improve Listening Skills During Meetings

Listen Up: most likely you don’t listen as well as you could.  In a study by the staffing firm Robert Half, researchers asked:

8 Benefits of Remote Contact Center Workers

The work-from-home option has been gaining momentum for a number of years now for contact center staff.

The Benefits of Network Peering

The essence of the Internet is comprised of an expansive group of separate and autonomous networks, with each network consisting of a 

Components of SIP-based Network Architecture

WAN technologies have migrated from analog environments to digital environments in the past few decades.

How Your Devices Learn to Talk to You

We may still be a few dozen years away from everyone having their own personal robot, but in a lot of ways, the future has arrived – especially in the realms of automatic speech recognition (ASR) a

Got APIs?

An application programming interface (API) can be defined as a set of protocols, routines, and tools for building softwa

Does Your Company Measure Its Cost of Being Reactive?

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine

Warren Buffett’s Words of Wisdom Apply to Customer Experience Management

Many readers are aware that Warren Buffett, otherwise known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” is one of the most successful investors and wealthiest people in the world.