Rockwell Electronic Commerce and Verizon's BBN Technologies Join Forces To Help Businesses Improve Call Center Quality

WOOD DALE, Ill., and CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Businesses that use interactive voice response (IVR) systems in large customer-contact centers will be able to improve their customer service using a new evaluation tool jointly marketed by BBN Technologies, a Verizon company, and Rockwell Electronic Commerce.

The new product, a review and analysis process called Explorer IVR Automation Assessment, is a service that will help businesses with large call centers improve their IVR systems and route callers to appropriate representatives quickly and more efficiently. Once a business signs on for Explorer IVR Automation Assessment, BBN and Rockwell Electronic Commerce experts will evaluate the usability and potential cost savings of IVR systems.

The detailed analysis shows current automation rates, the behavior of callers who use the IVR and patterns of call-center activity and then it identifies areas for improvement. The analysis includes short-term and long-term recommendations - ranging from menu changes to flow of options -- for improving call center efficiency and customer satisfaction.

"Explorer IVR Automation Assessment provides call center managers with a level of detail beyond normal IVR utility rates that allows them to determine where the problems are and how to resolve them," said Dr. Marie Meteer, director of customer contact center technologies at BBN. "BBN's highly developed IVR assessment is a wonderful complement to Rockwell Electronic Commerce's suite of Explorer brand professional services."

"Delivering 'best-in-class' professional services to our customers is what this collaboration is all about," said Gary Hill, director Panoramic Professional Services at Rockwell Electronic Commerce. "BBN's reputation in this area is unsurpassed and with Explorer IVR Automation Assessment as part of our overall offerings, we can deliver a depth of consultation that will be extremely tough to match by anyone else in the industry."

When a business is evaluating its IVR system, BBN and Rockwell Electronic Commerce employees help the customer to identify its specific objectives. Whether a company wants to reduce costs, increase automation, improve communication with its customers or increase customer satisfaction. Customers who use the BBN IVR Automation Assessment also receive a projection of the savings they can realize in their call center.

BBN Technologies

BBN Technologies, a Verizon Communications company, was established as Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc. in 1948. From its roots as an acoustical design consulting firm, to the implementation and operation of the ARPANET - the forerunner of today's Internet - to the development of the first network email, which established the @ sign as an icon for the digital age, BBN Technologies provides the same technical expertise and innovation to both government and commercial customers today. These areas of expertise include: system integration; distributed, collaborative applications; speech recognition; language understanding; wireless and satellite networking; network architecture and management; information security; structural acoustics; sensor signal processing; and real-time, multi-processor systems. With more than 750 employees in 15 offices across the country, BBN Technologies had revenues in 2000 of approximately $118M. For more information on BBN Technologies, go to www.bbn.com.

Rockwell Electronic Commerce

Rockwell Electronic Commerce, a business group of Rockwell Automation, is a global provider of contact management solutions that drive customer interaction efficiencies. Our expertise enables businesses to realize their customer relationship strategies via open, scalable platforms and innovative applications. Through a consultative approach, we combine advanced software applications, leading-edge hardware and unique value-added services to define solutions that successfully meet the mission or business critical needs of our customer's individual enterprise.

Rockwell International, now doing business under the name Rockwell Automation, is a $4.3 billion leading global provider of industrial automation power, control and information solutions that help customers meet their manufacturing productivity objectives. The company brings together leading brands in industrial automation including Allen-Bradley^® controls and engineered services, Dodge^® mechanical power transmission products, Reliance Electric ^TM motors and drives, and Rockwell Software^® factory management software. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the company employs about 23,500 people at more than 435 locations serving customers in more than 80 countries.

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Rockwell Electronic Commerce is a registered trademark of Rockwell Automation in the United States and/or other countries. Any other product and service names mentioned in this document may be trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.