Providing communication channels that meet customer needs and expectations is a key component of any contact center technology strategy. Offering this kind of tailored, customized service is not easy, especially when customers and agents are in multiple geographies and wish to communicate through a wide range of channels such as telephone, chat, email etc. When it comes time to choose a technology for such a blended environment, business leaders demand a solution that is feature rich, simple to use and cost effective. IT managers seek solutions that are efficient, easy to implement and simple to maintain.

Bucher + Suter is answering this demand by providing out of the box gadgets which transform the agent interface into a unified multi-channel collaboration environment. Within this unified desktop application, agents can service customers via different channels such as voice, email and chat in a single GUI without having to switch between applications.

b+s is internationally renowned for delivering innovative solutions for contact centers. Stefan Pfammatter, Director of Engineering at Bucher + Suter, explains in an interview where trends in the contact center sector are taking us, and  how b+s wants its solutions to be at the forefront of future technology.

b+s Newsletter: b+s is known for intelligent contact center solutions. Where do you see these trends moving in the contact center sector?

Stefan Pfammatter: The trend is clearly going toward web-based applications that can be flexibly integrated into existing work environments. These web-based gadgets should be as modular as possible, combinable, platform independent, and support mobile terminal devices.

Every employee at a company needs a work environment that makes it possible to work efficiently and in a solution-oriented manner. A solution tailored to respective needs and processes helps to realize that. Furthermore, support for chat, e-mail, and ticket routing are now basic requirements for a contact center. Solutions without multichannel integration are going to have a hard time. With its multichannel products, b+s is in an excellent position.

b+s Newsletter: Can you name concrete examples of these types of flexible, web-based gadgets?

Stefan Pfammatter: One example is ticket routing integration in salesforce.com. There was a customer that specified that their established customer ticket process be duplicated in the new system with Cisco UCCE and a cloud-based CRM solution, including central routing logistics for all channels. Based on our established product, b+s MCAL, we were able to provide the customer with a Web 2.0 ticket routing gadget in a short amount of time, with seamless integration into his salesforce.com interface.

b+s Newsletter: How does b+s manage to remain competitive in this highly dynamic and competitive environment?

Stefan Pfammatter: Proximity to the customer is very important to us. We always strive to provide our customers with good solutions for their individual requirements – that also means delivering customer-specific developments with the standard b+s quality. In doing so, we implement our customers’ feedback and needs into the roadmap. With our many years of close collaboration with Cisco’s Contact Center Business Unit (the development department for contact center solutions), we can react to the new capabilities in the Cisco UCCE platform quickly and upgrade our products accordingly. 

b+s Newsletter: Cisco launched its new product, Cisco Finesse. How will b+s use and/or support this platform?

Stefan Pfammatter: Cisco Finesse’s open Web 2.0 architecture provides an interesting platform for agent and supervisor desktops. We have developed initial multimedia gadgets that supplement Cisco Voice Agent Desktop with chat and e-mail channels. The server-side multichannel components are already in our product portfolio and we could fully concentrate on visual implementation of the gadgets and seamless integration into Finesse. The product line is rounded off with further gadgets, such as the ASM, which was developed in collaboration with Teleopti and displays the shift schedule on the agent desktop.

We will also upgrade the Finesse supervisor desktop. We’re integrating supervisor gadgets with the most important b+s Supervisor Management Console functions and the well-known b+s GraphicClient Real Time Display into the Cisco Finesse Desktop. The objective is to provide supervisors with a full featured, uniform, easy to use, and visually attractive interface.

b+s Newsletter: That sounds very promising. Where can one see these product innovations?

The new products will be presented at the corresponding customer and partner events. We also use channels like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. For example, I recommend a visit to our YouTube channel for those who would like to see our CRM integrations or the new Cisco Finesse gadgets.

For four years now, Bucher + Suter has been working with Teleopti, a Swedish expert in workforce management. One of the solutions developed by b+s makes it possible for resource planning to automatically account for flex time account balances from the SAP system.

Bucher + Suter has developed a supplemental Teleopti CCC (Version 7) feature for one of Switzerland's largest health insurance providers. It compensates and structures overtime in scheduling automatically.

Variable time allocation makes it possible to schedule shorter or longer work shifts without changing the number of vacation days. Thus, personnel continue to be available during peak hours on all days.

The planner sets guideline specifications by configuring a target flex time account balance, which can be a positive or negative value. The system targets that flex time account balance value when scheduling each employee. It accounts for the employee's current balance, the maximum permissible time compensation per employment level, and absences that have already been entered.

With this solution, all selected employees will meet the time account balance configured by the planner from scheduling period to scheduling period. Automated data import means the planner's expenditure is limited to several seconds for Teleopti - Importer operation in each scheduling period, and also makes it possible to display important flex time and vacation time balances within Teleopti CCC.

Although this feature was recently implemented with SAP, Bucher + Suter can import the data from a wide variety of other time clock systems.

There is a lack of apprenticeship positions in Switzerland. For over twelve years now, b+s has been one of the few SMBs that have been offering apprenticeships for young IT specialists despite the tight economic environment. And it has been doing so with great success. Here’s a look behind the scenes.

For over twelve years now, Bucher + Suter has been training young IT specialists with a focus on application development. Apprentices take their first steps in the professional world in product development – under the leadership of other experienced IT specialists and with supervision from highly trained experts.

Multiple Awards for Final Projects

Motivated by the knowledge that the software they work on will actually be used by clients, challenged with real world problems, and supervised by experienced colleagues, apprentices acclimate to new IT fields astonishingly quickly. These apprentices regularly receive above-average final exam scores – both in practical and theoretical material. b+s is proud to say that their apprentices have received multiple awards for their final projects.

Professional Apprenticeship Training

Since August 2010, apprenticeship training at all Noser Group companies has been organized by Noser Young Professionals (N-YP), founded specifically for that purpose. Since N-YP handles the basic training for all apprentices, it has been possible to increase both the number of trainees and the quality of their work. This has proven to be sensible approach given Switzerland’s current lack of apprenticeship positions. Ruedi Noser, President of the Executive Board of the Noser Group and main shareholder of the Noser Group companies is a Zurich councilman for the Swiss political party FDP since 2003. In his capacity as an MP, he is outspoken in defending the freedom of companies to develop, the interests of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) as well as the system of vocational training. He is dedicated to professional ICT training on a national level. At the same time, he also endeavors to improve conditions in the profession in general.

Training Model with Perspectives for Success

A so-called cooperating company (another company from the Noser Group, such as b+s, for example) gets involved in the recruiting process and commits to hire an apprentice. These young people are employed directly at N-YP for the first two years of training, but do start working on production projects from the cooperating company while there. Since all companies are united under one roof at the Noser Competence Center, apprentices quickly become familiar with the work environment and their colleagues; thus, it’s a soft landing in the third year when they make the company switch. This model combines the advantages of a training company with those of a practical apprenticeship.

Breeding Grounds for Workers with Higher Education

b+s is also reliant upon workers with higher education. That’s why junior workers are encouraged to attend vocational colleges and attain a diploma. At the end of the apprenticeship, there is an opportunity to study the profession at a university. “Another advantage we see in having our own training center is no longer having to fish around for experts. Our employees include university graduates who continued working for b+s after completing their studies,” explains Martin Wuethrich, CEO at b+s.

There are several Bucher + Suter employees who enjoy writing about their vacations. One describes the progress in restoring his classic car, while yet another writes about his band. All of this online. In one single blog.

Blogs, a coinage from blending the words web and log, provide an opportunity to publish one’s own messages on the Internet to share them with the world. Of course, these messages aren’t simply called messages, but rather posts, made by the blogger, i.e. the blog’s operator. What to write, and the form in which to write the online (and therefore public) diary… um, I mean blog… is at the writer’s discretion. Blogs are frequently interminable, with entries shown chronologically and usually written in first person. Comments from readers (why isn’t there a special name for this?) show how opinions are received and reveal the discussions they trigger.

I remember exactly how my mother used to say: “Young man, don’t believe everything you read.” And that was at a time when distributing news was reserved for “professional” institutions. Journalists would research and editors would decide what was going to be published. If one assumes that parents are not always wrong, then it’s plain to see what this warning signifies in the age of the Internet and blogs.

The publishing of blogs has also provided me with information from areas of the world that are not exactly known for being a culture with freedom of expression. We are seeing more and more that quotes from blogs appear in the news, providing us with insight from countries that were previously censored.

Since the year 2000, more than 70,000,000 blogs have been created. From Germany’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ZZ Top – everyone has one, and everyone is writing one. If you, too, are now interested in delving into the realm of blogging, here is a link that will lead you into the world of blogs: www.google.com/blogsearch.