Telus more aggressive than Bell in contact centre market

When it came to finding a partner for its customer interaction and workforce optimization software for IP-based contact centres, Calabrio Inc. chose Telus Corp. - in part because of its aggressive approach to the contact centre market."Telus is more aggressive at going after things than Bell Canada," Tim Kraskey, VP of marketing and development for Calabrio, tells Network Letter. "The two companies do similar things, and compete in the same space, but Telus is a good fit because they are more aggressive in this application space."Calabrio has an interesting history. In November, 2007, it was formalized as a separate entity, combining a spin-off of Minneapolis-headquartered Spanlink Communications' products division and an acquisition, also named Calabrio Inc., out of Montreal."The original acquisition brought us workforce management, Spanlink was building quality management, and the third component to our solution suite is Cisco desktop agents," says Kraskey.The Cisco desktop agent, in fact, is a big part of Calabrio's strategy, as the company OEM's to Cisco and is sold into small sites of 100 seats or less under the Cisco brand - meaning that these deals are going through the Cisco partner channel. For larger engagements, however, Calabrio will be involved with Telus to offer support for training and integration.Driving business in Bell's back yardStan Tyo, VP of contact centre solutions for Telus, sees a lot of advantages to the Calabrio relationship in terms of driving more business in Bell's back yard."We've been working with Calabrio on a handshake basis for quite a few years. They have a fully bi-lingual package - this is crucial to us in the Quebec marketplace. And on the Spanlink side we have used their Cisco desktop agents for customers on the Cisco platform. Now it's a unified package and we can offer a whole agent optimization platform to our customers," he said.From Calabrio's perspective, this is all about the channel - they simply don't have the feet on the ground, and neither can they afford to build out a sales force. As it stands, Calabrio has some large named accounts in its installed base in Montreal - it started off in 1996 by implementing a solution at the National Bank of Canada - but is clear that it is migrating to a channels-based distribution model, with partners like Telus on the front line."One of our primary directives is to expand by building an indirect reseller network,"' says Kraskey. "Telus has a good footprint in Canada."The deal, and the capabilities Calabrio brings to Telus, fit in well with a fundamental shift in the way call centres are now perceived. Originally, platforms like those offered by Calabrio were seen as a means to reduce cost by minimizing the number of agents and call requirements. Now the strategy is to improve the customer experience and see the "contact" centre as being a revenue centre, as opposed to a cost centre."Loyalty from end customers is the goal," says Tyo. "With loyalty you get increased revenues. And with agents accounting for 65% to 70% of the cost of a centre, improving the client experience also means improving the productivity of those agents. Things are changing - it's not just about the cheapest price, we need tools to make agents more productive."This is not an exclusive deal, but it is clear from the high profile Calabrio is giving the partnership that they are counting heavily on Telus to make a difference, and likely won't ink an agreement any time soon with a competing channel. Telus is certainly aware of this, and plans to make the most of it."We are the only telco listed as a Calabrio partner," affirms Tyo, adding that although it is imperative that Telus look after its own back yard, the telco also has an international presence with Telus in Manila, as well as select service in the United States.And when it comes to Calabrio, Telus certainly has a highly motivated partner."Our job is to make Telus successful," says Kraskey. "Telus is a great outfit - they put up a good fight and have good account control."

Telus more aggressive than Bell in contact centre market

News | 08/22/2008 2:41 pm EDT

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