Convergys Enhances Advanced Tech Support Program

CINCINNATI -- Convergys, the developer of integrated billing, employee care and customer care services, announced an enhanced, end-to-end Advanced Technical Support Program.

• The Convergys program brings together existing Convergys customer management services and expertise into a complete outsourced solution designed specifically to address the unique technical support needs of advanced technology companies. Convergys' Advanced Technical Support Program enables suppliers of complex technical products and services to address such customer care requirements as:
• Resolution of customer inquiries associated with the launch of multiple new software and hardware releases.
• Efficient capture of customer and case data to improve product quality and reduce research and development costs.
• Effective management of returns and parts replacement. The Advanced Technical Support Program specifically addresses these technical support requirements as well as entitlement verification, complex issue resolution and case management, and maintenance contract renewal and sales.

"Convergys' two decades of experience in providing both outsourced technical support and developing complex software enables us to meet the customer care needs of advanced technology companies uniquely," said Jack Freker, president of Convergys' Customer Management Group. "Our program offers a full set of service features that enable technology companies to provide a high level of support and flexibility to satisfy their customers and stay competitive."

The Advanced Technical Support Program gives clients access to Convergys' technology expertise. Convergys Technical Support Engineers manage telephone, e-mail, and online technical support requests for clients in a tiered approach based upon problem severity. More than 6,000 Convergys technical support staff members hold numerous certifications, including A+, CompTIA, Microsoft MCSE, several Cisco and Nortel certifications, and Juniper-certified JNCISs and JNCIEs. Convergys staff members hold more than 5 percent of the world's certifications in at least two of these categories.

Convergys' technical training center, which provides a stream of skilled engineers for Convergys, is a Microsoft Certified Technical Education Center (CTEC) with onsite Prometric testing facilities. Convergys uses this expertise to offer a number of services, in addition to issue resolution, that give suppliers of complex technology a competitive edge. These include:

• Entitlement Verification, which determines whether callers are entitled to receive support before sending them to a technical support engineer.
• Complex Issue Replication, where Convergys re-creates typical customer problems in an onsite lab to improve troubleshooting capabilities.
• New Product and Version Release Management, where Convergys works with the client to develop support staff training plans and arranges to handle additional tech support call volume for new products and version releases.
• Self-Service Tool Promotion and Enhancement, where Convergys guides the customer in using Web self-help tools and develops content for the client knowledge base.
• Point of Service Evaluation (POSE) tools and analysis, which measure customer satisfaction.
• Product Improvement and Resolution Analysis, in which the operations team analyzes issue resolutions in order to improve processes continuously.
• Maintenance Contract Renewal and Sales, to notify customers when their maintenance contract is about to expire and to assist with the renewal. The Convergys program also provides suppliers with the capability to automate functions such as maintenance contract renewals and entitlement verification with advanced speech capabilities.