The Customer Service Survey
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"Can We Talk?"
Thursday - May 18, 2006 09:06 AM in
The convergence of the Internet, IT and traditional telephony isn't news really. But I'm just back from a two day convention where I saw convergence take yet another baby step, and it was interesting to be an observer. The Minnesota Telephone Association (MTA) is an entity with a long history where telecom managers and vendors network as I'm sure they do in plenty of other states, and the national organization of call center managers Call Center Networking Group (CCNG) has a very strong Minneapolis chapter. This year, both organizations combined forces for the annual convention. By virtue of the fact that I've been in telecom for many years, I've been associated with the MTA. And for the last four years, my involvement with VocaLabs has kept me involved with CCNG. As a result, I have friends and business associates in both organizations, so the observation was how so few of the attendees had previously crossed over and knew each other. Two very good friends, one from each organization acted as MC's and it caught my attention that they hadn't know each other before this. Both made multiple tries at introducing me to their new contacts, and in every case the only thing "new" was their surprise that I already know or have done business with every single person they wanted me to meet.
I saw IT managers, telecom managers, vendors, call center managers and others networking and meeting for the first time, and can't help but believe this breakdown of traditional vertical internal organizations where IT doesn't talk "phone" and call center managers don't control the technology decisions, is a very good sign of common sense and progress.
Posted by Rick Rappe
Posted by Rick Rappe
Posted at 09:06 AM by | | | |