Jacada Announces New Contact Centre Agent Portal to Drive Process Optimisation

  • Jacada® Fusion Agent Portal boosts agent satisfaction and productivity by simplifying the desktop environment and providing advanced tools that improve the customer experience

Jacada Ltd. (Nasdaq: JCDA), a leading software provider of contact centre productivity solutions, today announced the general availability of Jacada® Fusion Agent Portal, an innovative desktop solution that optimises workflow processes across business systems within a contact centre, providing a single point of access to systems and resources to improve agent satisfaction and the customer experience.

Jacada also announced today that Cox Communications, the third largest communications company in the United States, and West Corporation, one of the world's largest contact centre outsourcers, have both licensed Jacada Fusion Agent Portal.

Jacada Fusion Agent Portal is an agent productivity solution that utilises patented technology to deliver significant efficiencies within a contact centre. Jacada Fusion Agent Portal is:

  • A Web-based, thin-client workspace which incorporates all critical functions required by the contact centre agent to successfully complete customer interactions, and
  • A process optimisation platform that simplifies the agent's interaction with the business applications in use.

Jacada Fusion Agent Portal provides advanced tools that simplify tasks for the customer service representative (CSR), reduce new hire training time, reduce keystroke errors, automate workflows and automate redundant processes. A dynamic scripting environment provides guided navigation for agents, and innovative ‘in-call intelligence' technology helps automate tasks such as call disposition and wrap-up.

Jacada Fusion Agent Portal is the latest innovation in a set of solutions Jacada is bringing to the contact centre market to help companies maximise productivity where CSRs are either burdened with multiple desktop applications or where complex business rules - whether regulatory or process-oriented - hamper CSR productivity. These disparate, complex environments cause CSR inefficiencies, resulting in higher costs through increased training time, increased average handling times, and ultimately, in decreased CSR and customer satisfaction.

According to analysts, the contact centre productivity optimisation market is one of the fastest-growing spaces for solutions providers today. With more than 100,000 contact centres worldwide, there is a critical need for solutions like Jacada Fusion Agent Portal that positively impact CSR productivity across all industries.

"Companies like West Corporation and Cox Communications are breaking the mould and strategically focusing on the future of the agent desktop as a means to improve agent satisfaction, which has a dramatic effect on the customer experience these companies provide," commented Art Schoeller, senior analyst for Yankee Group. "Enabling efficiencies and creating intuitive workspaces for CSRs can boost staff morale and eliminate training costs associated with learning to navigate systems that are entirely too complex for completing customer requests."

About Jacada Fusion Agent Portal
Jacada Fusion Agent Portal is a Web-based, thin-client workspace which incorporates all critical functions required by the contact centre agent to service customer calls. Features include:

  • Dynamic call scripting - driving call flow for the agent, and automated access to business applications
  • Automated navigation and workflow within and across business applications
  • Notification and alerts
  • Rules-based script and caller-based alerts for up-sell/cross-sell and enhanced call handling
  • Supervisor-to-agent and system-wide messaging
  • SmartPad - intelligent 'auto-fill' capability that automates redundant data entry
  • Context-sensitive help and frequently asked questions (FAQs)
  • Knowledgebase access tools
  • Agent-level customisation of desktop layout and look-and-feel
  • CTI integration for "screen-pop" and Soft-Phone support

Jacada Fusion Agent Portal is also a process optimisation platform that simplifies the agent's interaction with the business applications they must use. Jacada Fusion Agent Portal is powered by the Jacada Fusion non-invasive integration platform that works with any existing business application to automate processes and improve workflows, without requiring any change to existing applications. For contact centres, Jacada Fusion can deliver:

  • Single sign-on / automated login
  • A single view of the customer or single view of a process
  • Automated call wrap-up
  • Automation of any redundant or cumbersome process
  • In-Call Intelligence - an understanding of the interaction of the agent with the business systems, which can be used to:
  • Automate call disposition
  • Enforce adherence to processes and regulations
  • Provide real-time alerts for supervisors and the agent

"The architecture behind Jacada Fusion Agent Portal will be very appealing to large enterprises, and contact centres looking for flexible deployment options for outsourcing, off-shoring and work-at-home agents," says Sheryl Kingstone, senior analyst for the Yankee Group. "The thin-client, browser-based desktop makes client deployment easy and minimises desktop requirements, while the J2EE-based, open-standards approach is very compatible with the majority of the application platforms used in large organisations such as those in the telecommunications and financial services sectors."

Jacada has a long history of providing companies with proven, quick-to-market solutions while eliminating the traditional long and expensive systems replacement projects. "For companies that are committed to delivering superior customer service, Jacada Fusion Agent Portal has the potential to reinvent their service strategies," said Giddy Hollander, Jacada CEO. "The result is a more effective, satisfied employee, as well as a more satisfied customer - two very powerful components that help drive business, regardless of the industry."

About Jacada
Jacada solutions help customers rapidly simplify and improve high-value business processes while eliminating the traditional long and expensive systems replacement projects. Jacada Fusion is an award-winning agent productivity solution containing patented technology that enables organisations to reduce customer churn as well as increase revenues by providing more time for customer care and revenue-generating activities. Jacada Fusion Agent Portal delivers a simplified interaction to dramatically improve the efficiency of the agent and the experience of the customer.

By significantly reducing call handle times and training costs, Jacada Fusion solutions deliver hard ROI, with payback achieved in months. Jacada solutions are deployed in hundreds of contact centres worldwide and to millions of users through self-service applications designed to off load contact centre activity.

Jacada has over 1200 customers worldwide including many Fortune 1000 corporations and government organisations. Founded in 1990, Jacada operates globally with offices in Atlanta, Georgia; Herzliya, Israel; and London, England.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as statements relating to future financial results and plans for future business development activities, and are prospective. These statements include all statements that are not statements of historical fact and consists of those regarding intent, belief or current expectations of the Company, its directors or its officers with respect to, among other things: (i) the Company's financing plans; (ii) trends affecting the Company's financial condition or results of operations; and (iii) the Company's growth strategy and operating strategy (including the development of its products and services). The words "may," "could," "would," "will," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," and similar expressions or variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of the future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors including the performance and continued acceptance of our products, general economic conditions and other Risk Factors specifically identified in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement for events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made. The Company cannot assess the impact of or the extent to which any single factor or risk, or combination of them, may cause. For a more complete discussion of risk factors, please see the Company's Form 20-F and other Statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Jacada is a trademark of Jacada Ltd. All other brands or product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information please visit www.jacada.com or contact:
Duncan Burford
PR for Jacada
Tel: 01780 721433
E-mail: dburford@iba-europe.com 

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