Assessing the Impact of Planned and Unplanned Downtime in the Contact Center
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Beyond the Queue: Operational Business Intelligence
Tim Montgomery, The Service Level Group
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Written By: Michael F. Shaughnessy Senior Columnist EducationNews.org

1)      Tom, first of all, what is your exact title and what do you do?

I am the Director of Product Management and Product Marketing for Inova Solutions. Our free e-book “Understanding the New Emergency Notification Provisions of the HEOA” is designed to be a resource for higher education institutions all over the country. Our goal was to provide a simple way for everyone involved with campus safety to better understand the new provisions and the impact the rules have on emergency notification.

2)      Now, when did these new HEOA provisions come down from Washington?

The new rules, which amend the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, were finalized October 29, 2009.

3)      Sadly, the nation is still recovering from Fort Hood, and of course Virginia Tech. What kinds of emergency measures must be in place?

There are a number of requirements in the new rules regarding emergency notification.  One of the primary changes is that HEIs are required to have a policy for emergency notification.  Once a dangerous situation has been confirmed, an institution’s emergency notification policy should be followed.

Another important new measure is that the emergency notification system must have the ability to send follow-up information to the community about the status of the emergency.

There are no requirements regarding what method of communication must be used (SMS/text messaging, visual notification, audio messaging, etc.), but some form of emergency messaging is required.  However, the new rule recommends a multi-modal approach for pervasive messaging.

Another primary change concerns the statement of policy regarding emergency response and evacuation procedures.  This statement describes how the institution will immediately notify the campus community when a significant emergency is confirmed.

4)      What do you mean by structure campus safety and mass notification policies?

Many of the new requirements deal directly with statements of policy about emergency notification.  Emergency response and evacuation procedures are one of the primary elements of the Annual Security Report.  This statement must include a detailed description of how the institution will test its emergency response and evacuation procedures.  The statement must also include the procedures the institution will use to notify the campus community of a confirmed emergency.  The third component of this statement is a description of how the institution will confirm an emergency situation, determine which segments of the campus to notify, determine content of the message and how the notification will be initiated.  There are several other requirements which are also detailed in our HEOA eBook, but all of these rules influence how campus safety and mass notification policies should be structured so that the campus is in compliance with all regulations.

5)      What kinds of informational resources are available in this e-book?

“Understanding the New Emergency Notification Provisions of the HEOA” covers the emergency notification provisions of the new HEOA rules.  Everything from timely warning and mass notification to the Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports are described in detail.  The eBook also includes important considerations and best practices suggested by the Department of Education and information Inova Solutions has discovered while working with emergency managers at universities across the country.

6)      Most campuses have campus police- but are there ratios as to how many officers are needed for small, medium and large universities?

At this time it does not appear that there are campus police ratios that should be followed.

7)      What kinds of measures should campuses take when there is a person with a mental disorder or psychological or psychiatric problem?

In the final rule, the Department of Education suggests HEIs consider the needs of both students and employees with disabilities when planning and implementing emergency notification policies and procedures.  At this time, there are no HEOA requirements for institutions to follow regarding emergency notification and disabled students and employees.

8)      Where is this e-book available and what does it cost?

The eBook, “Understanding the New Emergency Notification Provisions of the HEOA”, is available at www.inovasolutions.com/mass-notification.  The eBook is free and is available in PDF format and mobile formats for electronic reader devices and smartphones.

9)      What have I neglected to ask?

Inova Solutions is a leading provider of communication solutions that help schools and universities communicate vital, real-time information.  Inova OnAlert is a real-time notification system that instantly displays emergency messages on bright and visible LED signs throughout a facility. Inova OnAlert integrates seamlessly with virtually every mainstream mass notification platform and is in use by many colleges and universities across the country.

An excerpt of the Customer Interaction Solutions article is below. To read the full article, please visit http://www.tmcnet.com/call-center/0609/displays-go-beyond-the-readerboard.htm

Electronic displays in contact centers have been about bringing agents’ attention to vital information such as average handle times and calls in queue. Now it is about bringing the data and more of it, to the agents, team leaders, supervisors, managers, and senior management and the business wherever they are.

Electronic displays are no longer on LED and newer LCD and plasma readerboards or wallboards on call floors. They are on screens in break rooms and lobbies. They are also on agents’ and supervisors’ desktops in bricks-and-mortar contact centers and in home offices. They are just beginning to appear on 3G/4G+ smartphones.

The datasets have exponentially expanded to customizable employee performance information, HR policy changes, product updates, traffic and weather to help staff plan their commutes, and feeds from senior executives as well as emergency alerts. The material is becoming presented also with graphics and video rather straight text.

This evolution has been driven by contact center customers and by suppliers. More centers have been changing their thinking from purchasing a product i.e. ‘I need a wallboard’ to ‘what are my staff information needs?’ And the vendors have responded with robust, flexible, feature-rich solutions.

The LCD/Desktop Revolution
Display suppliers continue to add capabilities to and refine their solutions. Inova Solutions has for example made several improvements such as enhanced messaging capabilities to its digital signage solution, Inova Broadcaster™.

The Blended Environment
To get the best of all worlds many contact centers are now creating or looking at blended display environments with LED and/or LCD/plasma signage integrated with desktops, with each method highlighting each others’ benefits while covering for their shortfalls. This technique also leverages existing investments in wallboards. The right mix of media outputs will depend on the contact centers’ needs and goals.

“When LEDs and LCDs are used together contact centers can take advantage of various multimedia tools to engage and inform agents and give supervisors a quick view of changing conditions from anywhere on the floor,” explains Larry Moulis, Engineering Manager, Inova Solutions. “In environments where the physical layout makes signage use impractical, like in home offices, a desktop reporting application can deliver the same critical ACD statistics and event-driven messaging directly onto the agent screens. This kind of desktop solution is now in higher demand as the at-home agent becomes commonplace in many organizations.”

More contact centers are discovering the benefits of expanding displays to additional locations in their buildings, such as break rooms, elevator access areas, and lobbies: wherever employees congregate to deliver vital information. Inova Solutions has been working with a customer to design a system that incorporates emergency messaging and mass notification throughout their corporate campus, using the core contact center solution as the foundation for message delivery.

“Once the initial investment has been made to provide the center with the advantage of visibility to real-time information, it makes sense to extend that coverage to as many areas as possible,” says Moulis.