Technology

Snowfly and Contact Center Performance Forum Produce Incentives Survey Results

2009-11-20T08:50:56-07:00

Laramie, WY – The results of an extensive survey of contact center incentive programs have just been released. Survey results were presented in a webinar that can be viewed and downloaded.

More than 50 questions were asked such as:

What percent of payroll do you spend on incentives?
What activities do you reward and what has improved?
What are your agent attrition rates at various stages of early tenure?
What prizes do you make available?
Describe your most and least successful contests?

The survey is available in two forms: complete presentation with audio and audience questions or presentation slides only.

The complete presentation with audio includes audience questions such as how to keep management from cutting your incentive budget and at what point is additional money spent on incentives no longer effective. http://www.contactcenterperformanceforum.com/Webinar_Downloads.html

Presentation slides only: http://www.snowfly.com/pdf/Call_Center_Incentive_Survey_Results_November2009.pdf

The survey and webinar were jointly developed and administered by the Contact Center Performance Forum and Snowfly.

About Snowfly:
Snowfly is the leading provider of Internet based employee incentive and loyalty programs. Snowfly's incentive system allows contact centers to harness the enormous motivational power of immediate positive reinforcement to focus employee behavior on company objectives. Customers include multiple Blue Cross/Blue Shield providers, Avis/Budget, Hyatt Hotels, financial institutions, utility companies, insurance companies, cable/satellite providers, various BPO companies (business process outsourcers), and collection agencies. Snowfly’s web site: www.Snowfly.com

About the Contact Center Performance Forum:
The Contact Center Performance Forum (CCPF), an online business network, has evolved into a premiere educational forum for customer contact and customer experience professionals. The goal of CCPF is to disseminate customer contact knowledge and insights to members around the world. CCPF website: www.contactcenterperformanceforum.com

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NCO Launches New Consumer Website

2009-11-18T07:46:18-07:00

HORSHAM, Pa. -- NCO Financial Systems, Inc. ("NCO"), the U.S.'s largest provider of accounts receivable management services, announced today that it has launched its new consumer help website, www.consumerhelpunit.org.

Through the new website, U.S. consumers can communicate with NCO, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Consumers can communicate via email or opt to have a representative call them with just the click of a button.

"Consumers wanted a better way to get in touch with us," said Lisa Hagee, Senior Vice President of Marketing. "Today, more and more consumers are using the Internet to communicate and make payments. With the launch of www.consumerhelpunit.org, consumers searching the Internet for NCO will quickly find the tools they need to communicate with us."

In conjunction with the new website, NCO deployed a dedicated team to provide around-the-clock telephone support.

About NCO Financial Systems, Inc.
NCO is an industry leader in providing clients with business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions. NCO's outsourcing portfolio includes accounts receivable management, customer
relationship management services and back-office services for a diversified customer base. NCO operates a global network of over 100 operations centers running on a centralized data platform with the flexibility to respond to a rapidly changing marketplace and to scale operations to meet client specifications. Qualified applicants wishing to apply for employment with NCO should visit www.ncogroup.com.

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Combined Business to Create Next-Generation Revenue Cycle Solutions, Improving Administration and Ca

2009-11-16T08:19:34-07:00

Eden Prairie, Minn. and St. Petersburg, Fla. Ingenix, a leading health information, technology and consulting company, today announced it will acquire CareMedic Services Inc., an industry leader in revenue cycle management (RCM) solutions for hospitals and health systems, in a cash transaction.

With the acquisition of CareMedic, Ingenix will offer solutions that address each major component of the hospital revenue cycle: patient registration, eligibility verification, financial clearance, coding and compliance, bill submission, denials management, and remittance processing. Ingenix and CareMedic’s combined products and services will create a comprehensive suite of solutions for hospitals to manage the revenue cycle and improve financial performance – from the time a patient begins the registration process with a health care provider to the time payment for that care is received. This will be the industry’s only enterprise-wide solution that identifies inefficiencies as they occur, so clients can take practical actions to receive appropriate reimbursements and reduce costs throughout the process.

CareMedic provides hospitals with an enterprise platform of enabling technologies and services that optimize revenue cycle efficiency and improve cash flow, margins and productivity. CareMedic’s products and services include the Electronic Financial Record (eFR®) platform, which makes nearly real-time patient financial information accessible across departments within a hospital, helping clients take the right actions at every step of the revenue cycle to receive payments faster and more efficiently. With the eFR platform, CareMedic provides the industry’s most complete, historical view of a patient’s consolidated financial record with a provider organization. CareMedic’s capabilities will complement Ingenix’s coding and compliance expertise and automated credit balance resolution provided by its INTELLIJET® platform. CareMedic will also expand Ingenix’s existing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) capabilities with patient financial management services, accounts receivable management, secondary billing and denials recovery, and other managed services offerings. CareMedic has contracts with more than 2,500 provider facilities across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Said Vince Schmitz, CFO of MultiCare Health System in Tacoma, WA, and client of CareMedic and Ingenix, “The combination of Ingenix and CareMedic is powerful and will bring many benefits to the industry. Being a long-time user of products and services from both companies has significantly increased our yield at MultiCare. I look forward to the innovation that the combined intellectual capital and resources of these two organizations can create.”

Bill Miller, executive vice president of Health Care Delivery at Ingenix, said, “With CareMedic, we will transform RCM from a group of fragmented, claims-centric processes to a more comprehensive, patient-centric financial information management system. The RCM systems available today lack interoperability between front-end and back-end functions, slowing cash flow and impeding a hospital’s ability to collect payment for services that have been provided. Our vision and combined capabilities will create a customizable enterprise-wide analytics solution for hospitals that seamlessly connects to other systems.”

Sheila Schweitzer, CEO of CareMedic, said, “With Ingenix’s expertise in reimbursement, health information management and consulting, and our expertise in enterprise-wide RCM, we will create a unified solution that makes hospitals more efficient at managing cash flow and enhances our commitment to helping clients get paid. As part of Ingenix, we will be able to provide clients with additional services and continued innovations that help them use capital more effectively and improve operational efficiency.”

Hospitals and health care systems are faced with increasingly complex and changing reimbursement rules and practices. According to the American Hospital Association, hospitals lost $65.9 billion in 2007 alone due to bad debt, uncompensated care and underpayment by commercial insurers and Medicare and Medicaid programs, while approximately 21% of U.S. hospitals had negative total margins. CareMedic addresses these pressures and has a track record with clients of helping to reduce or eliminate underpayment by Medicare and Medicaid.

Andy Slavitt, CEO of Ingenix, said, “Innovation and talent are key to solving health care’s biggest challenges. We’re combining the great teams at CareMedic and Ingenix to deliver innovation with the common vision of simplifying the system, reducing waste and centering health care around the patient.”

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Comtech Systems Partners with WebRecon to Protect Against Litigious Consumers

2009-11-13T08:13:00-07:00

Grand Rapids, MI — Comtech Systems, Inc. and WebRecon LLC announced today a strategic partnership to connect users of Comtech’s Collect! ARM solution with WebRecon’s consumer litigant database. The alliance will give users of Collect! the ability to easily recognize and actively protect themselves against consumers with a history of litigating collection agencies.

Both companies are market leaders in their respective areas.

According to WebRecon LLC CEO Jack Gordon, lawsuits against collection firms have been growing at an unprecedented rate. “Not only are the numbers of lawsuits growing each year,” he said, “but the pace of that growth is speeding up. In 2009, we are on track for an astounding rate of 44% growth over 2008.”

“The impact of these lawsuits on small and mid-sized collection agencies can be devastating,” adds Gordon. “This service helps agencies avoid a significant percentage of those suits, saving many thousands of dollars in legal fees and settlement costs for each one prevented.”

Comtech Systems Inc. is the first of the major software providers to acknowledge the effect of this alarming growth on their client base and implement appropriate mechanisms to prevent possible unnecessary litigation. According to Comtech CEO H. Neal Cropper, “We understand the pain this issue is causing our clients, and we are thrilled to be in a position to help them address it. WebRecon is offering a number of options to our user base, from a very low cost list of litigants to full database scrubbing that we will be able to integrate back into their databases. There is an option for every agency.”

About Comtech Systems, Inc: Comtech was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Victoria, BC, Canada with an additional office in Brisbane, Australia. Comtech's flagship product, Collect!, is widely recognized as the leading business management software solution for the world's receivables management industries.

Comtech's software is installed in 38 countries by over 1,200 companies including collection agencies, debt buyers, credit grantors, medical and dental billing offices, legal offices, municipal fine collection offices, car dealerships, rental application verification offices, credit grantors and a host of finance, credit and billing organizations.

About WebRecon LLC: Creditors and collection firms use WebRecon’s services to easily segregate predictably litigious consumers from their databases. A significant percentage of consumer litigation is initiated by the same consumers over and over again, and screening them out of the general population can reduce lawsuits by as much as a third.

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Universal Data Services and Oxford Capital Recovery Announce Partnership

2009-11-12T08:29:25-07:00

St. Joseph, Mo and Atlanta, GA – Universal Data Services, LLC. (UDS), the debt recovery arm of The Universal Group, today announced a strategic relationship with Oxford Capital Recovery, LLC. (OCR) to expand the reach of its commercial services division.

“We selected OCR based on their reputation as client-centric and their effective approach to business-to-business receivables solutions”, said Edward Vasques, Director of Operations at UDS. “Our clients are looking to UDS for our innovative solutions to their unique receivables challenges and with this arrangement we add another facet to our already broad portfolio of services”.

UDS now offers their client’s OCR’s comprehensive C.R.E.D.I.T profile report. “The C.R.E.D.I.T profile report was designed by our clients with the purpose of removing the smoke and mirrors from the collections process enabling our clients to understand empirically, the why behind the outcome of lending habits”, said Michael Steinberg, Director of Operations for OCR.”

This agreement with The Universal Group opens the door for OCR to seamlessly serve clients that have needs for consumer finance, first and third party account servicing, consumer collections and legal forwarding. "We are committed to our clients to uphold the highest standards and continue to be the leading edge in the commercial collections industry," says Michael Cooper, Director of Sales.

To learn more about The Universal Group visit, www.UGACINC.com or contact Melissa Snook, Human Resources at Msnook@ugacinc.com 816.233.2299 Ext. 112 To learn more about OCR visit, www.Oxfordcapitalrecovery.com or contact OCR@oxfordcapitalrecovery.com.

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Southwest Credit Achieves PCI DSS Level 1 Compliance

2009-11-06T02:35:51-07:00

Plano, TX - Southwest Credit Systems, L.P. a national provider of accounts receivable solutions is proud to have achieved Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) Level 1 compliance through a Qualified Security Assessor.

The PCI DSS is a multifaceted security standard that includes requirements for security management, policies, procedures, network architecture, software design and other critical protective measures. This comprehensive standard is intended to help organizations processing credit card payments proactively protect customer account data.

By achieving PCI Compliance Southwest Credit continues to demonstrate clients and prospects their commitment to quality and compliance; as well as the focus placed on protecting their customers’ data by adhering to the proper rules and regulations.

“Performing with integrity is the bedrock of everything we do at Southwest Credit”, said Jeff Hurt, CEO “and safeguarding our customers’ information is our top priority”.

We are proud of the continuous investments we have made in technology and the rigorous audits of our processes by accredited third parties which demonstrate that we operate at the highest levels within the collections industry.

About Southwest Credit
Founded in 1974, Southwest Credit Systems L.P. is a national provider of accounts receivable management services to small and large companies in the Communications, Education, Utility, Government, and Financial Services industries. Southwest Credit services consumer and commercial accounts along various stages of the credit and collection process.
The company bases its service philosophy on their mission statement:

“At Southwest Credit, our goal is to provide our chosen partners with professional accounts receivable solutions based on Value, Integrity, and Performance.”

Southwest Credit is SAS 70 Type II Certified and has a Better Business Bureau rating of A+. For more information contact 1.800.637.7439 or visit www.sw-credit.com

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DANTOM Systems and Diversified Data Announce Strategic Alliance

2009-11-05T08:35:07-07:00

Wixom, Mich. – DANTOM Systems and Diversified Data and Communications (d/b/a DIVDAT) are pleased to announce a strategic alliance. DIVDAT is exiting the third-party print & mail collection market and DANTOM has agreed to assume the customer relationships effective November 1, 2009. In addition, DANTOM will utilize specific DIVDAT advanced technology services for their collection customers.

“As DIVDAT strengthens our focus on preferential communication and EBPP, we remain committed to ensuring our clients’ needs are met and expectations are exceeded. We are grateful for the trust they have placed in DIVDAT over the years. We remain committed to honoring that trust,” said Jason Bierkle, Diversified Data’s president and CEO. “After a thorough and careful evaluation, I firmly believe that an alliance with DANTOM is in the best interest of our third-party, print and mail clients. DANTOM’s outstanding service and industry leadership has been demonstrated over a long period of time. I am convinced our customers will be delighted.” DIVDAT’s business focus includes products for healthcare providers, utility companies, insurance agencies and other organizations. Those products include print and mail, EBPP, payment processing and other messaging services.

“The addition of this highly-valued customer base provides DANTOM the ability to expand upon its industry- leading position in the collection letter marketplace and gain access to DIVDAT’s latest technology service offerings,” said Tim Schriner, DANTOM’s president and CEO. “We look forward to working with our new customers and providing them the value from our collection letter focus and expertise.”

About DANTOM Systems
DANTOM Systems, Inc. is the premier provider of collection letter services to the Accounts Receivable Management marketplace. DANTOM is SAS 70 Type II Certified and provides address information processing integrated into an award winning collection letter process utilizing FDCPA compliant customer service representatives, Six Sigma quality processes, certified project management with USPS acceptance and verification onsite for the highest quality print and mail delivery nationwide. DANTOM is located in Wixom, Michigan and now serves over 600 Credit & Collection customers nationwide. DANTOM is owned by Bolder Capital, LLC located in Chicago, Illinois. For more information, visit www.dantomsystems.com.

About DIVDAT
With its roots as a print and mail services provider, DIVDAT has evolved to become a leading provider of print and mail, online data processing, archiving and retrieval; preferential communication delivery solutions; EBPP; broadcast e-mail, fax and voice message services as well as direct marketing support services. DIVDAT is also the provider of CashLINCTM , a proprietary data integration, notification and response system. It is a comprehensive receivables management communication tool for companies in the collections, utilities, financial services, insurance, healthcare and telecommunications fields, among others. DIVDAT is located in Ferndale, Mich. For more information, visit www.divdat.com.

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Executive Change: Aspect Names New Executive Leadership to Drive Companys Unified Communications Strategy

2009-11-04T08:13:58-07:00

CHELMSFORD, Mass. – Aspect, a unified communications (UC) solutions provider, today announced it has appointed new executive leadership to oversee the company’s unified communications strategy and marketing initiatives. Andy Bezaitis is now the senior vice president of product management and Laurie Cairns has joined the company as the senior vice president of marketing.

“This is an energizing time at Aspect because of the depth and breadth of our unified communications software and services offerings and the value they can bring to organizations, and I am confident that these new appointments will further our momentum in the marketplace,” said Jim Foy, president and chief executive officer, Aspect. “In her role, Laurie will focus on supporting our revenue objectives with innovative strategies and impeccable program execution. Andy is spearheading product planning to ensure optimal alignment with the business goals of our customers’ needs and with the emerging role of unified communications in the contact center and across the enterprise.”

Bezaitis brings more than 20 years of leadership experience to his new role. In this position, Bezaitis will oversee a product management team responsible for driving UC product enhancements through research, analysis, customer engagement, competitive intelligence and field communication. He continues acting as the company’s primary liaison to Microsoft. Before joining Aspect, he was the senior vice president of business development at Cantata Technology.

Cairns brings more than 25 years of marketing and brand expertise to Aspect. Her new responsibilities as senior vice president include driving marketing initiatives and brand strategy to further Aspect’s leadership in providing unified communications solutions for enterprises and their contact centers. Laurie’s career includes the formation and executive management of LEC, an integrated branding agency founded in 1986. She holds a business process patent in internet promotions, and is the marketing committee chair of Lumity, a nonprofit organization that leverages information technology. She brings extensive experience in both software and communications, and has worked closely with Aspect on strategy, messaging and demand creation for nearly ten years.

About Aspect
Aspect provides software and consulting services that turn the potential of unified communications into real business results across the enterprise and in the contact center. Applying 35 years of insight and experience, Aspect helps more than two-thirds of the FORTUNE Global 100, as well as small and medium enterprises, power their business processes with communications. For more information, visit www.aspect.com.

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PSC Info Group Acquires Data Processing, Printing and Mailing Unit of North Shore Agency

2009-10-30T06:39:32-07:00

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. – PSC Info Group, a leader in data management, document and mailing technology and online solutions, has acquired the data processing, printing and mailing unit of North Shore Agency, Inc. (NSA) of Long Island, N.Y.

North Shore Agency’s ultimate parent company, NCO Group, Inc. (NCO), will retain NSA’s debt collection unit.

As part of the transaction, PSC has executed an exclusive, long-term document outsourcing and letter processing agreement with NCO.

According to Joseph J. Greco, PSC Info Group’s CEO, “The addition of the North Shore Agency business will enhance PSC Info Group’s service offering to our valued customers, and will increase our market share in cable, telecommunications, media, publishing, healthcare and financial services markets. Most importantly, the acquisition will enable us to leverage the scale and synergies of our businesses and spread our capital and technology investments over a broader base, while providing the most cost effective value added solutions available”.

Michael J. Barrist, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NCO, stated, “This transaction allows NCO to focus on our core BPO competencies of accounts receivable management and customer relationship management. We have enjoyed a long–term relationship with PSC and are pleased that we are able to complete this transaction with this valued partner.”

About PSC Info Group
Headquartered in Valley Forge, Pa., with additional processing facilities in Reno, Nev., PSC Info Group (www.pscinfogroup.com) is a leader in data management, printing and mailing technology and online solutions that facilitate billing, collection and other time-sensitive communications. With more than 25 years of experience, PSC Info Group delivers effective, customized solutions for accounts receivable management, healthcare, cable, telecommunications, publishing, media, financial services, insurance and government sectors. PSC Info Group helps clients effectively manage their document and information needs by combining unsurpassed industry experience with the latest technology.

About NCO Group, Inc.
NCO Group, Inc. is a leading global provider of business process outsourcing services, primarily focused on accounts receivable management and customer relationship management. NCO provides services through over 100 offices throughout North America, Asia, Europe and Australia.

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An Idea Whose Time Has Come

2009-10-29T10:33:54-07:00

From texting to iPods to smart phones, technology has dramatically changed the way we live our lives. At the end of last year when the economy soured and travel budgets were slashed, I started to wonder; “Why can’t technology be utilized to revolutionize the exhibition hall experience?”

Why can’t it? What if you could get access to all participants at an exhibition without ever leaving your desk? What if it was absolutely free to attend, so you could send all interested staffers – from the IT department to Operations? What if easy access made it possible for the entire ARM industry to attend – including credit grantors, debt buyers, and ARM service providers? What if we could make this happen? Would you participate?

We thought so and that is why we created the ARM industry’s first-ever virtual expo, Expo 3.0

Envision an efficient and cost-effective expo conducted entirely online. You can literally “visit” booths, interact with decision makers through group or private chat, see a video introduction of the company or product, and leave with relevant information and appropriate contacts – all without having to leave your desk.

^pullquoteLearn more about Expo 3.0 at http://www.insidearm.com/expo/ pullquote^

Because of the expense of travel, cost to attend, and time out of the office – not to mention the travel restrictions placed upon many professionals – many stakeholders in the process of selecting vendors haven’t been able to attend tradeshows. On the flip side, these restrictions prevent vendors from sending technicians or developers to staff their booths. That’s about to change. For the first time, entire staffs will have one place to go to evaluate products and services needed to improve recoveries. Through Expo 3.0, there are no restrictions. Everyone on both sides of the buying decision can attend without the hassles of travel.

EXPO 3.0 is free to all attendees, so senior management, IT staff, collection staff, and anyone else is able to attend from their desk. And since booths at Expo 3.0 will be available for 90 days after the live event, attendees can still get the information they need even after the live show ends.

As active participants in the affairs shaping the ARM industry for nearly 20 years, Kaulkin Ginsberg has been involved in virtually every trade show and conference geared toward credit grantors, collection agencies, collection law firms and debt buyers. This year alone, our firm participated in over 17 live events. We know and appreciate the fact that there’s no substitute for face-to-face interaction. We saw the need to address the limitations involved with live events and that is why we developed a virtual experience focused exclusively on the exhibit hall.

We truly see EXPO 3.0 as a new and powerful tool to enhance and facilitate introductions within the ARM industry, and we are committed to using all of our resources to making this a successful event for all participants. I hope we’ll see you there!

Revenue Cycle Solutions, Inc. selects ZirMed as Financial Services Platform Strategic Partner

2009-10-29T07:19:11-07:00

WESTCHESTER, IL, and LOUISVILLE, KY – Revenue Cycle Solutions, Inc. (RCS) today announced a strategic relationship with ZirMed, Inc. to leverage its technology and expertise in delivering comprehensive revenue cycle management solutions to healthcare providers.

“This partnership complements the respective strengths of both companies thereby greatly reducing the administrative burden placed on our clients while simultaneously increasing their cash flow.” said C. Jeff Pan, RCS’ CEO.

Further increasing its distinctive edge in the accounts receivable management space, RCS now offers its clients an extensive array of revenue cycle management solutions including credit/debit processing, ACH processing, e-commerce, secure patient payments along with, insurance eligibility services, and claims management. This holistic suite of products automates many manual – and time consuming – procedures such as early-out follow-up, reconciliation, and payment posting.

“Having the ability to offer a comprehensive suite of PCI-DSS compliant payment options to its customers, along with RCS’ proven differentiation as an automatic and efficient early-out collection solutions, gives RCS a truly unique advantage over its competition.” said Jim Lacy, CFO & Counsel of ZirMed.

About RCS
Founded in 2002, RCS is a leading provider of accounts receivable management services for hospitals and other healthcare providers throughout the United States. With proprietary technology, tools and processes, it specializes in follow-up of patient liability and resolution of small insurance claims for hospitals. For more information about RCS, visit www.revcs.com.

About ZirMed
Founded in 1999, ZirMed is a nationally recognized leader in delivering revenue cycle management solutions to healthcare providers. ZirMed solutions include eligibility verification, credit/debit card processing, check processing, claims management, coding compliancy, electronic remittance advice, patient statements, patient e-commerce solutions, provider credentialing, business analytics and lockbox services. For additional information, visit www.zirmed.com/pr.