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News

ITV Nominated for Innovators Award

eWEEK article features ITV's pioneering use of technology

September 8, 2006   Indianapolis, IN

ITV is always at the forefront of technology. A leader in the direct response industry, ITV was recently one of five candidates nominated for the Interactive Intelligence Innovators Award. They were recognized for their unique application and forward thinking use of Interactive Intelligence software for implementations during award period March, 2005 to March, 2006. On the application of technology at ITV, CIO Christopher Meusel states, "If there is not an existing software package to make a business logic come to fruition, we build it."

This prestigious nomination comes from Interactive Intelligence, Inc., a leading provider of the most innovative contact center and VOIP telephony products and services available. The CIC (Client Interaction Center) system used in ITV's East Coast locations offers great speed, numerous out-of-the-box logic tools, business reporting and versatility for need-based customization. ITV's partnership with Interactive Intelligence and its flexible solutions-based software mirrors the integrated solutions philosophy that distinguishes ITV from its competition. Using a proven method, ITV provides clients with a custom solution to market their products, and their technology is keeping par with this successful business model

After hearing of the nomination, eWEEK, a publication for innovations and movements in technology, visited ITV to interview CIO, Christopher Meusel. The article detailed the enhanced flexibility and reporting the new digital VOIP Telephony system allows ITV's multiple call centers. The new system is increasing revenue and optimizing business opportunities across the board.

The new phone technology is boosting productivity and results across the board at ITV. They have nearly eliminated abandoned call as a result of the new phone technology. Any calls remaining in the call queue for more than one minute are routed to a customer service number and are answered by a representative. This representative then takes the caller's information down and submits the customer information to a sales professional. Sales professionals are evaluated on key metrics such as revenue per call, abandoned calls, talk time and pickup rates. They can also perform call routing based on representative expertise and availability.

The new system also allows for granular reporting. ITV tracks the number of calls each show generates with a unique 800-number. The unique tracking system, coupled with the detailed reporting helps the ITV Executives to evaluate the effectiveness of the media buys. This way the system lets ITV determine where to buy its media based on real response rates. ITV has 4,000 800-numbers at its disposal.

Meusel says he is looking forward to using the speech recognition features in the Customer Interaction Center to handle call processing for free offers. Stay tuned to see what else ITV has in the "programming queue" for the coming year!

Click here to read the full text of the eWEEK news article