Lauren McKay – Published Writing

From DestinationCRM.com

http://destinationcrm.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=7722

by Lauren McKay

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Contact center agents have way too much information to master — a state of affairs not likely to change anytime soon. With the release of RightNow February ‘08, however — the latest edition of RightNow Technologies’ CRM solution, unveiled yesterday — agents may be able to put all that information in the proper context. RightNow’s latest release features the use of contextual workspace and topic monitoring that’s designed to increase agents’ proficiency. The company hopes that its workspace platform will reduce call time and allow agents to quickly arrive at solutions through a more specialized and relevant interface.

Along with contextual workspaces, the February ‘08 edition provides Microsoft Office Ribbons that coincide with what agents are working on. The ribbons change based on what an employee is trying to do and removes applications that aren’t necessary. If an agent is engaged in customer relations, only programs and applications necessary to that venture will be shown.

A second facet of the new edition involves topic monitoring. Vap says that the company has found that the most interesting and important customer feedback comes from write-in comment boxes. However, because blank-field data is unstructured and difficult to analyze, companies often struggle with what do with those comments. (See today’s other news story, “Mining for the Gold Within Text,” for more on unstructured data.) February ‘08 looks for trends, recurrences, and keywords among user comments to immediately address problems and prominent issues.

In August 2007, Bozeman, Mont.-based RightNow introduced emotion-detection features that ask customers to apply an emotional rating after using text-based consumer communications. By pairing those emotion features with the new topic monitoring, RightNow aims to be as current and complete on customer service feedback as possible.

“RightNow is very strong in the services space in that they were early to recognize that multichannel service is important and have continued to build on that,” says analyst Rebecca Wettemann of Nucleus Research. The emerging challenge for customer service solutions, she adds, involves how — and even if — the consumers will respond. According to Wettemann, RightNow has been successful and thorough in thinking about user-adoption.

http://www.workingmother.com/web?service=direct/1/ViewArticlePage/dlinkFullArticle&sp=S945&sp=129

Working Mother

February 2008

By: Min-Ja Lee, Lauren McKay, Rhea Saran and Blair Tidwell How do you get to Sesame Street? Head straight for Langhorne, just 30 minutes north of Philadelphia. This lively, colorful park, based on the TV show and open each year beginning in May, is a preschooler’s dream: Where else can you rub shoulders with Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster and, of course, Elmo, while splashing through water play areas and twirling on rides? Be sure to join the daily Rock Around the Block Parade with all the characters at this ideal first theme park for your kids. What’s new: Opening this year at the center of the park is the much-anticipated Sunny Day Carousel, on which visitors can ride a Horse of a Different Color in the heart of Sesame

Place. Also get set to shake hands with Abby Caddaby, Sesame Place’s newest Muppet character. This “fairy-in-training” has her own show, Abby Caddaby’s Treasure Hunt, with a bunch of the Street gang joining her in the singing and dancing. Bargains: Get an Elmo Two Day ticket for $47.50, the same price as a one-day park pass. Children under age 2 always enter free. 215-752-7070, sesameplace.com. Where to stay: A half mile from the park is the Residence Inn by Marriott in Langhorne, an all-suite hotel with kitchens, complimentary buffet breakfast and free shuttles to Sesame Place—perfect for Elmo-lovin’ families (suites from $259 a night). 215-946-6500, marriott.com.

http://www.workingmother.com/web?service=direct/1/ViewArticlePage/dlinkFullArticle&sp=S942&sp=129

Working Mother

Febraury 2008

By: Min-Ja Lee, Lauren McKay, Rhea Saran and Blair Tidwell Rub elbows with Shrek, the Terminator, Scooby-Doo and more at this massive theme park owned by NBC Universal. Catch the popular studio tour, where you might peek in on movie and TV filming and maybe see celebs in action. Of course, there are monstrous thrills provided by the likes of Jurassic Park—The Ride, with its wild 84-foot plunge. Also catch the Universal Animal Actors show and the Shrek 4-D interactive experience—a must for little ones. What’s new: This spring, Universal Studios adds the Simpsons to its mix, with an unimaginable ride that features the twisted mind of Krusty the Clown. Also enjoy the IMAX 3-D theater on the CityWalk, a promenade of retail and dining venues. Bargains: Savor the park’s array of eateries with All You Can Eat tickets, $20 for adults and $10 for kids. Buy any Universal ticket online and get coupons for more than $100 in food, drinks and more. Planning to park-hop? The Southern California CityPass saves you up to $98 on combined admissions to Universal, Disneyland, SeaWorld and others. 800-UNIVERSAL, universalstudioshollywood.com. Where to stay: The Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City is right across the street from drinks