Traditionally, call centers monitor the calls of customer service employees using methods such as random call monitoring selection, consistent monitoring of a small sample size of employees with five being the optimum number, and a checklist that evaluates the efficiency of the call. This is all done with the goal of decreasing variations between calls, increasing customer quality experiences, and combining all of the data gathered in hopes of creating a standard call checklist that meets all of those requirements. However, it has been revealed that not only is this method of call monitoring and quality assurance outdated, it is also relatively ineffective when compared to the information and results that could be obtained through the usage of the increasingly popular Emerging Model.

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If your company is bewildered with the relationship between the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and security, you are not alone. Protecting any information is a daunting task, but ITIL can help to bring you to the finish line.

Giva's article, How can IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) improve information security?, recently published by betanews.com, elucidates why ITIL is a very effective way to cork any security holes, and details which specific processes are the best for the task.

The importance and value of cultivating and maintaining customer relationships cannot be overstated. Any business that fails to cater to their customers in ways that are business efficient as well as positively reinforcing, are doing themselves a great disservice. Businesses tend to understate the importance of customer relations management, only focusing on problem solving, rarely prevention. This is a mistake that can cost them dearly. It is rare that businesses can be effective and efficient in all areas. There are three big benefits to having a separate customer service division:

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Last year's Customer Service Hall of Fame list from 24/7 Wall St. highlights the top ten businesses with an "excellent" rating and can be found here. With the list of companies established, the question becomes what makes their customer service so great? Let's zero in on the top five: Kroger, Marriott, Apple, Chick-fil-A, and Amazon to find out.

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In today's fast-paced world, we often forget to stop and think critically about our daily choices and how they affect our overall goals. Information Age recently published Giva's article, "How The Right Thinking Can Inspire CIO Light-Bulb Moments," which lists great ways to reboot your habits in order to inspire productive thinking.

Setting aside time to simply think may seem unproductive, but it has been proven time and again that the greatest innovators are those that think creatively, curiously, and frequently. Investing "think" time into our daily habits can stimulate and encourage the open-mindedness needed to explore new ideas.

Sometimes life gives you lemons. It happens to you personally and it will happen with your business too. From the small issues like late delivery of a customer's order to the big ones like a product recall that threatens the bottom line, the trick to handling lemons is learning to make them into lemonade. Here are some examples of companies who turned lemons into lemonade and some tips for how to do it yourself.

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The eternal argument: should companies outsource customer service? The truth is, it depends. There are a number of factors that go into deciding whether or not to outsource your company's contact center. Let's take a look at both sides.

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Like it or not, gone are the times where businesses could effectively eliminate candidates for hire based on things like their grade point average, the quality of their educational institution, and even something as basic as age. With the advancement of the technological world and constant innovation, businesses are more strapped and stressed than ever trying to find qualified candidates for positions that are growing in relevance, such as qualitative analytics. This is because, as times change, hiring practices have not. Pre-qualifications that are borderline discriminatory to a good portion of essentially qualified applicants are eliminating an entire potential workforce.

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One of the best ways to organize your thoughts is through Mind Mapping. This concept has been around for a while and it is one of those rare things in life where there is no right or wrong. Mind Mapping can be used for planning team projects or just as a personal way to keep track of your thoughts. Let's take a closer look at the concept.

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