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AT&T Moves Affordable Call Center Capabilities into the Network with New Hosted Service


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Businesses of All Sizes Can Have Call Routing Capabilities and Flexible Capacity without Up-front Capital Costs for New Equipment

Dallas, Texas, Businesses wanting to launch or expand call center capabilities without having to invest in premises-based call distribution equipment can find a flexible solution in the AT&T* network. AT&T today announced a fully managed service that provides businesses of all sizes with a virtual contact center hosted securely in an AT&T Internet Data Center.

The solution, AT&T Hosted Integrated Contact Services, provides small and midsize businesses with an ideal way to establish a call center quickly and economically using the latest technology and with simplified pay-for-what-you-use pricing. Large enterprises can use the service to add a satellite center, handle special promotions or seasonal calling peaks, or to fill technology gaps in existing centers.

AT&T Hosted Integrated Contact Services lets businesses use the intelligence of the AT&T network for intelligent call routing and management capabilities such as delivering calls to the first available agent, identifying and routing calls to the agent best able to handle that call, and distributing calls based on callers’ touch-tone or natural language responses to prompts.

“For businesses operating contact centers, knowing which agent has the best set of skills to meet the needs of the caller and how best to successfully complete the call on the first attempt is critical for remaining competitive,” said William Archer, Chief Marketing Officer, AT&T Business Solutions. “With AT&T Hosted Integrated Contact Services, we offer companies of all sizes a scalable, cost-effective alternative to purchasing call center equipment and software so they can stay focused on running their businesses and serving their customers.”

At the heart of AT&T Hosted Integrated Contact Services is a platform based on contact center software from Genesys. The service includes the flexibility to design, deploy and change speech applications and routing plans through a simple Web-based Customer Interaction Portal. It also allows customers to add more agents or phone ports on demand, and it can automatically increase capacity up to 20 percent above installed levels to handle unexpected bursts of traffic.

In its report, ‘Market Trends: Forecast for North American Hosted Contact Center Market, 2007-2013,’ Gartner estimates the baseline revenue of the current market for hosted contact services will reach $175 million in 2009.

“In addition to the economic advantages of not needing a large capital budget, hosted contact centers provide competitive advantages to businesses regardless of size,” said Daniel O’Connell, research director with Gartner. “The hosted model gives companies without deep IT technical teams access to the latest call center technologies and management tools that lead to greater agent utilization, while at the same time provide callers with a quality customer experience.”

AT&T Hosted Contact Services is available today in the U.S. and globally on a case-by-case basis. Pricing varies with each customer based on the number of call center agents or the number of ports for handling interactive voice response calls. For more information on AT&T’s portfolio of Integrated Contact Services go to http://www.business.att.com/enterprise/Portfolio/contact-center-solutions-enterprise/.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T, Inc.

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world’s most advanced IP-based business communications services, the nation’s fastest 3G network and the best wireless coverage worldwide, and the nation’s leading high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of their three-screen integration strategy, AT&T operating companies are expanding their TV entertainment offerings. In 2009, AT&T again ranked No. 1 in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE® magazine’s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.



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