Angel Inc. has launched a closed beta of its cloud-based virtual call centre management app for Apple iOS4 and Google Android devices.
The Vienna, Va.-based firm, which operates as a subsidiary of business intelligence software maker MicroStrategy Inc., said the new app is geared toward both call centre supervisors and agents looking to manage their call traffic.
For supervisors, the app will allow users to keep tabs on their employees’ call queues, determine the average length of time per call, listen to call recordings, and send notes to agents who might need coaching. Call centre agents can use the app to see any metrics and historical data tied to their account.
“Some call centres are absolutely massive, so having the ability to move around the call centre and still be completely in touch is huge,” said Don Keane, director of product marketing for Angel.
Keane added that because everything is cloud-based, users only need to download the app through their Apple or Android-based devices to get up and running.
The virtual call centre app is just the first of several scheduled apps the company plans to release as part of its Angel Mobile line.
Next year, Angel plans to release a mobile interactive voice response app that can be customized to meet the needs of various industry verticals.
For example, Keane said the company has been working with a large pharmaceutical firm that wants to make it easier for doctors to securely order drug samples via an automated voice system.
“We’ve come up with an app that allows doctors to order the samples through the app and then authenticate themselves through voice biometrics,” he said. “This is where mobile apps are headed.”
The company said the entire set of Angel Mobile branded apps will be part of its Angel 4 Customer Experience Platform, a customer engagement and communications platform the firm released in August.
The beta release comes just a month after an IDC Canada Ltd. study that suggested enterprise adoption of tablet devices has been higher than expected.
“We were surprised by the adoption of tablets this year,” said Krista Napier, senior analyst of Canadian emerging technology and digital media at IDC Canada. “Hospitals, as well as some energy companies, are equipping their fleets of staff with them.”
“SAP even equipped their C-level execs with iPads,” she said.
Napier expects that as more vendors optimize their enterprise apps and services to tablet PCs, IT departments will continue to flock to the form factor. Companies such as SAP AG and IBM Corp., she said, have already started designing tablet optimized apps.
One company that has begun to make this shift is SAP AG, Napier said.
Along with more tablet optimized apps, Napier expects more business capable features to arrive in the new batch of tablets expected over the next year. One big feature to watch out for, she said, is improved camera support to allow for better video conferencing from the road.