USAN, Inc., a pioneer in the hosted contact center industry, today announced the acquisition of Interactive Softworks, Inc. (ISI), an innovator in customer engagement software solutions, to augment its hosted call center capabilities with multichannel campaign management and multi-channel customer interaction.

The combination of USAN’s extensive hosted call center capabilities and ISI’s unified Customer Engagement platform creates the industry’s first hybrid, hosted and premise based multi-channel solution for business driven Customer Engagement. The combined solution provides USAN customers access to hosted, premise—or a combination of the two deployment options, as well as a platform for unifying communications, developing multi-channel applications, integrating back-office systems, and efficiently driving and exposing business processes across any consumer communication channel.

“Customer-centric companies recognize that today’s customers expect and demand real-time, exemplary service in every channel of communication—from traditional telephone interactions to the web, emerging social media and everything between,” said Steve Walton, USAN’s President and CEO.  “Interactive Softworks’ customer engagement technology provides the perfect complement to our current solution. The new USAN will offer the industry’s most complete set of customer engagement services capable of handling any type of cross-channel inbound, outbound or blended interaction.”

Brenton Farmer, CEO and co-founder of Interactive Softworks, said, “USAN and Interactive share a common vision to provide individualized customer interactions across any form of communication.  In today’s business environment customer loyalty and the ability to respond to changing events and engage in social interaction is critical. The combination of our technology with USAN’s experience in cloud-based contact center technology will enable the new USAN to transform the way companies communicate with and serve their customers.”

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About USAN
Since 1989, USAN has been perfecting customer touch points by providing enterprises and carriers with hosted and cloud-based contact center solutions that connect people with information more quickly and intuitively, increase customer loyalty, and reduce operational costs.  USAN provides a comprehensive portfolio of call center products including network-based interactive voice response (IVR) systems, outbound dialers and automatic call distributors (ACDs), all built upon a fifth-generation carrier-grade infrastructure that delivers “five nines” of availability and proven scalability.  For more information, visit www.usan.com.

About Interactive Softworks
Interactive Softworks improves the way organizations engage customers by synchronizing critical real-time data with back-end processes and driving individualized customer interactions across multiple communication channels (voice, Web, IVR, chat and social media). Interactive’s solutions represent the next step in Business Process Management (BPM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, enabling smarter and more consistent customer experiences that leverage partner and market-driven opportunities. Today, Interactive Softworks optimizes business performance and delivers successful customer acquisition, loyalty and retention campaigns for innovative Fortune 500 companies. 

Media Contact:

Harry Miller
SVP of Business Development
Harry Miller <Harry.Miller@usan.com>
203-315-0285

Interactive Softworks, a provider of customer engagement solutions, announced today that The Blood Alliance, a non-profit community blood bank headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., implemented the company’s VoiceNet software to contact, recruit and schedule more blood donors and achieved monthly increases in donation appointments and blood units collected.

The Blood Alliance provides more than 20 hospitals in the Southeast with blood products including blood, plasma and platelets. To supply these products the organization actively recruits potential and returning blood donors to give blood at community events and blood drives. Blood product collection goals require The Blood Alliance to reach a minimum of 700 people daily through calling campaigns.

“With our old calling solution, we were struggling to reach the target number of potential donors required to meet our blood needs,” said Robert Sanchez, Director of Donor Resources at The Blood Alliance. “Interactive Softworks’ solution allows us to meet our contact rate, appointment setting and donation goals.” Interactive’s VoiceNet customer engagement solution provides The Blood Alliance with a multi-channel call center system that combines inbound and outbound call management with integrated email to drive efficient call flows, improve agent performance and maximize contact rates with donors.

“Today we’re scheduling 900 more appointments per month (a 60 percent increase) and we’re collecting 40 percent more blood units per month at our Donor Center locations,” said Sanchez. “We attribute these improvements to VoiceNet’s ability to minimize disconnects and detect answering machines and its flexibility in building and modifying targeted lists.”

Because VoiceNet is integrated with The Blood Alliance’s donor management platform system, eDonor, Sanchez’s team can design and implement multiple campaigns to contact donors in a specific timeframe when they are most willing to donate.

Brenton Farmer, CEO and co-founder of Interactive Softworks, said, “For the many hospitals that rely on The Blood Alliance, it is critical that they meet their goals of reaching prospective donors and collecting a designated amount of blood. We’re pleased that our solution can play a role in enabling them to meet those goals, and ultimately in helping collect the blood that saves so many lives.”

About The Blood Alliance
The Blood Alliance (TBA) provides blood and blood products to more than 20 hospitals and medical facilities in 11 counties serving Northeast Florida, and portions of Georgia and South Carolina. It provides the best possible blood banking system to the regions it serves and is a member of America’s Blood Centers – a national network of independent community blood centers responsible for nearly half of the nation’s blood supply. TBA opened in 1942 and is a non-profit community blood center licensed by the FDA and accredited by the AABB. For more information please visit: www.igiveblood.com or call 888-TBA-HERO (888)998-2243.

About Interactive Softworks
Interactive Softworks improves the way organizations engage customers by synchronizing critical real-time data with back-end processes and driving individualized customer interactions across multiple communication channels (voice, Web, IVR, chat and social media). Interactive’s solutions represent the next step in Business Process Management (BPM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, enabling smarter and more consistent customer experiences that leverage partner and market-driven opportunities. Today, Interactive Softworks optimizes business performance and delivers successful customer acquisition, loyalty and retention campaigns for innovative Fortune 500 companies. For more information, visit contact Interactive Softworks or call 703-669-2800.

In a fiercely competitive industry, payment processors must differentiate themselves by providing superior service to their merchants and ISO partners, dynamic product offerings and merchant management capabilities that go far beyond the slow, paper-driven processes of yesterday. Metaphor’s built-in business process automation capabilities combined with its security and encryption capabilities provide the paperless automation needed, along with compliance monitoring and enforcement.

The Strategic Leadership Forum focuses on three critical topics for the payment processing industry: Electronic Payment Dynamics, Technologies and Products and Critical Business Issues. Sessions will discuss what is going on in the payments industry today, taking a look at emerging markets and systems and the technologies and business issues that affect the payments business.

“The ability to easily and efficiently work with third-party processing partners to build and promote integrated payment solutions is a critical factor for success in the payment processing industry,” said Steve Herlocher, Interactive’s EVP of sales and product strategy. “We are pleased to be involved in ETA’s Strategic Leadership Forum, and to offer technology solutions that help payment processors meet the challenges of today and the future.”

About Interactive Softworks
Interactive Softworks improves the way organizations engage customers by synchronizing critical real-time data with back-end processes and driving individualized customer interactions across multiple communication channels (voice, Web, IVR, chat and social media). Interactive’s solutions represent the next step in Business Process Management (BPM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, enabling smarter and more consistent customer experiences that leverage partner and market-driven opportunities. Today, Interactive Softworks optimizes business performance and delivers successful customer acquisition, loyalty and retention campaigns for innovative Fortune 500 companies. For more information about customer engagement and Interactive Softworks call 703-669-2800.

Interactive Softworks, a provider of customer engagement solutions, announced today that The SCOOTER Store,  the nation’s leading provider of power mobility solutions and services, has successfully implemented the company’s solution to manage its contact center operations. Interactive’s customer engagement solution enables The SCOOTER Store to more efficiently manage the company’s database of 3.5 million sales leads and increase call volumes by six times to more than 14,000 customer calls per day. Additionally, the solution allows The SCOOTER Store to improve agent productivity and campaign effectiveness, ultimately leading to better customer experiences and more customer acquisitions.

Over the last nearly two decades, The SCOOTER Store has significantly expanded its customer base, largely driven by multi-channel direct marketing campaigns and affiliate physician relationships. During this time, the contact center struggled to keep pace with the company’s growth and rapidly changing business demands. Interactive’s contact center software and customer engagement platform, VoiceNet, provides The SCOOTER Store with real-time visibility into contact center performance, including agent activities, campaign delivery and demand-generation, ultimately resulting in better customer experiences and increased acquisitions.

“With Interactive Softworks’ solution, we have combined contact center, outbound calling operations and analytics in a single system,” said Brian Mullaney, senior vice president of the customer contact center at The SCOOTER Store. “Our employee-owners are more productive and the system is easier to maintain. The solution also enables us to respond more quickly and efficiently to people who express a need for our products. This allows us to address each person’s unique needs, resulting in more sales and happier customers.”

The openness of Interactive Softworks’ solution has enabled The SCOOTER Store to integrate their internal systems and data, empowering the business to create and control more than 20 direct marketing campaigns at any one time. Additionally, the flexibility of the system has helped the company adapt to new challenges, such as more stringent quality guidelines and changes in Medicare, as they occur.

Brenton Farmer, CEO and co-founder of Interactive Softworks, said, “The SCOOTER Store is a great example of an organization that is implementing open customer engagement solutions in order to drive effective acquisition campaigns and personalized communications with their customers. The SCOOTER Store continues to lead in this market, and we are pleased to partner with them to help manage future growth, especially as the baby boomers begin to retire this year.”

About The SCOOTER Store

Since 1991, The SCOOTER Store has helped provide freedom and independence to more people with limited mobility than any other company in the nation. The company offers power mobility solutions, including power wheelchairs, scooters, lifts, ramps, and accessories, in 48 states. The company also provides Home Care products and services in some locations. Using these solutions provides today’s seniors an alternative to living in nursing homes or other care facilities. The company’s goal is to create an opportunity for every senior or disabled American to live their entire life safely and confidently at home. The SCOOTER Store was recently recognized by FORTUNE magazine in its prestigious 100 Best Places to Work For in America for the second time. The company is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Health Care.  For more information, visit www.thescooterstore.com.

About Interactive Softworks

Interactive Softworks improves the way organizations engage customers by synchronizing critical real-time data with back-end processes and driving individualized customer interactions across multiple communication channels (voice, Web, IVR, chat and social media). Interactive’s solutions represent the next step in Business Process Management (BPM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, enabling smarter and more consistent customer experiences that leverage partner and market-driven opportunities. Today, Interactive Softworks optimizes business performance and delivers successful customer acquisition, loyalty and retention campaigns for innovative Fortune 500 companies.  For more information, visit contact Interactive Softworks or call 703-669-2800.

Metaphor is a customer engagement solution that enables companies to engage directly with their customers wherever and however they choose. Metaphor empowers business analysts to design, launch and manage customer acquisition, service and retention campaigns, social media initiatives and more. Metaphor resolves the issues associated with integrating and synchronizing large amounts of data across multiple media channels. And, as new communications channels continue to emerge, Metaphor is the only solution that allows the rapid integration of these channels into its networked business system through cost effective adapters.

VoiceNet is a contact center solution that offers comprehensive customer interaction capabilities in a single, open and scalable solution. VoiceNet’s capabilities include: predictive dialing, automated outbound dialing, inbound call management, IVR, agent desktop, agent scripting, call recording, monitoring and reporting. For more than two decades, companies have relied on VoiceNet to deliver bottom line results by cost effectively acquiring more customers and better retaining their existing customers. While many companies struggle to improve contact center performance, VoiceNet users have experienced a significant productivity increase while virtually eliminating unscheduled downtime.

“As customers continue to expect more from their providers, it has become increasingly important for businesses to engage when, where and how the customer chooses,” said Brenton Farmer, CEO and co-founder of Interactive Softworks. “Metaphor and VoiceNet provide organizations with the most powerful customer engagement solutions available, and we’re pleased to once again be recognized by Customer Interaction Solutions for these products.”

“Interactive Softworks was granted a 2010 Product of the Year Award for its achievement in advancing contact center technologies. Metaphor and Voicenet have demonstrated excellence as well as provided ROI for the companies that use them,” said Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC. “Customer Interaction Solutions magazine has been honoring innovative companies for 13 years and Interactive Softworks has earned its place with this distinguished honor.”

The 13th Annual Product of the Year Award winners are featured in the January 2011 issue of Customer Interaction Solutions magazine, www.cismag.com.

For more information about the Customer Interaction Solutions’ 2010 Product of the Year Awards or any of the TMC media properties, please visit www.tmcnet.com.

About Interactive Softworks

Interactive Softworks customer engagement solutions improve the way organizations engage customers by synchronizing critical real-time data with back-end processes and driving individualized customer interactions across multiple communication channels (voice, Web, IVR, chat and social media). Interactive’s solutions represent the next step in Business Process Management (BPM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, enabling smarter and more consistent customer experiences that leverage partner and market-driven opportunities. Today, Interactive Softworks optimizes business performance and delivers successful customer acquisition, loyalty and retention campaigns for innovative Fortune 500 companies. For more information, visit www.interactivesoftworks.com or call 703-669-2800.

About Customer Interaction Solutions

Since 1982, Customer Interaction Solutions (CIS) magazine has been the voice of the call/contact center, CRM and teleservices industries. CIS magazine has helped the industry germinate, grow, mature and prosper, and has served as the leading publication in helping these industries that have had such a positive impact on the world economy to continue to thrive. Through a combination of outstanding and cutting-edge original editorial, industry voices, in-depth lab reviews and the recognition of the innovative leaders in management and technology through our highly valued awards, Customer Interaction Solutions strives to continue to be the publication that holds the quality bar high for the industry. Please visit www.cismag.com for more information. About TMC Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) is a global, integrated media company helping clients build communities in print, in person, and online. TMC publishes Customer Interaction Solutions, INTERNET TELEPHONY, Unified Communications, NGN and InfoTECH Spotlight magazines. TMC is the producer of ITEXPO, the world’s leading B2B communications event. TMCnet.com, which is read by two million unique visitors each month, is the leading source of news and articles for the communications and technology industries. In addition, TMC runs multiple industry events: 4GWE; Smart Grid Summit; M2M Evolution; Cloud Communications Summit; Social CRM Expo; SIP Tutorial; VIPeering; Business Video Expo; CVx; Digium|Asterisk World; StartupCamp; MSPAlliance MSPWorld and more! Visit TMC Events for a complete listing and further information.