Site Features

 
What's here for members    


What is ReaderBoards.com Anyway?

We are committed to becoming a premier, free resource for those in the call center industry. Our focus includes outbound and inbound call centers, telemarketing, support issues relevant to the industry (such as data networking), and any other issue that people responsible for call center operations might be concerned with. For example, readerboard systems.

Our excellent News In Queue™ news service will keep you one step ahead of call center related industries and technologies. It is constantly updated and made available to you in our own feed, or through syndicators. This news service has no quotas based on time periods, so it reports only the most relevant industry news without filler stories during slow news periods. News In Queue (NIQ) aggressively seeks out technology related news for you, even reporting on pending patents, before they are issued. Members also have access to an extensive searchable archive of over three years of NIQ's call center related stories.

Our privacy policy at ReaderBoards can be summed up in one word: "Respect". Joining requires as little as a login name, password, and valid email address. If you choose to provide more, you can be sure the personal information you provide remains yours to do with as you please. As long as you choose to keep it with us, it will not be traded or sold unless we first get your permission to do so.

Read our FAQ for more information.


  • Committed to building a community of kindred call center industry workers.

  • Stay one step ahead of tomorrow. Hear about technology and offerings that will only just be starting to effect your industry months from now with our News In Queue™ news service. Or learn what to expect by understanding what has already happened, with member-access to over three years of NIQ(tm) stories.

  • Discussion boards and chat areas available 24/7 with attachable documents and files.

  • A list of outsourced call centers (service bureaus) categorized by geographic region (over 140 and counting).

  • Members may produce their own web pages that are visible to the entire web or to members only.

  • Personal file areas for sharing documents and web-pages with the entire web or members only.

  • The site is completely free, and will remain that way!

  • A list of (currently over 350) categorized industry links are added, rated, and reviewed by members.

  • Members may add, rate, and review books and call center products as well

  • Other resources include, statistics, downloads, white papers , etc.

  • A member-directory with a fully formattable comment area (including tables and images). The member directory lists only the personal information you choose to share. A safe mail option lets others contact you without your email address being published on the web.

  • Members are able to set up their own opinion polls and get results immediately.

  • Consultants and members are able to set up their own private discussion boards and chat areas to support clients and private groups.

  • Members control their own information! It is never sold or traded without explicit permission. Members are always welcome to delete their personal information completely.

  • Easy registration, A login name, password and valid email acount is all that is needed to gain instant membership.



So what exactly is a Readerboard system?

The phrase "Readerboards" was coined by the call center industry to refer to large wall-hanging displays used to convey information about the current "state" of the call center to agents. About ten years ago, Call Centers started placing large signboards on their walls. These were the LED "dot matrix" displays that you sometimes see in store windows to give a dynamic, "moving words" message about specials or events.

Over time, these displays have come to be known in the industry as "Readerboards". The term has become so generic within the industry that a column about current events in one of the Call Center trade magazines is titled "The Readerboard".

In Call Centers, these signs are used to display information about the calls coming in to the center. For example, the average number of seconds it takes to answer a call over a given period of time may be displayed. They also may display critical real time data to the agents about the number of customers waiting in queue for an agent to take their call and the age (in seconds) of the oldest call waiting.

The software includes the ability to monitor each statistic and automatically change messages or display colors when those statistics cross a boundary. For example, the number of calls waiting in queue to talk to an agent can be made to change color from green to red, or flash if the it exceeds three. Likewise, a number crossing a critical threshold can trigger a scrolling "Times Square" style message to be displayed. This might for example be used to inform agents in the break room to help out on the phones.






Background & History

Readerboards.com was originally started by software designer John Repici as part of a software development project. It is now committed to becoming a support site for the community of professionals who work within or support the call center industry.

Web navigators; don't forget the 's' on the end of the word readerboards.

 





  © Copyright 2001 - 2003, D. John Repici

Updated Friday, 31-Jan-2003



splash page