The Plantronics EncorePro 500 Series is designed for customer service centers and offices and promises greater comfort for all-day wearing, superior noise-canceling for clearer calls, and increased reliability to help manage costs.
The noise-canceling technology in the EncorePro 500 Series ensures more focused and private calls, so conversations will be heard clearly with fewer misunderstood words and with reduced background noise from keyboards and close talkers.
Plantronics also announced next-generation DA Series USB digital audio processors for their headsets that deliver a more complete audio experience by providing context for every call.
The new Plantronics customer service solutions aim to help organisations improve metrics, attract and retain Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) and create a better customer experience.
The series includes the following models (all models support wideband audio):
- EncorePro 510/520 (dedicated over-the-head): US$88-126
- EncorePro 530 (over-the-ear): US$110
- EncorePro 540 (convertible): US$120
The EncorePro 540 has simple design yet offer high-performance audio regardless of the preferred wearing style.
Availability
The new EncorePro 540 (convertible) and Encore 530 (over-the-ear) models are immediately available.
EncorePro 510/520 (dedicated over-the-head monaural and binaural models) will be available in both noise-canceling and voice tube versions in December.
The DA-80 USB Digital Audio Processor will ship in December with additional models following a short-time later.
Visit the Plantronics website here for more information and pricing.
The new Plantronics digital audio processors are designed to connect Plantronics quick disconnect headsets to computers through a USB port.
Some incorporate user controls like the ability to answer a call, mute the call and adjust volume.
All support Noise @ Work, based on Plantronics SoundGuard® digital technology, not only protects CSRs from sounds above 118 dBA, but anti-startle protection detects and eliminates any sudden increases in sound level.
The Time Weighted Average (TWA) measurement manages average daily sound exposure for CSRs.
Key characteristics of the new Plantronics Customer Service Solutions include:
- Cutting-Edge Design – new, stylish, and ergonomic design.
- Custom Noise Canceling Microphones – noise-canceling microphone; and flexible boom with positioning guides.
- Superb Audio – wideband audio with SoundGuard technology
- Comfort and Convenience – adjustable fit with all-day comfort and Quick Disconnect feature provides walkaway convenience.
- Robust and Reliable – proprietary material and construction for greater robustness.
- Integration with Softphones – Plantronics technology captures and reports key call events.
- Call Control – easy, fingertip access to call functions (Plantronics DA-80, DA-90 only).
- Noise @ Work and antistartle, G616 Compliance – help achieve compliance with legislated regulations to protect your CSRs.
- Firmware Updates – firmware updates that aid in inventory management through Plantronics Hub, and in early 2015 through Plantronics Manager Pro.
- Service – global service and support from Plantronics.
More details from the press release below.
Smart phones and self-service have shifted the balance of power in the customer service center.
“This launch covers everyone – usability and personal comfort for the agent, agent monitoring of events, ordering, budgeting, and inventory tracking for the supervisor. Particularly intriguing is the enablement of event tracking for things such as agent status when the headset is disconnected allowing for actions to occur such as screen locking,” said Nancy Jamison, Principal Analyst in Customer Contact, Frost & Sullivan.
When a customer reaches a CSR, he/she has likely already attempted self-service and has already collated much more information than the agent.
In these situations, customers want to reach someone immediately who is able to resolve the issue quickly.
Customers consider their call an escalation putting extraordinary pressure on the agent to perform, even while the customer is likely in a mobile environment with questionable audio quality, making it difficult for the agent to comprehend details of the problem that the customer is describing.
Furthermore, businesses are using over-the-phone routes for complex, high-value transactions.
In these situations, center managers need to ensure that every call sounds high-quality and customers don’t overhear other callers’ confidential information.
Comprehensive solutions for customer service superheroes
With customer expectations rising, the CSR needs to effectively communicate with the customer to solve their problems.
“We are building on the world’s most successful professional grade headset, the SupraPlus, and this is a challenge we did not take lightly. Our deep understanding of the new business needs and role of Customer Service, and the availability of new materials, design philosophies, manufacturing techniques and core technologies resulted in a new portfolio that is not only state-of-the-art by today’s standards, but also future-proofed to adapt as the landscape changes,” said Bill Loewenthal, vice president, Enterprise Communications Solutions, Plantronics.
The Plantronics EncorePro 500 Series was built with the CSR in mind.
It features a forward-looking, professional grade industrial design that uses new materials and technologies that yield an ergonomic fit that is extraordinarily durable, lightweight, and comfortable for all-day wearing.
With fewer reasons to remove the headset throughout the day, CSRs are ready for each call, with the boom being in the right place for a better customer conversation.
These new devices are smart. All are supported by Plantronics Hub, and contain firmware that can generate notifications based on hardware state changes.
Some models can also generate notifications based on acoustic events or other telemetry that is important to the service center, but has been previously unavailable.
For example, the Plantronics DA-90 will offer acoustic event logging so that customers can be compliant with initiatives like Australia’s G.616 recommendation.
These events are exposed through API’s within the Plantronics Spokes suite of software solutions.
Create a Better Customer Experience
The combination of the Plantronics EncorePro 500 Series, Plantronics digital audio adapters, and Plantronics Hub means that events and metrics occurring during the interaction with the customer are actionable.
“It’s no longer just about a first-class audio experience. With our new portfolio, organisations will immediately see the value that we bring by providing equipment and intelligence which enable operations to be more effective, and create a positive experience for both the CSR and the customer,” added Loewenthal.
They are exposed in real-time through the API and made available through an SDK to call routing systems and third party applications.
This makes possible new efficiencies in a range of areas, such as automation of agent status updates, screen-locking for security when a headset is disconnected, dashboard management of headset inventory and warranty status, tracking of agent use of physical call controls and supervisor alerts to conversational conflict between agent and caller.
Alliance partner integrations with vendors such as Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, Aspect, Avaya, Cisco, Genesys, Interactive Intelligence and additional third-party software application vendors are expected to enter market during 2015.
Tags: call centers, EncorePro, EncrorePro 500, headsets, Plantronics
This entry was posted on Friday, October 3rd, 2014 at 9:13 am and is filed under Accessories, Audio, Business IT, Gadgets, gadgets, headphones, Launch, newArrivals, Plantronics, Specifications. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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