Unlock Your Call Centre is finally available to buy but wait until Wednesday or Thursday before you do (see below). After 12 months of work, I am finally in the last mile. Unlike my ultramarathon experiences, it's not just a case of putting one foot in front of the other as this week can make or break all of that previous effort, so it's going to be a very long and hard week. I'm going to update this page throughout the week to keep you updated with what's happening and the progress I'm making towards getting the word out there and spending at least some time on Amazon's bestseller lists.
This week is really important as it will provide the platform on which I will continue to market Unlock Your Call Centre as the primary tool in my mission to eliminate frustrating, time-consuming and pointless securitySecurity is one of three key measures of Call Centre Security process performance. It is usually expressed as the likelihood that the process allows someone who isn't who they claim to be to access the service (False Accept). processes from all call centres. The added credibility which comes from having that bestseller label will put the book into far more people's hands, and if only a handful of those people do something with it, then it will be worth the effort.
What is happening this week?
Monday
- My Customer - My Customer is publishing Chapter 3 of the book on their website. You can get Chapter 1 free from my website already, so you can already read 13% of the book without paying anything.
- About Me Update - It was time for a new look and to stop hiding behind the rock of corporate speak. I've updated my about page to be more honest about what I'm trying to achieve, how I'm doing it and what it's like to work with me. Let me know what you think.
- Book Reviews - Some advance copy readers have been really kind in their comments on Amazon and elsewhere, so I've updated the Unlock Your Call Centre landing page (link) with their reviews.
- Security Path Visualisation - The key tool in Unlock Your Call Centre is the Security Path Visualisation. It's been developed over the last five years with help and feedback from clients to help cut through and communicate how your existing security process is performing. When you use the advanced mode, you can also see the opportunity cost of your security process. I released the tool last week but have made a few updates for ease of use. You'll need to complete the visualisation process first, and then you can play with the assumptions for Voice BiometricsVoice Biometrics uses the unique properties of a speakers voice to confirm their identity (authentication) or identify them from a group of known speakers (identification). in the IVR and with Agents to understand the impact on your call centre.
- Voice Biometrics Modeller - By popular demand, you can now see the impact of Voice Biometrics on your call centre security processes as an overlay on the Security Path Visualisation. This is so unbelievably helpful I can't believe I didn't do it sooner. You'll need to complete the visualisation process first, and then you can play with the assumptions for Voice Biometrics in the IVR and with Agents to understand the impact on your call centre.
- Network AuthenticationAuthentication is the call centre security process step in which a user's identity is confirmed. We check they are who they claim to be. It requires the use of one or more authentication factors. Modeller - For the first time, this tool now allows you to see the impact of Network Authentication on your call centre security processes as an overlay on the Security Path Visualisation. You'll need to complete the visualisation process first, and then you can play with the assumptions for Network Authentication to understand the impact on your call centre.
Tuesday
- Get Out of Wrap Podcast - Martin Teasdale is as passionate about improving call centre performance as I am, so it was a delight to chat with him about the book, the reasons for writing it and my mission to remove frustrating questions. You can listen on Apple Podcasts (link to follow) or watch on YouTube (link to follow)
Wednesday
- Amazon - The Kindle Edition of the book will be available for 99p / 99c from 1am until 11pm on Thursday, so now is the time to buy.
- VUX World Podcast - I'll be joining Kane Simms live on LinkedIn and YouTube at 9am Pacific, 12pm Eastern, 5 pm UK and 6 pm Europe for a fireside cha to discuss why Voice AI solutions need robust identificationIdentification is call centre security process step in which an individual record is found in the organisation's systems of record. In this step users claim an Identity. and authentication processes. Knowledge-based authentication makes voice user interfaces hard to use and results in significant dropout. We'll be talking about how Voice Biometrics and Network Authentication can help and the current state of the market for these technologies.
Thursday
- Amazon - The Kindle Edition is still available for just 99p / 99c until 11pm.
- Opus Research Webinar - I'll be joining Dan Miller, and my friends from Opus Research live at 9am Pacific, 12pm Eastern, 5 pm UK and 6 pm Europe for a fireside chat. We'll discuss the Unlock Your Call Centre journey and how you can use the book to understand and improve your own call centre security processes.
- Bestseller Update - I'll constantly be hitting refresh to see if we hit the bestseller spot.
Friday
- Planning the next steps - I've already got more podcasts, tools and presentations lined up, but I'll be reflecting on the progress I make this week to plan how best to continue to remove frustrating, time-consuming and pointless security processes from the call centre.
What can you do to help?
There are a few things you can do to help me. If you only do one of these things, I (and those you help) will be eternally grateful:
- Buy the book! - Buy the Kindle edition on Wednesday and Thursday to give me the best chance of achieving bestseller status in at least one category on Amazon.
- Help someone you know - If you know someone who runs a call centre, contact centre or customer experience function, then tell them about the book and point them to unlockyourcallcentre.com or just send the link to the Kindle Edition so they can buy it for 99p/99c.
- Spread the news - If you see a post from me on LinkedIn or from any of my supporters on social media, then please like and share
- Tell me what you think - When you buy the book, let me know what you think (good and bad) via the reviews feature on Amazon.