Inflection

• Natural intonation and musical quality of the voice that helps project personality and maintain caller interest.

KPI

• An acronym for Key Performance Indicators, which are metrics or items that are most critical to the success of an operation. The standard KPIs that are common across all Arise client programs include: Commitment Adherence Ratio (CA), After Call Work (AUX), Ring No Answer (RNA), and Hourly Commitment – see specific definitions of each items noted.

LAN

• An acronym for Local Area Network; a computer network that connects computers and devices in a limited geographical area such as home, school, computer laboratory or office building.

LMI

• An acronym for Log Me In; remote control desktop tool used by Arise Service Desk to assist Independent Businesses and their Client Support Professionals in resolving technical issues.

Logged On

• Signing on to a system (making your presence known) – at this time you may or may not be ready to receive calls.

MSA

• An acronym for Master Services Agreement or the binding legal document that outlines the general terms and conditions governing the business relationship between Arise and an Independent Business.

Network Status News

• Messages displayed on the Arise Portal that advises an Independent Business of possible technical problems and suggested or required corrective action(s) to take.

Non-posted hours

• Hours serviced by an Independent Business and its Agents that were not posted in Starmatic, also known as Pirated Hours.

Occupancy

• Also referred to as Utilization. The percentage of time a call taker handles calls versus waiting for calls to arrive. For a half-hour, the calculation is: (call volume x average handling time in seconds) / (number of call takers x 1800 seconds). Also see Schedule Adherence.

On Line Support

• Real time on-line technical support facilitated by the Arise Service Desk communicated via chat or e-mail. To access the Arise Service Desk go to the Arise Portal, select SUPPORT, then SUPPORT DESK, at this point you have the option to submit a Non-Urgent Ticket, or to enter Live Support.

Opportunity Announcement

• A document that provides the specific details of a new project opportunity including certification course details and cost, service hours, SOW commitments and all other requirements and details.

Outsourcing

• Contracting some or all services to an outside third party.

Overflow

• Calls that exceed the number of calls able to be answered by the available call takers during that particular period.

Overstaffed

• When there are too many call takers available to take the calls that are in queue.

Partner Support

• This department handles questions and concerns via chat regarding a variety of items including, invoices, schedules, performance and ideas.

PCI

• Payment Card Industry

Performance Facilitator (PF)

• An individual who is an employee of an Independent business that assists other Independent Businesses and their Client Support Professionals to work more effectively by providing guidance, direction and tips on an as requested basis.

Performance Metrics

• Specific objectives contained in the MSA and/or SOW that are measured to determine the performance of an Independent Business for a particular client program. Meeting the Performance Metrics is a contractual obligation of the Independent Business. Performance Metrics include, but are not limited to, serviced minutes, commitment adherence, release ratio, schedule adherence and quality assurance scores.

Pirated Hours

• Hours serviced that were not posted in Starmatic®, also known as Non-posted Hours.

Pirating

• The action of an Independent Business Owner or Client Support Professional of logging in to the Arise system when the Independent Business is not scheduled to service or staying logged in after the scheduled interval has ended.

The Portal

• The common web portal for the Independent Business Owners and their Client Support Professionals that provides access to StarMatic® tools, Opportunities, User Profile, HUB, News, etc.

POTS

• An acronym for Plain Old Telephone Service

Pre-Select

• Hours available for posting in advance of the general population release time. An Independent Business and its Client Support Professionals are given access to Pre-Select based on their key metrics service level score pursuant to the applicable SOW.

Priority Commitment

• The number of hours required in the SOW. For example, if the SOW requires 15 hours of service during the week, with 4 of the 15 hours being serviced on Saturday and/or Sunday, that is referred to as the Priority Commitment.

Priority Metrics

• A metric in the SOW that is weighted more heavily than the others.

Profile

• The contact information for every Independent Business, as well as their Client Support Professionals, within the Arise database. The profile should be updated by the Independent Business Owner or Client Support Professional on the Arise Portal whenever contact information changes.

Quality

• The level of service provided by the Independent Business.

Queue

• Callers holding or waiting for the next available call taker.

RNA

• An acronym for Ring No Answer, which occurs if a call is not answered by the third ring or if the phone is not hung up as soon as the caller hangs up and it generates a busy signal.

RTA

• An acronym for Real-Time Adherence or the measurement of how closely an Independent Business and its Client Support Professionals adhere to their work schedule.

Schedule Adherence

• A general term that refers to how well an Independent Business and its Client Support Professionals adhere to the posted schedule. It can include time available to take calls, time spent on taking calls and time spent waiting for calls to arrive.

Seasonal Fluctuation

• Changes in call volume according to a yearly cycle.

Service Desk

• The internal Arise group that provides technical and Arise specific assistance to the Independent Businesses and their Client Support Professionals 24/7 via Online or Live Support.

Service Opportunities

• Written posted notification to the Independent Businesses of upcoming servicing projects and planned client program classes and. Service Opportunities are found on the Arise Portal.

Service Recovery

• When a service representative handles an angry or difficult customer then turns the exchange around resulting in a happy and satisfied customer.

Skills Enhancements

• Increase or improve knowledge and performance related to servicing a specific client program.

SLA

• An acronym for Service Level Agreement or part of a service contract where the level of service is formally defined.

Standards

• Measurable performance indicators, including overall quality rating, schedule adherence, conversion rate (sales), etc.

StarMatic®

• Arise’s proprietary software for client posting and hours scheduling. – see QuickPost

SOW

• An acronym for Statement of Work. This is an agreement between Arise and the Independent Business that outlines the program specific contractual servicing obligations and includes but is not limited to performance expectations, hours of service, service level metrics and service fee rates.

Status or Call Status

• The mode of the call. Status includes: engaged, after-call work, unavailable, etc.

STAR Program

• The Star Program standardizes performance measurement processes by using an easy-to-understand rating system and scorecard, tied to key metrics on each Client program. Under this program, Independent Business Owners and their Client Support Professionals will be awarded Stars (0-3) based on their level of performance of these metrics.

Talk Time

• The time spent with a caller during a transaction. Includes everything from “hello” to “goodbye.” Refer to Average Talk Time (ATT).

Technical Support

• This department assists Independent Business Owners and their Agents with questions and issues related to doing business with Arise, including connectivity, Avaya, SDE, password resets and urgent technical situations impacting their ability to service.

Time Management

• The art of arranging, organizing, scheduling and budgeting one’s time for the purpose of generating more effective work and productivity.

Tone

• Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish words. Intonation is used to express emphasis, contrast, emotion or other nuances.

Total No-Show Minutes

• The total number of minutes an Independent Business and its Client Support Professionals committed to servicing by posting hours in Starmatic® but those hours were not serviced.

Total Release Ratio

• The total number of released minutes divided by the total posted minutes.

Unavailable

• Service status used to identify that an Independent Business and its Client Support Professional is not ready to handle an incoming telephone call. This metric is tightly managed to improve service.

Understaffed

• When there are not enough call takers available to take the calls in queue and meet service levels.

Urgent Service

• Urgent service is a request from an Arise client for additional assistance answering calls and a great opportunity for Independent Businesses to make additional money by posting for additional intervals.

Utilization

• Utilization rate, also referred to as Occupancy, is handle time (talk time + after call work time) divided by time signed into a queue. (See Occupancy)

UTP

• An acronym for Undisputed Top Performance®. This term describes the ability of Arise to facilitate the delivery of results that are above and beyond our competitor’s or even a client’s own internal team.

VCMS

• An acronym for Virtual Contact Management System. This system is a browser-based Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) developed by Telephony@Work.

Virtual Call Center

• A distributed call center that acts as a single site for facilitating call handling by remote independent call-taking businesses.

Voice Assessment

• The Voice Assessment is a free and fast, three minute exam evaluation, conducted over the telephone that measures an Arise Service Partner/Agents vocal quality, and his or her ability to interact with customers over the phone.

VoIP

• An acronym for Voice over Internet Protocol or a general term for a family of transmission technologies for delivery of voice communications over IP networks such as the Internet or other packet-switched networks.

VPN

• An acronym for Virtual Private Network or a computer network in which some of the links between nodes are carried by open connections or virtual circuits in some larger networks (such as the Internet), as opposed to running across a single private network.

Workstation

• The equipment provided by an Independent Business that is used by Arise Service Partner’s and Agents to service client programs; includes computer, headset, telephone, back-up Universal Power Supply, etc.

Wrap-Up

• This work is necessitated by and immediately follows an inbound call transaction. Often includes entering data, filling in forms and making outbound calls as necessary to complete the caller’s transaction. This metric is tightly controlled to ensure proper service levels. (See ACW).