The Unity 4 & Rapport Melbourne Cup Event
SYDNEY, Australia, 6th November 2007 on callcentres.net

On Tuesday I dissed my own company's Melbourne Cup lunch which was at the not so posh but still cool Union Hotel in North Sydney, where by co-incidence, and as if they hadn't seen enough of my team already, Avaya were holding their Melbourne Cup celebrations, and I instead headed to the Mint in Macquarie Street, for Danny Turner and the Unity 4 and Rapport team's Melbourne Cup lunch.

 

Paywize takes on RapportCMS!!
SYDNEY, Australia, 8th August 2007

RapportCMS Pty Ltd is delighted to announce the appointment of Paywize as a strategic partner and reseller.

RapportCMS provides a fully managed, network-based suite of contact centre applications that are hosted from state of the art data centres. RapportCMS is a cost-effective way to obtain a complete contact centre solution with minimum start up costs and no expensive capital outlay.

Paywize works closely with clients to ensure awareness of best-practice technologies and technology-services as well as undertaking appropriate investigations and risk assessments.

“The foundation of our success is in the engagement with our clients underpinned by accountability. RapportCMS fits perfectly into our portfolio of offerings. It supports a key direction where businesses are increasingly seeking further value by investing in software as a service (SaaS).” comments Andrew Olsen, Managing Director of Paywize.

“We are always on the lookout for visionary partners who can develop strong relationships within local markets. In particular, we look for organisation who can provide customers with reliable, high quality service and who can demonstrate their in depth knowledge and experience with today's leading Software as a Service and Home Based agent delivery methods to the Call Centre Industry.

We are delighted to have Paywize as a partner and look forward to a long and successful relationship.” says Steve Sparkes, RapportCMS Director of Strategic Alliances and Channels.

Paywize is directed by Andrew Olsen and has been focused on the sourcing and delivery of best practice technologies and related services to the corporate and government community within the Australia/New Zealand region for the last 11 years.

For more information please contact: Andrew Olsen on 0407 265736 andrew@paywize.com.au Suite 3, 117 Curlewis Street Bondi, NSW Australia

RapportCMS Pty Ltd is the Technology Division of the Unity4 Group charged with developing, delivering and maintaining the very highest quality state of the art technology platform that underpins and enhances the performance of the people and processes within the home agent contact centre environment.

The RapportCMS product suite, fully developed and supported in Australia has evolved constantly over the past 6 years.

For more information please contact: Steve Sparkes on 02 9699 8279 steve@rapportcms.com Level 2, 410 Crown Street, Surrey Hills, NSW, Australia

 

Home Agent Call Centre - Business Development Manager appointed to manage rapid growth
SYDNEY, Australia, 2nd August 2007 on callcentres.net

Unity4 Pty Ltd has appointed David Huggan to the role of Business Development Manger to assist in the rapid growth of the home agent call centre provider and will specialize in the IT&T sector.

“I am excited about this fantastic opportunity: Unity4's home based agent call centre operations, with people working from homes right across Australia, is an amazing business. Unity4 pioneered this exciting business in Australia and is the only organization worldwide to be ISO 9000:2001 accredited for contact centre services through the use of home based agents.&rldquo; comments David.

“We are growing at a rapid pace as more and more clients realize that home based agent call centers are a viable and practical option. Unity4 enables a real work from home option for employees looking for a life/work balance and provide organizations with a cost effective alternative to offshoreing call centre work.” says Daniel Turner, Managing Director.

“When we first launched the Unity4 brand in 2000 many industry commentators thought we were mad, as did our competitors. Now we are leading an ever growing group of call centers using home agents: Imitation is the best form of flattery!”

Unity4 is the largest and oldest specialist remote call centre operator in Australia and has developed both its ISO accredited management system (u4rms) and technology platform (RapportCMS) in house.

Unity4 now offers its technology platform as Software as a Service, under the RapportCMS brand. More information can be found at www.rapportcms.com and www.unity4.com.au

For Further information please contact: Daniel Turner on 02 9699 8279 dan@unity4.com or David Huggan on 02 9699 8279 david@unity4.com

 

Leading Call Centre Welcomes Do Not Call Legislation
SYDNEY, Australia, 7th May 2007 on callcentres.net

A leading Australian call centre operator has welcomed the Federal Government's Do Not Call legislation and called for the Government to back it with sufficient resources to discourage companies from abuses.

Dan Turner, Managing Director of the Unity4 Group, a 220-strong team of call centre professionals, said the legislation is fantastic news for an industry that has gained a poor reputation with consumers and is plagued by unscrupulous operators.

“No reputable call centre has anything to fear from the legislation, however its effectiveness will be limited by the long list of exclusions, poor recognition of emerging technologies and the difficulty of enforcing it internationally,” said Mr Turner.

“I absolutely support the right of individuals to opt out from receiving unsolicited calls that have no interest for them. Not only will this legislation give those who choose to join the Do Not Call Register greater peace of mind about who may contact them for telemarketing purposes, but it will make life easier for call centre operators by allowing us to focus on more receptive customers,” he said.

“The challenge we face is that a large proportion of cold calls currently being made to individuals are from organisations that will be exempted by the DNC legislation, such as religious bodies, political parties and government agencies, educational institutions, charities and researchers. I full support the exemptions but the government need to ensure that the expectations of the community are managed”

“If the new legislation forces disreputable organisations to mend their ways, so much the better. However I suspect a more likely outcome is that they will simply go offshore, effectively circumventing the ability of Australian authorities to enforce the guidelines.”

Mr Turner called on the Australian Government to ensure it provided adequate resources to enable authorities to identify and prosecute companies that violate the DNC Register.

“The US Government has over 62 million numbers on its Do Not Call Registry, and an impressive record of catching and fining offenders - in some cases - millions of dollars. We must ensure that the Australian version is not simply lip service, but becomes an effective mechanism to protect personal privacy,” he said.

 

On Demand Call Centre provider RapportCMS appoints Channels and Strategic Alliances Director to drive growth in SaaS
SYDNEY, Australia, 7th May 2007 on callcentres.net

RapportCMS Pty Ltd, the technology arm of the Unity4 group of companies, is happy to announce that Steve Sparkes will be joining the RapportCMS team as Director Channels and Strategic Alliances.

After staring his career in the Royal Australian Navy specializing in Electronic Communications, Steve has held a variety of senior positions in the IT industry including Hitachi Data Systems A/P Director of Technical Support, General Manager Network Integration at Techway, ANZ Vice President of Global Infrastructure Services at CSC, Managing Director of Security Mail and most recently, Managing Director of UCMS Solutions.

“It is a pleasure to welcome Steve Sparkes to the team, RapportCMS is growing rapidly and Steve will be key member of our management group,” says Daniel Turner, Group Managing Director.

Steve comments: “RapportCMS offers a very exciting opportunity to grow and develop an Australian business that offers a unique product suite that can be used by new and existing call centre operations in a simple and cost effective manner. I am particularly excited that the product has been developed in Australia and has been specifically designed to allow agents to work from home, an obvious advantage to many groups in our society including the disabled and others who have difficulties with issues such as childcare or travel arrangements.”

The RapportCMS product suite with be distributed through a small, select group of resellers and my immediate focus is to establish this network in Australia and New Zealand.

RapportCMS is business centric, call centre technology at its very best and we believe that “Contact Centre on Demand (CCOD or Hosted Contact Centers)” will enjoy a significant place in the future of the profession.

RapportCMS leads the way in advanced multi-tenant systems with user driven functionality. Call Centres are as much about business process, information sharing and capture as technology. RapportCMS provides advanced technical capabilities in a fully hosted environment thus leaving our customers free to focus on people and processes and unlocking the human capital within your organization.

Further information please contact: Daniel Turner or Steve Sparkes on (02) 9699 8279 dan@unity4.com or steve@rapportcms.com

 

On Demand Call Centre provider RapportCMS appoints Business Development Manager to drive growth in SaaS.
SYDNEY, Australia, 15th March 2007 on callcentres.net

RapportCMS Pty Ltd, the technology arm of the Unity4 group of companies, is happy to announce that one of Australia’s leading contact centre technology specialists Craig Boorman will be joining the RapportCMS Pty Ltd team as Director of Business Development.

Since first joining Vodafone Australia in 1994, Craig has been active in the contact centre industry. Working within Vodafone, he evolved existing technologies and sought new solutions to deliver the required business outcomes.

After Vodafone, Craig joined Damovo (now Telstra Business Systems) as part of the large scale solution implementations team, initially as a Solution Consultant before taking on an Account Executive role.

Most recently as Regional Sales Manager for UCMS Solutions, Craig sold a variety of leading edge technology solutions to some of Australia largest companies. Craig's experience as a user as well as supplier of highly complex, technology based systems, allows him a unique insight into the needs of our customers.

“Craig brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to our team and will be instrumental in driving our growth over the coming years,” says Daniel Turner, Group Managing Director.

Craig comments: “RapportCMS offers all functionality currently being used by the most advanced call centres whilst providing a significant cost advantage over existing options. And Significantly, it is designed to be operated and administered by business people rather then IT professionals.”

RapportCMS is business centric, call centre technology at its very best and we believe that ”On Demand Hosted Call Centers” will enjoy a significant place in the future of the profession.

RapportCMS leads the way in advanced multi-tenant systems with user driven functionality. Call Centres are as much about business process, information sharing and capture as technology. RapportCMS provides advanced technical capabilities in a fully hosted environment thus leaving our customers free to focus on people and processes and unlocking the human capital within your organization.

This is the first of a number of key executive positions RapportCMS will be announcing over the coming months.

Further information please contact: Daniel Turner or Craig Boorman on (02) 9699 8279 dan@unity4.com or craig@rapportcms.com