First Contact: Stories of the Call Center

Enabling the Contact Center of the Future with Real-Time Analytics: Marc Bernstein

As the youngest guest we've had on the podcast so far, Marc Bernstein comes into the discussion with Christian with appropriately fresh and exciting ideas. He's the CEO of Balto, a company that's basically synonymous with bleeding edge tech. Launched 3 years ago, they now present themselves to the contact center world as the no. 1 real time guidance for contact centers. In this episode, he explains to us what his team is bringing new to the table, why and how they've already shifted the entire space, and how they plan to evolve beyond that. This is First Contact, Stories of the Call Center, season 2 episode 6 with Marc Bernstein.

CCaaS and The Challenges of Cloud Migration: Frank Wassenbergh

This month on First Contact, we're talking to a prodigy of call center migration, with many successful operations under his belt and a wealth of fascinating cross-industry experiences. Frank Wassenbergh is the CCaaS Practice Leader and Managing Partner of Cloudlinx, a CCaaS Advisory group dedicated to securing effective and well-though-out migrations for their clients. In this recording, Christian & Frank hit it off speaking about the intricacies of contact center systems, their shared sales experiences, and more. This is First Contact, Stories of the Call Center, season 2 episode 5 with Frank Wassenbergh.

The Contact Center Tech Shift During the Pandemic: Fred Stacey

How has the contact center world weathered the covid storm from a tech standpoint? For insights on this topic, this month we're joined by Fred Stacey - an expert in contact centers, CCaaS, consultancy, and contact center outsourcing.  As the Co-Founder and General Manager of Cloud Call Center Search, a company that specializes in guiding clients to select the best call center solutions for their needs., Fred has a unique perspective on the entire world of all centers. He joins us now to talk about how it all started, and how it went throughout his 25 years of experience in the biz. This is First Contact: Stories of the Call Center, season 2 episode 4 with Fred Stacey.

Customer Memories and The True Value of CX: Colin Shaw

This episode we had an absolutely brilliant talk with the most influential person in CX over the past 10 years or more: none other than Colin Shaw. We talked to Colin about his many achievements: from his many books to being named in the top 150 LinkedIn influencers, to his company Beyond Philosophy being named Leading Consultancy by Financial Times 3 years in a row. Christian was on fire this episode and the discussion covered extensive topics such as AI, The Aha Moment, and customer memories (Colin's favorite topic). Listen to Colin Shaw's fascinating story about a milkman to hear how it relates to CX. This is First Contact, Season 2 Episode 4 with Colin Shaw.

The Unexpected Journey of a Serial Entrepreneur: Gary Pudles

One type of entrepreneur we've never featured on or show, but which is very common within the contact center space, is the serial entrepreneur. Gary Pudles, CEO of AnswerNet, has spent a lifetime taking businesses from the rocky contact center path towards the streamlined road to success. Gary's been around the block a few times and many regard him as the topmost authority within the acquisition space. With a fascinating story about his most troubling & complex mergers, Gary explains to Christian what it means to integrate culture within an organization and do it successfully! This is Episode 2 of Season 2 of First Contact, Stories of the Call Center.

A Lifetime of Lessons Learned: Steve Bederman

Welcome to Season 2! As for our first season, we begin with Steve Bederman, CEO of NobelBiz and Executive Producer of the show you're listening to. He joins Christian Montes to talk about the first season, what his expectations were and how they were surpassed. He also has a few surprises for fans of his writing - so be sure to listen closely for hints about his future endeavors. Above all, the discussion flows around the pandemic and how it affected everything - Steve is hopeful that the bridge we are building together at NobelBiz will get us to where we need to go in the end. And so you should be too! Join us for exciting new horizons with Episode 1 of Season 2 of First Contact, Stories of the Call Center.

Christmas Special - Happy Holidays from NobelBiz

A short Holiday message from the team at NobelBiz + some fun bloopers and collage featuring the best moments of the first season of First Contact - Stories of the Call Center! Happy Holidays!

Exploring the Magic of Amazing Customer Service: Shep Hyken

For our season finale here at First Contact, we welcome customer service and support expert extraordinaire - Shep Hyken. A true magician of the contact center space, Shep's been at it for over 40 years and has accumulated a wealth of knowledge. He's got his own TV Show - Be Amazing or Go Home - and he's a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, with countless books already published. Get excited an amazingly funny & extremely entertaining expert of the support and experience world. This is First Contact: Stories of the Call Center, Episode 10 of Season 1.

Bonus Recording: Steve on CX Superheroes with Christopher Brooks

Last week, Steve had a talk with Christopher Brooks of the Customer Experience Superheroes podcast. The discussion covered a wide array of topics from technology adoption during the pandemic, to how businesses have adapted to service new modes of communication, to how the millennial group views communication, and to how Steve believes the world is built on a consumer-based approach to relations. All extremely fun - so let's listen in!

Exploring Human Voice and Simulation Training: Nancy Munro

Nancy Munro is a true pioneer of the contact center world. She has revolutionized the space with simulation training solutions that kickstart agent productivity and help them get that deer-in-the-headlights moment that many of them simply need before they start taking real calls with real people. The virtual, remote call center is here, and Nancy's products are essential for adaptability in this new work environment. Dive into our discussion on speech analytics and emotion analytics in First Contact: Stories of the Call Center, Episode 9 of Season 1.