Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

Call Center & CRM Solutions Las Vegas 2003

SANTA ANA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 2003

As a result of challenging economic conditions, customer contact center executives are clearly under more pressure than ever to improve customer service and retention without increasing expenses.

Precisely because customers expect and demand high levels of service regardless of economic circumstance, customer contact centers are at the epicenter of a growing business trend to go "back to the basics".

Amid the turmoil, thousands of call center executives are preparing for the 13th Annual Call Center Conference and Exposition featuring the 1st Annual Sales, Marketing & Enterprise Customer Management Conference, Feb. 10-13, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. They will examine the technologies, solutions and strategies that will be used to carry the customer-care industry forward toward economic stability and positive growth. (http://vegas.iccm.com)

"The technology tools and management strategies of the 1990s are clearly not appropriate for today's market," said conference organizers. "Human resource management, technology management and operational management have never been more complex or challenging."

Members of the media are invited to attend the industry's first annual call center conference and trade show. Registration is free at http://vegas.iccm.com/press.

Highlights of the 2003 Call Center Conference and Exposition featuring the 1st Annual Sales, Marketing & Enterprise Customer Management Conference

Call Center Conference and EXPO (Feb. 10-13)

More than 30 technical and management workshops and sessions presented by end users, analysts, consultants and vendors. More than 100 vendors exhibiting new products and call center solutions.

Sales, Marketing & Enterprise Customer Management Conference (Feb. 11-12)

Specifically targeted for sales and marketing executives, this Conference focuses on integrating sales and marketing initiatives with the customer interaction center to achieve bottom-line results.

Keynote Address

"Rethinking Business Strategy in a Customer-Centric World" by Martha Rogers, Ph.D., Peppers and Rogers Group. Dr. Rogers has co-authored five best-selling books on customer-driven strategies and was named by Business 2.0 as one of the "19 most important business gurus of all time."

Industry Forums (Feb. 11-12)

Four industry specific, in-depth educational sessions addressing tips for improving call center productivity, next generation technologies and architectures, speech recognition and network-based strategies for integrating call and contact centers.

Pre-conference Workshops (Feb. 10)

A full day on the basics of call center/contact center management. Best Practices from the Customer-Driven Enterprise; High Performance Using High Visibility Metrics; The Fundamentals of Call Center/Contact Center Management; Solutions for Converged Voice and Web Applications; A Beginners' Guide to Understanding, Evaluating and Acquiring Call Center Technology; and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) in the Contact Center.

Principal sponsors of Call Center Las Vegas 2003 include AG Communications Systems, AVAYA, Oracle, Peppers and Rogers Group, SAP, and Siebel.

About Advanstar Communications

Call Center Las Vegas is produced and managed by the Call Center & CRM Group, a division of the Advanstar Technology Group which is a comprehensive portfolio of market-leading publications, events and Web sites, reaching more than 1.5 million technology buyers worldwide.

Advanstar Communications Inc. is a worldwide business information company serving specialized markets with high quality information resources and integrated marketing solutions. Advanstar has 92 business magazines and directories, 79 exhibitions and conferences, numerous Web sites, and a wide range of direct marketing, database and reference products and services.

Advanstar serves targeted market sectors in such industries as art, automotive, beauty, collaboration/e-learning, CRM/call center, digital media, entertainment/marketing, fashion & apparel, healthcare, Internet/e-business, manufacturing and processing, pharmaceutical, powersports, science, telecommunications and travel/hospitality. The company has more than 1,300 employees and currently operates from multiple offices in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.advanstar.com.