Interactive Intelligence’s “Outrageous Interactions” competition continues

Four months after its “Outrageous Interactions” contest launch, Interactive Intelligence continues to receive hilarious and wild stories from contact center agents, all vying for a trip for two to Hawaii.

To submit an entry, or learn more about the contest, visit www.outrageousinteractions.com.

Contest submissions will be accepted through Sunday, Aug. 31 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time (EDT).

Beginning Monday, Sept. 1, submissions will be reviewed by a panel of expert judges, including Ginger Conlon, editor-in-chief of 1to1 Media; Blair Pleasant, president and principal analyst of COMMfusion LLC; Art Rosenberg, principal analyst and syndicated columnist of The Unified-View; Rich Tehrani, president and publisher of TMC; Dr. Donald E. Brown, founder and CEO of Interactive Intelligence; and others.

The judges will select a short list of finalists. These finalists and their stories will be accessible for online public voting to select a winner, “people’s choice” style, beginning Monday, Sept. 8.

Instructions for how to review the finalists and vote for a favorite will be available on or around Sept. 8 via the contest’s Web site at www.outrageousinteractions.com. The winner by popular vote will be announced Sept.17 from the stage of TMC’s semi-annual Internet Telephony Conference and EXPO, held in Los Angeles.

Submissions to-date have highlighted the wide variety of customer interactions contact center agents have every day. The Interactive Intelligence contest was designed as a fun outlet for these employees to share their experiences on the front lines of customer service.

One entrant, Paulette Wright of South Carolina, who at the time of her story submission was a supervisor for Working Solutions assigned to the Dish Network/Echostar project, said, “I love this contest! My story is a great example of how unpredictable this job is, and I’m happy to see Interactive Intelligence doing something to reward and honor contact center staff that are dedicated to their work and have a unique ability to help people.

“In my case, I submitted a really outrageous but meaningful interaction with an unhappy customer who I was able to make happy. As much as I’m excited at the chance to win a trip to Hawaii, I’m also truly thrilled to see a company genuinely rewarding people like me for all we do each day.”

Interactive Intelligence is a provider of “all-in-one” IP communications software designed to help improve customer service. The company came up with the idea for the contest based on its daily interactions with contact centers throughout the world.

“As a company that’s been part of this industry since the mid-nineties, we know the pressures of being an agent on the front lines of a contact center,” said Joseph A. Staples, senior vice president of worldwide marketing for Interactive Intelligence. “We thought it was very appropriate for us to honor this hard-working group of people, as well as inject a little humor into what can be a very stressful job.”

The contest is open to contact center agents and managers worldwide. Stories must be written in English, limited to 500 words or less, and can be based on customer interactions by phone (including recorded calls), e-mail, letter, or Web chat.