March 26, 2003   

Marketing Systems Group Announces Release of the Remote Interviewer Module (RIM) for
PRO- T-S^® /CfMC Research Call Centers.  

Fort Washington, PA-based Marketing Systems Group (MSG) and Computers for Marketing Corporation of San Francisco, CA (CfMC) have released a new interface between CfMC’s WebSurvent and the PRO- T-S^® researchPredictive Dialer.   This revolutionary interface allows interviewers, physically located away from the centralized interviewing facility, to operate as if they were in the facility itself.  The interface uses a centralized web-based interviewing system linked to a computerized dialing system. 

Ideal for areas of the country where it is difficult to recruit interviewing staff to drive to a central location, this interface provides new flexibility for both interviewers and call center managers.  Interviewers can work for shorter and more varied periods of time, transforming “drive-time” to paid hours.  Recruitment incentives might include free internet or broadband connections.  For management, the pool of prospective qualified interviewers is almost unlimited; expansion doesn’t mean new booth construction; and, “no show” problems due to weather difficulties could be almost eliminated.   

Data collection leaders see this as a boon for recruiting those elusive, educated, stay-at-home parents.  Other benefits include the ability to tap pools of healthcare professionals (e.g., nurses) for interviewing physicians and medical specialists; technically conversant interviewers can be a virtual staff; and, in-language interviewing can be conducted by proficient interviewers located almost anywhere. 

Quality Control?  ALL sample control and dialing is completely centralized.  Interviewers can be monitored from anywhere.  And, audio recording options range from voice capture of selected segments/questions to “full interview recording.”  And with the soon to be released DSM+ module, retrieval and playback of recordings for quality control, interviewer evaluation, and/or delivery to clients provides a powerful yet easy and efficient tool for management. 

Operationally, an interviewer signs in at the WebSurvent website, PRO- T-S^® then dials their phone - that connection is now just another telephone extension, just like any other station within the central facility, with all the same PRO- T-S^® features and functionality.  Not limited to just at-home interviewing, the solution can be implemented to service clusters of small call centers, or even a totally remote or “virtual” interviewing force, with no “bricks and mortar” at all.    

A senior officer at one of the nation’s largest interviewing operations remarked, “This gives us the ability to retain control and centralize servers – but still reach out and recruit that hard-to-get, educated individual that won’t commute to a central office.  Another great solution from two industry leaders.”