alaries and office rents. To respond to more customers without adding more staff in the existing center, companies are deploying technologies such as automatic and written responses to e-mail, speech recognition, web-based sales, online forums, and chats. The practice of customers completing www.TechnicalPDF.com transactions without speaking with an agent is referred to as self-service. Some companies operate their sales function almost entirely on the Web. And, of course, Amazon built its entire business models around the Web. Many of these web-based businesses are well regarded for their customer service, even though they don't actually involve any human contact. Moreover, many consumers prefer self-service on the Web over listening to long, automated menus and waiting in phone queues. Contact Center Statistics Reports on the real-time status of calls and electronic messages are the lifeblood of a contact center and are closely monitored by management. Management then uses these statistics to plan network design and analyze staffing requirements. Statistics are also used as an aid in improving web site design by alerting organizations to the most frequently asked questions. These issues can then be more fully clarified on the web site or via automated e-mail messages designed to explain common procedures for fixing or analyzing software issues. Statistics are organized into reports that provide real- time and historical data on incoming and outgoing calls and agents' usage on individual trunks SO that managers will know if they have the correct number of broadband trunks. Reports also indicate the number of calls and web hits associated with each toll-free number and web advertisement SO that response rates generated by ad campaigns can be analyzed. They additionally alert supervisors to unusually high or low call volumes SO that staffing can be adjusted accordingly. E-mail Response Management Software E-mail response management software is another tool for increasing self-service. It can be used independently 