Looking for pointer in right direction for a call center application

[kcmagg]

Mornin, group. Long-time usenet lurker, 1st time poster to this group.

If I am in the wrong ballpark, please point me in the right direction
:-)

I work in a call center and what we are looking for is something very
simple (I was thinking MS Access?) where the user at the workstation
would, to track their call, click on an appropriately labeled radio
button (ie: call transer, reservation, price quote, etc). Then they
would submit and each time they did that the info would be exported to
a shared network database organized by rep name, date/time.

I actually was toying w/ Access here at home (office 2k3), and I'd
like to try my hand at it myself. Know a fair bit about computers, but
little about database creation/management in general or Access in
particular.

Can anyone get me started? I wasn't even sure what combo of search
terms to use on Google, what I should be trying to look up on
Microsoft.com...etc...

If this might be too big of an undertaking for a novice, are there any
3rd party software recommendations?

Thank you.
Scott

[sofakingfree]

http://www.mvps.org/access
http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/
http://www.databaseanswers.org/index.htm

[Larry Linson]

<kc****@NOSPAMcomcast.net> wrote

I work in a call center and what we
are looking for is something very
simple (I was thinking MS Access?)
where the user at the workstation
would, to track their call, . . .

If you don't have too many people taking calls and have a reliable network,
then Access could certainly be used to create a call center application.
Whether it would be the best tool depends on many factors -- possibly too
many to address in a newsgroup thread. It could not just "out of the box" be
used effectively as an end-user tool to accomplish your purposes.

I wouldn't want to trust my job to an application prepared by a developer
new to the tool used for development, even if that developer were me. I'd
want someone experienced in understanding user requirements, in user
interface design, and design and implementation of applications.

Call center applications can't be that rare, but I do understand that the
requirements of a given call center could easily dictate that a custom
application is necessary. If the size of your user audience and the scope of
your application fits Access, you'll not find another tool that is any
easier to use to create the application.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP

[pietlinden]

see if you can't download a copy of TrackIT, which was written by Blue
Ocean, but since bought by Intuit. It might be pricey, but as Larry
said, building your own can be more expensive in the long run... not to
mention very complicated.

Here's a link:
http://www.itsolutions.intuit.com/

I've thought about doing it, but it's a LOT of work. and depending on
the volume in your call center, it could save you lots of hassle. If
the app is mission-critical, I would definitely want a more robust back
end than Access, which TrackIt has (It's SQL Server).

For a novice, I *definitely* wouldn't recommend cutting your teeth on
this one. Just gets *way* too complicated.

[kcmagg]

On 23 Apr 2005 14:54:15 -0700, pi********@hotmail.com wrote:

see if you can't download a copy of TrackIT, which was written by Blue
Ocean, but since bought by Intuit. It might be pricey, but as Larry
said, building your own can be more expensive in the long run... not to
mention very complicated.

Here's a link:
http://www.itsolutions.intuit.com/

I've thought about doing it, but it's a LOT of work. and depending on
the volume in your call center, it could save you lots of hassle. If
the app is mission-critical, I would definitely want a more robust back
end than Access, which TrackIt has (It's SQL Server).

For a novice, I *definitely* wouldn't recommend cutting your teeth on
this one. Just gets *way* too complicated.

Hey gang,

many thanks for all the tips. Am probably going to go with an outside
vendor to help construct what I need.

Take care,

S