
The Boost
June, 2021
President's Message

Brad French
Respectfully submitted: Brad French, President
As we head into June, I am happy to say that we can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Vaccinations are happening and the economies across Canada are on the verge of reopening. I know I am looking forward to a dinner out.
Our education and technology committees have been very busy. We have had a large variety of webinars that has been targeted at agents, supervisors, operations, managers, IT specialist as well as owners. One of our goals this year was to get deeper participation from our member companies and our education calendar has certainly achieved that. I would like to thank all the participants as well as the speakers.
Our virtual convention is well underway, and I look forward to hearing the speakers that the committee has lined up. On top of that all our award’s programs are either just starting, in full swing or in preparation of giving out awards! Good luck to all that have participated. Remember win or lose you have still gained by continuously trying to improve.
CAM-X’s yearend has just passed and I am pleased that although not finalized we have been able to end the year slightly ahead. For a year that had so many unknowns it is good to know that our industry is strong.
As I write this Canada has given at least one vaccine to just over 54% of our population and nearly 5% of both doses and our US neighbours are just over 49% with one dose and 40% fully vaccinated. We are getting there!

Membership Engagement
Leslie Wilson
May was filled with opportunities for Technology advancements for the Call Center industry. How to Make Money & Save Money with Call Center Technology! It could have been technology overload if it were not for the individuals presenting. If you were not able to be apart of this series, I highly recommend you contact Linda and request the links. If you think you have it all and cannot learn or implement any more, maybe look a bit further; you might be surprised. A SHOUT OUT to our Technology gurus for some great, well thought out information.
The newest Member to CAM-X can also assist you with Intelligent Automation to the fundamental areas of business for Workforce, Contact Center, Customers and Business Management to support the improvement of productivity. OnviSource has been supporting the TAS industry for over 15 years and they are no slouch to Automation. With the desire to expand and dapple in the Canadian Market, OnviSource sought CAM-X as an opportunity to meet with the exceptional individuals in Canada. EH!
Join me in welcoming OnviSource to CAM-X and read about how they got started and where they are now.
Fun Fact: The 7th of June is the national chocolate ice cream day, the 15th of June is Chocolate Éclair day and the 20th of June is Ice Cream Soda Day. Yummy!
So much for summer ready bodies. Meh, lets eat Chocolate!!
From Agent stations to the big desk, no matter what our position is, we are all successful. What made you successful? Why do you get up every day and work in the company you are in? Please get in touch with me directly to leslie@teleconnectservices.ca and tell me your story. We all have a story, what is yours?
The Spotlight is for anyone; agents, supervisors, programmers, sales staff, management and business owners. We want to throw open the doors and make introductions that strengthen the connections within the industry! We want to get to know YOU! Check your junk folders…..?

Member Spotlight
Kim Pippin
Senior Account Executive OnviSource
Kim
Q. When and why did you start at OnviSource?
My work at OnviSource started in 1995 at CadCom, before the company was acquired by OnviSource in 2005. I started my career as an Operator for their in-house answering service and worked my way up in the company. I progressed from Operator to assisting in both Sales and the Service Department as a Service Technician for several years. My deep understanding of the industry and our TAS software solution enabled me to transition to a Senior Sales Executive 6 years ago.
Q. What does OnviSource do and how do you help your clients?
Our mission is to bring “Intelligent Automation Everywhere in Your Enterprise” to deliver solutions to the fundamental areas of business for Workforce, Contact Center, Customers and Business Management to support the improvement of employee performance and productivity, optimizing your contact center, improving your business productivity and cost reduction, as well as improving customer satisfaction before, during and after service.
Q. What brought you to CAM-X and why did you become a member?
OnviSource is pleased to be a part of CAM-X. We can bring over 15 years of experience and industry expertise to the Canadian market.
Q. Please share a bit about the people that work for the organization.
Francisca Alegria, Executive Vice President of Enterprise Solutions, joined OnviSource in 2018 and is largely responsible for all lines of revenues, including strategic and tactical leadership and management of business development, marketing programs and all sales activities, with a special focus on expanding OnviSource’s global market; now supporting partners in the USA, Canada, Middle East, Australia, and India, with plans to further expand in the European and APAC markets.
Jimmy Walsh, Vice President of Operations, has been overseeing our Operations and Service Department for 7 years. He is responsible for OnviSource’s customer support programs, including order fulfillment, program management, deployment projects, technical services and customer focused programs; ensuring all customer concerns are attended to and resolved.
Q. What is 1 thing about each person that people would find interesting or a fun fact!
Francisca, originally from South Africa, loves adventure sport and even jumped off the highest bridge in Africa. She loves skydiving and taking a walk with lions. Francisca is a proud mother of a young daughter and together they love caring for animals, going camping or volunteering to support the less fortunate.
Jimmy is a major sports fan who enjoys horse racing and is a season ticket holder for the Dallas Stars hockey team. Because he was born in Augusta, GA, you could say golf is in his blood. He is an avid golfer and has even played courses in Scotland.
CAM-X UPDATE
Respectfully submitted by Linda Osip, Executive Director
Education Committee Update:
We had an extremely successful Technology Webinar Series in May. A huge SHOUT OUT to all of our amazing presenters!
Series#1 - AI Basics for TAS with Steve Newell
Series#2 - AI and Cloud Experience Share with Tim Carwell, Bill Hughes, Mike Crossman and Modathir Bashir
Series#3 - Cybersecurity with Bill Hughes and Holden Smalbill of Weehooey
This is a great way to grow yourself and to gain points for your re-certification!
*Recordings of all webinars are available email linda@camx.ca
Recent Webinars
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Webinar AOE – Linda Osip (Recording available)
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Webinar AOE Plus – Gary Blair & Deborah Anders (Recording available)
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Mental Health “Let’s Talk” With Larry Martichenko
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Best Practices – Hiring & Training in a Remote World
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Agent Series Part 1: Conflict resolution - dealing with difficult callers and situations
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Agent Series Part 2: Customer Service, Organization, Communication
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Agent Series Part 3: Professionalism, Socializing in the Office, Self-motivation
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Adapting Learning in a Virtual World
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Recognition
Recognizing our own
Mid-State Advanced Answering is proud to announce Yvonne Harbin as a Fellowship
recipient of the South Arts "In These Mountains: Folk & Traditional Arts Master Artist
Fellowship".
Ms. Harbin is a traditional herbalist, folk medicine maker, and teacher, as well as a
Mid-State employee of over seven years. Yvonne is a 5th generation Traditional
Herbalist and was chosen from among applicants in Central Appalachian counties
in Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Congratulations Yvonne for pursuing
your passions and embracing your traditions.
SureCall would like to recognize Helen Riley. Helen has retired after 27 years
working in the call center industry. She started her career path with
Fraser Valley Teleservices who became RE:Messaging which then
migrated into SureCall. Helen worked under the Surecall banner for
8 years before retiring. Thank you for your years of service in the Call Center
Industry Helen. We wish you all the best on your next journey of retirement.
If you have an employee you would like to recognize please contact
Leslie Wilson at leslie@teleconnectservices.ca
“You Don’t Build a Business, You Build People and Then People Build The Business”
Virtual Convention & Trade Show
September 28, 29, 30
Mark you Calendars - Click here For More Details
Pre Employment Software Update:
We are actively working to add Personality Profiling as an option

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Yvonne Harbin
Helen Riley

Show your staff they are worthy:
CSR and Supervisor Certification

Pre Employment Testing Demo Available
Contact linda@camx.ca for instructions

Two Grey Suits
Exactly What Does HR Do Anyway?

This article is part of the TwoGreySuits Managing Employee Performance Series and is offered by our partner, TwoGreySuits as a service to our members.
I pose this question because I know from many years of experience it is not at all clear to many people in business. It is interesting to see as consultants to management that very often even senior managers really do not have a good grasp on what an HR Mgmt. function can/should do in a business. In many cases, less seasoned or incompetent ‘HR Professionals’ have given the profession a poor name by exercising their “power” to be the 'HR Police' in a business, essentially telling managers what they can and can’t do when it comes to dealings with employees. These same ‘HR Professionals’ almost always lack the required skill sets to be effective in the HR function, so they resort to building their own personal power base – very bad for the company. If not this, often the less experienced HR Manager will take on the role of ‘counselor’ to all employees on any issue, when in fact they are usually not skilled to be doing this. (and at the expense of all the other things they should be doing)
This is not at all what proper HR Management is about.
I have personally had very smart, successful clients that are smart enough to know they need help on the people management part of their business, but they don’t really know in what areas or what an expected outcome could be, or exactly where an HR professional can truly add value. Ironically, these same people would all agree that solid HR Management in a business is a good thing; it is just that they can’t really articulate what this looks like. Why do you think this is?
My thinking is they cannot clearly see the connect between employee motivation, competence, culture and financial results. It is often easy to see when things go wrong, such as a poor performing employee in a key job; but what would it look like or what would be the result if a whole bunch of things were improved in a relatively short time period? What I mean is, if employees were very significantly motivated to perform their jobs better, if all employees were exceptionally competent in their jobs and in knowing how the business works, and if there was a culture such that it would on its own attract top performing employees.
I am not surprised at all anymore to go into a new and seemingly successful client and see quite a few of the very basics of good people management missing. For example: an unstructured hit & miss type approach to recruiting, poor people management skills in managers, (not treating employees with respect or not providing any meaningful performance feedback) employees whose jobs are not clearly defined, and lack of any feedback system on employee performance. And oh, yes, if all this is missing, you can bet there is also a lack of any people policies.
So, then, what would it look like if all this were in place? The short answer is, VERY different. But why go through all this just to look different? Looking different is only one result of proper/professional HR management intervention. The real reason to do all of this is to run your business better, service your customers better, realize operating efficiencies, and ultimately improve the bottom-line financial performance.
Why then, do so many organizations not improve their people management processes? My answer is that they have likely not worked in an environment where proper people management was ingrained, so they don’t have the proper frame of reference, or that even if they have seen this, they have no idea how to get there. The good news in all of this….a skilled HR Management consultant can have a huge impact and get all the above mentioned areas working properly in a relatively short period of time, because they have repeatable processes and experience at other company HR implementations
TwoGreySuits is a leading-edge provider of on-line human resource management information, processes, tools and forms servicing the North American market. They have integrated the HR practices associated with the key drivers of Employee Engagement within the well-organized information on the website.
To login as a user: camx.twogreysuits.com
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Enter your email address and Password CAMX01
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If you are not currently signed up, please email me directly linda@camx.ca
The TGS System is a one-of-a-kind product that includes:
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The HR Power Centre for dealing with the day-to-day people management issues that inevitably arise
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24/7 HR Hot Line
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Topical regular Blogs suitable for reprinting by the Association members