Newton CIA Features

CASE ENTRY:  

Every customer contact is recorded as a "case" in Newton CIA.  Case Entry is the heart of the software, where that recording is done, and where the other software features for responding to the customer are accessed.  Below is a breakdown of what's in Case Entry:

Data Collection Categories

• Full Case - The "big picture" of a case.  When it was entered and by whom, current status and priority.  How the customer made contact, and what the general nature of the contact (complaint, compliment, etc.) was.  Also has a text area for entering a general summary of the case.

• Customer - Contact info for the person who contacted you, and for any other third parties associated with the case.

• Product - You can list one or multiple products (or services) that are involved in the case.

• Issue - The topic that is associated with the product, and your findings after review of the matter.  Multiple issues can be assigned to each product.

• Memo - Free form text memos let you record notes related to the current case.  Memos can be added by multiple users.  Each user can only modify the memos he or she created.

• Letter - You select from pre-defined form letters that pull in details from the current case, which makes responding to the customer as easy as a few mouse clicks.  Letters can be generated as either standard text files or MS Word documents.

• Enclosure - Assign and track both number and value of response materials that are used to satisfy the customer.

• Notice - An audit trail record that shows you have informed an interested party about the case you're working on.

• Image - Attach documents and images (in multiple formats) to your cases for later reference.  Adobe Reader and MS WordViewer give you a consistent experience with saved references.  No more trips to the file cabinet to pull support documentation!

• User Page - An area where you can enter data items that are specific to your business.  You define what these items are, and whether they are free form entry, or drop down lists.

• Warranty - Assign the case as a specific claim against a registered warranty.

• Quick Case™ - Track simple inquiries, where you don't need a full blown case recorded.

Features for Responding to the Customer

• Ref Center™ (Reference Manual) - An electronic encyclopedia for your call takers to use when handling calls.  You can store company history/policy, product info, problem handling tips or procedures, or even scripted answers to sensitive questions - both text and images.  Any easy tool to improve call taker competence without extensive training or experience. 

• Survey Capability - Create and administer paperless surveys, using both multiple choice and text questions.  Powerful survey result reports let you examine responses from all interviews, or just special sub-sets you select.

• Multiple Look Up Methods For Cases - You may not remember the case number you want, but you can find it easily with lookups by name, zip code, phone number, and city, to name just a few.

General Case Entry Features

• User defined screen elements - Many companies have their own special "vocabulary" which is specific to their line of business.  Newton CIA lets you assign you own names to many of the data elements collected in the software, so that your users find it easy to key in data from the start.

• Random data entry - Data can be collected in whatever order you need to key it in.  This lets you avoid forcing a caller into a "scripted" conversation, which can make an already irate customer even more so.

• Data elements can be mandatory or optional - Many data elements can be made mandatory (the case can't be saved without them), to ensure that key data is collected.  Titles of mandatory elements are shown in underlined blue.

• On-line prompting for data fields - Most data elements can be chosen from a drop down list, which improves speed and accuracy.

• Case Priority - Every case can be assigned a priority level, so that you can expedite handling of the most important ones.  You can set priority levels on products and issues, so that a case is automatically set to the priority level you want when that product or issue is selected.  Each user can also have a threshold priority level set, at which their supervisor is notified if a case meets or exceeds it.

• Alert Messages - Pop up messages can be assigned to seleted products or problems, so you call takers get special instructions when they first enter data on a complaint.

• Repeater check - Once a customer's name has been entered, this tool checks for previous cases by the same, or similar sounding, names.  Address info can be captured from any previous case to save keying time.  A quick way to spot goodwill abusers.

• Case ID numbers automatically generated - Case numbering is done automatically by the system.  Even more importantly, a case number is not assigned until the Save button is clicked.  This way, if you decide that there is no need to record a case after keying in several items, you don't waste a case number on a blank case.  This helps satisfy regulatory agencies like the FDA and the USDA, who get suspicious if they see vacant places in a case number sequence.

• Default data automatically filled in - Several of the most basic pieces of case data are automatically assigned default values, which you select during software configuration.  It's another way Newton CIA ensures speedy data entry.

• Secondary Case Entry - With Newton CIA, you can open a second Case Entry window if you are tied up with a case in the main window when a new call comes in.  This lets call takers use their time more efficiently, while not loosing any work.  The secondary window has a different colored background, so you can't confuse which window you're working with.  (This feature may not work on some Windows® 95 - 2000 systems, due to memory limitations)

OTHER FEATURES OF NEWTON CIA:

• Multiple Company Definitions - You can set up your copy of Newton CIA to have multiple "companies", which are really completely separate work environments, each with its own configuration and case history.  This lets you use Newton CIA for different areas of your business that have different functions, and which shouldn't share any data.  You can also use this feature to set up test or practice areas, so that you can train your users without risk to your real/production data.

• Multiple User ID's - Whether you have a single PC or a networked version of Newton CIA, you can create a user ID for each person who uses the software.  This allows you to track who has entered cases, and manage workload among those users by shifting case ownership.  It also allows you to specially tailor the work environment of each user.

• Bulletin Board - A place where supervisors or your software administrator can post messages for all users of Newton CIA to see.  Those messages can be about company policy changes, work schedule updates, system maintenance plans, or any other kind of announcement.

• Call Center Management Reports - Convenient reports for reviewing call taker productivity and workload.

• Calendar/Scheduling - Set follow up dates that can be linked to specific cases, with the ability to record notes or tips on what needs to be done.

• Internal Email - Lets users of Newton CIA communicate with each other directly.

• Flexible Data Analysis Reporting - Multiple report formats allow you to review you customer contact history data from different perspectives - and all reports have selection parameters that let you choose what sub-sets of your data that you really want to see.

• Reporting Hierarchies - Data in Newton CIA can be grouped to represent hierarchies that are important to your company, like management levels, sales regions, product families and other such structures.  Once you define the groupings, the hierarchy levels you have created will be automatically sub-totaled on many of the reports that come with Newton CIA.

• Fiscal Period Definition - If your firm uses fiscal/accounting periods that are different from normal calendar periods, you can define these periods into Newton CIA.  Several of the standard reports use these definitions, so that your history data will be automatically broken down the way you want.

• Location Tracking - Customer contacts can be assigned to the store or re-seller site where an issue arose.  Lets you know which locations are having consistent problems.

• Serial Number Tracking - Record warranty registrations, and track claims against them.  Convenient history lookup lets you quickly review circumstances of a claim.

• Lot Number Tracking - Capturing lot number data from customers will let you keep a close eye on performance of you products in the market.  Special threshold reports let you set sensitive triggers on how many complaints each lot experiences, resulting in an automatic warning if the trigger level is reached.  A great tool for spotting problems before they damage your reputation.

• Enclosure Value Oversight - You can keep an eye on the value of response material your users expend to satisfy a case by setting a warning limit (in dollars).  If they exceed that limit, they are warned that their supervisor will be notified when they save the case.  This way the users have the flexibility to exceed the limit if necessary, but such exceptions will always be observed.  Total expenditure of response materials by each user over time can be tracked with Newton CIA reports, so that excesses can't be spread over many cases. 

• Multiple forms of Security - You can require that Newton CIA users enter passwords to access the software, and then you can assign them a case security level that limits the sensitivity of cases that they can view/modify.  You can limit them to working on only their own cases, or just the cases from their work group.  You can even set users up to have display only ability, so that they can't enter or modify any cases.  You can also control whether they have access to the reporting features of Newton CIA.

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS / GENERAL INFORMATION:

• Modes - Stand alone (Single PC), Networked (Client/Server)

• Operating System - Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista/7/8/10 (Client), OS/400 (Server)

• CPU Speed - 233 MHz Pentium or higher

• Disk Space Requirements - 50 MB

• Memory Requirements - 24 MB

• Database Notes:  The networked versions of Newton CIA support Sybase®, IBM DB2/400®, Microsoft SQL Server® and Oracle® databases.  Support for others is in development.  Please inquire about your specific needs.

CAPACITIES / CAPABILITIES:

• Case Record Limits:

	99 Customers per case
	9999 Products per case
	999 Issues per product

 

• Key Interface Data Fields:

	Company ID	5 Characters
	Case #	8 Characters
	UPC	25 Characters
	Mfg. Code/SKU	25 Characters
	Lot #	25 Characters
	Serial #	25 Characters