FurstPerson Wins 2009 Product of the Year Award from Customer Interaction Solutions Magazine

CHICAGO, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- FurstPerson®, a Chicago-based company that provides the contact center industry with talent management solutions focused on pre-hiring processes, today announced that two of its solutions, 1stSolve and 1stHIRE, were named winners of the 2009 Product of the Year Award from Technology Marketing Corporation's (TMC®) Customer Interaction Solutions magazine. This magazine is the leading publication covering CRM (customer relationship management), call centers and teleservices. It bases the awards on proven dedication to quality in solutions that benefit the customers' overall experience, as well as return on investment (ROI) for companies that use them.

"I am pleased to honor FurstPerson for its hard work and success. The 1stSolve and 1stHIRE products have demonstrated excellence in contact center technologies, as well as providing ROI for the companies that use them," said Rich Tehrani, chief executive officer for TMC. "For 12 years, Customer Interaction Solutions magazine has been honoring innovative companies for their contributions in advancing technologies and application refinements," he added.

FurstPerson is focused on hiring the right contact center employees with the goal of reducing contact center turnover and improving new hire job performance which lead to better financial results for the contact center. Its Web-based assessment products, contact center simulations, as well as its consulting services are designed exclusively for the contact and call center industry. Companies using FurstPerson solutions have improved their contact center hiring results for new hire retention and job performance, with typical results ranging from 10-50 percent reductions in 0-90 day attrition and 5-20 percent increases in new hire job performance.

The two products Customer Interaction Solutions recognized, 1stSolve and 1stHIRE, provide complementary tools for contact center hiring managers. 1stSolve, delivered via a computer adaptive test engine, is primarily a problem-solving test – it accurately evaluates job candidates' ability to work in complex contact center roles. 1stHIRE is FurstPerson's contact center hiring technology solution that powers the company's award-winning brick and mortar and home agent hiring solutions. This solution offers reporting/analytics, hiring workflow, candidate communication tools, scheduling tools, and pre-employment assessment capabilities. Both products assist in improving the quality of hire measured by improved job performance and new hire retention.

"Customer Interaction Solutions' focus is informing the market about providers whose solutions deliver concrete business value that significantly helps companies create better customer relationships," said Jeff Furst, president and chief executive officer (CEO). "To that end, our products are tailored to assist contact centers in hiring and retaining the best agents with the final goal of delivering the highest in customer service. This prestigious industry recognition reinforces the need for those tools and inspires us to continue on the path of innovation."

The 12th Annual Product of the Year Awards winners will be featured in the January 2010 issue of Customer Interaction Solutions magazine, http://www.cismag.com. For more information about the Customer Interaction Solutions' 2009 Product of the Year Awards or any of the TMC media properties, please visit http://www.tmcnet.com/.

About Customer Interaction Solutions

Since 1982, Customer Interaction Solutions (CIS) magazine has been the voice of the call/contact center, CRM and teleservices industries. CIS magazine has helped the industry germinate, grow, mature and prosper, and has served as the leading publication in helping these industries that have had such a positive impact on the world economy to continue to thrive. Through a combination of outstanding and cutting-edge original editorial, industry voices, in-depth lab reviews and the recognition of the innovative leaders in management and technology through our highly valued awards, Customer Interaction Solutions strives to continue to be the publication that holds the quality bar high for the industry. Please visit www.cismag.com for more information.

About TMC

Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) is a global integrated media company helping our clients build communities in print, in person and online. TMC publishes Customer Interaction Solutions, INTERNET TELEPHONY, Unified Communications, and NGN magazines. TMCnet, TMC's Web site, is the leading source of news and articles for the communications and technology industries. TMCnet is read by two million unique visitors each month on average worldwide, according to Webtrends. TMCnet has ranked within the top 3,500 in Quantcast's Top U.S. sites, placing TMCnet in the nation's top .03% most visited Web sites. In addition, TMC produces INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO (ITEXPO); 4GWE Conference and M2M Evolution (in conjunction with Crossfire Media); Digium|Asterisk World (in conjunction with Digium); and Smart Grid Summit (in conjunction with Intelligent Communication Partners). For more information about TMC, visit http://tmcnet.com/.

TMC also serves technology professionals with industry-specific Web sites: IT.TMCnet.com, 4G-wirelessevolution.TMCnet.com, M2M Evolution.com, Smart-Grid.TMCnet.com, Smart Products Ecosystem, Robotics.TMCnet.com, Cable.TMCnet.com, Satellite.TMCnet.com, Green.TMCnet.com, Healthcare.TMCnet.com, and Education.TMCnet.com.

For more information about TMC, visit www.tmcnet.com.

About FurstPerson, Inc.

FurstPerson operates a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) contact center hiring system called 1stHIRE that is used in over 600 locations across North America, Europe, and Asia. FurstPerson's contact center solution includes contact center simulations, problem solving tests, personality tests, and analytics that are all integrated into a hiring solution that enables contact center hiring managers to reduce contact center turnover and hire individuals that perform better on the job.  For more information, visit http://www.furstperson.com.

SOURCE FurstPerson, Inc.