Success Stories 
Ambient Devices 
Ambient Devices Utilizes Angel.com Virtual Call Center to Automate Many Common Customer Inquiries
The Company
Ambient Devices brings online information and intelligence to the offline world. The company’s technology enables effortless access to information, such as real-time weather forecasts, stock market activity, sports scores, and much more – without a PC or Internet connection. Ambient’s products include the Five-Day Forecaster, a device that automatically provides a real-time local forecast from AccuWeather.com; and the Orb, a frosted-glass ball that glows different colors to communicate stock market trends, traffic congestion, pollen forecasts, energy pricing and more. Ambient-powered products are available at national retailers such as Brookstone, and through Ambient’s licensee partners such as LG. The company is based in Cambridge, Mass.
The Challenge
Leading up the 2006 Holiday buying season, Ambient Devices required a new call center to efficiently route and monitor customer queries while providing the best caller experience possible. The need arose due to the increasing popularity of its products, particularly the Brookstone 5-Day Wireless Weather Forecaster.
To program the Forecaster, consumers are asked to enter city codes associated with their residence. The process is simple and straightforward, but many who aren’t comfortable with technology often call to request guidance or clarification. The prior call center lacked interactivity and an advanced queue process. Ambient Devices wanted the ability to provide automated responses to basic questions, which would free live agents to spend valuable time with more advanced technical support or to handle new orders. Ambient Devices also sought to reduce hold times to provide a more pleasant caller experience.
Another challenge was timing. The company had only a few weeks to select, create and implement a new call center solution that would handle several hundred calls daily during their busiest time of the year.
The Solution
Ambient Devices found what it was looking for and more with Angel.com’s Virtual Call Center. Using Angel.com’s online toolkit, Ambient Devices was able to create and roll out a new, interactive customer support line inside of one week.
For customers, the solution provides a streamlined method to order products, receive basic technical support, and access advanced personalization options.
“Using the Angel.com system, our customers can now have basic questions answered without delay, and in the process we have gained a better understanding of their needs,” said Pritesh Gandhi, Ambient Devices Vice President of Operations. “We are really impressed with the ease of use of the Angel.com tools and pleased that we could create a new system that interacts seamlessly with our data.”
The Results
During the holiday season, Ambient handled several hundred calls daily. With the new Virtual Call Center from Angel.com in place, customers received the answers they needed without frustration or long hold times. And the Virtual Call Center automated their most frequent support issue – that of setting up the city code for the 5-Day Forecaster – freeing up Ambient support reps to spend more time on higher needs support cases.
In addition, Angel.com provides Ambient with vital information about caller activity. As a result, the company has been better able to identify and diagnose problems in the field, leading to improved service.
During times of the year when caller volume is lower, the Angel.com system is completely flexible, allowing Ambient Devices to pay only for the minutes of caller activity required.
Gandhi added that Angel.com is a great fit for Ambient Devices because both companies value innovation, among other characteristics.
“Both Angel.com and Ambient Devices are dynamic, innovative and growing rapidly,” he said. “Angel.com has become a valued partner and opened our eyes as to how we can implement IVR in the future. To any company ramping up and moving rapidly, Angel.com is an excellent choice.”
