News

March 16, 2006

MPBN Selects Taction to Answer Membership Drive Calls

WALDOBORO, Maine - March 16, 2006 - Taction is now answering phone calls for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network.

The premium Mid-Coast contact center is helping MPBN handle the calls it is receiving during its current television pledge drive.

Taction will also help with MPBN's other three television membership drives as well as its three radio drives this year, and its drives in 2007. Volunteers at MPBN's Bangor and Portland studios will answer the phones, but when the volume of telephone calls is too high for them to handle, calls will overflow to agents at Taction. During other times of the day - when there are no volunteers in the studios - calls will be sent directly to Taction.

"It is important to us, at MPBN, to keep our business as local as possible and a Maine-based call center who shares a similar locally minded vision hit on all pistons," says Judi Gardner, Director of Membership at MPBN. "Beyond shared vision, Taction has gone the extra mile to make sure our members will be served efficiently and completely. We couldn't be more thrilled about this new partnership."

Taction is taking calls during MPBN's current television drive, which is slated to run through March 19. It will also take overflow and after-hours calls during TV drives in June, August, and December.

Calls will also be taken during MPBN's radio drives in April, July, and October. MPBN anticipates the highest volume of calls coming during the "Power Hour" that will kick off each drive. MPBN has held one Power Hour previously, and several hundred people phoned the studio during the sixty-minute timeslot.

"We want to provide callers with a great experience when they renew their MPBN membership," Taction's CEO and Chairman Steve White said. "MPBN is a wonderful Maine institution and we're proud to play a part in its very important membership drives."

Callers will be able to become members for one year for a $35 donation. Any MPBN member at the $90 level or higher will receive MPBN's newest member benefit, the MPBN MemberCard. The MPBN MemberCard entitles the user to substantial discounts from restaurants throughout Maine, New Hampshire, and New Brunswick, as well as discounts with several outlet stores, on-line merchants, and quality manufacturers such as Samsonite, another Taction client.

Taction® is a leading provider of contact center services for some of the world's most trusted brands. Current and past clients include The Boyds Collection, Cuddledown, American Express, Kodak, Maine's Office of Tourism, Harbor Sweets Chocolatier, Polaroid, SmartPak Equine, Lotus 1-2-3, and Frank Schaffer Publications.

Founded in 1983, the company offers a comprehensive menu of business-to-business and direct-to-consumer contact center services 24 hours each day, every day of the year.

Serving as its clients' behind-the-scenes customer service and sales team, Taction handles fax, phone, e-mail and e-chat inquiries with a sense of urgency. They tailor services to meet the unique needs of each and every client.

Formerly known as New England 800 Company, the company changed its name to Taction, meaning single point of contact, or the act of touching. The change reflects its transformation from a call center pioneer into one of the country's premier customer contact centers.

MPBN is a network consisting of five television stations and seven radio stations located throughout Maine, with studios and offices in Portland, Bangor, and Lewiston. It has a membership base of nearly 60,000 individuals and corporate underwriters, and its 2005 Great TV Auction was recently named by PBS as the best in the nation among public television stations.