Put this dictionary to work. Keep it by your desk. Throw it in your briefcase as you head out to a meeting. Refer to it when you are trying to figure out what, exactly, that great new technology that someone is trying to sell you is supposed to do.

This dictionary is the updated, expanded and revised edition of a book that was first written in 1996, but it has almost twenty years of experience behind it. We are not merely call center experts, but editors and writers who take our craft seriously. We've spent countless hours thinking about how to make a very difficult subject understandable to the over-worked call center manager trying to keep up with the industry while gobbling down lunch.

As editors and prolific authors on call center issues, we've not only been thinking and learning about call centers for years, but we've put serious effort into the way we explain what we've learned and thought. Our aim has always been to make this information clear, accessible, and, occasionally, fun.

The dictionary you hold in your hands is the fruit of all those years of thought and care.

It's a dictionary you can use to explain things to your customers. A dictionary you can consult after a meeting with the MIS department. Use it to get a leg up on the jargon of your new job or to explore what a call center can do to improve your business.

The language of the call center includes...