News
AAU Celebrates 99.99% Graduation Rate!
Posted 07/14/2009 at 10:28:16 PMWe're proud to report that Alpine Access recently completed its first annual Security Awareness month with 99.9% of all Alpine Access employess sucessfully completing the featured AAU Security Awareness compliance training course. As a PCI Level 1 compliant service provider, Alpine Access secures thousands of home office locations, an entire corporate network, and a wide-area data infrastructure using best-in-class practices and technology. However, even the most complex security measures fall short without great employees.
Using thethe recently released Learning Compliance module of the AAU HomeRoom Learning Platform, AAU instructional designers authored a course rich in video, animations, and interactive simulations. This Security Awarness course enabled Alpine Access employees to explorethe importance of securing information and the acceptable Alpine Access practices and policies in place to assure that our clients, their customers and our business will always be protected.
The results? 99.99% of all Alpine Access employees successfully registered, enrolled, and completed the AAU Security Awareness module, demonstrating once again that not only do we have a first-rate corporate University, we have the very best students in the land!
Christine Laughland Joins AAU
Posted 04/06/2009 at 03:22:11 AMWe're proud to announce we've made another key addition to the AAU team: Christine Laughland has joined AAU as Senior Instructional Designer.
Christine has a blue-ribbon eLearning pedigree, first as a Senior Content Developer at Cognitive Arts, then most recently as an Instructional Designer at Cardean Learning Group. She's designed and developed numerous corporate, undergraduate and graduate courses, and is a specialist in using constructivist approaches to create engaging online learning experiences. While at Cardean, Christine helped create an innovative online student portfolio that students use to create and share evidence of their achievement -- experience we will definitely call upon as AAU enhances its "Learn-Work-Play" platform over the coming months.
Christine took her B.S. in Education from Illinois State University, and will be working out of AAU's Chicago office with VP of Course Design and Development Carl Puccio and his team.
Now Accepting Students!
Posted 03/19/2009 at 10:01:01 PMToday AAU began offering a new online course to individuals interested in a career as a work-at-home Customer Care Professional (CCP) at Alpine Access. AAU's Capability and Commitment course is a free, 4-6 hour learning experience that students can go through on their own time and at their own pace. The course features numerous videos, interactive exercises, and other rich learning resources that explore what it means to be a CCP and what qualities are important for success.
For those who are new to the field or are thinking of a career in customer service, the Capability and Commitment course will be a unique and valuable learning opportunity. And for those who have prior experience in the industry, Capability and Commitment will let them update their skills as well as learn how to apply them in a work-at-home setting. Students who complete the course will be recognized with a frame-worthy AAU Certificate, a badge of honor we think everyone will be proud to display.
But perhaps the most unique element of the program is the ability for successful graduates to be placed for employment as a Customer Care Professional at Alpine Access. Here's how it works. Upon completing the course, students have the opportunity to say whether they want to be considered for employment. Those top-ranking graduates who say "yes" will be contacted by an Alpine Access Recruiting agent. The recruiter will set up an interview, and where there's a good match, the graduate will be hired by Alpine Access. We think this is all-around win: individuals get to expand and realize their learning potential as a Customer Care Professional, and Alpine Access gets to add the very best and talented graduates to its employee community.
The Capability and Commitment course is just the beginning of what will grow into a full certificate in Customer Care, what we're calling the "ACE" - or Alpine Customer Experience - Certificate. As we roll out the ACE Certificate over the coming months, students will have the chance to learn from the experts who pioneered the work-at-home customer service industry. It's just another example of how Alpine Access University is leading the way in developing that most precious of all assets: people.
If you or anyone you know is interested in enrolling in AAU's new Capability and Commitment course, click here to register. We'll see you in class!
Adam Zamora joins the AAU Team!
Posted 02/06/2009 at 11:41:18 AMAll of us at AAU are very excited to announce that Adam Zamora joined the AAU team as Director of Learning Technology Operations. In this role Adam is responsible for overseeing and maintaining the hosted and internal computer systems of the AAU Learning Technology group. Additionally, Adam will train and support Learning Technology’s internal clients on AAU’s growing set of software tools including its proprietary HomeRoom™ learning platform.
Adam brings a rich set of eLearning experiences to his new role beginning with his early work on one of the first web-based course delivery systems (SyllaBase) at Utah State University’s Technical Writing degree program. More recently, he held senior positions at Learnframe and Trifus and operated his own consulting business, SocialTrain. Those of us in AAU have known Adam since July of ‘08 when he began doing contract work for us. We feel especially fortunate to have convinced him to join the team full-time, and we look forward to Adam helping us "invent the future" of online corporate learning!
Happy New Year!
Posted 01/01/2009 at 10:11:51 AMAll of us at Alpine Access University wish you a happy 2009.
We've got a lot of exciting things planned for this year, so keep checking back!
Welcome Alpine Pilot Testers
Posted 11/20/2008 at 12:00:00 PMWe're in the finishing stages of releasing a new AAU course, and we'd like to welcome all the Alpine Access staff who are participating in a two-week pilot of the course that began today. Our new Capability and Commitment course was designed to help Alpine Access applicants make an informed decision and commitment to become an Alpine Access Customer Care Professional (CCP). Featuring a wide range of learning resources including over one-hour of video interviews with Alpine CCPs, Coaches, Team Leads, Account Managers, and other staff, the Capability and Commitment course enables applicants to:
- get a more thorough understanding of Alpine Access and the customer service world;
- receive a realistic job preview of what it takes to be a successful Alpine Access CCP; and
- perform a series of exercises to help assess whether they wish to continue on to become an Alpine Access CCP.
We're using this 2-week pilot to let our Alpine community review the course and provide feedback so that we can catch any errors and improve the offering prior to implementing the course as part of our recruiting process (with many thanks to Don Norman for teaching us the value of usability testing!). Just like our AAU students, pilot testers are using the course's page discussions to carry on conversations with their fellow "students." We hope to see a lively and spirited set of discussions sprout up over the coming days.
So to all our pilot testers, have fun, and thanks for helping us make AAU the best source for customer care training. And for the everyone else, we hope to see you soon as our first AAU Capability and Commitment course graduates!
AAU Released to the Wild!
Posted 11/10/2008 at 08:47:34 AMThis morning, at 8:00am Eastern Time, the following press release was distributed over the national wires. It's another important and exciting step in the creation of Alpine Access University, as it represents our official "coming out" to the world! Less than a year ago AAU was only a set of ambitious ideas and concepts. Today, we're an emerging learning community full of motivated training facilitators, students, and graduates. Needless to say, we've come a long way! But of course, we're just getting started -- there's much more to do. To borrow a phrase from Winston Churchill, "now is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps, the end of the beginning." And so on we go... to Victory!
Congratulations to everyone that's been working so hard to make AAU a reality. Now the real work, learn, and play begins!
-John Kruper, President
DENVER, Nov. 10 CO-AlpineAccess-AAU Company Hires Distance-Learning Veteran to Lead Unique Educational InstitutionDENVER ,Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Alpine Access (http://www.alpineaccess.com), the premier provider of contact center solutions for brand-conscious companies, today announced the launch of Alpine Access University (AAU) (http://www.alpineaccessu.com), a state-of-the-art virtual learning institution to develop best in class customer care representatives.John Kruper , a 15-year veteran of distance learning, has been appointed president and is responsible for managing all aspects of the university including platform creation, software and operations, course development and faculty trainers. The creation of AAU is an extension of the company's ongoing commitment to providing the highest quality service to its clients. As president, Kruper has transformed existing training programs into an "e-University" that utilizes the latest multimedia, collaboration and personalization technologies to provide hands-on learning from day one. Based on research showing that training is most effective when students can engage with and solve real-world problems, the program presents material in multiple formats, which allows individuals to customize their training according to how they learn best. This helps students retain information and improve the customer service skills needed to satisfy and delight customers. AAU also includes a strong social network that enables remote learners to enjoy the support of a peer-to-peer community. "The creation of Alpine Access University is a clear sign of the company's advanced thinking and unprecedented dedication to its employees. Our e-learning institution takes training to the next level by applying the latest adult and distance learning research to a corporate environment," said Kruper. "We are blazing a new path, and I'm thrilled to be working with a company that has both the vision and desire to create the absolute best virtual training and education possible." AAU courses have proven to be an effective learning method that provides substantial cost-saving benefits for Alpine Access clients. Training time can be reduced by an average of 20 percent and class attrition can be lowered by about 17 percentage points. The web based platform, business processes, and tools create a more effective learning environment for students. Consequently, students graduate with a stronger understanding of the curriculum and greater confidence in serving customers. "Our customer care representatives are a key reason why so many companies choose us as their outsourcing partner. With AAU, our students now have a more effective learning environment that will shorten training time and help us provide quality service to our clients faster," saidChris Carrington , Alpine Access CEO. "John's extensive experience planning and implementing distance-based learning programs adds incredible depth to our management team and makes our program unique in the industry. We are very fortunate to have him on board." Kruper comes to Alpine Access with extensive academic credentials and online university experience. Prior to joining Alpine Access, he was chief learning scientist and senior vice president of product management for the Cardean Learning Group, an on-line university. While there he developed a unique, highly collaborative learning experience for adults with industry leading retention rates. Before Cardean, Kruper spent six years planning and developing distance learning products and content for multiple colleges and learning centers. He has also taught numerous courses at the secondary, undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education levels. Software projects and eLearning courses he developed have won awards from LGuide, Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning, EDUCAUSE, the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse and the American Society for Training and Development. Kruper holds a doctorate in Science Education from theUniversity of Illinois at Chicago and an MS in Molecular Virology from theUniversity of Chicago . He also holds a BS in Biochemistry and a BS in Molecular and Cell Biology fromPennsylvania State University . About Alpine Access Alpine Access pioneered a distinctive home-based employee contact center model in 1998 that provides greater customer connections and premium quality results by matching an elite workforce of agents to specific client needs. With this service, customers in the retail, travel, financial and public sectors, including J.Crew, Office Depot, ExpressJet, EDS, an HP company, and the Internal Revenue Service, experience improved operational efficiencies and increased financial success with higher one-call resolution, greater customer satisfaction scores and larger average order sizes. Alpine Access employs 7,500 distributed home-based agents and has been included on fastest-growing company lists such as the Inc. 5000, Deloitte &Touche Fast 500 and the Denver Business Journal in each of the past several years. For more information, visit the Alpine Access website at www.alpineaccess.com or call 1-866-279-0585. Alpine Access - Advantage, yours.(TM)
Welcome to AAU!
Posted 09/20/2008 at 11:14:50 AMWelcome to Alpine Access University, the next generation of online corporate universities. Our goal is to raise the bar on what is often just an afterthought in the business world: enhancing the skills and performance of a company's most valued asset, its people. So we're excited and proud to announce that that bar-raising officially begins today, with the launch of www.alpineaccessu.com, the one-stop "minisite" where AAU students can access all of their AAU online learning resources.
The team behind AAU has been busy developing the AAU HomeRoom™, our proprietary learning platform featuring virtual classrooms, online learning resources, and community tools, all integrated to support the AAU learning experience. If you're one of our new students starting classes this weekend, welcome, we're glad you're here! You're now part of a truly new and innovative learning community.
We'll be using this blog to document and talk about our experiences building AAU, so be sure to check back often. We'll keep the conversation light, but hopefully informative and interesting. Please forgive us if we seem a bit enthusiastic: we believe we're on to something Big (with a capital "B") here at AAU, and so we're keen to share our enthusiasm. Once you join our community, we think you'll feel the same way.
Welcome again for what we guarantee will be a fun ride!
-The Alpine Access University team
