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What is Multimodal Communication & Why Your Workforce Needs It in 2025

Understanding ‘Multimodal’

Multimodal communication is about seamlessly integrating various communication channels into a unified platform, empowering employees with a toolkit they can use to address customer needs in real-time. Connect with customers via:

  • Phone calls
  • Video meetings
  • Instant messaging
  • Screen sharing
  • And more!

These multimodal options work across a mix of devices – from traditional desktop and mobile devices to industry-specific devices such as DECT phones in hospitality settings or HiMed Bedside Terminals in healthcare organizations.

Think of it as equipping your workforce with a Swiss Army knife of communication tools, each designed for a specific purpose and ready to be used at a moment’s notice.

Why Multimodal Matters

  • Breaking Down Silos: Multimodal communication bridges the gap between teams, knowledge workers, and back-office staff. It enables instant access to experts, information, and support, fostering a more collaborative work environment.
  • Empowerment Through Information: Multimodal tools allow employees to quickly access knowledge bases, product information, and training materials, empowering them to handle inquiries more effectively.
  • Enhanced Customer Experience: Multimodal communication improves customer interaction. Imagine an employee using video chat to demonstrate a product or screen sharing to guide a customer through a complex process.

The Power of Partnership: Humans and Virtual Agents

AI-powered virtual agents can handle routine tasks, answer frequently asked questions, and even triage customer inquiries, freeing employees to focus on more personal issues that require a human touch.

When a virtual agent encounters a situation that requires human intervention, it can seamlessly transfer the interaction to a live agent, along with all relevant context and information.

Implementing for Success

Your local TCI experts make adopting new technology easy. We work with you to design the right communication experiences so you can achieve your business objectives:

  • Choosing the Right Platform: The ideal multimodal platform will meet your customers where they are and integrate with existing business systems. We focus on solutions that provide the resiliency, security, and compliance required to protect your customer data during normal day-to-day operations, and that can adapt during crises.
  • Training and Adoption: It’s essential to equip your employees with the skills and confidence to use new communication tools. TCI gets your team up to speed on our services’ intuitive interfaces, and we provide ongoing support and training sessions to maximize the benefits of multimodal communication.
  • Multimodal communication is more than just a technology upgrade; it’s a strategic investment in employees and customers. By empowering teams with the right tools and information, you can unlock new levels of efficiency, collaboration, and customer satisfaction.

    Reach out to TCI to discuss technology solutions that will help your business get ahead in 2025. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

     

Game-Changing Ways AI Contact Centers Enhance Customer Service

In today’s fast-paced business world, customer service holds unprecedented significance. With customer expectations rising, delivering prompt and personalized service has become crucial in retaining a loyal customer base and staying competitive.

That’s where contact center solutions step in, playing a vital role in helping businesses of all sizes elevate their customer service and support standards. However, with ever-expanding customer demands, contact center solutions must evolve to keep pace. Enter AI – the game-changer.

AI-powered contact center solutions are revolutionizing how businesses interact with their customers, enabling faster and more personalized service than ever before. Integrating AI into contact centers has several key benefits, highlighting how this innovative technology transforms customer experiences and adapts to the hybrid work environment. Let’s explore them…

1. Automating Repetitive Tasks for Empowering Human Agents

One of the standout advantages of AI-powered contact center solutions is their ability to automate repetitive tasks, such as call routing and answering frequently asked questions. By delegating these mundane responsibilities to AI, human agents can shift their focus to handling more complex tasks that demand empathy and problem-solving skills. This synergistic collaboration empowers agents to excel in their roles while elevating the overall quality of customer interactions.

2. Support through AI-Powered Chatbots

With AI-driven chatbots taking center stage, businesses can offer round-the-clock customer support. This ensures that customers can obtain assistance whenever required, regardless of the time zone or operational hours. Such continuous support boosts customer satisfaction and fosters a sense of reliability and dependability that customers appreciate.

3. Personalized Service through Data Analysis

AI-driven algorithms can anticipate customer needs by analyzing past interactions and providing tailored recommendations or solutions. This personalized approach significantly enhances the customer experience, increasing loyalty and retention rates. By harnessing the power of AI, businesses can forge deeper connections with their customers and better address their unique preferences and requirements.

4. Boosting Efficiency and Data-Driven Decisions

AI-driven contact center solutions streamline operations by automating repetitive tasks and offering real-time insights into customer behavior. With improved efficiency, businesses can operate more smoothly and make data-driven decisions that enhance overall performance and customer satisfaction.

5. Enhancing Hybrid Work Models with AI-Powered Contact Centers

The rise of hybrid work models, where employees split their time between remote and in-office work, has reshaped how businesses approach customer service. As nearly seven in 10 US workers now prefer the flexibility of hybrid work, contact centers must adapt to these new dynamics. AI-powered contact center solutions are perfectly positioned to facilitate this transition, ensuring that employees can deliver top-tier customer service regardless of location.

6. Seamless Integration Across Hybrid Work Environments

AI-powered contact center solutions can integrate seamlessly with modern Unified Communications (UC) systems, enabling a consistent experience across different work environments. Whether employees are in the office or working remotely, AI can help maintain a high standard of service by providing tools that are accessible from anywhere. This includes AI-driven call routing, which ensures that calls are directed to the most suitable agents regardless of their physical location, and AI-powered analytics that offer insights into performance across different work settings.

7. Boosting Employee Productivity and Experience in Hybrid Settings

AI’s role extends beyond just improving customer service; it also enhances the employee experience in hybrid models. For example, AI-driven Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools can assist remote workers by transcribing meetings, summarizing action items, and even translating conversations in real-time. This ensures that all team members have equal access to crucial information regardless of where they work, leading to more effective communication and collaboration.

8. Anticipating Trends and Customer Preferences

AI’s prowess lies in its ability to analyze vast amounts of data, identify patterns, and predict future customer behavior. By staying ahead of the curve, businesses can proactively respond to emerging trends and changing customer preferences. This predictive capability becomes a potent tool in tailoring services to meet customer needs even before they articulate them.

9. Driving Continuous Improvement through Customer Feedback Analysis

Another crucial aspect of AI-powered contact center solutions is their capability to analyze and leverage customer feedback. Through sentiment analysis and feedback categorization, businesses can gain valuable insights into customer pain points and areas that require improvement. This data-driven feedback loop allows companies to continually enhance their services, showing customers that their opinions are valued and making them feel more connected to the brand.

10. Enhanced Security and Fraud Detection

AI-powered contact center solutions also play a pivotal role in enhancing security and fraud detection. By analyzing customer interactions in real-time, AI can identify potential security threats and detect fraudulent activities more effectively. This proactive approach safeguards customers’ sensitive information and strengthens their trust in the brand.

11. Intelligent Call Routing for Improved Customer Experience

AI-powered contact center solutions enhance call routing by intelligently directing inquiries to the most suitable agents based on various factors, including the nature of the query, the agent’s expertise, and the customer’s interaction history. This precision in call routing ensures that customers are connected with the right agents quickly, reducing wait times and enhancing the overall customer experience. By efficiently matching customer needs with agent skills, businesses can resolve issues more effectively and boost customer satisfaction.

Embrace the AI-Powered Future

AI is revolutionizing contact center solutions in multifaceted ways. By embracing AI-powered contact center solutions, businesses can deliver faster, more personalized service and remain competitive in today’s dynamic business landscape. In a world where customer service reigns supreme, AI presents the key to unlocking unparalleled success and customer loyalty. The time to harness AI’s transformative potential is now.

Ready to take your contact center to the next level? Contact us today: (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

Take Your CU to the Next Level and Amaze Your Members with the Latest Communication Solutions

TCI and Mitel customize Financial Services solutions that deliver amazing digital experiences for both your valued members and your staff…

Check out how this can work for your CU – Video 2:50 minutes

Local Credit Unions Trust TCI

Regardless of where your employees work (branch, head office, contact center, home) and which department they work in (Accounts, Loans, Investments, Cards, Mobile/Online, Services), TCI has the desk phones, mobile devices, voice/messaging/video apps, contact center solutions, compliance recording tools, and emergency notification applications they need to be effective, productive, and engaged.

Elevate Customer Satisfaction to New Heights

Our suite of customer experience management and workforce optimization solutions can provide your clients with automated self-service as well as personalized, human-assisted services that increase Customer Satisfaction scores by removing friction from the customer experience.

Digital Transformation on Your Terms

  • Retain and Attract Members – TCI’s omnichannel CX solutions improve First-Contact Resolution (FCR), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), and Net Promoter Scores (NPS) by improving the digital experience. Members can interact with you on their preferred channel (phone, email, SMS, Web chat, Virtual Assistant, social media, etc.) in both self-service and human-assisted service modes.
  • Increase Profitability – Steer routine customer interactions to low-cost, AI-powered, self-service virtual assistants and allow human agents to deliver more personalized client care. Reduce operating costs and improve margins with flexible deployment and payment options from TCI that allow you to choose the most cost-effective UC service option for your credit union.
  • Integration – Regardless of where you are on your digital transformation journey, TCI and Mitel’s Financial Services Solutions’ open APIs allow you to integrate seamlessly with your FinTech partners through an extensive Developer Program for custom applications and integrations. You can improve identity management with speech biometrics, mitigate fraud risk with speech analytics, and more.

Flexible, Reliable, and Easy to Use

  • Phone Systems – Take advantage of an exceptionally feature-rich unified communications platform that can be deployed on-premises, in the private/public cloud, or in a hybrid model with desk phones and soft phone options for employees working in the main office, branches, contact center, or remotely from home.
  • Contact Centers – Get everything you need to operate a world-class customer experience center including built-in workflow designer, speech IVR, AI-powered voice/chatbots and agent assist, historical reporting, and real-time dashboards.
  • Workforce Optimization – Empower your employees with interaction recording, quality management, coaching and learning, speech analytics, and workforce management solutions that are proven to increase both the efficiency of your organization and the quality of your customer experience.

Our team of experts is ready to help you design, deploy and support a customized solution that’s right for your credit union. Contact us today: (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

3 Ways to Transform Your Contact Center Customer Experience

Contact centers play an essential role in enhancing customer experience (CX). They have the power to transform dissatisfied clients into cheerleaders, collect valuable data, and improve your organization’s overall reputation.

Utilizing an omnichannel contact center platform powered with the right technology can significantly enhance CX, optimize workflows, and increase profitability.

Here are three strategies to maximize the impact of your contact center operations on your business:

1. Optimize Channel Shift

Many companies are moving away from traditional phone support and embracing digital channels like chatbots and mobile apps to save costs. However, this strategy doesn’t work for everyone. To find the best communication channels, it’s important to understand your customers’ demographics and preferences. For example:

  • Older clients may prefer phone support.
  • Younger audiences might like self-service options.

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance, it’s expected that by 2025, 80% of customer service organizations will use generative AI to improve productivity and customer satisfaction. That said, technology should always meet customer needs. Live agents will always be needed for handling more complex inquiries.

2. Eliminate Departmental Silos

Key executives, such as the COO, CMO and CTO, need to work together to ensure the contact center supports the company’s overall goals. For example, if the marketing team launches a new campaign, the contact center should be updated and engaged to provide consistent messaging to customers.

Additionally, contact center representatives can share valuable insights that help shape marketing strategies. This collaboration enables decision makers to tailor promotions and improve customer interactions.

3. Leverage Technology

To succeed in a competitive market, organizations need to stay current with new technology solutions. By adding features like AI chatbots and analytics, businesses can personalize customer interactions. You can also measure performance with metrics such as net promoter scores (NPS) and customer satisfaction (CSAT).

Effective contact center operations can convert complaints into loyalty and drive bigger profits. Businesses of all sizes can benefit from tailored contact center solutions to improve their customer experience.

Learn how TCI can help modernize your contact center: (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

Create Exceptional Customer Experiences with New Contact Center Tools

The capabilities and scope of the traditional call center have expanded as technology continues to evolve.

Today’s contact center operations can range from a few customer service representatives in a small business to enterprise-level corporations with hundreds of agents spread across multiple regional offices and remote telework locations.

TCI’s contact center experts can get you up to speed on the latest tools, and when you’re ready, our local team can design, deploy, and support your solution.

TCI’s Mitel-powered Customer Experience solutions feature interaction routing, self-service IVR, performance analytics, real-time dashboards, and workforce optimization tools.

We customize arrangements for small and mid-sized businesses and large enterprises…

  • MiContact Center Business – Whether you have a few call center agents or a thousand omnichannel agents, MiContact Center Business puts your customers at the core of your business with scalable solutions for sales, service, support, and more.
  • MiContact Center Enterprise – Transform your voice-only call center into an omnichannel experience center with this flexible, powerful, all-in-one customer interaction management platform.
  • Mitel Workforce Optimization – Gain deeper customer insights to enhance the customer experience while optimizing resources and enhancing performance with Mitel Interaction Recording, Quality Management, Speech Analytics, and Workforce Management solutions.
  • MiContact Center Outbound – Elevate customer engagement with this complete outbound contact management suite that supports all modes of outbound dialing, multi-channel communications, and campaign management.

Unleash Your Sales, Service, and Support Potential

Start a different conversation with your customers when you give them the freedom to interact with you the way they want (voice, text, chat, video) on any device, and give your employees the tools to manage today’s omnichannel customer journeys.

Build a World-Class Customer Center

Don’t just connect with your customers, convince them you care with an omnichannel communications suite featuring workflow designer, speech-enabled IVR, speech analytics, quality and performance management, real-time dashboards, and more.

Ready to improve your customer satisfaction scores, first contact resolution rates, and customer effort scores? Contact us today: (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.
 

TCI Phone Systems and Communications Solutions for the DC Region’s Leading Financial Institutions

To increase profitability, you need innovative technology solutions that keep existing customers loyal while attracting new business.

TCI’s proven Financial Services Solutions allow you to differentiate yourself from the competition with communications, collaboration, and customer experience (CX) applications that result in better customer and employee interactions.

We Understand the Digital Challenges for Financial Institutions

  • Investment Management – TCI designs, deploys, and supports Financial Services Solutions that will help your organization improve governance and security, fulfill regulatory compliance requirements, and strengthen ID verification to reduce fraud.
  • Credit Unions – By embedding customized communications solutions into your business processes, you can automate manual tasks and enable branch workers to achieve optimal product/service quality and performance.
  • Banks – Grow revenue while reducing operating costs with flexible deployment and payment options that allow you to choose the most cost-effective communications option for your business.

With an increasingly dispersed workforce, plus the need to often call on the expertise of finance specialists like mortgage advisors or insurance brokers, financial services institutions need the tools to deliver quick customer resolutions without causing delays.

A UC platform that pulls together widely used business tools, including desk and mobile phones, messaging, voicemail, audio, and web conferencing, as well as a contact center into one solution is crucial. It speeds up the exchange of information and cross-team collaboration, bringing people together to provide consensus and resolutions for the customer, regardless of location.

TCI has the Right Solutions for Your Financial Institution

  • Financial Services Contact Center Agent Solution – Capture customer information, validate customer identity, provide information with AI-powered voice/chatbots, and route clients who need additional help to experts in your organization for a frictionless client and agent experience.
  • Mortgage and Loan Application Solution for Financial Services – For Financial Services organizations establishing mortgages or general loans and closing applications in a timely manner is critical for business success. The next financial institution is waiting with competitive rates and your applicants will commit when they can lock in the mortgage or loan at the right rate.
  • Deliver Better Customer Experiences – Serve your clients on their preferred channels (phone, email, SMS, Web chat, Virtual Assistant, social media, etc.) while empowering your staff with real-time client information from leading finance applications such as Jack Henry and Fiserv for a personal touch.

Let’s discuss new ways to serve your customers and compete in a rapidly changing marketplace. TCI experts are here to help: (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.
 

How DC Region Banks and CUs Improve Customer Experience with TCI & Mitel Technology

Customer Experience that Your Bank or CU Can be Proud of

Creating a customer-first culture is about more than just client interactions. You need to provide tools that allow every part of your business to flourish. With happy, effective staff using secure, efficient communications, your organization can deliver the enhanced services your customers expect.

It pays to invest in Customer Experience (CX), but there’s a lot that needs to be addressed behind the scenes. Inconsistent service levels, outdated security, siloed staff, and narrow channels of communication are just some of the issues that get in the way of delivering exceptional customer service.

With local TCI experts and Mitel technology, you can develop the customer-first culture your business needs to thrive. Our suite of Financial Service Solutions help:

  • Improve customer interactions, whether in a branch or on a mobile app
  • Fulfill regulatory compliance
  • Strengthen security
  • Automate tasks to enhance operations
  • Enable employees or branch workers to be more responsive

For over 40+ years, TCI has empowered thousands of organizations to connect, collaborate and exceed customer expectations. Experience is why we partner with Mitel – a 50+ year global technology leader.

  • Mitel onboards 2 million+ New UC users per year
  • Mitel is #1 in Seven Core Industry Markets
  • Mitel operates in 100+ countries

Together, we deliver results.

TCI brings practical expertise, having served local financial services firms for decades. We’ll bring that in-depth knowledge to your organization – adding value to your UC investment and helping unleash your organization’s full potential.

Real Solutions… Real Impacts

  • Reliable Mitel telephony for 99.99% uptime
  • Customer-based routing for more personalized service
  • screen pops for efficient agent empowerment
  • Suggested responses for faster, more consistent customer service

Customized industry solutions are why so many local banks and credit unions connect their institutions with Mitel Financial Services Solutions – designed, deployed, and supported by TCI.

Let’s talk about improving your Customer Experience. Contact TCI today at (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.
 

4 Ways to Show Your Customers You Value and Appreciate Them with Contact Center Tools

There are dozens of creative ways to express customer appreciation, and a full-featured call center software suite can help get your message across with minimal fuss.

Small business owners and their teams can handle customer calls efficiently while indulging their VIPs with something extra — all without missing a beat.

Here are four ways to show your customers that you care…

1. Make Your Customer’s Experience the Center of Your World.

Everyone wants to feel valued. When a customer calls in, you must give them your undivided attention. If your team is worried about finding contact records or scripts, they’re not paying attention, leaving your customers feeling overlooked.

Keep the focus on the customer – not shuffling application windows – with screen prompts and automated workflows that flow seamlessly from your CRM to your contact center solution. An integrated contact center solution can empower CRM-based workflows with in-call screen pops and recommendations to help your team stay engaged with customers.

2. Anticipate What Your Customers Need with The Right Call Center Software.

Do you know your customers well enough to finish their sentences? Knowing what your customers need, even before they do, can help them feel like you truly “get” them — the basis of a fruitful relationship. Look at your data and reporting to understand customer pain points, past purchases, and other behavior.

Consider reaching out to selected customers on “quiet” days to ensure a problem was resolved to their satisfaction or simply to thank them for their business. And if you’re experiencing a service issue, contact them proactively and let them know you’re working to resolve it.

3. Customize Offer Recommendations.

Tailoring your interactions with your customers builds stronger relationships and a better customer experience. Take advantage of the capabilities of an integrated, multi-channel customer experience solution to create user profiles and make custom offer recommendations based on what your customers like. As always, meet your customers where they expect to find you, whether through email or web-based chat.

4. Partner for Pampering Experiences.

Today’s shoppers are spending more on experiences for themselves and others.If your business is rooted in products rather than experiences, consider partnering with others for a joint offer. Have these offers ready so any team member can easily share and give a great experience recommendation when they connect with a customer. Take that offer to the next level by delivering it in the method the customer prefers, email or chat, with a multi-channel call center solution.

With the right contact center solution and complementary partner, you’ll spend less time managing your phone system and more time providing customers with an exceptional experience.

When it comes to improving your customer experience and contact center solutions, TCI experts can customize, deploy, and support your technology. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.
 

Winning the Race – 3 Reasons You Can’t Let Your Communications System Fall Behind

Like winning athletes, high-performance companies are always looking for new capabilities to help them beat the competition.

We’ve all watched high-performance athletes lose a race by mere fractions of a second. It’s heartbreaking because whatever the margin, it meant the difference between winning and losing.

The business world isn’t much different. Competition is extremely tight in almost every industry. It’s too easy to be left behind by competitors who are faster to market, work more efficiently, and do more to keep their customers happy.

Your business systems are crucial to increasing your competitive edge and winning the race, no matter what industries or markets you serve. Every system you rely on must reliably operate at peak performance levels — especially your business communications system.

You can’t afford to let your communications systems fall behind for many reasons, but here are three important ones.

1. Seamless Communications Accelerates Time to Market

It takes unconstrained teamwork across every area of your organization to get new offerings to market faster. Every member of every team needs the ability to quickly and easily connect, collaborate, and share information from anywhere, at any time.

If your communications system isn’t up-to-date, your teams can’t leverage the latest features and functions available in the web, mobile, and desktop applications they rely on to stay connected. Like high-performance athletes, your teams need every advantage they can get. No matter how seemingly small that advantage is, it makes a difference – especially if you multiply the effects across your organization.

Keeping your communications system up to date means your teams always have the most recent voice, messaging, video conferencing, screen sharing, and file sharing capabilities at their fingertips.

2. Lost Productivity is More Costly than You Think

A Grammarly Business survey of over 1,600 business leaders and knowledge workers found that 72% of the workweek is spent on communication and collaboration. When you add up the lost time, those inefficiencies cost more than $1.2 trillion, or $12,000 per employee annually.

But productivity losses aren’t only measured in dollars. Almost half of the survey respondents also said that inefficient communication and collaboration had created friction with co-workers and other departments. While those losses are more challenging to quantify, no business can afford them.

Communication technologies and systems that provide more features and functionality are crucial to making communications and collaboration more efficient. The capabilities that were cutting-edge just a short while ago are no longer at the forefront of what’s available.

3. A Great Customer Experience Depends on Great Communications

Customers’ communications with your organization are central to their experience, increasing revenue. The key is to ensure your customers have a great experience at every touchpoint across your organization. To do this, you need to look beyond your contact center technology and the service your contact center agents provide and take a holistic approach to the customer journey.

Every single person in a company plays a direct or indirect role in determining whether it provides consistently good or consistently bad human or digital interactions. Your business communications system plays a significant role in those human and digital interactions.

When evaluating the current state of your current communications system, think about how customers interact with your sales team and employees located at remote sites. Also consider how your internal teams connect and collaborate to deliver on customer requirements, especially when customized solutions are required, delivery dates change or supply chain issues slow down processes.

If your communications system doesn’t provide the capabilities needed to ensure customers have the best possible experience, they can become disillusioned. Worse, they may stop calling.

To maintain your edge to beat the competition, schedule your Business Communications planning session today. Contact TCI at (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.
 

Contact Center 101 – Understanding the Basics

There are plenty of companies that manage lots of customer interactions that could benefit from today’s contact center solutions, yet they’re not looped in on what’s available today. If you’re one of them, your business could be missing out.

What’s the Difference between a Contact Center and Your Organization?

A call or contact center is any facility that receives or transmits a large volume of phone calls. Whether it’s inbound, outbound, or a virtual call center, the traditional definition of the contact center has expanded as UC technology continues to evolve.

Contact center operations can range from a few customer service representatives in a small business to enterprise-level corporations with hundreds of agents spread across multiple regional offices.

Why Does Your Organization Need Contact Center Technology?

The modern contact center has evolved. Today, a contact center can be a small team managing internal help-desk requests, a car dealership connecting prospects to salespeople, or an elementary school office handling an influx of calls from parents.

If your organization handles frequent calls, then you’re a good fit for this affordable technology…

  • Unleash Your Sales, Service, and Support Potential – Start a different conversation with your customers when you give them the freedom to interact with you the way they want (voice, text, chat, video) on any device, and give your employees the tools to manage today’s omnichannel customer journeys.
  • Build a World-Class Customer Center – Don’t just connect with your customers, convince them you care with Mitel’s omnichannel suite featuring workflow designer, speech-enabled IVR, speech analytics, quality and performance management, real-time dashboards, and more.
  • Get Big Results Fast – Improve your customer satisfaction scores, first contact resolution rates, and customer effort scores with Customer Experience solutions.

What Kind of Call Center Technology is Available?

There’s a wide spectrum of call center solutions available to help your business operations. Today’s variety of call center solutions cover all the bases.

TCI’s contact center experts can step you through your options, and when you’re ready – design, deploy, and support your solution. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.