Face-to-Face with NUG’s Shawn Smith

Shawn Smith joined the NUG board in 2020 as the Analytics Chair.

Before we ask you about your role on the NICE User Group Board of Directors, will you tell us about your current job responsibilities?

I am the system administrator for Nexidia at Cambia.  My current duties include the daily review and maintenance of the NIA system and facilitating updates as necessary.  I also act as the trainer for NIA and Quality Central and I’m responsible for all new user onboarding. I sit within the Operation Business Intelligence team and act as a liaison with the analyst who use Nexidia data to build Tableau reporting.

What path led you to Cambia?

I previously worked at Standard Insurance with another board member, Tracey Koehler, in contact center management. A short-term assignment was offered to help launch Nexidia and I jumped at the chance. I completed the online Nexidia University courses, attended the VQB class in Atlanta and we were able to get Nexidia up and running. Ideally the short-term assignment would have become a permeant analyst position, however The Standard was not prepared at the time to grow the department.   

About a year ago, I heard about a position at Cambia to do system administration and analytics with Nexidia and it fit nicely into my personal goals, as I had been managing contact centers for about 20 years and wanted to move into the analytics side of the business.  This move offered me an opportunity to switch careers and still utilize my contact center experience. 

Tell us about your experience using NICE solutions.

I’ve been using NICE in contact centers as a supervisor to listen to agent calls for a long time.  I’ve also used IEX to manage my employees.  Nexidia and Quality Central are the primary solutions I use now.

What do you like best about the NICE User Group (NUG)?

When I first started looking through the NUG forums, I was hesitant to ask questions. However, when I did ask my questions, I found a accepting audience willing to help.  If a question couldn’t be answered by a member, some of the NUG board of directors would step in and help me get answers from the right people within NICE; I liked that facilitation. This community made me feel like I could ask any question.  It feels really comfortable.  I’m not alone, having to figure out things by myself; there are resources.

Tell us a little about you, personally.

I am married for over 20 years, and we have a 2½-year-old daughter, Hazel.  I’m an older parent so she wears me out!  I like metal detecting and collecting vintage stereo equipment (Sansui and Nakamichi specifically, if anyone has a piece collecting dust in their garage).

What advice would you like to offer to those just starting their careers in technology?

Be inquisitive and eager to learn.  One of the things that best served me is I am always trying to learn new things.  When I was a call center manager, one of the reasons I did well and my teams did well, is that we were always learning and trying new things.  I taught myself Excel so I could slice and dice the data to better understand what was going on and how to address issues. More recently I’ve been taking classes and learning SQL and Tableau so I can continue adding more value to what I do.

What is your role on the board?

To facilitate conversation and sharing of ideas and best practices around Analytics. One of the best ways to achieve this is by facilitating and hosting meetings. We held our first Portland chapter meeting In February; hosted by Cambia. We also held a virtual Seattle NUG meeting in March. The next step is getting the virtual analytics chapter going and holding virtual question and answer sessions.  It will be a good way to find out what people want and what they are looking for.  And once things return to normal, I’d like to see if there are Portland organizations willing to host another local meeting.  I like seeing people face-to-face.

What do you like most about doing business with NICE?

One of the things I like, the NICE people who support me are professional but also friendly.  I can call up anyone at any time and they feel comfortable calling me.  I feel like we have a friendly, collaborative family.

Any final advice?

If you’re not on the NUG website or have the app, download it! ( App store / Google Play) Read the Weekly Nuggets.  Go back and review.  You can’t get the information you need unless you leverage your resources.