The CEI Group, Inc. (CEI) was named a finalist in the Call Center of the Year (Up to 100 Seats) category in the seventh annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and will ultimately be a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award winner in the program.

“We’re honored to be recognized for our commitment to providing the highest levels of service to our customers, which include insurance companies, fleet and risk professionals and fleet drivers across the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada,” said Vincent Brigidi, CEI’s president. “Congratulations are owed to all of CEI’s employees who sit in, manage, and support our customer care center, but most especially to Carol Gillespie, our manager of claims operations.”

The awards are presented by the Stevie Awards, which organizes several of the world’s leading business awards shows including the prestigious International Business Awards.

Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word “crowned,” the final results will be announced during a gala banquet on Monday, February 25 at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Finalists from the U.S.A. and several other nations are expected to attend.

More than 1,100 entries from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted to this year’s competition, an increase of 10% over 2012. Finalists were determined by the average scores of 120 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges. Entries were considered in 30 categories for customer service and contact center professionals, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; 41 categories for sales and business development professionals, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Sales Training or Coaching Program of the Year to Sales Department of the Year; and categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers.

More than 100 members of several specialized judging committees will determine Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging, to take place January 28 - February 8.

“Many of our preliminary judges have commented about the high quality of the entries the competition received this year,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. “Our final judges will have a challenging but rewarding task, to determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze placements.”