Technology development, regardless of the field of application, is increasingly geared towards finding better cost and time effective ways of doing business while also boosting service levels.
In a time-constrained world where voice is increasingly the preferred business transaction method, the contact centre industry is positioned at the front line of customer service.
Call centres have evolved from the "we'll get back to you" mindset into fully functional, multimedia business units that handle mission critical data and meet customer needs.
The highly competitive financial services industry epitomises the high standard of customer satisfaction that is demanded in the marketplace. Innofin, a subsidiary of Sanlam, a specialist financial services provider, interacts with financial planners and clients through its Communication Centre.
Spescom DataFusion, the contact centre operation of multinational technology innovator, Spescom, supplied Innofin's call centre technology. DataVoice proprietary technology was implemented to fulfil the voice recording component of the contract.
Requirements
"The challenge for a niche operator like Innofin is to provide the highest level of service without compromising on the availability or quality of information," says Spescom DataFusion managing director, Paul Fick.
According to Fick, Innofin had specific requirements. A long-term solution with a proven record of accomplishment was essential. The contact centre had to be:
* Scalable
* Interoperable with legacy systems
* Reliable with a high level of component availability
* Modular, ensuring that failure of no single point could cause down time on the entire system
"A complete contact centre solution that seamlessly integrated voice and data was required. Innofin needed the call centre agent to have access to the necessary information with the appropriate levels of security. The objective was to enable our customer to improve service, cut costs, increase revenue and mitigate risk."
The technology
According to Jacques Malan, Spescom DataFusion system design specialist, in high-risk environments like the financial services sector, security and quality of service are vital.
"Our brief from Innofin was to provide a system that placed emphasis on successful and direct relationships with financial planners and clients. Most contact centres route calls to available agents but in the case of Innofin, the system was modified to route financial planners to their designated operator. Financial planners are assigned to specific consultants and if this person is busy, the call is routed to the back-up consultant.
"The Avaya MultiVantage Platform provides the basis for the system. MultiVantage delivers telephony and call centre functionality. It is reliable and can be upgraded to include features like predictive dialling, CRM, and multi-media routing.
"The platform also facilitates voice controlled routing and creates a unique reference number for every transaction. Client interaction information can be recalled using this number."
Malan notes the project required assimilation with Innofin's existing software.
"Integration was vital for the sharing of information, especially for Innofin's customer verification software. Customers making use of the transfer banking facility need to effect transactions in a secure environment and be protected against fraud.
"Essentially once a call is routed to a consultant, the customer's account number is requested. The call is then channelled to the interactive voice response (IVR) component. The IVR functionality is provided by the Avaya Interaction Responder (IR), which works with the back-office security system to authenticate the call. Regardless of whether authentication is successful or not, the call and authentication result are routed back to the same operator who took the call.
"A data unit is created for each call and captures information like dialled number, call history and caller identification. This information is shared between the consultant, the IVR, and the business application software."
Malan says that this sharing of information is facilitated by the Avaya Interaction Centre (AIC).
"The AIC provides soft phone functionality like call answer, transfer, and termination. It also provides call information and caller history that can be accessed using the unique reference number. The voice transaction is recorded by the DataVoice recording solution.
"The Avaya Call Centre Management System was also deployed. This provides statistical reporting of inbound and outbound calls, agents and trunks, and includes information like call length and peak periods. The management system is a valuable tool for enhancing service levels, maintaining quality, agent evaluation, training and development," says Malan.
Fick concludes that the Innofin Communication Centre exemplifies the benefits of integrating voice and data, and how it can be used to maximise customer service in an age where this is proving to be the defining competitive differentiator.
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