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First Response Finance credits its contact centres with IP telephony Avaya IP Office system enables companies to improve service for its customers, and enables contact centre staff to work from home First Response Finance, will improve dealer and customer service andmanage its contact centres more efficiently, thanks to its new IP telephony system from Avaya Inc. (NYSE:AV), a leading global provider of business communications software, systems and services. Implemented by Avaya business partner NT Voice and Data, First Response Finance, a leader in the hire purchase financing of cars, motorbikes and light commercial vehicles, will use the new Internet Protocol (IP) telephony system to improve communication from its contact centres, and reduce operating costs by up to 20 percent. Also, the new system will enable improvements in employee productivity and retention by offering some employees the opportunity to work remotely. Using Avaya IP Office all-in-one communication system, First Response Finance can easily and economically provide remote working facilities to employees who, for example, have young families. The technology helps provide employees with a healthy work/life balance, improving staff retention for First Response Finance. A successful pilot scheme has run over the past six months through which agents were chosen to work at home, based on merit and individual circumstances. The aim is to have six to eight home working agents by April 2005. Teresa Peniket is a remote working contact centre agent at First Response and works from her home in Walsall in the West Midlands. Teresa commented: "'Working from my office at home gives me the best of both worlds in terms of balancing my career and life outside work. The best bit about it is that the customers calling in never notice they haven't come through to the contact centre." With all of its business undertaken over the phone, the efficient management of First Response Finance's contact centres is critical to the growth of the business. "We wanted to upgrade our traditional communication system to one with more functionality that would give us better control whilst also providing good return on investment," said Chris Groom, IT manager at First Response Finance. Installing a VoIP-based system provides the most economic package, whilst also presenting us with options for developing into a multimedia contact centre in the future. So for example, if customers want to do business with us via other channels such as email or webchat, we will be able to provide that service." There is further room for cost savings in the future through linking the Avaya IP Office systems used in First Response Finance's two geographically dispersed contact centres. This would provide significant cost savings whilst allowing calls to be distributed to available agents during peak periods, whether they are located in the main Nottingham contact centre in Beeston, or in the Scottish contact centre in Paisley, just outside Glasgow. Once linked the systems would provide a centralised call centre management system with improved monitoring, allowing supervisors to better predict call volumes and manage employee resources. This would ensure that First Response Finance's customers are not kept waiting for a decision on a loan whilst the necessary checks are made. Also, it would ensure that all 40 new business staff are as productiveas possible in receiving and following up initial calls. With both the contact centres and First Response Finance's payments collection centre in Lancashire, the IP telephony system offers the reliability required for operation up to 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Also, NT Voice and Data has remote access to the system, allowing rapid diagnosis and resolution of issues as soon as they occur. For example, necessary software upgrades can be carried out any without the need to visit an office, thus avoiding disruption to the business. NT Voice & Data commented, "First Response Finance has taken a forward looking approach to the management and upgrade of its contact centres. IP Office and the introduction of IP telephony allows the company to easily adapt its communication system - for example, to accommodate new employees and offices as the company expands." In the future, First Response Finance plans to integrate its IP contact centres with its CRM system so that current customers' details appear automatically on screen when incoming calls are received. This will improve contact centre staff productivity whilst also delivering a better service to its customers. |
