ABSA Direct, a division of South Africa`s largest commercial banking institution, ABSA, has commissioned National Data Systems (NDS), a member of the JSE-listed Fintech group of companies, to implement a Cincom Encompass software-based predictive dialing solution at their Collections department in Curatio House, Auckland Park and Kasteel Park in Pretoria. Cincom`s Encompass predictive dialer is a software based solution that uses Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) technology to predictively dial numbers while screening out non-productive call attempts such as busies, no answers, SIT tones etc.
ABSA Direct were initially operating their collections department at a previous site via a hardware-based predictive dialer and due to the constraints of the system, a pilot phase, utilising the Cincom Encompass predictive dialer, was commissioned at Curatio House. This pilot ran live for 18 months and involved 13 agents. Due to the success of the pilot phase, NDS, with the assistance of an internal division within ABSA, (ABSA DTS), then seamlessly moved ABSA`s full complement of agents from their previous site to Curatio House. The deployment of the solution was completed in a record time of two weeks, and due to the user-friendly interface of the predictive dialer, which had been modeled on their on-line collections system, the new technology was mastered by 47 personnel within a week.
"The benefits of moving from a hardware-based predictive dialer to the Cincom Encompass offering are numerous. These benefits include dynamic list management, graphical and customised reporting, price and performance. The Management Information System (MIS) is 100% better than what we were previously used to," says Hanlie Britz, Head of Operations at ABSA Direct.
As a result, ABSA now have better control of their collections list reporting i.e. the list containing the names of customers in arrears. The Encompass predictive dialer software has the ability to create up to 32 000 different types of lists. For example, clients who promise to pay within a week are then diarised and allocated to a "call back" list, and clients who are perhaps difficult with the agent are recycled to an appropriate supervisor. ABSA managers are now able to have reports on the status of these various lists at their fingertips. The system also has a capability whereby these statistics can be graphically represented.
"We are now also able to determine the latest trends and can make quick changes to the system, e.g. if the list penetration on list "A" is high in the morning and the penetration on list "B" is not, we are able to dynamically assign additional agents to list "A", thereby enabling greater penetration during this period, and hence achieving greater productivity," continues Britz.
"The Encompass system list management now enables us to fully analyse call outcomes such as "other", which results in a more detailed set of management information reports.
"The Cincom Encompass call guide was modeled on ABSA`s Online Collections System (OCS) and was an integral part of ABSA`s requirement for installing a Contact Management Front Office Application of choice that would operate across all channels," says Tony Mason, Professional Services Manager at NDS. "To update our existing hardware-based dialer, which had a number of limitations and is clearly out of date, would have been extremely expensive," continues Britz.
"We now have an integrated solution and a consolidated call centre using our existing infrastructure. We have standardised on technology and support and have an open systems approach.
"ABSA can now effectively manage their customer interactions, from contact centre to historical legacy systems across their enterprise. Utilising the Cincom Encompass software-based predictive dialer, we now have huge flexibility in our list management thus affording us accurate list reporting as well as effective control on reporting," says Paul Pistorius, Manager of Collections at ABSA Direct.
"Correct reports are now sent to the correct people, resulting in enhanced productivity".
Pistorius set a target of achieving 2000 calls per agent per month. Currently each agent is handling 1600 calls per month which is 300 calls more than Pistorius had anticipated at this time.
"The Cincom Encompass Predictive dialer performs more effectively with a large number of agents and an extensive, good quality list of accounts. This enabling technology has resulted in an enormous increase in productivity, thus giving us a high return on our investment," says Pistorius.
"The key statistic for this particular predictive campaign is to obtain 15 to 20 calls per hour per agent, so ABSA are well on target to achieve their goal," says Pistorius.
"ABSA have also been able to develop additional reports both quickly and seamlessly", says Pistorius.
"Cincom Encompass aligns itself with the same open standards approach as ABSA. Our operating system and data base fall under the ABSA standards, thereby alleviating the need for additional maintenance personnel and their associated additional costs. Another cost saving for the bank." says Mason.
"The support that we received from NDS throughout the whole project was superb - from the installation through to the system training. An enormous amount of additional effort was put into this project by NDS to ensure its eventual success," concludes Britz.
"Encompass has been a major component on the desktop within ABSA for many years and has assisted the group with many of their campaigns including mortgages, re-investments, funeral plans, service quality monitoring, outbound and inbound campaigns to name a few," concludes Britz.
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