Connecting people via technology

Four years ago, customer contact centre specialist Dialogue Communications launched its call centre operation in Cape Town. The vision was that the South African operation would not only become a contender in the local call centre arena, attracting international offshore business, but also a good alternative to India, due to cultural fit, time zones and a natural tendency towards service.

Today, Dialogue SA has grown 40% annually, offering its services to both local and international clients in an industry estimated to be worth R532 million locally and $59 billion worldwide by year-end.

According to Dialogue`s chief operating officer, Duncan Miller, this local growth has been boosted by the need for modern business to substitute the closure of branch offices and the development of more remote transacting. These services not only need to provide the right technology but also to effectively replace what was previously a face to face relationship - Dialogue`s speciality.

The local company provide call centre services to a host of local and international customers via its "white label" environment. A client would not know it was calling a Dialogue centre when dialling a specific customer service line. The service provided is completely seamless and runs as smoothly as it would if you were to call on the customer directly.

There are several reasons for the current success enjoyed by the Dialogue team but an area that Duncan Miller believes should not be underestimated is technology. For the past two years, the team has worked with local ICT solutions and services specialist, Atio Corporation.

"Our motto is `closing the gap between customers and corporations` and to do this we needed to establish a seamless call centre environment. One that effectively manages incoming calls on behalf of our respective customers. Atio`s call centre solution offered us exactly what we were looking for in technology and as a partner."

According to Miller, the call centre is critical to a company`s success. It is the voice of the brand, image and front office. "Customers are becoming more savvy and moving into what we call the experience economy. They derive a brand experience from more than just a product - judging the entire experience, which starts at the call centre."

Providing this kind of service is critical to Dialogue`s success and thus the decision to partner with Atio was a crucial one. The decision did not centre on Atio`s CyberCall product alone but also the fact that the company is home grown. Dialogue had immediate and constant access to an Atio engineer and established a good working relationship immediately.

"Atio took the time to understand our complex business. They truly comprehend the meaning of the word partnership and don`t just pay lip service to customers. We found the team to be extremely flexible, the solution was cost effective and able to meet the varying integration needs of our blue chip customer base," comments Miller.

Dialogue`s success is reflective of Atio`s ability to provide an integrated and seamless call centre solution. With Dialogue`s unprecedented growth locally and internationally, it`s safe to assume that Atio is making a difference.