Grintek Telecom, DigitalMall, Emmanuels Call Centre Staffing Solutions and Intelleca Voice & Mobile recently partnered to offer the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) a distinct contact centre solution for the upcoming elections.
The consortium had to set up and implement a fully operational call centre within three business days and had to recruit and train in excess of 100 staff (initially) capable of communicating in all 11 official South African languages.
What started off as a public service call centre serving the needs of the voting public during normal business hours soon evolved into a 15-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week operation, with the call centre handling an average of approximately 25 000 calls per day.
To effectively deal with change of this magnitude within a very short space of time required a skilled and experienced call centre management team, a scalable telephony platform and associated infrastructure blended with a flexible staffing services provider with a deep-rooted understanding of the needs of a dynamic and ever-changing environment.
The success of any organisation is proportional to its ability to adapt quickly and efficiently to change - this applies to both the consortium and the IEC alike.
As a result of the knowledge gained and lessons learnt from the voter registration weekend in November 2003, the IEC opted to invest in a state-of-the-art 120 port VoiceXML/Interactive Voice Response (IVR) platform.
Voters now have the option of receiving voters roll confirmation or pertinent information from the VoiceXML/IVR platform without human intervention, or may speak to a call centre agent, depending on the nature of the enquiry.
Says Roger Blain, business solutions executive at ICT specialist Grintek Telecom: "Since the inception of the IEC's call centre in October 2003, over a million calls have been answered with peak periods that created a strain on the existing call centre resources. A solution was required that would reduce the load at peak periods while improving efficiency to callers by ensuring their queries would be handled promptly and efficiently without having to employ more people."
The installation and integration of the voice solution was completed in record breaking time, of eight working days, making this the quickest worldwide implementation - ever. Grintek Telecom, DigitalMall and Intelleca drew on each other's specialist resources to implement the solution within a very short time."
Says Yaron Assabi, CEO at DigitalMall: "DigitalMall had previously used VoiceGenie's solutions to handle large volumes of enquiries and the dissemination of information. When the same need presented itself for the IEC's call centre, we immediately recommended the VoiceGenie solution supplied by local voice specialist company Intelleca."
"Real-time statistics were obtained over both registration weekends in November 2003 and January 2004 through our Aspivia iCall, Web-based call auditing software working in conjunction with the Nortel Networks Symposium skills-based contact centre platform. During the November 2003 registration period, prior to the implementation of VoiceGenie's solution, 75 000 calls were handled in two days.
"The VoiceXML platform has enabled the IEC to provide a more customer-centric, 24/7 service to the voting public, which is also backed up by a well equipped, 110 seat call centre with knowledgeable and skilled agents from a multitude of ethnic backgrounds and cultures that represent the diversity of South Africans.
"In January 2004, with the VoiceXML solution in place, almost half a million calls were received, of which 76% were handled by VoiceGenie. This meant the remaining 23% of calls were handled by call customer relations managers over the January registration period, dropping the CRM call load to just over a third of the total number of calls handled in November. This represented a significant saving in operational costs, and improved call handling capacity and public convenience."
Says Mike Renzon, managing director Intelleca Voice & Mobile: "Grintek Telecom ensured that the Nortel Networks Meridian1 and Symposium contact centre platforms used by the IEC call centre would interface with VoiceGenie's VoiceXML, guaranteeing the success of the solution."
Voice automation alleviates queuing and allows the agents to handle more complicated queries. As the Web site content is updated, so too is the VoiceXML telephony content, leveraging this technology off DigitalMall's and the IEC's existing investment in Internet technology.
The solution also reduced the frequency of 'prank' callers, as the guided message means there is no 'human element' with which prank callers can interact. This, in turn, increased efficiency levels for sincere callers who genuinely require information regarding the elections and voter registration.
To date, the IEC call centre has resulted in approximately 400 candidates being trained in IEC-specific processes, procedures and system applications. The consortium will, through an on-going process of training and development, assist the IEC to achieve and maintain a professional, cost-effective level of service that not only meets with, but also exceeds the expectations of the public it serves.
Blain concludes: "The IEC plans to further leverage the functionality of VoiceGenie's VoiceXML solution in the near future with election results options such as integration of fax capabilities for the application of special votes currently under way."
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Grintek Telecom, a division of JSE-listed Grintek Ltd, is one of SA's leading empowerment ICT (information, communication and technology) solutions and integration companies. Grintek Telecom provides tailored and innovative ICT solutions, from initial project and business requirement consulting, through to implementation, integration and ongoing support. The company's ICT solutions have been implemented in more than 500 top South African companies and it provides solutions, services and maintenance in 23 African countries. Over 25 international vendors have selected Grintek Telecom as their local service provider and partner.
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