Siemens solution lightens academic burden

About 65 000 enrolled students at Technikon SA have begun to reap the benefits of a state-of-the art call centre solution - worth R4 million - from the Enterprises unit of Siemens Information and Communication Group.

The solution has been installed at the technikon's main campus in Florida, west of Johannesburg. Already, call waiting times have been reduced to a minimum, and an average daily number of 4 000 students currently call in to the main campus to seek tutorial advice, make personal administration enquiries, and check examination schedules.

Technikon SA is one of SA's largest and most respected correspondence-learning institutions. It is in the process of re-engineering its service areas in order to improve customer service to existing students, and attract new students, especially in light of the restructuring of tertiary education in SA

The technikon previously did not have any technologically-based management tools to benchmark productivity and pursue quality monitoring. All the main campus had in the past was a Siemens Hicom 392 PABX system, which proved inadequate in coping with the flood of incoming calls from distance-learning students expecting to be connected to the administration or lecturers.

Distance learning is an increasingly popular and more cost-effective form of education in SA today. The preferred mode for student contact with administration and with lecturers at these institutions is the telephone. This puts an enormous burden on the telephone system to effectively cope with this constant flood of incoming calls from students expecting a quick and professional service.

A tender call resulted in 13 responses from various companies, with Siemens being awarded the contract in December 1999. Both parties subsequently held an application discovery workshop. Technikon SA's clients' needs were assessed and shortcomings in the system identified.

After many discussions and some re-engineering, with the help and expertise of the Siemens ProCenter team, Technikon SA put into place new processes that are now focusing on strategic objectives and in time will improve Technikon SA's service levels to its students.

Albert Ntee Koloko, the manager of the call centre at Technikon SA, said the programme includes increasing the efficiency of call processing; getting the call to the appropriately skilled agent; increasing agent productivity; improving the accuracy and accessibility of student information; simplifying call centre processes; providing students with a higher level of service; answering the calls as quickly as possible; identifying the caller and synchronising the arrival of the call with the appropriate database screen; and identifying new students with prompting, providing information and following-up with a return call.

Phased approach

Already two of the three phases of the project have been completed. The first phase, which was completed in June last year, involved the implementation of an Aspect ACD (Automatic Call Distributor) switch for distributing incoming calls on an intelligent basis. It is linked to the Siemens Hicom PABX system to transfer calls to specific offices at the technikon. This part of the contract was valued at R2 million, and dealt mainly with the voice part of the total call centre solution.

In the second phase, also valued at R2 million, and which was completed in early March, Siemens Telecommunications implemented a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution. The CRM solution is based on an application from IMA-EDGE and includes auto-faxing and telesales, as well as pop-up screens displaying the students' database information at the same time a call arrives at the call centre.

Eric Schoen, Account Manager for ProCenter at Siemens Telecommunications, said the solution has transformed the technikon's call centre to "really be a virtual one-stop shop for callers and for students to get the effective, professional and swift service they have come to expect from an institution such as Technikon SA".

Koloko shared Schoen's sentiments, saying the students have "become a lot happier with the faster, more efficient service they are now enjoying".

"The ultimate is to provide a friendly and flexible service and immediate response to the customer's queries. It is clear to say that the Call Centre is the hub of the organisation. Students are very happy with the faster responses they are getting from their queries. TSA is happy with the technology they have put in place from Siemens to facilitate this kind of service level.

"In addition, and in terms of the technikon's strategic objectives, installation of the technology has meant improved customer service, which is high on the agenda, encourage student retention, and increase student numbers.

"Through the call centre Technikon SA is now in a position to identify its customers, win them, retain and grow our clients," Koloko said.

In the third phase, which is scheduled for roll-out later this year, a single toll-free number is planned, in addition to a virtual tutorial system. A voice recording system - to monitor quality monitoring - is also envisaged.

Ultimately, the technikon is aiming to become an "outsourcing hub" for its call centres to other technikons.