Spescom DataFusion, the contact centre division of international technology innovator Spescom Ltd, has provided a rapid deployment of the latest contact centre technology for Innofin, a specialised investment administration company that is part of the Sanlam group.
"Timing was critical on this project, as is always the case when dealing with financial services," says Jacques Malan, system design specialist at Spescom DataFusion. "Beyond that, we had to work very closely with the customer to achieve some complex integration of the contact centre technology with existing business and back-office applications. Fortunately, the flexibility and ease of use of the Avaya solution made all this achievable."
Innofin called on Spescom DataFusion in September 2003 after a careful analysis of various solutions available in the market. Having determined that Avaya technology was the preferred route, Innofin placed the order in late October with a completion deadline of early January.
According to Malan, Innofin needed to replace a previous solution that was unable to meet present demands and lacked scalability for future growth.
"Our proposal to deploy Avaya Multivantage and AIC (Avaya Interaction Centre) offered a complete solution. The solution enabled access for 40 agents and 180 back-office staff and enabled integration with Innofin's business and database applications. It also offers future-proof scalability, an IP ability and multimedia capabilities for the customer's growing business," Malan says.
"Innofin has a PIN verification system in place which required close integration with the Avaya solution. We replaced the existing system with enhanced security and management which is provided with a DataVoice recording solution, Avaya CenterVu CTI server and AIC to support integration with the IT systems.
"Thanks to the open standards and flexibility in the products, we could achieve a cost-effective system which has a modular ability to upgrade for future needs," says Malan.
"Spescom was our choice, even though we had not worked with them before," says Renate Meyer, Communication Centre manager at Innofin. "Apart from the advanced Avaya solution they proposed, we were most impressed with the service-oriented culture Spescom offers. Necessarily, as a leading provider of investment products, our own commitment to service is critically important and we were pleased to see a similar attitude from Spescom."
"Security and high service levels are essential," says Meyer. "Most of the Communication Centre's clients are investment planners who obviously expect fast, reliable service with maximum security. The Spescom solution has achieved all this. Despite the challenges of system integration, Spescom staff has given excellent support and ensured that the solution was deployed on time.
"We now have an advanced solution which meets our high expectations and can be scaled for future requirements," Meyer concludes.
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Spescom is a multinational technology innovator with direct operations in the US, UK and SA.
The group is publicly listed on the JSE Securities Exchange SA (Spescom Ltd), and on the NASDAQ OTCBB: SPOC (Spescom Software Inc).
Spescom addresses the information and communications technology market providing both products and solutions to connect to the network economy, as well as enterprise software to manage information and knowledge.
Specifically, Spescom provides solutions in the areas of access network; enterprise information management; multimedia transaction recording; broadcast; customer contact centres; and test and measurement.
Spescom markets its products worldwide through appointed partners and distributors under the eB brand for its enterprise software, and the DataVoice brand for its multimedia transaction recording solutions.
Spescom's global customer base consists of multi-national organisations including leading enterprises in the utilities, telecommunications, transportation, financial, banking and insurance sectors.
Worldwide, customers include Siemens, British Telecoms, Network Rail (formerly Railtrack), Lloyds of London, Barclays Bank, Abbey National Bank, WH Smith, Caterpillar, Bechtel, AmerenUE, Entergy, Bombardier, Ocean Energy, Sempra Energy, Telkom, SABC, Old Mutual, Eskom, Transnet and First National Bank.
For more information on Spescom, please visit www.spescomsoftware.com and www.spescom.com.
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