All roads may not lead to Rome any more, but the 21st century technology trails clearly point to convergence as the key element and synergy between solutions and suppliers, as crucial.
The days of Lego set technology, whereby customers are forced to seek out many suppliers to fulfil their needs, are rapidly declining.
ICT companies like multinational innovator Spescom, have risen to these challenges by devolving business strategies aimed at convergence, and deploying solutions that pull in the expertise of more than one of its operations, providing customers with turnkey solutions from one source.
Spescom's contact centre division, Spescom DataFusion and its voice transaction recording operation, Spescom DataVoice, often work together to deploy a complete solution for customers.
An example of this is the nationwide network of contact centres provided for Auto & General, one of the prominent players in the short-term insurance market.
Spescom DataFusion supplied the Avaya contact centre systems, while sister company, Spescom DataVoice supplied the group's proprietary technology - the Orion Professional and Nexus voice recording solutions. The technology has been deployed at six sites across the country to handle the high volume of telephonic transactions conducted by several business units in the Auto & General group, all of which use shared infrastructure to deliver customer service.
"As the regional branches grew and our overall business increased dramatically, it became essential to upgrade the infrastructure," says Kobus Senekal, technology and communications manager for Auto & General's IS Services, a business unit within the group responsible for ICT infrastructure.
"We considered some alternatives and finally decided on the Spescom proposal - using both DataFusion and DataVoice because this was a cost-saving, single solution. It also has the advantage of being fully scaleable and readily integrated with our back-end IT systems. This was very important in the context of the exceptional growth of the company over the last few years.
"The Durban office was the 'test' site. From there we have progressively upgraded the other centres, including two adjacent buildings in Johannesburg which are connected by a free space optical link. Although we hesitated to upgrade the smaller Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth operations, it has since proved cost-effective and advantageous to do so.
"We have a long history with Spescom and the company has always been very customer service-oriented. More importantly, Spescom's staff have a real understanding of business goals and go beyond simply supplying a technology solution."
According to Paul Fick, MD of Spescom DataFusion, 10 years ago the Auto & General head office was one of the company's earliest installations of Avaya technology.
"The current project involved six regional sites - all of which are demanding with a high degree of activity. These include Durban, Cape Town, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and the Johannesburg headquarters. Each contact centre has its own Avaya MultiVantage system.
"The DataFusion side of the project involved the latest Avaya S8700 as well as the CMS (call management system) which supports essential marketing analysis and feedback reports for the customer.
"The integration of the technology was a vital aspect, which in turn facilitated the implementation of a disaster recovery site - which is currently an ongoing project. This will allow continuous operation with complete transparency if a regional centre or even the head office goes offline.
"Beyond the technology itself, this project illustrates the importance of aligning the solution with the business needs of the customer. There are many factors involved, but the primary one is a full understanding of the business processes that the technology supports.
"Auto & General is a classic example of a business that depends completely on the efficient handling of, typically, telephonic communications with its customers. To provide the high-grade service that gives the company its competitive-edge, it is necessary to have the best available technology as well as careful planning and strategising to ensure that technology delivers its full potential.
"A primary requirement was the voice recording that is a legal necessity. However, the customer transactions also represent a valuable resource for business intelligence.
"In fact, the measurable improvements in productivity, service delivery and better marketing practices have ensured that Auto & General have seen a very rapid return on the investment in the Spescom solutions.
"Thanks to the long relationship we have had with the customer and our insight into the important criteria that govern the business processes, we have achieved an implementation that meets all the requirements.
"Success has been dependent on various aspects including the technology but more importantly on fulfilling the customer's business priorities which includes having a cost-effective, productive, paperless system that provides proof of transactions and meaningful business intelligence.
"Lastly, the solution has 24/7, real-time availability, market-leading reliability and provides the tools for Auto & General's customer service to exceed expectations," says Fick.
According to Robert Koch, account manager for Spescom DataVoice, each regional centre also has its own Orion Professional voice-recording system.
"This is connected by the DataVoice Nexus management solution, providing access - via a Web browser - to head office management. It also offers secure on-site back-up and off-site archiving of all phone transactions. The central transaction database at the Johannesburg office is a Microsoft SQL Server, which integrates completely with our technology.
"Another advantage is that our solutions integrate into all the major software products, in this case an AS400 network with various Microsoft elements.
"What is really 'leading-edge' about this solution is that, with the final phase upgrade, Auto & General's head office has acquired IP telephony enablement, using Avaya S8700 processors. There are approximately 160 IP phones at various sites around the country which are integrated into the contact centre and voice recording systems.
"The capabilities of the equipment are extensive. On the DataVoice side, the Orion Professional archives onto RAID with about one terabyte of storage - the equivalent of some three months of transactions.
"Auto & General handles something in the region of 45 000 calls per day, covering everything from new contracts to general customer queries. For the sake of achieving the highest possible service delivery, as well as the contractual verification that is the essence of its business, the company has to have a 100% reliable and available voice recording solution," says Koch.
Senekal concludes that Auto & General is delighted with the outcome of this complex and major project for the group, which he says was completed on schedule and with no cost over-runs.
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