Case Studies Nov 09: iTa enable Energex home agents | Nov 09: iTa enable Energex home agents |
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Media Release
Innovative remote access technology is allowing Energex call centre operators to respond rapidly to emergency phone calls from home and other locations rather than the call centre during the current South East Queensland storm season. Energexʼs Customer Contact Group (CCG) is trialing a new initiative called Remote Response which sees Contact Centre standby staff being able to log in and work from home when called upon during storms or large scale power interruptions . Remote Response has been created by call automation specialist, iTa, and allows call centre operators to take emergency calls via a Next-G laptop and mobile, or home phone and ADSL connection. The solution is a first for a utility in Australia and enables Energex to rapidly mobilise a remote agent workforce, particularly during the critical first 30 minutes of an emergency or high call volume event. Group Manager Customer Contact Group Dayle Grant said the overall benefit to our customers would be shorter wait times during the earlier stages of an emergency event. “At present it can take up to an hour for staff to arrive at the Contact Centre at Spring Hill in Brisbane when called upon during a storm,” said Dayle. “Remote Response enables staff to be online and answering calls more quickly and reduce the wait times for our customers when they need us most during large scale outages.” The solution is based on iTaʼs Integrated Media Gateway (IMG) which provides the ability to extend a voice call, along with computer user interface, to a remote agent almost anywhere. Theoretically, a call centre operator could be online and responding to emergency calls from their kitchen table. The trial has already been given some early testing during thunderstorms which hit South East Queensland on October 13 and 26 and November 5. In each storm remote response operators have been used to support the main customer contact centre. Dayle said some Remote Response operators were able to log in and start answering calls within 10 minutes of receiving the assistance request. iTaʼs CEO, Nick Buckle, says it was critical to maintain the functionality of the call centre when trying to create a remote access solution. “When considering the design of the solution, our aim was to ensure that all the tools and infrastructure available to an operator as a remote agent, were the same as if in a call centre to ensure complete end to end visibility. Our vision was to create a true and complete extension of the call centre, rather than just a downsized satellite. Weʼre delighted that the solution has been implemented and tested successfully, and will continue to look at innovative ways to improve this technology,” he said. While the focus on remote response is for the contact centre, it could be extended to other areas of the company in the future. |
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