IVR powerful for Australian utility call center

Australia is a land of opportunity for interactive voice response (IVR) and call centers. It is similar to the U.S. nine years ago when IVR technology was new and companies debated whether IVR would be cost-effective and beneficial in conducting business. As with the U.S. market at the beginning of the IVR technology revolution, Australian financial institutions are among the first to discover how IVR can make information instantly and easily accessible. A leading Australian electricity retailer and the largest distribution corporation in South East Queensland, ENERGEX, services one of Australia's most vigorous growth regions and has discovered the benefits of IVR in its call center.

ENERGEX is the first company in that state to implement a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week call center. The 24x7 call center, spanning three locations, delivers support to more than 900,000 customers in South East Queensland. Customer service representatives (CSRs) located in Brisbane, Southport and Nambour, respond to incoming calls and initiate outbound calls.

The call center was implemented to meet the demands of ENERGEX's customer base and to provide the company with the ability to reach more customers, raise revenues and reduce costs. "Customers are demanding that more and more business be conducted over the phone," said Simon Uren, director of development and technology with Information Technologies Australia (ITA).

The IVR platform chosen is part of the virtual electricity call center and manages the operator functions. The system became operational in October and handles approximately 8,000 calls during peak hours.

Using a touch-tone telephone and a single telephone number, customers call the system to quickly report emergencies, service interruptions or make general inquiries anytime of the day or night. Previously, customers had to use two different telephone numbers - one for complaints and the other for loss of supply and general inquiries.

In addition to the three menu choices the system offers incoming callers, it also provides a bill payment feature. With the automated bill payment option, customers can pay their utility bill with the few touches of their telephone keypad, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The bill payment feature will become operational in June and will enable customers to pay their utility bills with MasterCard, VISA or a bank card. Once connected to the InterVoice system, customers follow the voice prompts to enter their account information, including: electricity account number, bill number, credit card number and expiration date, and the amount the customer wishes to pay. At the end of the bill payment session, the system issues a transaction number - confirmation that the payment has been accepted.

Uren said, "The IVR system will enable ENERGEX to provide a consistent and controlled customer interface. ENERGEX will be able to make changes to information quickly and their customers will enjoy an easy-to-use system. ENERGEX customers no longer have to travel to pay their bill. It can be completed as easily as picking up the phone."

Prior to the installation of the call center, all incoming calls were handled by CSRs. Now CSRs have sufficient time to resolve service issues requiring their expertise, thereby providing faster responses to customer inquiries. With the IVR system in the ENERGEX call center, incoming calls are handled quickly and efficiently with nearly 80 percent of all incoming calls answered within 20 seconds.

Application

The two analog IVR systems from InterVoice are 60 ports each, support InterVoice's InterSoft/2 Version 8 runtime software for OS/2, and connect to a Tandem Windows NT-based server. The three call center locations use CustomNet from Telstra, which eliminates the need for a PABX and provides the ability to establish an interworked private network to meet business growth needs.

Customer Benefits

* No travel time involved when paying utility bill,

* Less time spent on the telephone when reporting emergencies,

* Speeds up reporting process,

* Anytime, anywhere accessibility,

* System is easy to use,

* Single-number access.

* Update information quickly and easily,

* Cost-effective,

* 24x7 availability,

* Increased efficiency that provides quicker response times,

Easy to upgrade.

ENERGEX is a partnership between Southern Electricity Retail Corporation (SERC) and South East Queensland Electricity Corporation. ENERGEX is the leader in electricity supply for South East Queensland providing power to approximately 1 million customers.

Greg Smith is senior vice president, sales and marketing with InterVoice, Inc., a global supplier of automated call processing solutions. An ISO 9001-certified company, InterVoice is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Copyright Technology Marketing Corporation May 1998
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved