National Express is the latest operator to install Teleopti with the ‘aim to deliver outstanding customer service’
Customers can call to book a place on your coach at any time, so what if there was system that could help predict when calls would peak so that you can ensure your phones are manned at suitable times and the opportunity to fill seats is not missed? Welcome Teleopti.
Teleopti Workforce Management (WFM) can bring many benefits to a business; it can maximise planning with multichannel forecasting, multi-skill scheduling, employee-empowering functionality and self-service, competence development, and monitoring of real-time and past activities.
The latest coach operator to install Teleopti’s innovative solution for staff planning is National Express.
Calling National Express
Operating services linking more than 900 destinations across the country, National Express is the largest operator of scheduled coach services in the UK. At the heart of its operation is a “busy contact centre with over 160 agents working a range of complicated shift patterns to provide around-the-clock service to ensure customer response on every day of the year”.
With the key hours covered from 0800-2200hrs, the contact centre ensures that there is always someone available to respond to customer calls, as well as responding to the increasing number of online queries via Facebook, Twitter, email and live chat.
By installing Teleopti WFM, it can enable managers to adjust staff schedules quickly and easily to meet customer demand.
Why Teleopti?
Teleopti says that until recently the company had been using an incumbent system to schedule staff shifts, however, it required a lot of manual intervention to create and change rotas.
The old system lacked the ability to forecast into the future. Recognising the need for a more flexible, automated solution, the National Express management team selected Teleopti WFM.
Nick Smith, Business Manager for Teleopti, says: “Workforce management has two elements: The first part is customers can call at any time, so you need to get the right number of people to take the calls and ensure they both match up. The second part is finding a solution that tackles that. Teleopti’s WFM analyses historic data to predict when those calls are likely to come in.”
Nick explains that the software will establish when some days are busier than others, such as a Monday is likely to have more calls than a Friday.
“The ability to build strong forecasts using historical data means it becomes easier to maintain consistent service levels and therefore keep passengers on the move,” he adds.
The benefits
By establishing when customers are more likely to get in contact, Teleopti has all-round benefits for the operation.
Not only does it ensure customer satisfaction by having a better service level, but it can increase productivity among frontline employees. Nick says that Teleopti WFM customers always manage to find a return on investment within a short period of time.
Golam Rabbani, Performance Manager at National Express, says: “We looked at several web-based applications and sought recommendations for a new software solution. The feedback on
Teleopti’s WFM solution was very positive. It has already proven beneficial by enabling us to speed up the scheduling process and build forecasts based on actual call data.”
Teleopti worked with its business partner Unify Communications to deliver the new solution which Teleopti says has been “invaluable in supporting National Express’ aim to deliver outstanding customer service”.
The firm receives between 1,800 and 2,000 calls a day, increasing to 2,500 at peak times, such as holiday times and rush hours, all of which are handled to resolution. Instances of bad weather can significantly increase enquiries both to the Network Control Centre (with breakdowns and traffic problems) and to the main customer services team handling calls about delays in the service.
Teleopti WFM allows for the customer services teams to schedule additional agents who can work from home and be kept in contact by using the cloud-based solution, therefore providing a “seamless service”. For some staff this also enables them the flexibility to be available for shifts in addition to their contracted hours.
“As a cloud-based solution it gives us the ability to accommodate peaks in demand by keeping in touch with agents and allowing remote working if required. We can track our forecast against actual calls for future planning purposes and base our schedules on previous data. All we have to do is tweak the forecast instead of totally rebuilding the schedule which means a difference of 30 minutes work instead of six hours,” Golam says.
Teleopti worked with Unify www.unifyus.com to deliver its WFM solution at National Express. More information can be found at www.teleopti.com
