“The visual call scripting is so intuitive, I feel very confident making any alterations and improvements to any scripted app. Furthermore, the Unified Agent Desktop means there is no switching from application-to-application, saving time and reducing the potential for human error to creep in.”
Repairs and estate management for one of the UK largest urban local authorities’ 30,000 properties are managed by a team of 40 contact centre agents, who handle approximately 250,000 inbound calls from tenants each year. The contact centre is relied upon to report and request emergency and non-emergency repairs relating to issues such as heating and plumbing.
The team is supported in managing the process, from first call to completion of the work, by a technology infrastructure that is unified by Noetica’s Synthesys™ software. Synthesys™ is fully integrated with the Council’s Avaya telephony platform and mission critical software – the Oneserve field service management application and the Northgate housing management solution, as well as its own CRM system.
Today, every agent is guided through every call by Synthesys™ interactive scripted apps that ensure the right information is relayed to the tenant and delivered into the correct system, so that every call and subsequent action can be dealt with in the most efficient way.
Some of the enquiries agents handle can be complex with certain properties and repairs requiring specialist contractors to conduct the work. A single Business Analyst at the Council is responsible for overseeing this deployment and its ongoing usage. He has been using Synthesys™ for 18 months, including building the scripted apps presented to the agents’ screen when calls are routed to them. He states: “By following the step-by-step guidance provided by the Synthesys™ scripted app on screen, there is less reliance on the pre-existing knowledge of the agent, as the system automatically knows the correct process to trigger next.”
The introduction of Synthesys™ means the contact centre can handle more calls without the need to increase headcount, as well as dedicating more time to helping tenants. The Business Analyst adds: “We want our agents to do what they do best and that is help our residents as quickly and efficiently as possible. Synthesys™ empowers them to do just that.”
Furthermore, the contact centre has become far more adaptable, with Synthesys™ making it easy to make changes to scripted apps on the fly. He adds:
Looking to the future, the Analyst concludes: “We are looking at ways to improve how agents and tenants interact whilst on calls through the use of interactive visuals, that can be presented to the agent at the appropriate point during the call. There are also plans to explore the rollout of Synthesys™ to help manage enquiries relating to non-residential properties.”
