Case Study
Turnkey Solutions’ Strategic Approach Reduces Call Volume for a Large Contact Center
Client Background and Overview
Turnkey Solutions was tasked with assessing a contact center that serviced approximately 150,000 customers. This contact center was responsible for providing service to customers with billing questions and complaints of any kind and received contact via phone, email, and walk-ins. However, it was receiving an incredibly high volume of calls that far exceeded its capacity to handle them, raising concerns about its efficiency and increasing customer dissatisfaction. Overall, the assessment aimed to determine the root cause of the challenges and to both recommend and implement approved solutions.
Challenges
Contact center representatives were handling an extremely high volume of calls—approximately 1.5 million calls per year. Despite best efforts, the contact center was experiencing several challenges, including long wait times, high abandon rates, and frequent busy signals. Furthermore, the monthly call volume far exceeded the expected volume based on the number of customers being serviced, leading to questions about the call center’s operational efficiency. Feeling exasperated and perplexed by the seemingly unsolvable overwhelm of calls, the client engaged Turnkey Solutions to perform an assessment and uncover the root cause of the high call volume and the call center’s various challenges.
Solution
Turnkey Solutions accurately assessed the symptoms and diagnosed one main issue and two subsidiary issues contributing to the call volume. By conducting a traffic study, Turnkey Solutions discovered that the primary rate interface (PRI) trunks were being shared with another department, causing both departments to experience service disruptions during peak hours. By reconfiguring the trunks, the team found a more efficient way to handle the call volume without increasing the number of PRI trunks.
Additionally, the interactive voice response (IVR) and automated attendant were reconfigured to provide customers with more user-friendly options and self-service capabilities. As a result, the IVR soon accounted for 63% of automated customer payments.
From a personnel perspective, the agents were divided into unique groups of expert agents who were trained for specific tasks, and calls were routed accordingly. Because these agents focused on specific issues all day, they were better suited to help customers more quickly.
A large percentage of the former call volume was based on repeat calls from frustrated customers who were hanging up and calling back. Over a period of about a month after implementation, repeat calls from frustrated customers decreased significantly, and 80% of calls were answered within 30 seconds, meeting the industry standard. The new, more efficient call routing system, along with additional self-service options for the IVR, reduced the overall volume.
Impact
The strategic solutions implemented by Turnkey Solutions had a profound and lasting impact on the client’s call center operations. By reconfiguring the primary rate interface (PRI) trunks, enhancing the interactive voice response (IVR) system, and training groups of agents for specific tasks, the call center achieved greater efficiency without requiring additional resources. These measures not only reduced overall call volume but also fostered a more efficient and customer-friendly environment, leading to sustained improvements in operational performance and customer satisfaction.