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The leading American company in prepaid mobile telephony with national coverage   Examples of Success |
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Initial project design and implementation for Cordoba and Rosario CentersThis client selected Apex as the new provider for inbound customer services in English and Spanish during December of 2003, the contract was signed for a total duration of 5 years and the project consisted originally of 50 FTEs (Full Time Equivalents).The Tracfone project original design stipulated a fixed interconnection scheme, which means that our Client previously determined the structure that would simply mirror the one utilized with other Contact Centers that this company already had contracts with. This structure indicated that Apex would provide an exclusive internet connection for voice over IP communications and our Client would provide the routers needed to connect both parties. Our project engineering team faced the challenge of setting up the workstations with all the requirements needed regarding soft phones, headsets, web access to Customer Care sites, etc. The implementation process was designed with two redundant internet service providers to ensure the continuity of the operations. The enablement and implementation process lasted a total of 45 days. There was no pilot test for this project either, production started on the date set as a goal and there were no incidents reported. Timing and approach to recruitment and trainingThe Client selected Apex as their new provider for inbound customer services in English and Spanish in August, 2003. The contract signed has a total duration of 5 years and the project consisted originally of 50 FTEs. However, a monthly increase in the number of FTEs was stipulated. We grew by 50 agents per month in one year to reach a total number of 650 FTEs in September, 2003. Up to December, 2005, we had grown up to 1100 FTEs.Apex faced the challenge of recruiting and hiring 140 agents who were going to receive a one week training starting on September, 2003 in order to reach the FTEs goal established by the Client. These representatives were scheduled to start taking calls right after the training by September of the same year. In order to meet these project implementation requirements, Apex set up three different training rooms with a capacity for 20 trainees each and equipped with computer stations for each trainee. Simultaneously, Apex built and equipped the production floor that would be completely dedicated to support operations for this project. The first training course begun on the last week of September 2003. The first wave of agents was trained by 3 of the Client’s trainers that came from Miami. This wave consisted of 60 trainees distributed in three training courses going on simultaneously. The representatives who were trained in the first wave were able to successfully finish the training process and on September, 24th, 2003 production started. During the same period of time, Apex’s designated training personnel who would later occupy trainer positions within the project, the business management and IT teams were taking the training course. The second wave of agents was trained right after the first one finished the course and it consisted of another 60 agents who were trained by the Client’s trainers and Apex’strainers jointly. A week after this second wave finished, the remaining agents necessary to comply with the Project Implementation requirements were trained. This group consisted of 20 agents trained by Apex’s trainers with the supervision of the Miami team. Initial project implementation challengesChallenge I:At the same time we started growing in the number of FTEs required by our Client, in November, 2003 they requested us to service two different segments in order to provide support to Miami’s operations. The two new segments we were going to start providing support for were Credit Card Maintenance and IT TOSS Support. These departments were being handled at Miami headquarters but they needed more personnel due to the increase in the number of universal customer care agents added to the operation. There were two challenges Apex had to face as regards this new requirement actually: the first one lied in the fact that we needed to choose the best universal agents to train them for these special departments(why?), thus reducing the number of universal FTEs on the production floor and we needed to replace them. The second one was related to the training of the new credit card maintenance and IT Toss agents. Solution provided: Three more employees were added to the Human Resources department in order to conduct English language interviews and assessments. In this way, we were able to speed up the recruitment process and evaluate the increased number of candidates necessary to be trained as soon as possible. The universal agents taken from the universal segment were replaced in two weeks. At the same time, Apex’s team trained the special skill agents who started taking calls for the CC Maintenance and IT Toss departments the week following the date of requirement. It is important to highlight that Toss Support agents were not only trained in the kind of tasks that are characteristic of that department but also in the specific Thin Client and Citrix applications. Two weeks after this first wave of IT Toss agents started production, Tracfone Wireless decided to concentrate 70% of this department in Cordoba due to the high level of performance of our agents and the fast response of the training team to have all the agents required ready for production within the established deadlines. Challenge II: A month after the new special departments started operating, Tracfone Wireless requested our account manager to select the best agents with a sales profile to start developing the Direct Sales department. This department was going to take care of processing (on line) customer purchase orders for phones, accessories and special bundle promotions advertised in the media across all channels. A special Sales Campaign was planned for December, 2003. Solution provided: The new Direct Sales agents were trained to use the specific tools needed to operate in this department and we were chosen by Tracfone Wireless to handle the calls for the special Sales Campaign launched. We encouraged DS agents to volunteer to cover a special shift for this campaign which was launched from 0:00 a.m. to 4 a.m. EST and we were able to exceed our clients expectations as regards staffing by 10% obtaining excellent sales results. After the initial implementation of the project for this leading nationwide pre-paid cellular services company, we had to transition the IT Toss Support department from an in-house operation at the Client premises to our center in Cordoba. First we started with a small group of agents and we grow in to months to account for the 70% of the operation of this department. During this transition, we were also faced with some challenges. Transition experience challengesChallenge I: Human resourcesThe IT Toss Support department, being of critical importance in Tracfone operations, had always been handled from Miami, i.e. the call center operation was conducted in-house. Besides, the Client had recruited their staff according to the technical skills necessary to play such an important role in the Call Center operations by authorizing activations, unblocking cards for redemption, resetting used and reconditioned phones, authorizing the extension of due dates and granting airtime, etc. Solution provided: Apex had to make an effort to provide the same level of agent performance the Client had at its premises in Miami. We chose our best agents with a special ability for dealing with technical calls and issues and trained them to be part of the IT Toss Support department. Challenge II: Infrastructure The Client requested the IT Toss Support department to start operating 15 days after their notification. They requested us to arrange a dedicated call center area for the agents belonging to this dept. to sit together since they were going to be supervised by a specialized supervisor in each shift. Solution provided: Apex set up a special area in the call center with 30 seats available for this department and the software applications needed for the operation. Also, a supervisor workstation was arranged at the selected area in order for the special supervisor in each shift to be able to closely monitor their agents. Challenge III: Technology The most important challenge we faced as regards technology was that we had a very short time to migrate the frames from the Client’s facilities to our center and assure that all applications (such as Clarify Thin Client and Citrix 4.2) were up and running. Solution provided: Our team worked in conjunction with our Client’s international implementation team to ensure a smooth transition. The operation started within the estimated implementation period and our Client took the transition experience as a model to be followed in similar transition projects in the future. Other services provided for this ClientOutbound customer services:. Outbound voice: representatives proactively contact those customers who have certain issues for which resolution could not be provided in less that a week. This service is provided by representatives who are trained to expedite resolution and handle critical customer interaction. . Outbound non-voice (E-mail response): representatives answer customer inquiries made via the company’s website, send responses to technical cases which require further personalized follow up. Specific Inbound customer service:. Payment processing / Payment arrangements / Set up of different payment options.. Credit card registration, purchase limit extensions. . Refunds processing. Achievements:. “2004 Vendor of the Year” accounting for 45% of the off-shored volume.. 1st and 2nd positions in this Client’s INTERNATIONAL QUALITY PERFORMANCE RANKING 2004 for Cordoba and Rosario centers. . 1st position in the above mentioned RANKING for Cordoba Center in 2005. These are a few clear evidences of the confidence that our Clients have in our ability to consistently deliver high quality results and of Apex’s commitment to providing business solutions which make a substantial difference for its Clients. |
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