The organisation
bss is a charitable company providing specialist contact centre and information services to customers in the public, voluntary and commercial sectors. bss has over 500 staff in the UK dedicated to enabling people to take action to improve the quality of their lives and society through the provision and management of information and advice.
The challenge
Following the Varney Review of public services, the government set out a Performance Framework for publicly funded contact centres and helplines, with 26 performance indicators. Within the performance framework, there is a strong emphasis on the question of whether services are designed around the needs of customers, as judged by the customer themselves. All publicly funded contact centre services therefore needed to find a way to gain ongoing customer feedback on the services they provide.
At the same time, the government was expecting significant efficiency savings, meaning that any new systems put in place needed to be highly cost-effective. As an outsourcer of contact centre services, bss therefore needed to find a way to help clients gain cost-effective customer feedback on the services provided on their behalf.
The solution
bss chose to offer clients the option of gaining customer feedback using the IVR survey system Opinion-8 from Square Systems. This system allows callers to evaluate the service immediately after their call. Customer feedback is automatically compiled and analysed on an ongoing basis. Real-time reports can be viewed by bss and clients on a secure website.
The benefits
- Real-time feedback allowed contact centre advisors and managers to see the impact of the service they provide immediately which proved to be an excellent motivational tool.
- Government requirements relating to customer feedback were met for as little as a few hundred pounds per month.
- bss and clients could access performance reports at any time on the internet, to monitor instantly customer satisfaction.
- Analysing reports over time allowed better understanding of how customer satisfaction varies over time as well as how customers respond to any changes in service.
- Verbatim comments from customers could easily be transcribed and analysed for improved understanding of the customer experience.
- Both bss and their clients gained a better understanding of the public perception of their services, could assess the customer experience, and improve services provided.
About Square Systems and Opinion-8
Square Systems is a UK-based developer of integrated software solutions for contact centres. Square Systems specialises in leveraging open source technology for application in contact centres, and has developed and manages the Opinion-8 survey system.
The organisation
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Councils Repairs Management Centre provides a first point of contact to all tenants to enable them to report a repair. The service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days per year.
The challenge
Following the Varney Review of public services, the government set out a Performance Framework for publicly funded contact centres and helplines. All publicly funded contact centre services therefore needed to find a way to gain ongoing customer feedback on the services they provide. At the same time, the government was expecting significant efficiency savings, meaning that any new systems put in place needed to be highly cost-effective. Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council also wanted to evidence the good customer service they were providing to all ethnic groups within their local community, as well as identify areas for improvement.
The solution
Dudley was one of the few local authorities to make the most of IVR technology by using it to gain real-time feedback from customers on different aspects of the service provided, as well as on the ethnicity of callers. The Opinion-8 system allowed Dudley to capture verbatim comments from the users of its service. Once the caller has hung up, their survey feedback is automatically compiled and analysed. Instant graphic reports can be seen by Dudley Council staff via log-in to a secure website.
The benefits
- Performance reports for any given time period can be accessed at any time via the internet.
- Reports over time allow better understanding of how and why customer satisfaction varies as well as how customers respond to any changes in service.
- Listening to verbatim comments left by Dudley’s service users offered vivid soundbites which could also be used as a motivation booster for contact centre staff.
About Square Systems and Opinion-8
Square Systems is a UK-based developer of integrated software solutions for contact centres. Square Systems specialises in leveraging open source technology for application in contact centres, and has developed and manages the Opinion-8 survey system.
The company
Informa provides high quality business information across a number of major international Markets.
The challenge
The customer service department wanted to conduct a market research survey to determine clients’ satisfaction with their customer service. Sending paper surveys to all customers was considered costly and slow, and made data analysis difficult and time consuming.
The solution
The Opinion-8 system allowed Informa to devise a questionnaire and deliver it easily to customers with automatic analysis once feedback was received.
The benefits
- The key components of customer service could be measured quickly and easily.
- Delivery of the survey was by automated email.
- Online reporting and analysis tools gave immediate insights.
About Square Systems and Opinion-8
Opinion-8 was developed by Square Systems Ltd. Square Systems is a UK-based developer of integrated software solutions for contact centres. Square Systems specialises in leveraging open source technology for application in contact centres. These include automated customer satisfaction monitoring, IVR systems and Voice over IP.
The organisation
The Law Society is the regulatory and representative body for solicitors in England and Wales.
The challenge
The Law Society wanted to ensure that its policies were in line with the opinions of its members. It wanted members to be able to participate in the consultation using a web-based survey or paper-based questionnaires. One of the key requirements was to make the web consultation highly accessible, and compliant with the Disabilities Discrimination Act (DDA). Additionally the surveying platform had to be capable of handling the potentially high level of responses from the membership.
The solution
The Law Society sought a provider who could provide a suitably accessible service. It was already using the Opinion-8 surveying system for quality monitoring in its call centre, so decided to use the same system for consulting members on its policies.
The benefits
- Opinion-8 provided a visually appealing web-based survey.
- The Opinion-8 surveying platform is advanced enough to comply with the stringent accessibility requirements of the Disabilities Discrimination Act.
- The survey was up and running very quickly.
- Opinion-8 is capable of handling the high level of response from members
About Square Systems and Opinion-8
Square Systems developed and hosts the IVR and online survey feedback tool Opinion-8 used by a range of private and public sector companies and organisations to gain customer, employee and stakeholder feedback in a variety of settings.
The organisation
The National Blood Authority was set up in 1993 as a Special Health Authority within the NHS to manage all blood services in England through the National Blood Service. It is entirely dependent on voluntary donors. Each year, around 1.7 million people donate 2.3 million units of blood.
The NBS national call centre is managed by the MM Group, an outsourced supplier of contact centre services, and provides centralised call handling for more than 70,000 calls each month relating to blood donation. It is responsible for helping members of the public with questions about the blood donation process, locating the nearest blood donation centre as well as providing assistance with counselling and medical emergencies. Three regional call centres provide additional support when calls have to be escalated for specialised assistance.
The challenge
Good communication with donors is fundamental to the success of NBS. As their call centre services are outsourced, however, they need to be able to monitor the calls to ensure that their donors are receiving good customer service.
The solution
The National Blood Service (NBS) has implemented Opinion-8 at its national call centre to help it build stronger relationships with donors. Through Opinion-8′s surveys, members of the public can express their opinions on the level of service provided by the national call centre. Opinion-8 therefore provides an independent audit of how customers experience the outsourced service provided by the contact centre.
Real-time monitoring of customer satisfaction is helping the NBS to manage better its call centre operations and identify training requirements for agents. Using a standard web browser, it can view the current levels of customer satisfaction and the current performance of the national call centre including agent ratings, average call lengths and queue times.
The benefits
- Confidence in the service has increased.
- Call handling has improved as calls can be monitored and feedback analysed.
- Responding to customer feedback has increased the level of blood donations.
- Customers appreciate being able to give feedback.
About Square Systems and Opinion-8
Opinion-8 was developed by Square Systems Ltd. Square Systems is a UK-based developer of integrated software solutions for contact centres.
The company
Teleperformance is the UK leader in outsourced CRM, contact centre and direct marketing services, with over 2,000 seats available in their UK network of contact centres plus a further 1,000 in facilities in India. Teleperformance is committed to exceeding client expectations. This entails constantly measuring performance, meeting service level agreements, and improving operations.
The challenge
Teleperformance wanted to find new ways to verify independently that they are delivering on core company principles such as customer focus and transparency, and sought the opinions of key clients to establish what kind of information they would be interested in having access to. Clients were keen to get feedback directly from their customers.
The solution
Teleperformance chose Opinion-8 as part of their three-pronged approach for measuring satisfaction, alongside call monitoring and mystery shopping. Opinion-8 services are provided to some of their key clients such as Sainsbury’s, NBS and the Environment Agency.
The benefits
- Clients can access performance reports at any time from any PC, and see how satisfied their customers are with the contact centre services Teleperformance are providing. In this way, both Teleperformance and their client organisations are getting valuable feedback about the quality of their customer services.
- Feedback is accurate and in real time.
- Clients are able to see and hear verbatim comments from customers.
- Clients are able to be alerted should any of their customers feel unhappy about the service they received.
- The results help clients to understand the public perception of its services, assess the customer experience, and improve its contact centre operation.
About Square Systems and Opinion-8
Square Systems is a UK-based developer of integrated software solutions for contact centres. Square Systems specialises in leveraging open source technology for application in contact centres, and has developed and manages the Opinion-8 survey system. Applications include automated customer satisfaction monitoring, interactive voice response (IVR) systems and Voice Over IP (VOIP).
The company
TNS is one of the world’s leading market research and information groups with over 14,000 full-time employees across the globe. TNS provide research services on market segmentation, advertising and communications, new product development and brand performance.
The challenge
TNS were commissioned to carry out an employee feedback survey for the restaurant chain, Pizza Express, covering all their restaurant staff in the UK and Ireland. The survey needed to be accessible from within a catering environment during working hours by staff with limited online access. The company wanted to cover a number of questions on how staff experienced their employment as well as exploring motivational factors. They also wanted to know quickly whether or not staff at different outlets were completing the survey, in order to be able to encourage participation. Staff on the other hand wanted to ensure that their responses were given and received in confidence and were anonymous. An online survey was not a practical option, and a paper-based survey would have been resource-intensive to distribute, collate and analyse.
The solution
TNS chose Opinion-8 automated telephone interviews to conduct the employee feedback exercise. A 53 question survey was designed. The survey prompts were recorded and the survey put live on a telephone number, and staff were then encouraged to call this number during working hours, listen to the recorded questions and give their answers by pressing the buttons on their telephone keypad. The survey took on average 10 minutes to complete.
The benefits
- TNS were able to provide highly cost-effective employee research using automated telephone interviews to allow employees without internet access to participate in the survey during work time.
- High participation rates were achieved due to the ease of access and completion of the survey. Despite the length of the survey (53 questions) there was a low drop-out rate. The vast majority of employees answered all the questions asked.
- Confidentiality and anonymity were maintained despite the fact that the survey was completed over the phone in a busy working environment. This encouraged participation and honesty.
- There were no additional costs for data collection and analysis, as the Opinion-8 survey system automatically collated and analysed responses.
- The emerging and final results could be viewed by both TNS and Pizza Express’s project managers on a secure website.
- Easy to use graphing tools provided simple visual representation of the results, whilst the raw data were also available to view and save as an Excel spreadsheet.
- Because of the instant online reporting the survey could be managed in real time.
- Reports on completion rates could be run down to retail unit level, enabling the restaurant chain to identify units where staff had not been properly informed about the survey, and take action to address this.
About Square Systems and Opinion-8
Square Systems developed and hosts the IVR and online survey feedback tool Opinion-8 used by a range of private and public sector companies and organisations to gain customer, employee and stakeholder feedback in a variety of settings.
The organisation
London Councils is a policy and lobbying organisation that promotes the interests of London’s 33 councils, working to help member councils deliver better services and to promote better cross-borough working. Their Housing Service works with borough housing departments to increase resources and develop policy initiatives that address London’s housing problems.
The challenge
London Councils wanted to carry out a review of their Housing Service to explore the scope, effectiveness, relevance and cost effectiveness of services provided, in the context of an imminent change in funding mechanism. Feedback on the quality and value of the services was needed from members and officers of London Boroughs and the City of London, from partner agencies and other stakeholders. Because of the scheduled change in funding, the timescale of the review was tight.
The solution
Square Systems won the contract in partnership with a specialist housing consultancy, North Harbour Consulting, brought in for their expertise in the housing context. Two Opinion-8 online surveys were devised, one for stakeholders within London boroughs, and the other for partner organisations with whom London Councils works, to explore awareness and perception of services provided. Focus groups were run with Housing Directors and Councillors, to explore which services currently provided might be discontinued. In-depth telephone interviews were held with members of the London Councils Executive, and benchmarking data were collected from relevant organisations. The results of these various streams of investigation were summarized both separately and jointly in first an interim and then a final report, covering perceived core functions, quality and usefulness of services, awareness of successes, effectiveness, priorities for the future, and funding options. Conclusions and recommendations from the findings were presented to elected councillors and officers at London Councils.
The benefits
- By finding a specialist housing consultancy partner for this project, Square Systems started with a clear understanding of the context of the investigation, and was able to work in an informed way with stakeholders such as Housing Directors and Councillors from the London boroughs.
- The need for speed was recognised from the start, and Square Systems was able to respond quickly to requests for changes from London Councils regarding the project as it developed.
- Automatic collation and analysis of online survey responses in the Opinion-8 survey system allowed fast interpretation of results.
- The power and sophistication of Opinion-8′s software platform allowed two surveys to be run and analysed simultaneously.
- All elements of the review were completed to the timescales agreed.
About Square Systems and Opinion-8
Square Systems developed and hosts the IVR and online survey feedback tool Opinion-8 used by a range of private and public sector companies and organisations to gain customer, employee and stakeholder feedback in a variety of settings.
The organisation
TS Technology Services is a supply chain logistics company providing integrated service solutions in the UK and Europe to diverse market sectors where high technology assets are employed.
The challenge
Due to business growth, the existing call centre was reaching capacity, and call handling needed to be improved. A review of call centre technology was undertaken to ensure the best solutions were used to provide the best service to customers.
The solution
Square Systems suggested using a feature-rich Inter-Tel solution providing excellent management and reporting capabilities. The plan was for the system to be installed in TS Communications’ new premises. With continuing growth prior to the relocation, however, an interim solution was required to increase the capacity of the existing contact centre. Square Systems responded quickly, providing a temporary solution to enable the ongoing operation of the call centre.
The benefits
- Square Systems provided expert advice on the available options.
- The provision of enhanced call handling capacity ensured a rapid solution to the needs of the business growth.
- An interim system was provided at no extra charge.
- Square Systems had the flexibility to respond to and support the changing operational requirements during the period of growth and relocation.
About Square Systems and Opinion-8
Square Systems developed and hosts the IVR and online survey feedback tool Opinion-8 used by a range of private and public sector companies and organisations to gain customer, employee and stakeholder feedback in a variety of settings.
The company
WPD is the electricity distribution network operator for the Midlands, South Wales and the South West delivering electricity over a 55,300 sq kms service area to over 7.6 million customers.
The challenge
WPD required a system that provided regular updates to incident-affected customers, reducing the need for customers to pursue contact with a live agent over the telephone. The system therefore needed to interface directly to the fault management and maintenance systems that monitored the major sub-stations on their distribution network. WPD were also particularly keen to be able to maintain and support the resultant systems in-house.
The solution
The consultancy provided by Square Systems resulted in the development of an IVR system that was able to meet high demand whilst providing accurate and current information. By working side-by-side with WPD development staff, Square Systems were able to help create a system that could be maintained, supported and developed further in-house.
The benefits
- Square Systems were able to respond to the urgency WPD’s request and make rapid progress towards a solution.
- The thorough consultancy offered by Square Systems led to substantial knowledge transfer to WPD’s technical staff.
- The system that was developed could be maintained, supported and further developed in-house.
About Square Systems and Opinion-8
Square Systems is a UK-based developer of integrated software solutions for contact centres. Square Systems specialises in leveraging open source technology for application in contact centres, and has developed and manages the Opinion-8 survey system. Applications include automated customer satisfaction monitoring, interactive voice response (IVR) systems and Voice Over IP (VOIP).