Technology exploitation, Telephony, Network services, Benefit delivery, Return on investment.

 

Exploiting Information Technology and Telephony

 

Touchpoint Change does not provide hardware or software but we do know what technology should do for you.   

Instead of selling you IT or telephony equipment we prefer to help you increase the value you get from your current investments.  Most organisations can achieve greater utilisation of their current assets, exploit more functionality and receive more management information than they currently do.  Our philosophy is to keep things simple, ensure that they work and get the most out of them. 

 

We can review how any of your information or telecoms technology is supporting your business, whether it offers value for money and whether there is a business case for any tactical or more strategic changes.  We have experience of all kinds of business application, including operational systems and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems and infrastructure.

 

The performance of a contact centre also relies on better flows of telephony and electronic traffic through your networks and we provide a number of core services to help you manage this more effectively.

 

Non Geographic Numbers:  Via our technology partners we can supply you with a range of non geographic telephone numbers, each with different cost or revenue profiles:

 

• 0800 – toll free for landline callers.  You pay a fixed price per call minute, with volume discounts;
• 0845 – the caller pays a local rate and you simply pay the balance (mobile callers will pay more);
• 0870 – landline callers pay a national rate.  If volumes are sufficiently high you would qualify for a cash rebate from the provider, based on their profit margin from caller fees;
• 09xx - these provide much higher revenues for you and for the telco.  Used for premium services.

 

All of these numbers can be purchased for a simple one-off fee and managed on a monthly rental basis.  Prices vary according to the popularity of the number so call us to discuss your requirements.

 

 

Virtual Networks (features in the 'Cloud'):  By managing your incoming call traffic in the public network, before it reaches your internal ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) switch, we can provide ‘virtual’ call management.  This gives you access to all of the latest facilities but without having to purchase a new switch.  With this system there is a greater chance that your calls will get answered as the system identifies where traffic should best be routed. 

 

In a typical scenario, a company would advertise a single number (eg. 0845) and through the virtual switch the system would identify where the call was originating from and point the call to the nearest or most appropriate office.  Full reporting on all inbound and outbound call traffic is available in real time via a web screen and can be broken down into 30 minute intervals or as required.  By eradicating the need to purchase a conventional telephony switch and ACD, a call centre function can also be set up or expanded in days rather than months.  If you are running ad hoc campaigns, multiple sites or simply want to reduce your telephony costs why not give us a call?  We have helped reduce the cost of outbound calling by up to 30%.

 

 

Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity:  In the current climate of risk awareness, many organisations wish to reduce the chance that their operations will be disrupted.  This may be through buildings being inaccessible, failures in utilities, telephony disruption or a breakdown in public transport or road links.  The impact on your business and your customers if you were unable to trade for a week could be disastrous.  We have worked with companies in the past to ensure that they have a robust and regularly tested back-up plan should their call centre become non-functional.  This sometimes involves using another office as a back-up site, having plans to serve calls to staff working from home or it may require an outsource provider to whom calls are routed. 

 

We can work with you to validate and test your current plans and identify any weaknesses or risks.  Alternatively, if you don’t have a plan we can help you devise a pragmatic one.  Touchpoint are committed to making sure that your customers can continue talking to you in any eventuality.  The alternative is that they will start talking to your competitors.  To avoid that scenario or for peace of mind let us help you plan.

 

 

New technologies: The IT and communications industries are currently converging and it is becoming easier and easier to communicate via different media.  Whether sending SMS messages from an IT application, capturing voice messages as emails or saving written correspondence as audio files, we will be able to come up with creative ideas that will surprise your customers or save you time and money. 

 

 

Call us to start exploring the possibilities and to get more out of the investments you have already made.

 

© Touchpoint Change Consulting Ltd, 2009.