Success Story, EarthLink
CSI Impact: Automated outbound customer service solution reduces live agent talk time by as much as 75 percent resulting in significant savings for EarthLink.
Summary
- Outbound shared IVR service application calls customers who require customer service
- Integrates with contact center and customer database to reduce live agent talk time
- CSI monitors process to help EarthLink see trends and continuously improve process
As the nation's "next generation Internet service provider," Atlanta-based EarthLink has earned an award-winning reputation for both outstanding customer service and its suite of online products and services. Serving over five million subscribers, EarthLink offers what every user should expect from their Internet experience: high-quality connectivity, minimal online intrusions, and customizable features.
CSI helps EarthLink uphold its reputation as a customer service leader by providing an exceptional interactive outbound IVR application designed to contact customers who have reported a problem with their broadband or dial-up service. The application calls customers to collect information, update EarthLink's trouble tracking system, and if applicable, connect the caller to a live agent to complete the maintenance process.
Integration to EarthLink's databases is one of the main reasons why the system works as well as it does. For example, the shared IVRs were directly integrated to the EarthLink's customer resource management system to minimize manual intervention. An automated dialing process with a direct link to EarthLink's trouble tracking system allows full automation of the process. CSI integration (CTI) lets EarthLink customers interact with the IVR script and connect to a live agent with knowledge of the issue and experience to resolve a problem. There is heavy integration within the system; the shared IVRs integrate with many different EarthLink databases. CSI support personnel monitor the entire process to ensure that the system is continuously operating at expected service levels.
Calls are transferred into the IVR from the contact center for automation of redundant tasks. CSI places a call back to the customer with a menu of options which may include an option noting that the problem was solved. The customer can choose if the problem was not solved and opt out to a customer service agent.
The implementation of the shared IVRs to do outbound service status calls is significant because costs for live agents range from $.60 to $1.00 per minute. With CSI, the cost is less than $.20 per minute. Plus, the automated outbound call to the customer might last two minutes; the call from a customer to a live agent will last at least three minutes, resulting in significant additional costs.
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