Improving customer service with IP business communications software

Toyota Financial Services (TFS) New Zealand has deployed an IP business communications software suite to manage the telephony requirements of its head office, national contact centre and the sales office of sister organisation Toyota New Zealand.

TFS offers vehicle financing, leasing and insurance products through 50 Toyota customer centres across New Zealand, its offices in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and its website.

TFS was looking to replace its old, hardware-based telephony solution. Glenn Armishaw, Development Group Manager, TFS, said the old system was hard to support and presented a risk “in terms of reliability and maintenance and a lack of any real disaster recovery/business continuity planning capability”.

Armishaw said the company needed a flexible and scalable solution to enable its expansion. TFS wanted to be able to add functionality for more complex call centre capabilities and to record calls or play disclosure statements as required for compliance. They also wanted a solution that could integrate with the company’s CRM and core receivables systems.

“We were also looking to realise some benefits immediately, for our customers and ourselves, through smarter routing/‘self-help’ capabilities,” Armishaw said. TFS also sought a system that could provide “greater clarity regarding how our customers and partners are interacting with us and the levels of service we provide”.

“Naturally cost - or more importantly, the value a system would provide - was a big consideration as well.”

TFS selected Interactive Intelligence’s Customer Interaction Center (CIC) to manage the telephony requirements of its national customer contact centre, its main office and Toyota New Zealand’s Auckland sales office. The system was deployed by Amtel.

Given the system has been in place since August, Armishaw said, “It’s probably a little early to be able to talk authoritatively about some of the ‘hard measures’ - though our first full period’s comms bills are down on our historical averages.

“Some of the ‘softer’ benefits are clear,” Armishaw said. “We have benefited from a better flow of calls through our organisation, meaning customers are getting a better experience, and there is less double handling of calls [leading to] time savings for TFS staff.”

Callers can now contact specific staff more directly, providing time savings to those who call TFS regularly. The system has also reduced the burden on staff while out of the office, and on internal maintenance staff.

“Life has become easier when out of the office, with an ability to keep up to date while away. The maintenance and support of the system is reduced, with TFS being able to do more routine tasks in-house.”

The solution can also redirect incoming faxes to the company’s email system, providing a saving on handling and printing costs.

“The ability to record calls and play disclosure statements (and record the response/agreement) greatly assists TFS’s compliance record keeping.”

Disaster recovery and business continuity are also improved under the new system; TFS can redeploy telephony services to alternate sites.