Savings Reflect Better Agent Utilization, Faster Call Handling and Reduced Toll Costs
ST. LOUIS, MO (August 13, 2003) – Pipkins Inc. today announced the results of a study showing that the Navy Federal Credit Union saved more than $800,000 in the first year after implementing Pipkins’ Maxima Advantage Vantage Point system to automate and optimize the scheduling of its call center account specialists. The savings enabled Navy FCU, one of the largest credit unions in the country, to pay for the system in less than four months. The study evaluated calls taken from January 2001 to November 2002.
The economies achieved by Navy FCU stemmed from a 3% increase in agent utilization that translated into $450,000 in payroll savings; a 5% decrease in average call handle time that yielded an additional $340,000 reduction in operating costs; and a 36% reduction in credit union members’ average call waiting time that shaved $40,000 off the organization’s telephone bill.
These savings applied to the 175 call center account specialists (CCASs) in Navy FCU’s Consumer Lending Group.
The study also documented a 38% increase in the percent of calls answered in less than 60 seconds, a 9% decrease in the percentage of calls abandoned, and a 25% reduction in overtime hours in the Consumer Lending Group, even though call volume jumped dramatically during the period covered. Other benefits achieved included a 7% decrease in the overall cost per call, a 10% increase in the ratio of CCASs per supervisor, and only a 4% increase in total payroll despite a 24% increase in answered calls.
Study authors Dr. Jon Anton, Director of Benchmark Research at Purdue University’s Center for Customer-Driven Quality, and R. Scott Davis, Director of Product Validation Studies at BenchmarkPortal, attributed the striking results to the ability of Pipkins’ Vantage Point workforce management system to ensure that the proper numbers of CCASs with the right skills were available to handle calls during each period of each day.
“Before we implemented the Pipkins system, every Account Specialist worked the same shift schedule week after week,” said Dee Kirby, Lead Analyst Call Center Operations, for Navy FCU. The study measured the benefits and improvement we gained by adopting automated workforce management.
“Navy Federal’s experience should be a wake-up call to any organization that operates a call center and lacks enabling technology for optimizing scheduling,” said Bob Webb, Pipkins Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “The right workforce management software pays important dividends in terms of contact center efficiency, ease of staffing, return on investment, and even corporate revenues for call centers with sales functions.”
Virginia-based Navy FCU has more than 2.3million active members, over $18 billion in assets, and more than $12 billion in outstanding loans. It provides members of the Navy and Marine Corps and their families with a broad range of financial services. It deployed Pipkins’ Vantage Point software in August 2001 to replace a manual scheduling system.
The study, titled “Improving Contact Center Productivity through Optimized Workforce Management: A Real-World Case Study,” compared the performance data for the seven months before Vantage Point was implemented with comparable data for January through November 2002. A complete copy of the study can be obtained by contacting Bob Webb of Pipkins Inc. at (800) 469-6106.
About Pipkins Inc.
Pipkins Inc. (PIPKINS), founded in 1984, is the leading supplier of workforce management software and services to the call center industry. Its Vantage Point product enables managers to solve the complicated operational issues in today’s multi-faceted call center environment. PIPKINS’ systems forecast and schedule more than 100,000 agents in over 300 locations across all industries worldwide. The company is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. For more information, visit www.pipkins.com.