Background for this Call Center WFM Customer Case Study
Twenty years ago, CaLLogix was a traditional answering service in Manchester, New Hampshire, answering the phone for doctors, lawyers, plumbers and electricians. Although they still answer the phone for doctors, lawyers, plumbers and electricians, a lot has changed. Today, CaLLogix, Inc. is a fully integrated contact center providing a full menu of Business Process Services and supporting over 1,500 clients throughout the United States.
The Challenge
Although CaLLogix employs the industry’s most advanced technology infrastructure, they lacked an efficient way to schedule agents using a call center WFM system. “We were working from a spreadsheet to manage over 1,500 accounts who were using different ACD switches,” said Sherry Leonard, VP of Operations. “We needed a customized solution that was flexible and could integrate different programs from our ACD switches as well as Shared Queues in order to accommodate the requirements of our customers.”
Sherry stated that although she had used many different vendors in the past, she was looking for a company whose core competency was workforce management (WFM) and not a value-added product. “CaLLogix is a boutique contact center that is highly specialized and committed to high quality standards. Customer service is our only business and we wanted a workforce management vendor that was aligned to our standards of both excellence and focus.”
The Solution
CaLLogix chose Pipkins. Pipkins was fully customizable and flexible with customer and business needs and has a focus on call center WFM. “They also offered the best customer service and their response time was immediate,” states Sherry.
Sherry was most impressed with the transition process and ramp up to their system. “One surprise was what Pipkins accomplished from an IT perspective. They were instrumental in setting up the server and our IT department had little involvement. CaLLogix experienced no down time or technical problems throughout this process. Pipkins helped in every phase of the transition.”
CaLLogix purchased and implemented the entire suite of Pipkins’ call center WFM software. Sherry stated that two of the most helpful features have been the agent notification and web agent access. The agent notification feature allows call center supervisors to send pop-up messages to agents’ computer screens. Messages can alert agents to schedule changes and incorporate each agent’s new schedule within the pop-up window, or send overtime requests and allow agents to respond with a click. Web agent access enables agents to view their work schedules, request modifications or vacations, sign up for overtime, exchange schedules with other agents, and report absences over the corporate network or the Internet through a Web browser. “Our agents were so excited with these features that it was like giving them an early Christmas present. They found the software very user friendly and loved having more control over their schedules.”
Sherry said that from a management perspective, having the ability to focus on forecast to actuals has been a significant benefit in efficiency. Pipkins’ ability to use historical data to accurately forecast scheduling has helped CaLLogix address client needs, improve service levels, and realize an overall increase in efficiency. Sherry stated that Pipkins’ call center WFM software has also helped create new opportunities for the company. “We are now able to give presentations to clients who have more significant staffing and call volume needs. We didn’t have that ability before and it has made a huge impact for our larger clients.”
Conclusion
Sherry stated “Pipkins’ software and customer service has exceeded our expectations. We feel like we now have a partner in our business which has increased our business opportunities and helped streamline our efficiency and operations.”
About CaLLogix
CaLLogix is a privately owned, high quality, full-service provider of professional contact center outsourcing solutions. Your company’s goal of superior customer service, retaining and gaining new customers has become increasingly difficult in today’s competitive environment. The CaLLogix solution is to provide cost-effective, high quality services through well-trained agents, outstanding quality assurance processes and sophisticated telecommunication and programming technologies. In short, we have everything you need, in one place, to meet your communication needs and a proven 20 year track record of success in helping you connect with your customers. Our programs include comprehensive inbound customer service functions; inbound order entry; direct mail and advertising campaign support; seminar reservations and fulfillment; help desk support & emergency dispatching; forms and claims processing; website design and hosting; outbound customer care, text messaging, paging and email; custom reports, toll free numbers, and more.
About Pipkins Inc.
Pipkins Inc., founded in 1983, 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.