Consisting of various strategic business units, the company employs some 500 agents, seated over several floors at its offices in central Cape Town.
 
Its existing communications solution for agents and operators comprised a number of PBXs for outbound calls, with a call-handling receptionist working over-time to distribute calls. The situation made it exceedingly difficult for the company to manage service delivery, agent productivity and attendance; to combat system abuse; attain greater systems efficiency; and comply with voice logging needs.
 
We needed a communications platform that would cost-effectively provide low-overhead, centralised management; track agent attendance and activity; notify managers when service levels drop; speed up, personalise and improve customer contact; and take pressure off our front-office, says Peter Lombard, technical solutions manager at Longain. We also wanted uncompromised reliability; better systems vigilance against fraudulent calls; seamless integration with our customer database; call recording; and full network visibility.
 
The solution proposed by Tellumat Telecoms, the telecoms-focused business unit at Tellumat, answered all these requirements and more, he says. Bennie Langenhoven, GM of the business unit, says the company proposed the Inter-Tel Axxess converged voice and data platform, coupled with a 'dialler solution, voice recording, Callview management software, advanced IP terminals and softphones, in an R8m deal. The Inter-Tel Axxess offers the best of both worlds, with the reliability of a traditional PBX backbone and the benefit of integrated voice over IP [VOIP], says Langenhoven.
 
A proof-of-concept was offered by connecting 10 Longain agents to an Inter-Tel Axxcess PBX. The Armstrong dialler, which aims to combat fraudulent misuse of the telephony platform and to ensure that qualified leads are followed, increased call volumes and improved management of successful sales to such an extent that return on investment was projected over a mere five months.

The dialler was site-licensed, ensuring future contact centre expansion without the need to license every new user. Used along with CallView software, Armstrong showed a 75% improvement in productivity, while enabling tracking of successful sales. CallView is licensed per management seat, rather than per agent, likewise ensuring low-cost expansion, Langenhoven adds.