ARC Improves Customer Service Using Communications Software from Interactive Intelligence

Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC), a provider of sales and settlement solutions for the travel and hospitality industry, has enhanced customer service by deploying the all-in-one IP communications software suite from Interactive Intelligence.
 
The Interactive Intelligence software suite, Customer Interaction Center (CIC), has helped ARC improve customer service by adding multichannel functionality and remote agent support.
 
“CIC has given our customers the ability to contact our agents via voice, e-mail, an automated call-back feature and very soon using Web chat as well,” said ARC’s manager of network services, Tim Henley. “CIC queues these interactions in the same priority they were received regardless of the communications channel for optimal consistency and faster response times.”
 
ARC’s CIC deployment replaced a Nortel system, which the company said was outdated. “We needed to streamline our communications system without sacrificing sophisticated applications,” Henley said.
 
In addition to reviewing CIC by Interactive Intelligence, ARC reviewed systems from Cisco, Nortel, ShoreTel, and Siemens.
 
“We ultimately selected CIC based on its all-in-one platform and ease-of-use,” Henley said. “This meant we could eliminate ‘bolt-on’ third-party products, thus simplifying management and lowering costs – and all while adding more advanced features.”
 
Today, CIC supports a total of more than 250 ARC employees, including agents at its Arlington, Virginia-based contact center, along with remote agents. About half of ARC’s agents work from home. CIC also supports ARC’s business users at its headquarters in Arlington and at a remote office in Puerto Rico, which staffs Spanish-speaking agents.
 
“CIC’s find-me/follow-me feature, along with its ability to enable employees to manage voice messages regardless of their location, has further helped us improve service,” Henley said. “CIC’s remote agent support has ensured our ability to hire the best agents by offering flexible hours and the convenience of working from home.”
 
ARC also deployed a CIC add-on application for call recording and agent scoring. The company now records and scores calls to help train agents and give them feedback for improved call handling.
 
In addition, ARC will be integrating CIC to its Microsoft Dynamics CRM package, which will give agents a screen “pop” containing caller and account history information simultaneous with the call.
 
Since deploying CIC, ARC has purchased another CIC add-on application for workforce management called Interaction Optimizer™. The company will use the application to better match fluctuations in call volume with agent staffing. “We anticipate saving money by tracking patterns in call volume to help us optimally staff our contact center, especially during peak times,” Henley said.
 
ARC plans to add another 180 CIC users across its multiple locations, including at offices in Tampa and Louisville. For business continuity, ARC also plans to install a second server at its Louisville office to route calls there in case of outages at headquarters.
 
“Last year we had more than 50 inches of snow in Arlington and we experienced power outages throughout the city,” Henley said. “By using CIC’s disaster recovery capabilities we will be able to effectively route calls to employees at any location, thus eliminating lost calls and better serving our customers.”

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