Tue, 11/05/2010
WIN plc to provide contact manager application and provide backhaul support, providing even greater value to customers
(LONDON) 10 May 2010 – KC Contact Centres, part of the KCOM Group plc, a leading provider of outsourced directory service enquiries across the UK, has recently launched a new ‘ask anything’ service for 118212 directory enquiries which it provides on behalf of Maureen. The service allows customers to ask any type of question on any subject. The ‘ask anything’ service improves upon the Maureen 118212 directory enquiry offering currently available.
The ‘ask anything’ service will also have text functionality which will be delivered by WIN plc, a leading provider of interactive information and entertainment to mobile phones. WIN will also be supplying KC Contact Centres with backhaul support to ensure an efficient and timely service delivery.
Using the new ‘ask anything’ service, customers in the UK can now not only call 118212 but also text and ask any question their heart desires, whether it be where the nearest pizza delivery place is or what movies are playing at the local cinema. The ‘ask anything’ service will then automatically voice connect the customer with the business they are seeking as well as deliver a text with the contact details. KC Contact Centres recognised the need to give customers the freedom to ask anything and communicate their enquiry via the method of their preferred choice. Their decision to enhance its service offering not only increases the company’s value proposition, but also directly fulfils the increasing demand by customers for an SMS service offering for directory enquiries. These new capabilities and strategic efforts will help differentiate KC Contact Centres within the outsourced DQ market.
To deliver the new ‘ask anything’ service KC has worked with two industry leading partners, WIN and Quext. When a voice call is made, the contact centre operator decides whether the question can be answered using the Maureen 118212 service. If not then the caller’s question is allocated to the new ‘ask anything’ service wherein KC Contact Centres will transcribe the question to Quext who will develop an answer and deliver it as an SMS message to the customer. In cases where inbound questions are submitted to KC Contact Centres as a text message, Quext will manage and provide answers back to the customers via an SMS message. This will occur whether it be a Maureen 118212 or ‘ask anything’ type of question using the win contact manager platform as the management and delivery application.
Where WIN comes into play is by providing a content management solution, which provides KC Contact Centres with back-office administration and content moderation. This incremental support assists the smooth running of the service and increases KC Contact Centres’ efficiency with account management. WIN’s technology will also enable operators to provide greater value customer support by storing callers’ questions as well as the answers delivered to them by the contact centre. . This way, operators are well-equipped with the caller’s enquiry history and able to provide them with relevant and informative customer service at any time. WIN is also providing the SMS delivery platform which will process all responses from Quext and send the SMS messages out to the Maureen 118212 customers
Sean Royce, Commercial and Finance Director, KC Contact Centres, said of the launch, “Since the onset of working with IRN in developing the ‘ask anything’ service, we’ve been committed to quality service and introducing new and innovative capabilities tailored to our UK customers’ needs. WIN’s technology has helped us to accomplish just this. As mobile data traffic surpasses voice, it’s important we provide text functionality to our service. Now our customers can truly ask whatever they want, however they want.”
“The growing use of mobile communications by enterprises in general and text messaging as an increasingly preferred way to communicate was keenly understood by KC Contact Centres. As a result, WIN was asked to provide text functionality in addition to providing a robust technology platform, backhaul support and traffic moderation capabilities – ultimately helping KC Contact Centres to satisfy a latent demand in directory enquiries,” said Graham Rivers, CEO WIN plc.
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About WIN
WIN is an innovator in interactive mobile entertainment and information distribution with a ten-year track record of developing an unrivalled variety of services for Europe’s leading content owners, mobile operators, corporate enterprises, broadcasters and media corporations.
WIN enables companies to use mobile services to improve business efficiency, grow revenues and reduce costs. Companies using WIN’s services are able to improve communication with existing customers, attract new customers, increase brand loyalty and enhance customer satisfaction. An impressive and growing client list includes such household names as Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange, Sony Ericsson, AOL, The AA, Centrica and E-On.
Headquartered in Buckinghamshire, UK, the Group has built on its success by extending its reach into new overseas markets including Ireland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Greece, Scandinavia, Australia, Africa, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. WIN is structured into three operational units, Managed Services, Enterprise Solutions and New Media.
Visit us at: www.winplc.com
About Kcom Group plc
The KCOM Group is a leading provider of integrated IT and communications services to both consumers and businesses across the UK.
Our Kcom business provides IT and communications services for national multi-site enterprise and public sector organisations across the UK. As an independent provider of these services, supported by our BT Wholesale partnership, Kcom offer advanced network capability and related added value services, coupled with a flexible approach to meeting our customers' requirements.
Our Kingston Communications business provides a range of communications services to businesses and consumers in Hull and East Yorkshire. Eclipse Internet delivers a portfolio of internet based communications services to predominately smaller businesses and consumers in the rest of the country. Our Contact Centres business unit offers contact handling services and directory enquiries operations. Our Publishing Services unit provides specialist directory publishing solutions.
CCgroup
Daniel Lowther or Alexia Da Silva
Tel: +44 (0) 118 920 7650
Kcom
Karen Butler
Tel: +44 (0) 1482 602135
Karen.Butler@kcom.com
