Overview
Vocantas develops interactive voice response (IVR) solutions, helping clients leverage the benefits of speech-enabled computer telephony. With automated notifications and interactive surveys, our clients improve communications while reducing overhead costs and maximizing limited resources.

Situation
A large Utility Department in the state of Florida has a highly driven customer-oriented team that prides themselves by utilizing the most efficient process to manage the needs of their customers. As call volumes increased, routine tasks such as account inquiries, bill payments and credit card transactions greatly over burdened the available personal that could be addressing more complex customer inquiries.

To improve the customer experience and help alleviate the pressure on their team, they proactively sought solutions to help them reduce their internal resource burden and looked to upgrade to a more efficient IVR "self-service" solution. A solution built on the Pronexus VBVoice Platform the perfect fit.

Solution
Utilities OnCall automates routine tasks so that valuable resources are available to address more complex inquiries. It is a cost-effective way to deliver a higher level of service and helps utility companies run more smoothly and profitably. Over two-thirds of customers access the automated system for information about their accounts. CallAssure increases customer access to secure/automated bill payments for improved service and collections. Utility companies can provide customized outage notifications and updates relative to a caller's location. Companies can monitor and measure their customer's level of satisfaction over time with automated surveys using Utilities OnCall.

When integrated with your CRM system, Utilities OnCall from Vocantas (built with VBVoice from Pronexus) can provide access to VeriSign’s full suite of billing and commerce services including clearing and settlement services, mobile security and electronic bill payment applications.

With no time to lose, the Utilities OnCall server was configured on the Vocantas site to fast-track an extensive QA process. When the utilities integration with their CRM and back-end database was complete, Vocantas’ quality engineers confirmed that the integrated solution was up and running. The easy-to-use Utilities OnCall browser interface simplified the creation of general reports, changing standard business rules and developing custom voice greetings.

Benefits
The Utility Department soon noticed a dramatic change in the amount of calls they had to manage, especially for bill payments, credit card processing and account history inquiries. In January 2007, report logs showed 2,694 calls managed by Utilities OnCall—many days showed that the IVR handled an excess of 300 calls per day! Calls to the system were logged for virtually every hour of the day—around the clock.

Edie Manning, Director of Customer Service for this Utility Department, commented that Utilities OnCall was "critical to their after hours/disconnect strategy." As customers had been disconnected because of overdue accounts, they (the customer) immediately called into the automated system to pay their bills quickly and securely. Service personnel would then go out to reconnect customers based on updated payment reports. Before the Utilities OnCall Solution, disconnected customers had to wait until the next business day to make their bill payments and requests for reconnection.

The Utility Department has made many changes in the past few months to enhance their operations and their customer’s satisfaction. These changes include the implementation of a new phone system, and the addition of the Utilities OnCall solution. Ms. Manning stated that they are "still in awe of the [Utilities OnCall] system—it’s been wonderful" and commented on the improvements for both the team and the customer since they implemented the "self-service" IVR solution.