TSC claim software package can make huge savings
A case-handling system devised by Telecom Service Centres to help the UK’s disgruntled consumers could make huge savings for companies in the private and public sectors.
TSC, Scotland’s biggest contact centre company, first devised and installed the system for their Isle of Lewis centre as one of the UK pathfinder projects for the DTI-run Consumer Direct helpline.
As the Consumer Direct network has spread across the UK, TSC have installed their CHS – case-handling system – in all the centres and its success in this highly technical area of data collection and storage has made the company aware of its commercial possibilities in other areas.
They have now created a new software and services division within the company to offer this to the UK government sector and private industry.
“We are very pleased at the way CHS has developed,” says TSC’s IT Director Jim Burns who heads up this division. “What we have is a secure, flexible, easy to operate, customisable workflow which allows business processes to be easily modelled, tracked and executed.
“When Consumer Direct was being set up, we had to devise a system which would merge perfectly with the hugely complicated matters of trading standards and give a young and fairly inexperienced staff the system back-up they needed.
“It worked so well in the first phase in Lewis that we were asked to install it all over the UK for Consumer Direct.
“The potential savings for businesses and government agencies are huge. CHS allows you to have non-experts in the front-line as it gives them the perfect system back-up.
“Using our system, Consumer Direct handle, store and categorise complaints from all over the country. It is reckoned that it will help reclaim £12 million every month on behalf of consumers.
“And it is not just consumers who are benefiting. One big High Street store chain now contacts Consumer Direct every month and asks what the complaints against it have been like.
“That lets them know how they are performing and perceived by the general public and also if they have particular problems with certain suppliers or brands. That information could save a big retail outlet a lot of money.
“As well as retail organisations, government and regulatory authorities could benefit from CHS and we will be demonstrating that to potential buyers in the near future.”
TSC used the Scrum method to manage the software development process, enabling fully operational releases to be delivered regularly. Following the process, these releases were reviewed by the DTI, allowing requirements to be modified and re-prioritised during the development phase.
The success of this approach during the pathfinder project was a key factor in the DTI’s decision to award the National Rollout contract to TSC. This success continued as CHS was delivered on schedule and supported the timely public launch of the Consumer Direct service.
Technically, TSC’s solution is an n-tier enterprise application developed using Microsoft and Oracle technology and several 3rd party components. The CHS was designed to be low-intrusion, and is delivered via a thin-client.
As a result, the cost of ownership is low: the client will run on existing hardware without modification or upgrade and deployment of a new CHS version is done centrally with no desktop installation required. CHS is deployed on a high-availability infrastructure, which is also hosted and managed as part of the service provided by TSC.
The infrastructure contains a number of CHS environments which run concurrently. These include QA, which enables future releases to be reviewed, and Training, which enables new Consumer Direct advisors to become proficient in the use of the system before taking live calls in the contact centre.
Note to Editors
About TSC
Telecom Service Centres Limited (TSC) was founded in 1994 on the Isle of Bute with the vision of providing best in class contact centre solutions to world-wide leading companies.
TSC now employs over 2,500 customer contact specialists and provides 1,750 seats based in nine locations throughout the UK. With strategic partnership sites in India and South Africa, TSC can now also offer clients offshore capabilities.Issued on behalf of TSC by Corporate Media.
Contact Crawford Brankin on 0141 332 3766 or 07730 068802 for further information