Virgin Media case study

The intelligent route to increased efficiency

Keen to improve levels of service and make it easier for their customers to get in touch, Virgin Media wanted to make sure that all calls to its contact centres were handled as quickly and efficiently as possible.

However, limited call routing technology meant that, at that time, callers could only be helped by their regional contact centre – not always the one they got through to first. The situation had become impractical and frustrating for customers and time consuming for staff.

An intelligent contact management solution from ntl:Telewest Business solved the problem. Within a very short timeframe, we migrated all Virgin Media network traffic onto our new platform – enabling each of the company’s contact centres, both on and off-shore, to become more streamlined and provide customers with a faster service.

Streamlined services for faster connections

Our contact centre solution makes sure that whether calling from home, a mobile or another part of the country, these customers can always get the help they need – just as they need it.

Achieving customer satisfaction, fast

Before our solution was installed, customers calling to discuss their account would have been routed through to their regional contact centre, where their details were held. Delays often occurred if their registered landline wasn’t used to make the call, confusing the system and resulting in agents taking time to re-direct customers to their ‘home’ contact centre.

When ‘wrong-centre syndrome’ hit an all time high of 10-15% of calls, Virgin Media decided to take immediate action and turned straight to us. "The issue of mis-routed calls was one that had blighted us for many years," admits Julie Byers, Customer Access Manager at Virgin Media. "Fortunately, ntl:Telewest Business had the tools and experience to make short work of the problem – presenting the solution to us in less than four weeks."

The resilience to cope, whatever the circumstances

Julie looked to our consultants to introduce a more intelligent solution into the contact centre network to route calls seamlessly. We developed a solution that moved Virgin Media’s call centre traffic onto a new platform where Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology gathers basic customer information to route calls to the most appropriate agent.

Giving Julie the resilience she needs, our solution also has a Call Control feature that helps her team to manage their high-volume contact network with ease. Call handling and routing options can be changed in an instant with a really straightforward web-based application that’s only accessible to authorised staff. It was thanks to this feature that customers were completely unaffected when a fire put one of the contact centres out of action – calls were simply re-routed to another centre in a matter of minutes.

Five-star performance

Keeping an eye on her network traffic helps Julie to identify and deal with any problems before they become serious. And, thanks to the solution’s built-in versatility, Virgin Media staff can keep customers informed by changing customer messages whenever they need to. Julie is delighted that our solution is so adaptable. "The beauty of the new network as a whole is its flexibility."

Customer satisfaction has seen dramatic improvements since our solution was implemented. "Complaints about mis-routed calls have now all but disappeared," Julie comments. In fact, the service is now so good that Virgin Media contact centres received a five-star performance rating in a national Sunday newspaper – putting them above all of their competitors.

What it has made possible

The sophisticated technology that handles customer calls has given Virgin Media the backbone of a robust database to support new systems. One example of this is the automatic payment processing facility that uses the solution’s IVR technology for customers making payments or checking accounts. With agents no longer needed for these simple requests, Virgin Media is making significant savings.

Looking to the future, Virgin Media is now fully equipped with a multitude of options to add even more features and services to the platform so it can evolve as required – helping agents to give customers an even more efficient service. "The solution and service that ntl:Telewest Business has provided has been more than a match for our needs," Julie concludes.