Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Hotel Management Firm Integrates CallCenter, Saves $100,000 with Hosted Solution
Overview
Country or Region:United States
Industry:Hospitality
Customer Profile
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts oversees 51 upscale hotels and condominiums. The company’s customer service agents, operating from a remote call center, handle all customer bookings and inquiries.
Business Situation
The company’s hardware-based call center system was inflexible and costly to maintain. It was also inefficient, because agents needed to use separate channels for each inbound customer contact.
Solution
Outrigger deployed a system from Echopass based on the Microsoft® .NET Framework that uses Voice over Internet protocol technology to route inbound requests by particular customer requirements.
Benefits
Reduced costs
Better workflow
Higher efficiency
More productive staff
Increased flexibility / “I can now visualize the whole contact center from one console even when I’m not in the office because I can manage it remotely over any Internet connection.”
Bill Peters, Vice President of Reservation Services, Outrigger & OHANA Hotels and Resorts
Outrigger & OHANA Hotels and Resorts, which operates hotels and resort condominiums in Hawaii and throughout the South Pacific, employs 55 customer service agents at its call center. Previously, agents handled thousands of guest reservations a day through multiple systems such as phone calls, faxes, e-mail messages, and Internet chats. However, the system that supported those efforts had become too expensive for Outrigger to maintain. In addition, the old system was inefficient; agents had to use a separate channel for each inbound guest contact. To meet those challenges, the company deployed a completely new and hosted On-Demand call center infrastructure from Echopass that integrated all of its incoming guest contacts. As a result, Outrigger has increased its operational workflow and efficiency, improved agent productivity, and saved U.S. $100,000 in operating costs.
Situation
Outrigger & OHANA Hotels and Resorts, based in Honolulu, Hawaii, manages 51 hotels and resort condominium properties in Hawaii and throughout the Pacific. Guests looking to reserve rooms at one of these properties are now routed by Echopass to a reservations call center in Denver, Colorado, where 55 Outrigger agents field 3,000 customer phone calls, 1,000 faxes, and several hundred Internet customer chats each day.
These agents had been using several labor-intensive methods of receiving those guest contacts. Separate channels were used for each contact, which meant that agents regularly had to walk to a fax machine while trying to answer the phone, or take a guest phone call while attempting to address an e-mail inquiry. “The agents had all these different types of media coming at them, and they were really stuck in the limitations of the inflexible hardware infrastructure they were using,” says Bill Peters, Vice President of Reservation Services, Outrigger & OHANA Hotels and Resorts. Outrigger realized that it needed to upgrade its guest contact infrastructure and consolidate its inbound contact channels. “Because of the challenges, our agents weren’t able to provide the level of customer service we want to offer, which was important because our guests are affluent and are going to high-end travel destinations. Our guests demand a higher level of service.”
The company had also experienced training and management challenges as a result of having disparate systems. “It was difficult to train new people and also to get accurate and efficient reporting from our system,” says Peters. Cost was another issue because the existing automatic call distributor system that Outrigger was using was very expensive to maintain. The company needed a system that would allow it to lower its technology upgrade and maintenance costs.
In addition, Outrigger lacked the ability to easily and efficiently add capacity during peak periods throughout the year. For example, if call volumes suddenly increased, the company had to temporarily pull agents away from doing their trained function to handle these additional calls. Adding capacity efficiently was impossible with the call center’s existing inflexible hardware.
To resolve these issues, Outrigger wanted to install a Web-based, on-demand call center service that would allow it to control costs and integrate all inbound customer contact channels.
Solution
This past spring, after considering technology offerings from six different providers, Outrigger chose to deploy the EchoSystem, an integrated call center service designed by Echopass, a provider of advanced call and contact center solutions based on the Internet protocol (IP). The EchoSystem end-to-end service integration platform combines on-demand call center services and a call-routing infrastructure with integrated on-demand customer relationship management and voice/data network technologies. The solution is built on the Microsoft® .NET Framework, an integral component of the Windows® operating system that provides a programming model and runtime for Web services, Web applications, and smart client applications.
The custom Outrigger EchoSystem also incorporates Microsoft Smarter Hospitality, a comprehensive solutions frameworkdesigned to improve guest service and selling opportunities through better access to customer and product information.
Relying on a secure hosting facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, and a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telecom platform, Echopass intelligently routes inbound requests according to particular customer call routing strategies and requirements. “Whether the Outrigger customers are corporate accounts or individuals reserving vacation condominiums, all requests are quickly forwarded to the appropriate agent,” says Bruce Dresser, Chief Marketing Officer, Echopass.
Outrigger’s call center agents use a set of applications and tools that operate on servers running Microsoft Windows 2000 Server. The system uses the Active Directory® service for its authentication process. Echopass also uses several Web services for each custom EchoSystem that use Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 Enterprise Edition for administration and reporting. Windows 2000 Server and SQL Server are both part of Microsoft Windows Server System™ integrated server software.
“What Outrigger has isn’t just a call center, it’s very sophisticated,” says Dresser. “We’ve taken all of the media traffic coming into Outrigger—whether phone calls, e-mail, Internet chats, or faxes—and we route those contacts from our Salt Lake City datacenter directly to a specific Outrigger agent. The only piece of hardware involved for the customer is a VoIP phone on each agent’s desk. We supply the entire infrastructure in between the customer’s call or e-mail or Web chat or fax to our client’s agents, and we manage everything end to end.”
Using the EchoSystem, an agent can log onto his or her PC and access inbound customer contacts electronically. If a guest e-mail message comes in, for example, that e-mail automatically pops open on the agent’s computer. “Our On-Demand solution lets Outrigger get the guest message to the right agent with the right skills at the right time,” says Dresser.
Benefits
The Echopass EchoSystem has given Outrigger a reliable, lower-cost infrastructure for its call center. Since deploying the system, Outrigger has been able to dramatically lower its operating costs, improve workflow for its agents, boost overall efficiency, and increase staff productivity. The Microsoft Smarter Hospitality framework encompasses Smarter Service, Smarter Operations, and Smarter Guest Experience. In addition, the EchoSystem solution’s versatility has given Outrigger the ability to offer a more flexible working environment to its staff.
Reduced Costs
The previous hardware-based call center that Outrigger used was very expensive to maintain. However, because the EchoSystem is a hosted model, capital equipment investment and implementation time were minimal for Outrigger. Now, instead of requiring separate equipment and staff for phone calls, faxes, and other methods of booking travel, Outrigger only needs a personal computer for each agent. The company has been able to eliminate costly hardware, as well as handle more customer contacts with fewer total agents.
In addition, the system’s .NET Framework–based technology and reliable network infrastructure have helped Outrigger manage maintenance costs. “This EchoSystem never goes down; it’s always on,” says Peters. As a result of this new reliability and elimination of major infrastructure expenditures, Peters says, Outrigger has already saved more than U.S.$100,000 in overall contact center expenses.
And although its incoming calls are up 15 to 20 percent over last year, Outrigger has not had to hire additional staff to keep up with those demands. Outrigger agents now have the cross-training to handle any form of electronic request, eliminating the company’s need to redeploy workers when call volumes become heavy.
Better Workflow
The Echopass EchoSystem has provided Outrigger agents with a much better workflow, according to Dresser. “We have changed the whole call center infrastructure and made the flow easier for the agents,” he says. “Agents are a customer too, and because all incoming traffic is consolidated into one central location and one familiar Microsoft based user interface, agents can work quicker and easier, and provide better customer service.”
Additionally, Outrigger management has better control over call center operations. The Echopass remote management capabilities allow for better access to information, which in turn allows for improved decision-making while remaining flexible in how and when to access information. “I can now visualize the whole contact center from one console even when I’m not in the office, because I can manage it remotely over any Internet connection,” says Peters. “Echopass allows me to access real-time information which enables me to manage operations better, yet concentrate on other things when I need to.”
Higher Efficiency and Productivity
Outrigger agents have also become more efficient since they began using the EchoSystem. Because Outrigger call center agents are specialized, Echopass routes a particular customer interaction to the most qualified agent based on his/her skills, which enhances the guest experience. “That can provide much better guest service, which positively affects sales,” says Peters. In fact, soon after deploying their EchoSystem, Outrigger was able to quickly reach the 40 to 50 percentile range for the conversion of calls to bookings which is above industry standard.
Echopass also contains real-time Web-based monitoring tools and historical reporting features. Using the reporting features, Outrigger managers can easily monitor the performance of both the overall EchoSystem and individual agents, which ensures consistently high service levels and allows them to pinpoint problems that arise. “The end-to-end historical and real-time reporting capability allows Outrigger to more efficiently track its business,” says Dresser. “Using the EchoSystem tools, our customers can make fast changes to make sure service levels are meeting expectations. The reporting features also provide metrics, such as the call abandon rate, that help Outrigger make better business decisions in real time, affecting operations immediately.”
The integrated features of the EchoSystem have also allowed Outrigger agents to become much more productive, according to Peters. “For one thing, the solution’s reliability means that our agents can respond to guests much faster than before,” he says. “Responses are delivered almost as soon as the e-mail messages or calls come in.” Part of the reason for such delivery speed is the EchoSystem’s “frequently asked questions” database, which allows agents to easily cut-and-paste answers to customer e-mail or live Internet chat queries about hotels or destinations. Within seconds, agents can respond electronically to a customer in a chat session, for example, while still on the phone with another customer. This ability to multitask leads to increased productivity. “Our agents can toggle back and forth between calls and e-mail now,” says Peters.
Increased Flexibility
Because the EchoSystem is more versatile than the company’s previous call center solution, Outrigger management and its employees are enjoying more flexibility. “One thing the new call center reservation solution does is provide a more flexible approach in terms of adding capacity,” says Peters. “If there’s a seasonal call increase and I need more agents, for example, we can do that without hiring new staff because of the ‘on-demand’ nature of our EchoSystem, which allows for load balancing. We no longer need to take agents away from their specialty when call volumes are particularly heavy.”
Along with the operational benefits, the Echopass versatility, coupled with lower operating costs, has enabled Outrigger to offer its agents a more flexible work environment. “Because this system is so versatile, it gives our employees the option of working from home, which enhances employee satisfaction and leads to increased productivity,” says Peters, who adds that Outrigger currently has four agents working from home. “All they need is a reliable DSL connection and an IP phone to get onto the system and start receiving customer contacts. Our vision is to ultimately take the whole call center virtual, which will save on operational costs and improve employee satisfaction, leading to decreased employee turnover,” he says.
That kind of flexibility also means that Outrigger can add more remote call centers and agents as it continues to grow, without adding new equipment or other infrastructure. “The EchoSystem is ready to grow with Outrigger wherever it goes,” says Dresser. “For example, if they want to add more work at home agents or open up three separate call centers in different locations, we can do that and still provide all those new agents the same tools, wherever they are.”
Microsoft .NET
Microsoft .NET is software that connects people, information, systems, and devices through the use of Web services. Web services are a combination of protocols that enable computers to work together by exchanging messages. Web services are based on the standard protocols of XML, SOAP, and WSDL, which allow them to interoperate across platforms and programming languages.
.NET is integrated across Microsoft products and services, providing the ability to quickly build, deploy, manage, and use connected, secure solutions with Web services. These solutions provide agile business integration and the promise of information anytime, anywhere, on any device.
For more information about Microsoft .NETand Web services, please visit these Web sites:
msdn.microsoft.com/webservices
Microsoft Smarter Hospitality
Microsoft Smarter Hospitality is a comprehensive solution framework for enabling the next generation of hospitality innovation. Consisting of Smarter Guest Experience, Smarter Service, and Smarter Operations solutions, Smarter Hospitality builds on an organization’s IT investments and technologies familiar to guests and employees to facilitate engaging and empowering guest experiences. And because it is based on Microsoft technologies, Smarter Hospitality lays the groundwork for future innovations.
For more information about Smarter Hospitality, go to: