Case Study: Concept Publishing

Established in 1977 and based in Bath, Concept Publishing produces a selection of magazines for UK cinema goers including "Cineworld", "Showcase", "Take 2" and "Unreel". The magazines are distributed at cinemas and other venues throughout the UK and each title is given a regional focus. Features in the magazines include current cinema reviews, interviews with favourite stars, competitions, movie events and news and gossip from Hollywood. The company's principal revenue is generated through regional advertising sales conducted through their call centres in Bath, Bristol and Telford offices.

The Application

Concept Publishing was using a traditional PBX phone solution, but this had limited functionality, was costly to maintain and altering extensions often resulted in downtime for the company. Operating in a fast moving business, and handling often complex advertising campaigns meant that the company needed to record all call centre agent conversations, so that business transacted could be monitored and logged. Recording calls was also important from a training perspective, as each agent was alloted a specific time for each call. Calls that extended beyond this timeframe were deemed unprofitable, so it was important to have a tool that could highlight potential training needs or even customer service issues.

Concept Publishing needed a solution that not only delivered an effective call handling capability, but was flexible enough to accommodate staff moves and changes whilst also having the capacity to record, log and archive all calls. Another important factor was having the capacity to link offices via a dedicated line over the same network, so that internal calls between offices would be FREE.

The Solution

By using IP telephony in their call centres, the company were confident that they could generate more sales, reduce outgoings and have greater control over their business operations. Following research, Concept Publishing discovered IP PBX manufacturer, Swyx Solutions. Impressed by a case study featuring Scapa Technologies, who were using the Swyx solution to connect offices between Edinburgh and New York, the company approached Applied Data Technologies Ltd. one of Swyx's UK distributors based in Bristol. A visit to Scapa was arranged to demonstrate "SwyxWare" in a live working environment. After experiencing the solution in action, Concept Publishing decided to trial it themselves and this was undertaken in September 02, going live for 90 users in Bath over the Christmas and New Year period. An additional solution was also installed in January 03 (with a dedicated line to Bath) for 10 users in Bristol enabling FREE internal calls between sites. This process took approximately 2-3 days and was undertaken in-house by the IT Manager, with some back office support from Applied Data Technologies Ltd. The Swyx solution operates on a Windows 2000 server, and the company also run a Linux server which authenticates user log on.

Features & Special Benefits

A major cost saving for the company is that the solution is software based and runs on a PC platform, enabling the company to use their existing desktop computers. The principle activity undertaken by call centre agents at Concept Publishing is taking and negotiating bookings for advertisements across its various publications. Since installing Swyx, all agent conversations have been recorded and archived. With 90 agents operating in Bath and recordings stored from September 02, it is now possible to re-visit agent conversations by date and time, to resolve misunderstandings or address customer complaints.

All calls are logged into the company database which can be accessed via the company Intranet.

The digitised recording function has satisfied Concept Publishing's need for proof of calls which is now a valuable 'credit control' tool for their business enabling them to present evidence of conversations in the event of possible disputes.The digitised function has also improved staff morale, as agents now feel they have more support from line managers, knowing that a supervisor can intervene and quickly resolve a difficult call where a customer may be unhappy over advert content or rates quoted. Also if some agents are spending too long on each call, training needs can be quickly addressed and progressed so the agent also feels that their professional development is being enhanced.

The company predominantly operates outbound calling, and all contacts are stored in a central database. Using the Swyx solution, agents can dial directly from the database with a simple mouse click. The company has configured the solution so each agent has their own unique extension number, therefore if an agent is on the phone, calls can be diverted to an agent's personal voicemail. This recorded message is delivered via email as a WAV file so a response mechanism is always available.