Tristar Homes’ new customer contact centre went live in July 2009 following its implementation of Macfarlane call centre technology and a Lagan enterprise case management system.
Before Tristar’s new centre opened, services for Tristar’s 10,500 customers were provided from four separate offices in the Stockton area with around 20 telephone numbers for different services. Tristar’s customers now have just one ‘golden number’ for all services, with Tristar’s 10 customer service staff able to handle a broad range of customer queries, including calls relating to repairs, arrears, choice-based lettings, anti-social behaviour, and recruitment.
As an ALMO for Stockton Borough Council, Tristar decided at the end of 2008 to use the same technology as the council, selecting Macfarlane CallPlus contact centre and Lagan enterprise case management software. CallPlus provides intelligent call handling with skills-based routing, call recording, management information, interactive voice response and computer telephony integration (CTI).
The CallPlus system is closely integrated with the Lagan ECM system, enabling called-number details to be stored on the CRM system so that when customers call again from the same number, customer details can be ‘screen-popped’ on advisors’ screens as calls are delivered to their desktops. The CTI function also delivers simultaneous voice and data transfer so that when calls are transferred to back-office staff for resolution, updated customer records are transferred to their screens at the same time.
Mandy Peacock, customer services and systems manager, Tristar Homes, said, “We set up the new centre to not only improve accessibility for customers but also to improve communications throughout the company.
“The Macfarlane and Lagan systems are extremely helpful in this regard. With front- and back-office staff using the same systems, we can operate more efficiently, handle more calls, and gain much more management information. We now have a better understanding of who is calling, how often they are calling, and why they are calling – giving us a greatly-improved picture of customers’ needs.”
