Sheffield based VOICE
was set up in 2006 as an
outsourced telemarketing
operation, with a
mission to provide
clients with an outbound
and inbound
business-to-business and
business-to-consumer
solution designed to
exceed all expectations
in terms of quality and
results.
The company ethos has
been built around
differentiation through
quality that includes
the provision of a high
quality working
environment, well
trained agents and
robust, reliable, state
of the art technology.
Upon these foundations,
VOICE has grown rapidly
from just a handful of
agents to over 150. This
has enabled them to
become one of the key
players and the brand of
choice for many within
in the UK telemarketing
sector. |
 |
James Hinchliffe,
Managing
Director, VOICE |
|
|
The Business Challenge |
|
As an outsourced
provider targeting a
wide range of clients in
terms of size and
vertical sector, VOICE
must differentiate the
service it provides from
other telemarketing
operations. As Managing
Director, James
Hinchliffe explains:
“From the outset, we
have strived to be
industry leading in
terms of higher
investment in quality
staff, providing real
transparency to our
clients and in
delivering a service
that adheres to a
client’s brand values
and image, whilst
complying with all Ofcom,
DMA, FSA regulations and
best practice.” |
|
VOICE’s other main
business challenge has
been their rapid growth.
Increasing in size in
such a relatively short
period of time has been
challenging so the
systems in place
including the hub of the
call centre – the
outbound dialling
solution – have had to
be flexible and scalable
enough to allow for this
growth. |
|
Why Did VOICE
Choose TouchStar? |
|
1. Original Basic
Solution Provided by
TouchStar Competitor Did
Not Satisfy Requirements |
|
Initially, VOICE
employed a basic power
dialling solution.
Commercial Director,
John Robinson went on to
add: “This was fine to
get us up and running
when we had less agents,
but we quickly realised
that to grow and provide
the reliability,
transparency and
reporting demanded by
clients, a more complete
solution was essential.” |
|
2. The ‘One-Stop
Solution’ |
|
The Directors at VOICE
researched a number of
call centre solution
providers and invited
some in to demonstrate
their products. Managing
Director, James
Hinchliffe was
immediately impressed by
both the completeness
and versatility of the
TouchStar system
supplied by Daviker. He
added: “Daviker
provided the one stop
solution a call centre
such as ours would need.
From the scripting, call
recording through to the
reporting, everything
was there in the
package. It gave us the
ability to run inbound
campaigns through ACD,
IVR and skills based
routing. The system has
given the team
confidence that the more
complex campaigns can be
delivered efficiently
and effectively.” |
|
3. Transparency to
Clients |
|
By this time, James
had ambitions for
the growth of the
call centre and it
was important that
the solution had the
capability to
facilitate and
respond to such
growth. He was also
aware of the
specific demands
many clients place
on outsourced
telemarketing
operations such as
VOICE. He went on to
state: “Clients need
to know what’s
happening with their
campaigns in real
time especially in
these tough economic
times when ROI is
monitored so
closely. It is not
enough to simply
provide reports on a
weekly or even daily
basis; in
competitive sectors
it is essential that
up to the minute
information is
constantly
available. Each
client has specific
needs in terms of
reporting so the
ability to handle
multiple campaigns
is essential. Also,
as part of our
transparency promise
to clients, we offer
the opportunity for
them to listen to
agents’ speaking to
prospects from any
remote location with
an internet
connection which the
TouchStar system is
able to facilitate” |
|
4. Whisper Coaching
Benefits |
|
The ability to coach
agents was another
selling point for the
Directors at VOICE. John
Robinson added: “The
TouchStar solution has
whisper coaching which
enables our supervisors
to listen in to agent
calls and help them
without a prospect being
able to hear. This has
proven essential for
agent training and a
real selling point when
pitching for new client
contracts and proved
invaluable for B2B
contacts in which calls
are often unscripted.” |
|
5. Call Recording a
Legal Requirement to
Obtain Contracts |
|
As VOICE has grown, they
have won larger
contracts and this has
included the
telemarketing operation
for providers of
insurance and financial
services. These
particular sectors are
heavily regulated by the
FSA and any call centre
system’s capability must
provide integrated call
recording for the
legally binding
agreements. James
explained: “We simply
would not be in a
position to pitch for
these contracts if we
were not able to record
calls. This protects
both ourselves and the
end consumer in
providing evidence that
the sale is legitimate
and complies with all
the relevant
regulations. In
addition, stringent data
protection and security
systems have needed to
be put in place and
TouchStar has more than
helped us achieve
these.” |
|
6. Integration with
Clients’ Systems |
|
Daviker’s ability to
easily integrate the
TouchStar system with
other software packages
has proved essential for
VOICE. John Robinson
added: “Working for a
number of clients has
meant we have had to
integrate with many CRMs,
back office and
fulfilment systems.
TouchStar’s versatility
has enabled us to do
this.” |
|
7. Flexible Finance
Options Ideal for the
Growing Business |
|
The final reason why
VOICE chose the
TouchStar solution was
provided by the flexible
finance options
available. James
explained: “As we hadn’t
been in operation for
long and are a privately
funded business, we had
to find the correct
financial agreement. As
Daviker itself is a
growing business, they
naturally understood and
we quickly concluded
negotiations. The
agreement has reaped the
rewards for both
companies as we have
grown significantly
since then.” |
|
Implementation |
|
Daviker engineers
implemented the fully
compliant TouchStar
Connect blended call
centre system complete
with ACD & IVR,
intelligent scripting,
call recording and
reporting within the
agreed timeframe. |
| James commented:
Needless to say, in our
industry, any downtime
is unbelievably
expensive! The Daviker
guys understood this and
installed the system
through the night which
ensured we had minimal
disruption. Such
flexibility and
willingness to
accommodate our needs is
another reason why I
would recommend
Daviker. |
|
Features and
Benefits of the
TouchStar Solution |
|
VOICE has built their
business and expanded
rapidly since
implementing the
TouchStar solution. They
have experienced the
following results and
benefits since |
- Their agents
talk time has
increased
dramatically.
- They have
attracted a range of
clients including
large blue-chip
companies.
- A system that
fully complies with
and exceeds all
Ofcom and FSA
regulations.
- They have gained
reporting with
detailed statistics
from all campaigns
in real time and
historically.
- They have been
able to provide
transparency to
clients and
consumers for all
campaigns.
- Their call
centre managers and
team leaders have
enjoyed free
training on an
ongoing basis which
has continually
updated staff
expertise.
- 24 x 7 x 365 UK
based engineering
support has proved
invaluable when
requiring advice at
any time of the day
or night.
- An appointed
expert business
development manager
has optimised use of
the technology and
their call centre
processes.
|
|
James Hinchliffe
concluded: “Daviker
has played a key role in
the expansion of VOICE
offering their support
and expertise. It has
been more like a
partnership than a
client-supplier
relationship and we have
just taken this further
in launching a software
development partnership
in which VOICE will help
provide future direction
for the TouchStar
product. Our objective
for the forthcoming 12
months is to increase to
200 agents at this site
and have an operational
second site of an
additional 300 seats– we
expect Daviker’s
expertise will prove
invaluable during this
expansion”. |
|
|
Copyright 2009 Daviker
Limited. All Rights Reserved.