Discussion Regarding the Customer Service Call Center. Tom O Neill Chief Technology Officer October 31, 2012

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Amie McCormick
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1 Discussion Regarding the Customer Service Call Center Tom O Neill Chief Technology Officer October 31, 2012

2 AC Transit Customer Service Call Center The Past In house Customer Call Center including Customer Relations Multi lingual staff included Chinese, Tagalog and Spanish TTY service 15 Total employees (11 Clerks, 3 Sr. Clerks and 1 Supervisor) Average monthly call volume > than 35,000 calls offered and >25,000 answered (Mar thru Oct 2010) High Abandoned rates ranged from 25% in Apr, 2010 to high of 39% in Sep, 2010 Average Call Length was approximately 2 minutes, primarily due to well trained, extremely knowledgeable clerks and a large majority of callers simply wanting to know when the next bus will arrive Annual cost > $1.2 million

Clerks and 1 Supervisor) Average monthly call volume > than 35,000 calls offered and >25,000 answered (Mar thru Oct 2010) High Abandoned rates ranged from 25%

3 The Present Part 1 Contracted Customer Call Center operated by American Customer Care (ACC), a Connecticut company with call center in Iowa ACC has no other transit related customers Calls handled by a blended pool of agents with 4 dedicated staff who handle other calls between District related queries No TTY service (for hearing impaired) English speaking only; no internal or outside translation services are available This is a potential violation of AC Transit s Title VI responsibilities to its multilingual service area Hours of Operation are the same as AC Transit s former internal call center (7 7 weekdays, 9 5 weekends) Initial plans to extend service hours were tabled; this item s cost was not negotiated or budgeted into proposal & resulting contract Expectation that ACC would handle investigations for complaints & commendations was also not negotiated or budgeted into proposal & resulting contract

services are available This is a potential violation of AC Transit s Title VI responsibilities to its multilingual service area Hours of Operation are the same as AC Transit s former internal call

4 The Present Part 2 Monthly call volume averaging >10,000 (July Sep, 2012) Low abandoned call rates (< 4.5%) Good average speed of answer at 27 seconds (Jul Sep 2012) Average Call Length > 4.1 minutes Initial projected call length by the then Customer Service Manager was 66 seconds; roughly half of the actual average call length at that time of approximately 2 minutes Average initial projected cost per call $1.76; actual cost per call (Sep, 2012) $2.38 ($ cents for toll free charges) 26% higher cost per call than originally projected Note: The first five full months of the ACC contract, monthly costs were 30% to 50% higher than contracted In July, 2011 Beverly Greene, Customer Service & Information Services staff initiated successful contract adherence measures as well as call reduction efforts Three year contract with ACC expires in September 2013 (GM Memo No ) Annual budget ~$282k

projected cost per call $1.76; actual cost per call (Sep, 2012) $2.38 ($2.

5 The Future Part 1 While the ACC call center s performance meets contract requirements, it is not satisfactory for a publicly operated agency with a large multilingual service area Communicating real time information is a problem with respect to delays & cancellations, removed or changed bus stop signs, etc. Bringing these jobs back to our Service Area whether they be District employees or in the local private sector economy makes sense AC Transit must achieve a balance between how it provides information to the public: MTC s 511 Websites: actransit.org, NextBus.com and 511.org Mobile apps Twitter and other Social Media lists via GovDelivery Printed information that is distributed User information at bus stops and transit centers

Bringing these jobs back to our Service Area whether they be District employees or in the local private sector economy makes sense AC Transit must achieve a balance between how it

6 The Future Part 2 Ideal: Blend a small in house call center staff focused on Customer Relations issues (complaints & commendations) with a nearby contracted call center for transit information: Configure IVR to route all Customer Relations calls internally, and trip planning & other transit information questions to the external call center. Internal staff to work closely with OCC and Transportation on notices of delays & cancellations, complaint & commendation investigations and responses. External call center staff should be dedicated to ACT, but provide flexible staffing levels based on monthly and seasonal norms Local call center staff should be more familiar with local landmarks, events and impacts on our system Restore multi lingual support, including TTY Expand hours of operation to better match peaks (e.g., start at 6 a.m. on weekdays instead of 7 a.m.)

Internal staff to work closely with OCC and Transportation on notices of delays & cancellations, complaint & commendation investigations and responses.

7 SUMMARY During its financial crisis AC Transit decided to outsource its Call Center The level of Call Center activity was limited by budget Prior to outsourcing, monthly calls answered in the call center peaked at more than 30,000 (39,000 offered) in April, Now the call center is answering approximately 10,000 monthly calls. The American Customer Care environment has four dedicated AC Transit clerks, but they are in a blended (or shared ) call center. Skilled and areaknowledgeable clerks are highly desirable. Address multilingual services, this is a potential violation of AC Transit s Title VI responsibilities to its multilingual service area. Address TTY (hearing impaired options) Explore expanded hours

The American Customer Care environment has four dedicated AC Transit clerks, but they are in a blended (or shared ) call center.

COMPARISON OF FIXED & VARIABLE RATES (25 YEARS) CHARTERED BANK ADMINISTERED INTEREST RATES - PRIME BUSINESS*

COMPARISON OF FIXED & VARIABLE RATES (25 YEARS) 2 Fixed Rates Variable Rates FIXED RATES OF THE PAST 25 YEARS AVERAGE RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LENDING RATE - 5 YEAR* (Per cent) Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun