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Company: EE, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Company Description: EE is the parent company for the Orange, T-Mobile and EE brands, with 27 million customers, 16,000 employees and 700 stores. Operating under the name Everything Everywhere until EE launched with 4G services in October 2012, it has always been our mission to give people instant access to telecommunications services, accessing whatever they want, whenever they want it, wherever they are in
Nomination Category: New Product & Service Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Contact Center Solution – New

Nomination Title: IMEI Contact Routing

Tell the story about this nominated product or service (up to 500 words). Describe its function, features, benefits, and sales to date:

EE responded to the perpetual market dominance of smartphones and changing customer demands by creating a new service model based on the operating system of customers’ smartphones - not the nature of their queries. EE created Apple, BlackBerry, Android and Windows ‘centres of excellence’ which meant we could tailor the service experience to our customers’ needs, which more often than not are device related.

We were challenged to innovatively route calls to these new teams without asking the customer lengthy questions in the IVR. By using the serial number (IMEI) of the device they were calling from we were able to instantly connect customers with expert advisors specialising in their phone.

Our challenge

1. Due to the volume of change happening as a result of launching a new brand and new network in the form of EE, money was limited, so we had to develop the solution using our existing technology
2. If a customer changed their phone we needed to detect the IMEI change and instantly update our database so they continued to be routed correctly
3. Deliver the same solution in three separate brands on two different networks
4. Recognize new phones immediately, once launched, with no delay
5. Route customers correctly who were using devices purchased on other networks and in other countries

The Benefits

•Reduced propensity to call and improved first call resolution (FCR) and customer satisfaction
•Being the first in Europe to provide this service gave us competitive advantage
•Improved our market leverage and relationship with handset manufacturers, who’ve helped rebrand departments and build manufacturer zones in our contact centres, with unlimited access to their technology
•We can also send calls direct to the manufacturer from our IVR, for specific device/call types, reducing our cost to serve and improving manufacturers’ understanding of customer issues
•Our advisors received more development with specialist device training - underpinned by our IVR routing sufficient numbers of the right calls to embed their new skills

Return on Investment

We delivered the project in less than six months using existing technology and the power of our network, with a return on investment which will payback in month nine.

The system is also self learning, so if an IMEI is not recognised it is added to an exception report, which is analysed and the system is updated for future calls.

Specific savings by device operating system include:

•BlackBerry propensity to call reduced by 30% and FCR increased 4%
•HTC propensity reduced by 4% and FCR increased by 4%
•Apple FCR increased by 5%

Summary

This technology is the beating heart of our operating model which supports 10,000 advisors and 30 million customers. Now more than 95% of all calls are delivered to the correct teams with no effort required from the customer.

It’s been so successful that EE Retail is also adopting the model, with specific smartphone experts in stores, so now we have a fully aligned service model across our entire frontline operation.

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that developed this nominated product or service:

Jon Reid, Head of Contact Delivery, has worked EE (formerly Orange UK), for over 15 years He is currently responsible for IVR, SMS self service, inbound, Outbound email, chat & social contact routing for Orange, T-Mobile and EE. He began as a Customer Service Advisor, progressing to operations management roles before moving into resource management, developing a rich understanding of what constitutes a great customer experience.

Since 2004 Jon has worked with our IVR and self service became his focus. He is particularly proud of this delivery as many said it couldn’t be done and is genuine industry first.