Echopass Hosted Contact Center Service Delivers Rich Dividends For The Provident Bank
Inbound Call Duration Times Cut 40%; Rate of First-Call Problem Resolution Dramatically Increased
PLEASANTON, CA - October 25, 2005 -Echopass, the leading service provider of advanced on-demand contact center services, announced today that The Provident Bank has successfully implemented a customized contact center solution based on Echopass technology. Echopass ensures that customer calls are answered more quickly, decreases dropped calls and customer wait time, and enables New Jersey based Provident to reduce the average duration of inbound customer service phone calls by 40% through sophisticated agent routing and a unique new computer “screen pop” that displays basic caller information to customer service agents instantly as they answer the call.
Founded in 1839, The Provident Bank is a diversified financial institution with $6 billion in assets, serving consumers and businesses in northern and central New Jersey. The bank prides itself on exceptional customer service; its slogan, “Hassle-free banking for busy people®” attests to its commitment to removing obstacles and providing fast, accurate, and professional customer encounters.
The Provident Bank recently sought a new contact center solution because its existing hardware-based platform could neither deliver needed flexibility nor support improvements. “Basic security questions are required at the onset of the call,” said Marcia Blunt, Vice President of Touch Point Services for The Provident Bank. “But the agents must navigate through several screens to validate the information provided by the customer.”
Customized Features
To deliver better service for both the company and its customers, The Provident Bank chose the hosted Contact Center On Demand service from Echopass. “Using on-demand services makes sense for customers who need a call center because it maximizes flexibility while eliminating the upfront risk,” says Vincent Deschamps, Chief Executive Officer of Echopass Corporation. “With our service, the customer pays monthly for the services used based on the number of agents. This can be easily increased or decreased to fit the needs of the business. We provide integrations to a wide range of other applications and technology partners, and manage the entire service end to end. This type of flexibility is impossible for customers to achieve with an on-premise hardware-based call center.”
One of the priorities on The Provident Bank’s call center agent wish list was a “screen pop” function that would eliminate the need to ask customers tedious, time-consuming questions. Echopass and The Provident Bank worked together to analyze the bank’s call center data, looking for the most common information requests to develop a working solution. That information was incorporated into a custom-built home screen for agents.
“Now, as soon as a call comes in, our agents have 95 percent of the customer’s data at their fingertips,” Blunt notes. “The screen pop improved the overall call handling and customer experience.”
Another key upgrade was a sophisticated, skills-based routing protocol that ensured customers would be connected to an agent with the precise expertise necessary to resolve the customer’s concern. At the core level, callers are provided with language options for agents with specific language skills. At the next level, calls are routed to the agent with the level of expertise appropriate for the request—personal vs. business accounts, for example, or sales vs. service.
Highest Standards Met
Shortly after the initial contract was signed, The Provident Bank’s new call center service from Echopass was in service. The combination of improved call handling, new segmentation routing that provides a best-customer service capability, and screen pop-ups produced dramatic and immediate results.
Eighty percent of The Provident Bank’s inbound customer call volume is now answered within the first 20 seconds—high by any industry measure. Call duration has been reduced by 40%, and average customer wait time has been cut in half. Abandoned calls have been minimized; best of all, first-call problem resolution has peaked, and The Provident Bank did not need to hire additional personnel.
“Agents are now able to greet callers by name,” Blunt reports. “Also, because data is right in front of the agent as opposed to toggling through multiple screens and systems, service personnel are able to address customer issues almost immediately.”
Echopass Flexibility Enables Results and Future Integration
The Provident Bank anticipates integrating its e-mail service option into Echopass Contact Center On Demand in the near future. It also hopes to soon integrate the Echopass hosted service with an upcoming Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software implementation.
For now, Blunt and her contact center team are pleased with the business impact its new contact center capabilities have created. “Since we’ve deployed the Echopass Call Center Service, my agents are happier with the information and efficiency of the system. We have improved sales results and satisfied customers with the added attention they receive—and in the banking industry, those are improvements that translate directly to the bottom line.”
About The Provident Bank
The Provident Bank is a community- and customer-oriented banking company originally established in 1839. With over $6 billion in assets, The Provident Bank emphasizes personal service and customer convenience in attending to the financial needs of individuals, families and businesses in northern and central New Jersey. The bank offers a broad array of deposit, loan, trust and investment products. In keeping with its Customer-Centric Strategy, The Provident Bank builds and retains customer relationships through its network of 76 branches, 81 ATM locations and its telephone and web-based banking services by delivering on its brand promise—“Hassle-Free Banking for Busy People.” www.providentbanknj.com.
About Echopass Corporation
Echopass Corporation provides advanced IP-based call and contact center solutions as a service for mid-to-large enterprises and government agencies through its unique EchoSystemT service integration platform. Only Echopass delivers the promise of on-demand, always on, guaranteed, and end-to-end solutions that are both affordable and fully integrated with client's existing customer contact applications and voice or data technologies. Echopass managed solutions are quick to deploy, easy to use, flexible, and require no capital investment or ongoing maintenance. Privately-held Echopass, backed by venture capital firms Canaan Partners and New Enterprise Associates, is a recipient of the Red Herring Top 100 Companies award. The company is headquartered in Pleasanton CA. For additional information, please visit www.echopass.com or call 1-888-622-5345.
PRESS CONTACT:
Citigate Cunningham
Scott Malinowski
(617) 374-4223
SMalinowski@citigatecunningham.com
Jean Quinn
Corporate Communications Manager
The Provident Bank
201-915-5490
jean.quinn@providentnj.com
