Dropped calls are now a thing of the past for leading agricultural services company AFGRI’s IT service desk, which has improved support levels and also gained cost savings. This is thanks to the assistance of hybrid IT systems integrator and managed services provider Datacentrix.
“The AFGRI IT service desk, which supports many users across the country, was struggling with frequently dropped calls,” explains Frederik van Staden, Senior Account Manager: WAN and ISP Services at eNetworks, a wholly-owned Datacentrix company. “This not only caused frustration for service desk team members and users alike, but repeated calls to different regions were also costly.”
AFGRI opted to implement a cloud-based telephony solution that could be integrated with its ITIL-compliant IT service management (ITSM) solution, for use by the internal IT support team.
Says Van Staden: “Traditional contact centre telephony systems can be integrated with typical CRM, ERP or ITSM software through customised programming, but this can be a lengthy, expensive process. The cloud-based phone system implemented at AFGRI was put forward due to its native integration into the support channel. It takes only a few clicks and can be deployed quickly and easily because no hardware is required for operation.
“The eNetworks Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking service, which interconnects with the phone system, means that calls between the branches and the service desk are zero-rated – so no cost is associated with these calls – even though the branches use a different telephone system.”
In fact, 786 calls were reported on as zero-rated for AFGRI over a month-long period, at an average of 7,7 minutes per call, translating into great cost savings for the organisation.
“Cost savings aside, AFGRI’s support team employees are also able to now spend more time on the phone supporting their local user base, which can be seen by the increase in average duration per call. For the 12 months prior to the rollout, AFGRI’s average duration per call was four minutes. Now, with zero-rated calls, calls are averaging 7,7 minutes in length – almost double – which has had a positive impact on the service desk’s first-call resolution rate.”
The more efficient, robust system, saves users time on searching for the right records, as the caller’s details appear on the screen as soon as the phone rings.
“Engineers save more time on every call by getting rid of manual data entry. Calls are automatically logged as support tickets, along with key details about the call, including whether it is inbound or outbound, answered or missed, and the name of the line that was used. All call comments captured in telephony system are also logged, along with a link to the call recording.
“The mobile nature of the cloud-based system is a great advantage for hybrid workplaces, as users only need a computer or smart phone and an Internet connection. Managers can effectively manage the service teams remotely through the advanced reporting and measurement KPIs,” Van Staden adds.
Datacentrix is a strategic local partner for Aircall, the 100 percent cloud-based phone system and call centre software provider, managing the entire customer journey, from the sales cycle to the post-sales relationship. As a well-established local systems integrator, Datacentrix is also Aircall’s local carrier for connectivity as a trusted SIP trunking provider
