Per pubblicazione immediata: 02-Dec-2002
For Immediate Release - Monday December 02, 2002 GUILDFORD, UK - Convergent Systems, a leading supplier of communications and data systems has signed a contract worth £1 million to provide wine suppliers, Direct Wines Ltd with a new IP-enabled converged communications system for its two contact centres. The technology from Avaya Inc. (NYSE:AV), a leading global provider of communications networks and services for businesses, will enable a virtual contact centre. This will enhance customer service and allow wine lovers to place their orders more quickly and efficiently. Direct Wines, the world's largest home delivery wine merchant, supplies wine to The Sunday Times Wine Club and Laithwaites. The system enables Direct Wines to route calls intelligently between the two contact centres in Plymouth and Reading to create a virtual contact centre which is expected to save the company £80,000 per year. If lines are busy it will transfer potential wine buyers to the first available agent in either location. Previously, routing between contact centres was a manual procedure. With the new system, Direct Wines' 370 agents will be able to answer more calls and deal with wine connoisseurs more quickly and efficiently. Furthermore using patented Avaya Business Advocate software, the system is able to assess the nature of the incoming call and route it to the most suitable and qualified agent. For example, Direct Wines will have the ability to route callers with a specific interest in Chilean wine to an agent who is an expert in this field. The virtual contact centre allows Direct Wines to utilise their agents more effectively and increase customer satisfaction. Historical and instant reporting for both contact centres will be provided by the system. The reports will give supervisors access to on screen information displaying the number of calls waiting, those on hold, and calls that have been handled successfully. This will allow Direct Wines to monitor and assess the levels of customer service and enable it to focus on areas requiring improvement. For example, historical reports will show where there has been an increase in calls. Such reports give valuable information for partners such as the MBNA Wine Club to evaluate the success of their marketing campaigns and plot trends among wine buyers. Richard Compton director, Corporate Solutions at Convergent Systems said: 'Direct Wines was looking for a solution that would effectively increase the reliability of its contact centres and maximise customer service levels. Only Avaya's contact centre technology provided the right functionality to meet Direct Wines' needs.' David Payette, managing director of Channel development, EMEA at Avaya said:
The virtual contact centre technology enables Direct Wines to make much better use of their 370 agents' time - the end result being better service to 600,000 customers worldwide." Helene Wylde, customer services director at Direct Wines Ltd said: 'Customer service is paramount to our business, we are always striving to lead the way in this field. The system will enable us to enhance our existing service and take customer satisfaction to a whole new level.' About Convergent SystemsConvergent Systems Ltd is a part of Convergent Communications plc. Over one million people, often without realising it, use products and services provided by the Group. Convergent Communications plc has extensive experience in delivering communication solutions. Convergent Systems provides CRM, Voice and Data Solutions, and parts of the company have operated since 1981. The remainder of the Group specialises in network provision, mobile telephony, and automated field workforce solutions.Convergent Systems itself works in some 2.5 % of the UK call centre market. Software written by Convergent is used not just in a large number of those contact centres, but it is also used in products supplied by the worlds largest IT company and the worlds largest telecommunications equipment company: IBM and Siemens respectively. Also it integrates with Siebel software.Convergent Systems' Head Office is in Fareham with presence in Leeds and Ireland. The business has been successful in delivering projects for customers who have requirements in the UK and overseas.Convergent Systems is a Gold-accredited Avaya BusinessPartner www.convergentsystems.uk.com
About Avaya
Avaya Inc. designs, builds and manages communications networks for more than 1 million businesses worldwide, including 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500®. Focused on businesses large to small, Avaya is a world leader in secure and reliable Internet Protocol (IP) telephony systems and communications software applications and services. Driving the convergence of voice and data communications with business applications - and distinguished by comprehensive worldwide services -Avaya helps customers leverage existing and new networks to achieve superior business results.
About Direct Wines Ltd
Direct Wines is the world's largest home delivery wine merchant with sales in excess of £170 million in the 12 months to December 2001. Direct Wines's trading identities include Laithwaites (formerly known as Bordeaux Direct), The Sunday Times Wine Club, The British Airways Wine Club and The NatWest Wine Club. Direct Wines has attracted a number of new partnerships in the last 12 months too - these include setting up a wine service with Barclaycard and AIR MILES. Direct Wines receives 1.9 million telephone calls per annum. The Communications Centres in Theale and Plymouth can handle over 16,000 calls in a day between them, at over 300 telephone workstations. Direct Wines has just won Inbound Call Centre of the Year 2002 at The National Sales AwardsÔ and also retained the ECMOD award for overall best customer service for the second year at the ECMOD Awards in November 2001.
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