A Top-20 US Credit Union Puts Customers at the Center of Everything They Do

Who is your main competitor when you are a 500,000-member credit union with fewer than 50 locations? The ‘very big bank’ with branches located nearby all of yours!

“We’re very conscious of fees,” says the Sr. Telecom & Contact Center Engineer at this top-20 US credit union. “When it comes to our credit union members, our motto is: ‘We never forget it’s your money!’”

Having a customer-centric culture means a big focus on providing consistently strong customer service. Not long ago, the credit union launched a new internet banking service, which resulted in a significant uptick in call volumes to the call center. Some members calling in were not hearing the correct recorded announcements. A call was put in to Avaya Support.

Avaya Support to the Rescue

“Usually when you open a ticket, you feel like the first tier person is going to be just a ticket-taker,” says the Sr. Telecom & Contact Center Engineer. “I was expecting to wait. But the gentleman I spoke to was able to stay on the phone, get another engineer on the line, and stay on the whole time.”

“Both engineers on this case were solid,” she adds, “but I was most impressed that the first support engineer who took the initial call didn’t just hand us off, he stayed engaged throughout the resolution process.”

Within a few hours, the problem was traced to a Local Access Carrier (LAC) issue plus an internal server that had not been rebooted in 900 days. The Avaya Remote Technical Support specialist not only determined the root cause, but provided pro-active advice on how to avoid the problem again in the future. The Avaya software specialist flagged the server reboot issue and recommended re-booting at regular intervals, and also provided a recent software patch to further promote stability in the credit union’s environment.

“You just don’t get that level of ownership from manufacturers all the time,” the Sr. Telecom & Contact Center Engineer comments. “That was a really good experience. Superior support!”

Firm Foundation

The credit union is a strong Avaya customer. It relies on Contact Center Elite and CMS, supporting over 150 call center agents in their main call center and approximately another 150 call center agents supporting other credit union business/departments. The credit union uses Avaya Aura 6.3 and has migrated to Avaya Aura Messaging this year.

The customer’s practice is to keep up with platform updates. “We’re never more than two platform versions behind,” says the Sr. Telecom & Contact Center Engineer.

Recently, the credit union noticed a set of automatic backups were failing. A ticket was opened with Avaya Support. The problem was solved in short order.

“The fact Avaya is so open and willing to integrate with other vendors is huge for us,” says the Sr. Telecom & Contact Center Engineer. “The platforms that Avaya offers — and the support I get — are top notch.”

Around the Clock

The credit union has several sites that get 24x7 support from Avaya, including its service center, its corporate headquarters, and its disaster recovery (DR) location.

“We’ll get alarms on our system on occasion,” say the Sr. Telecom & Contact Center Engineer. “When I get in in the morning, I can see that Avaya has been in at night, testing things and resolving those alarms.”

Avaya EXPERT SystemsSM keeps their solution working at its best while she’s sleeping.

“It’s nice that you don’t have to be woken up in the middle of the night for those little things,” she laughs. “We focus on being very efficient, so that we can turn around and give our members better dividends and rates.”