Online Travel Company Leverages Avaya Callback Assist to Keep Customers Happy Despite the Pandemic

MakeMyTrip, a leading online travel company, experienced a sudden surge of calls from concerned customers at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on its over two decades of partnership with Avaya, the company implemented Avaya Callback Assist part of the Avaya contact center solution to proactively resolve priority customer issues while also reducing pressure on its globally distributed contact centers.

MakeMyTrip has been leading the online travel market in India for over 20 years, offering a wide range of travel services including rail, bus, and flight tickets; domestic and international holiday packages; hotel reservations, and more. The brand has solidified its reputation by continually evolving its technology to stay ahead of the rapidly developing global travel market, combined with top tier service and round-the-clock customer support.

The company faced difficulty beyond measure in early 2020 when the pandemic decimated air travel. It’s estimated that tourist arrivals fell globally by more than 65% in the first half of 2020. “The number of people flying plummeted 96% from pre-pandemic levels by mid-April. As lockdowns were announced, cancelling flights and thwarting holiday plans, MakeMyTrip experienced a sudden surge of calls from concerned customers” said Rajesh Dalal, Head of Infrastructure and Security Operations at MakeMyTrip Group.

The company’s 24x7 contact center, with a capacity for 700 concurrent calls, was quickly becoming overwhelmed. Agents were able to work from remote locations thanks to past investments in technology that enabled them to do so, but agents’ availability and overall effectiveness was inevitably affected.

At the same time, MakeMyTrip’s existing IVR systems were unable to efficiently prioritize callers. Regardless of the severity of the situation– whether a customer had a booking two weeks away or was stuck in an airport – they joined the call queue and waited to be connected to an agent. Of course, this negatively affected customer experience. All the while, customers in urgent need were calling the company’s contact center repeatedly, adding to the number of calls in queue.

“Voice is the primary channel for our customers to reach out to us. Because of the sudden surge in calls, we could not address them all. This meant that a lot of our customers who needed urgent help were unable to speak to agents immediately,” says Dalal.

MakeMyTrip needed a solution that would address two distinct challenges:

• Enable proactive resolution for customers in urgent need of help
• Reduce the pressure on its contact center

Keeping Customers Happy with Avaya Callback Assist

“When MakeMyTrip reached out to us, they needed a technology solution that could streamline their overwhelmed contact center. We believed that Avaya Callback Assist was the perfect add-on,” says Nitin Khare, Sales Engineering Lead, Avaya.

Avaya Callback Assist is a contact center management solution that enables organizations to present callers with the option of a callback during periods when estimated wait time is at its highest. When a customer calls the contact center, Avaya Callback Assist will inform them of the expected wait time to check if they want to hold. The customer can choose to wait or press 1 to receive a callback from the next available agent.

The customer won’t lose their spot in the queue; rather, the agent will call back when they have reached that customer’s queue position in line.

When a customer calls MakeMyTrip's contact center, Avaya Callback Assist will inform them of the expected wait time to check if they want to hold or press 1 to receive a callback from the next available agent; the customer will never lose their spot in the queue.

MakeMyTrip introduced Callback Assist to its mobile app so that customers in urgent need could easily and seamlessly reach the contact center. Based on the data they had about the customer, using business rules, they prioritized those travelling in the next 4-24 hours. For such customers, the company activated Callback Assist in the form of a button that appeared in its mobile app. When a customer clicks this button, an agent will call them back and address their concerns without having to go through the toll-free line.

“With such a high volume of incoming calls because of the disruption of travel and short staff at the call center, Avaya Callback Assist proved invaluable for helping us serve the right customer and prioritize customer queries. We were able to quickly launch a feature on our self-service platform, which enabled the right set of customers to choose the option and get a quick solution,” says Abhilash Joseph, Head of Contact Centre Operations, MakeMyTrip Group.

Speedy Implementation for Immediate Problem Solving

MakeMyTrip has been an Avaya customer for over two decades, having used several contact center management products in that time. Being part of the Avaya ecosystem helped MakeMyTrip implement the solution quickly and integrate it seamlessly with its mobile app and voice channels. The Avaya team worked closely with the mobile and web development teams at MakeMyTrip to enable customizations and iron out any last-minute challenges.

“We took the feature live within three weeks. The implementation was quick. We didn’t lose any time in integrating it with the app,” says Dalal.

Ensuring Consistent Customer Delight

As a travel industry intermediary, MakeMyTrip faced immense pressure — both financial and emotional — from customers. Avaya Callback Assist helped ease this pressure, enabling priority customers to speak to an agent immediately. This makes it clear to customers that despite the pandemic, MakeMyTrip is committed to ensuring a top-notch experience for them every time.

Avaya Callback Assist reduced:

• Resolution time for customers in urgent need, drastically improving customer experience
• The number of calls in MakeMyTrip’s queue, lifting the pressure off contact center agents and improving operational efficiency 
• Repeated calls from customers and wait time in voice queue, ensuring all customers got help sooner

Taking Avaya Callback Assist Into The Future

Enthusiastic about the impact of Avaya Callback Assist on its contact center operations, MakeMyTrip is considering extending the solution to all lines of business. “We are excited about the possibilities we can enable for the customer with Avaya Callback Assist. We are continuing to work closely with the MakeMyTrip Group to optimize their communications systems,” said Anurag Yadava, Sales Director, Avaya.