The Automobile Association of South Africa (AA SA)\nfaced mounting costs from a legacy communications system, in addition to\nrequiring an omni-channel solution that enabled easy integration into existing\ncommunication channels. Itec developed an easy-to-implement and cost-effective\nsolution using the Mitel communications system<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AA SA\nmandated Itec to transform their existing legacy communications contact centre\ninto a digital omni-channel system that integrated easily into existing\ntechnology, was scalable, and included full disaster recovery options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Existing environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n AA SA has been around since 1930, as an advocate for\nroad users, and a roadside assistance service provider. They engage with\ngovernmental institutions around road safety, as well as providing a service\nfor road users that includes roadside assistance, insurance, technical service\nand trade services. They offer this service around the clock through agents who\nprovide assistance to drivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AA SA prides itself on the human element of its\nservice – in an emergency, having a reassuring, competent agent on the other\nend of the call is imperative to a smooth resolution of any problems,\nespecially where safety is concerned. Also imperative is the quick response\ntime in emergencies so that drivers in high-risk situations are never left in a\nvulnerable position for longer than is absolutely necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This almost 100-year-old organisation has the same\nservice ethos as when it began, but it was time to update the way the service\nwas implemented, by looking at a more cost-effective and efficient\ncommunications system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A legacy moves on <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jaco Van Der Merwe, General Manager of IT at AA SA,\nwas tasked with improving customer engagement by transforming their legacy\ncontact centre to a digital enterprise system that made full use of the\ncommunications technology now available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The existing contact centre was clumsy and becoming less\neffective with time, requiring expensive hardware updates. Van Der Merwe\nestablished that the way forward was Digital Transformation, with the ability\nto integrate into an omni-channel environment, thereby giving AA SA agents more\nflexibility and mobility when responding to calls. This included multimedia\ncapabilities, outbound dialing and effective workforce management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With business growth in mind, another requirement was\nthe ability to scale the platform across all functionalities, in a cost-effective\nand tech- savvy manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Full digital disaster recovery was another important\nconsideration in an organisation that requires 24\/7 uptime, with client safety\nat risk during service interruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The solution <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Digital omni-channel <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Itec worked with AA SA to develop a Mitel\ncommunications solution that virtualised their existing business processes,\nintegrating their mobile app with multiple channels including voice calls, SMS\nand other forms of communication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Van Der Merwe was particularly impressed\nby the well-defined APIs provided by Itec, that enabled a smooth transition and\nset-up when integrating the AA SA app into the Mitel communications platform.\nHe also commented that the platform itself was easy to understand and operate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The solution enabled full portability from\nthe legacy to digital systems, with the added benefits of full disaster\nrecovery options, secure connectivity and easily-integrated new dialers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In an agent-based operation, workforce\nmanagement is imperative, and the Mitel system is one of the few that has it as\na native component, which makes it both cost-effective and easier to integrate.\nVan Der Merwe noted that they are already seeing the benefits of a properly\nmanaged workforce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With the consideration of mandatory\nuptime, Itec worked closely with the AA SA team to ensure a smooth transition\nbetween platforms. There was a good synergy between the teams, and the agents\nadapted easily to the new system<\/p>\n\n\n\n Key factors and future <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Service at scale <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The future for AA SA\u2019s communication\nstrategy is about customer service. The main focus will be to increase agent\nreaction speed, with the goal of a mere 20 seconds between notification of\nemergency and the agent\u2019s call. This will enhance the reassurance the customer receives\nduring a breakdown or accident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The call centre is a key focus,\nstreamlining the functionality and making it work most efficiently on a practical\nlevel. They are also looking at using AI and bots for initial data capture, to\nstreamline and speed up the entire engagement with the customer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n AA SA wants to engage with its customers\nbased on their needs, customising the user experience to include a wider range\nof channels, such as WhatsApp or social media. They want to take full advantage\nof the omni-channel environment, scaling it deep and wide, by rolling out to a\nhigher number of both agents and customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Van Der Merwe noted that they have seen a five-figure\nreduction in cost per annum compared to their previous solution, which is an\nobvious excellent ROI. The Itec rental model, in this case, included no\nescalation, so the AA SA can accurately budget for the next four years, giving\nthem the ability to scale the solution as their business grows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another benefit is the reliable service\nprovided by Itec, which in the 24\/7 environment of emergency response, allows\nAA SA to provide excellent service in turn. This includes up-to-date technical\nmaintenance of the Mitel products, at a much lower cost than before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With a platform that doesn\u2019t have\ntechnical limitations, AA SA can cost-effectively take their business to the\nnext level, improving their already excellent customer service, by partnering\nwith Itec as a value-adding supplier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Automobile Association of South Africa (AA SA) faced mounting costs from a legacy communications system, in addition to requiring an omni-channel solution that enabled easy integration into existing communication channels. Itec developed an easy-to-implement and cost-effective solution using the Mitel communications system AA SA mandated Itec to transform their existing legacy communications contact centre […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":27959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,338,7383,399,19,9059,306,262],"tags":[10548,8625,10547,10550,389,10549,6965,10144,1470,6520],"class_list":["post-27958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-case-studies","category-case-study-newsletter","category-digital-transformation","category-more-news","category-regional-news","category-south-africa","category-transport","category-used","tag-aa-sa","tag-apis","tag-automobile-association-of-south-africa","tag-digital-disaster-recovery","tag-digital-transformation","tag-jaco-van-der-merwe","tag-mitel","tag-omni-channel","tag-roi","tag-whatsapp"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27958"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28058,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27958\/revisions\/28058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}