Compass Bank has cut by 60 percent the cost of operator calls through the use of an interactive voice response (IVR) solution that shaved the average call center call time by 10 to 20 percent. The Birmingham, AL-based bank, which has 385 banking centers throughout the Southwest, was looking to reduce its number of operator calls. The bank turned to Intervoice, whose Auto Attendant solution is based on Microsoft Speech Server 2004.

The bank implemented the system in stages, starting with a pilot program rolled out to its Birmingham, AL headquarters employees that directed approximately 20 percent of operator calls per day to the right employee or department. It was then rolled out to external customers, and successfully handled 66 percent of incoming calls.

“The Intervoice Omvia solution with Microsoft Speech Server 2004 allows us to deploy voice-enabled solutions by-the-inch rather than starting with a very complex solution all at once,” said Robert Milford, vice president of technology and systems at Compass Bank. “We have more control and our customers remain happy.”

The system asks callers for the name of the person they are calling, or if the name is not known, it lists departments.

“By reducing operator call costs using our auto-attendant, we expect a return on our investment in just over a year,” Milford said. “Adding voice-enabled solutions means we can offer more options or channels of doing business to our customers.”

Compass Bank is now looking to add voice-enabled applications for services like branch locators or address changes. These and other changes could affect millions of annual calls, Milford said.

“We estimate that reducing the average call center call time by 10 to 20 percent will save us hundreds of thousands per year in telephone charges. It’s just an example of the IVR benefits we see downstream,” Milford said. “Being able to add features quickly and seamlessly to our initial investment is important to us.”

www.compassweb.com
www.intervoice.com