Orange

_Overview

Orange is a French multinational telecommunications corporation and represents the flagship brand of the France Telecom group for mobile, landline and Internet businesses, with 226 million customers as of December 2011.

Since 2002, Q-nomy is providing solutions based on its Q-Flow® system to customer service centers and shops operating under the orange brand worldwide (both Orange subsidiaries and companies using the brand name under license).

_{The Challenge}

The Orange brand had grown rapidly since the year 2000, and as a result an increasing number of Orange shops and service centers opened in different countries.

The most apparent challenge in a state of rapid expansion is the need for executive decision-support information. Without a high-end system to manage walk-in centers, companies are forced to invest in manual monitoring and data collection, in order to supply management with necessary service level and workload measurements.

In the early 2000's, some Orange centers were equipped with computerized queue management systems, which did not answer all of the company’s needs: those were local systems, meaning central enterprise-oriented analysis was difficult; its software architecture was dated, making integration with other information systems troublesome and limited; and it was expensive to maintain. In addition, such systems were incapable of any contribution to Orange marketing campaigns.

_{The Solution}

Having identified and defined the technical challenge, a number of telecoms using the Orange brand turned to Q-nomy to provide a central, enterprise customer experience solution for walk-in center management. To those companies, Q-nomy provided (directly or via local partners) end-to-end solution, including software, hardware, and various professional services to ensure successful implementation.

_{The Results}

After a decade of Q-Flow operation under the Orange brand, the system’s effect is clear, having made a significant impact in every country where it was deployed.

Gathering service level and efficiency measurements

With accurate service level measurements now available, one such telecom using the Orange brand set a strict goal to all of its service centers and shops – to serve 80% of arriving customers in under 10 minutes.

Today, branch managers are in complete control of their agents, and as a result maintain high levels of service and efficiency. They are able to monitor the service center performance in real-time and to maintain the company's Customer Service goals.

Customer Service executives use Q-Flow to produce daily, weekly and monthly reports. These enterprise-level reports are used, among other objectives, to promote competitiveness, by electing top branches and top regions (based on shortest waiting time averages).

Ami Brenner, Regional Orange Centers Manager: “I use the Q-Flow ‘Info Center’ to monitor my branches, and to demand explanations from regional managers for every drop in the level of service… before Q-Flow was deployed service center management was based on estimates, today regional and branch managers are in complete control and know exactly where they stand compared to company goals”

_{Providing decision support information}

The data collected by Q-Flow is quickly turned into valuable executive information. Workload and Service Time parameters are being used by analysts to create optimal staff scheduling plans, for customer service representatives, on a weekly basis. Q-Flow statistics enable long-term resource planning and help executives design a cost-effective customer service strategy.

Regional Managers, in charge of several service centers, can base real-time staffing decisions on Q-Flow online reports, for example, by moving agents between branches to balance workload.

Ismar Chlebowski, Department Manager, Regional Quality Assurance and Knowledge Management: “Q-Flow has enabled us to optimize branch staffing… we have greatly improved our level of service, and saved valuable resources”

_{Easy systems integration}

Q-Flow’s Interactive Kiosk software was integrated with local CRM databases, enabling agents and managers to see arriving customers' details – name, customer level and history – thus allowing for a more personalized service experience.

The software was also integrated with SMS (Short Message Service) gateways, allowing waiting customers to be notified via their mobile phones when their turn arrives, and greeting them on their arrival and leaving the service center.

​Many of the Orange sites where Q-Flow was deployed use the system's marketing-oriented modules as well.

In most locations, Q-Flow provides digital signage functionality, which is combined with the queue information to deliver targeted advertising to waiting customers. Some locations even put to use Q-nomy's advanced print-on-demand module, offering premium customers a personalized brochure upon entering the store - while other customers receive a standard ticket, from the same kiosk. All these elements have indeed helped managers and analysts to improve service levels, cut the cost of providing customer service and increase customer satisfaction. One regional End-User Satisfaction Survey, conducted among more than 50 customer service representatives and managers, revealed the following results:

1. 73% of managers agreed that Q-Flow helps them streamline the service process and minimize waiting time.

2. 71% of managers said Q-Flow improves the customer’s experience of entering the branch

3. 78% of managers said Q-Flow makes the customer more relaxed and improves their waiting experience

The survey was conducted in a region where another queue management system had worked prior to the introduction of Q-Flow. This means the basis for comparison, for all survey participants, was already quite high, making the survey results all the more impressive.

When asked to compare Q-Flow to the older queue management system, participants yielded the following results:

1. 100% of managers said Q-Flow makes reporting and data analysis significantly easier.

2. 87% of managers said Q-Flow allows greater flexibility and control of the customer service process.

In general, 83% of agents and 100% of managers said Q-Flow is more suitable for their needs than previously used systems.

Another important effect of the system was detected using customer satisfaction monitoring. Monthly surveys, addressing 2000 orange center visitors each month, have shown a continuous decline of perceived waiting time, since the installation of Q-Flow. In other words, the system looks to have contributed significantly to improving the customers' waiting experience.