The largest telephone company in Canada has hired an American firm to supply an integrated service management product designed to ramp up customer service.
Building on efforts to simplify the customer experience through the integration of its database applications, Bell Canada selected software from Data-Basics, a company in Ohio that provides Web-based enterprise software for the service and facilities management industries.
Data-Basics’ SAM Pro Enterprise software, which will replace several of the phone company’s database tools, promises to benefit Bell Canada and its customers by improving response times and reporting capabilities, said Lee McLeod, technology application specialist with Bell Cabling Solutions, a division of Bell Professional Services.
“We expect to see an immediate reduction in the amount of data entry required to facilitate client service requests,” said McLeod. “Secondly, our staff and our clients will benefit from the Escalation Manager built into the software.”
Once a client’s work flow processes are mapped into the system, the Escalation Manager within the database will monitor the work flow process and escalate issues according to a pre-defined set of rules, he explained, allowing internal staff to focus on the client relationship and to be proactive about resolving site issues before the client even knows there might be a problem.
“We are expecting additional benefits for our clients, such as improved response times, improved escalation management, improved process control, improved reporting capabilities and improved accuracy,” said McLeod, adding that his company expects to roll out initial tools from Data-Basics by the end of Q1 2005. And by Q3 2005, it expects to have the customer Web interface done.
SAM Pro Enterprise and its Rules-Based Management technology — which helps automate tasks — may eventually be used in other areas of the organization, according to Bell Canada. It also plans to leverage software components that will both permit technicians to generate quotes with multiple options and features, and deliver important data wherever and whenever required.
Data-Basics spokesman Thomas Bubnick said the software will allow Bell to establish parameters that, for example, let technicians out in the field to be notified automatically by e-mail of any changes to work orders.
“This allows them to spend time in areas that require that time,” said Bubnick. “What they’re looking for is a single database solution to allow the cabling group to have real-time information from within that single database.”
The deal with Bell Canada is part of the company’s expansion plans in the Canadian marketplace, added Ken Priestman, business development manager for Data-Basics.
“We’re very proud and excited to have Bell Canada as a client because of the credibility it brings to our software,” said Priestman, who works out of the Richmond Hill, Ont.-based office of Summit Business Systems, Data-Basics’ Canadian dealer. “Our strategy is to grow our business across the country. There’s a huge demand in Canada for this type of proactive system.”
Comment: [email protected]
