Sheffield-based Help & Support

[#1]

A great win for Sheffield, Plusnet and Plusnets customers.
However, the use of an 0845 number to enable you to load balance between two offices seems odd to me.
I used to be the IT Manager for a firm that operated 2 (plus 1 occasional overflow) call centres here in the UK and another 2 in India, and for a long time it was a problem which in the end we opted to solve by just offered an 0800 number (but now even 0800's often are not free for people to call) the project I initiated just before I left the firm involved us having our PBX system located in a Derbyshire data centre and then for people to have VoIP handsets on their desks (OK, there was a bit more to it than that, such on QoS on the LAN and WAN links) and our staff, regardless of where they were, would be able to answer any call...
I know call centre solutions are not cheap or that easy to implement, but once VoIP matured to the state it got to perhaps 3 years ago (or a little more) and given networking expertise, leased lines etc the headaches and costs decreased significantly.
I can only guess that the integration of Brightview into the Plusnet fold happened at the wrong part of an investment cycle.

[#2]

It's true all money spent in Durban was wasted money.

Quote

CSC - South Africa style July 1st, 2008 at 13:04 by Nick Hi, I’m Nick and I’m an Operations Manager in the Customer Support Centre. So here I am in Durban, South Africa, the largest city in the country and the busiest port on the continent. What leads me here? Well, some of you will be aware that last year our owners BT purchased another communication provider known as Brightview which ran several successful brands including ‘Madasafish’ (MAAF). The long and short is that this company was based in London but out-sourced its customer support to South Africa. Outsource: a word which makes many a consumer tremble.. But for no good reason in this case – this operation has won several industry awards for quality of service over the last 3 years, having set itself a clear goal to be the most customer-focused team around. Unlike many off-shore call centres, the guys here speak English as their first language and have a culture not entirely dissimilar to the British. In some ways this difference is actually advantageous – politeness and respect are two of the more important cultural values here! 🙂 Anyway back to the buy out by BT – this culminated in PlusNet being tasked to integrate the company and migrate all the existing customers onto our Workplace platform. This meant wholesale system and process changes for the call centre and a whole new UK business with which to interact. Over the last 6 months or so we have been sending various staff from Sheffield out to the Durban office to build relationships and assist with the transition – even though there is a multitude of modern technologies designed to enhance long distance communication, the value of face to face conversations should never be underestimated. Clearly not everyone can make the trip however – my job is to bridge the gap so to speak – helping the guys here learn who to contact in the UK, and how to drive things forward. So much time and effort can be saved if we use the right channels and go straight to the right people – the result in a support centre environment is a quicker and more accurate response for our customers. I’ve only been out here for a few weeks and am just finding my feet but I hope to keep you updated with news and information from South Africa on a more regular basis. Cheers for now. Nick.

[#3]

And think of all the wasted expenses of Sheffield sorting out training issues / mistakes.
And expenses of sending staff to SA and back

[#4]

Quote from: poppy

Just wondering why they chose Heaven 17 though - I had the impression that the Human League were more popular and they are all Sheffield folk (except that Phil was not born here).

It might be because Heaven 17 are busy promoting the 30th anniversary of the Penthouse and Pavement album at the moment.  That said the Human League aparantly have a single due out soon

[#5]

Theyre more known for being from Yorkshire id of thought?
also, probably abit cheaper than The Human League

[#6]

Could have used ABC, Joe Cocker, Jarvis Cocker/Pulp, Moloko, Thompson Twins, Def Leppard, Artic Monkeys...

[#7]

...Graham Fellows (aka John Shuttleworth)...

[#8]

Quote from: poppy

Just gone into the member centre via call statistics page and there were 40 calls in the queue with a wait time of almost 15 minutes (not sure if that was correct with all those calls waiting to be answered).  Not sure if the work has been all handed back to Sheffield at this time but if it has, Durban is sure being missed!

Even worse today:
53 calls waiting     longest wait 31 minutes and 41 seconds

[#9]

im not so sure Durban will be missed that much if im honest.
Yeah some of the calls queues are longer (if you keep an eye on it your better ringing when  the call drops, or (if your a night owl like me just call when you cant sleep )
Although the stats dont look great, im sure there are alot less "going back over" mistakes made ... Id be suprised if there wasnt a time saving here.
Bobs already said it might take a week or two for stats to settle down after losing several staff (what do you expect?)
Regards

[#10]

Well I'm appalled by those figures that reserved has given us.  Surely I cannot be the only one?
This reminds me of some years ago (pre-BT days) when it was not unusual to be waiting a long time  for your call to be answered.
As mentioned in the preceding post I used to telephone in the night or early morning as I wasn't on an inclusive call package at the time.
I hate to be critical because I know that everyone is working hard in Plusnet Towers but a huge advertising campaign + loss of Durban call centre for 'overflow' = chaos.  Also, of course, dilution and possible deterioration of service.  I hope not though.

[#11]

I'm glad I don't need support today (fingers crossed)   
Current calls waiting     Longest call waiting now         Average answer time today
            28                   27 minutes and 35 seconds          6 minutes and 38 seconds

[#12]

Obvious answer - call at 4:00am 

[#13]

Well, this is Sunday, a usually quiet day and there are now 50 calls waiting! 
Having been close by Plusnet Towers this morning I'm surprised that steam wasn't coming out of the roof!
I too am glad that I don't need CS support at the moment.

[#14]

Longest call waiting now: 43 minutes and 24 seconds
Someone has got more patience than me

[#15]

Hi guys, we're conscious that waiting times and call queues have been higher than desirable since last week's announcement and it's something we're continuing to focus on. We've another 15 or so new faces joining us this week and another 5 have just started training. Today has also seen a pretty substantial change in the way we're staggering shifts. We did anticipate that it would take us a short while to adjust to the changes, and we appreciate customers' patience during this transitional period.