Customer Success
DIRECTV and Convergys | Print |
The DIRECTV Group Inc. is the largest direct broadcast satellite provider in the United States with more than 15 million customers. To ensure DIRECTV customers receive top-quality service, the customer service organization works closely with outsourcing partner Convergys Corporation. Between the two operations, the DIRECTV customer service organization is supported by nearly 10,000 agents spread across 14 sites that handle approximately 75 million contacts annually.

Both DIRECTV and Convergys have standardized on the IEX® TotalView® Workforce Management system, a NICE SmartCenter solution, for staff planning and management.

Manual Reporting Challenges

Before implementing the TotalView SmartSync™ Suite, Convergys supervisors logged into IEX TotalView through the remote DIRECTV server. The setup was causing bandwidth issues that slowed down exception code reporting and prevented Convergys agents and supervisors from using the TotalView WebStation™ module for self-service.

“If we wanted to get the latest information, supervisors had to pick up the phone and call Convergys,” said Andressa Marlan, senior analyst from DIRECTV. “Otherwise, we couldn’t be sure agents we requested to be taken offline were actually relieved of phone duties or confirm whether or not they were alerted when a meeting was cancelled, for example. Our ability to react quickly to changing conditions was fairly limited.”

Under the previous system, all 90,000 exception codes were entered manually by Convergys and uploaded to DIRECTV through a team at another site. As a result, there was a 2 to 4 hour lag time between when the exceptions were entered and when DIRECTV could view them. Also, neither Convergys supervisors nor agents assigned to the DIRECTV account could be assured they had the most up-to-date information without WebStation.

SmartSync Enables Seamless Data Exchange

To overcome these challenges and bridge the reporting gap, DIRECTV and Convergys partnered with an implementation of TotalView SmartSync Suite, which is designed to facilitate a seamless data exchange between systems. “SmartSync has helped us streamline the reporting functions between the two organizations,” said Marlan. “Now we’re able to quickly react to changing conditions in real time.” By using Smart Sync Suite, Convergys is able to use an automated system connected to their IEX TotalView server to send exception code updates to DIRECTV’s IEX TotalView server in 15-minute intervals.

Instead of having the Convergys team logon to the DIRECTV server remotely, Convergys staff now enters agent data, creates schedules and inputs changes to those schedules into its own server and imports the data to DIRECTV. Convergys builds its schedules based on forecast information supplied by DIRECTV. The information is exchanged between the two organizations via SmartSync. With SmartSync, Convergys is able to relay schedules to DIRECTV 2 weeks in advance, send any updates 3 days prior to the actual plan and import intraday changes at 30-minute intervals throughout the day.

Helps Company Realize Substantial Benefits

Using SmartSync to exchange data has helped DIRECTV realize substantial benefits. Exception code data entry has been automated, which has saved 1,500 hours of data entry annually while allowing the company to redeploy nine full-time employees (FTEs). DIRECTV is now able to use the same standardized reporting methods for its outsourced operation as it does for the in-house group. The company has rolled WebStation out to the Convergys supervisors and agents assigned to the DIRECTV account. DIRECTV can easily validate billing data from Convergys. Perhaps most importantly, both the DIRECTV and Convergys centers now have access to call volume data to ensure the two organizations always stay in sync.

Client Profile:

Location of contact centers: Convergys - ten sites for client; DIRECTV - seven sites for Convergys
Total number of agents: 9,500
Number of WFM staff: Eight for Convergys and 26 for DIRECTV
Hours of operation: 24 x 7
Type of contacts: Inbound, outbound, e-mail, etc.
Average annual contact volume:  174,000,000
Primary type of business: Outsourcing and entertainment
Types of ACDs or contact routers: Avaya
Quality monitoring solution: NICE Perform

Benefits

  • Automated handling of 90,000 exception codes
  • Eliminated 1,500 hours manual data entry time annually and reduced FTE by nine
  • Helped standardize reporting processes
  • Enabled Convergys to roll WebStation out to its DIRECTV agents
  • Improved DIRECTV’s ability to validate Convergys’ billing data
  • Allowed both organizations to stay in sync on changing conditions
“SmartSync has helped us streamline the reporting functions between the two organizations. Now we’re able to quickly react to changing conditions in real time.”
Andressa Marlan, DIRECTV