OTISLINE earns “Center of Excellence” distinction

OTISLINE® was recently recognized by Purdue University’s Center for Customer-Driven Quality as a “Center of Excellence.” In 2007, some 200 call centers applied for certification. OTISLINE is one of only seven to earn the designation. Purdue’s affiliate, Benchmark Portal, performed a rigorous and thorough review of 12 months of OTISLINE statistics. Benchmark Portal also surveyed about 300 OTISLINE customers and performed an online survey of OTISLINE’s 95 customer service representatives (CSRs). To gauge excellence, Benchmark Portal examined 28 metrics – 14 statistical measurements on its efficiency scale and 14 on its effectiveness scale. Those measures included: number of calls per rep per hour; cost per call; average after call work time; average speed of answer; average wait time per call; and percentage of calls answered within 20 seconds. “Benchmark Portal was very impressed with the number of calls we take,” explained Dennis Hurd, Senior Analyst at OTISLINE. “They compared us against our manufacturing/ industrial peer group, not just call centers in general. The industry average of calls per year was 421,000. OTISLINE handles 2.1 million calls per year.” Even with such high call volume, OTISLINE demonstrated high efficiency. The industry averaged 3.8 million minutes of phone usage to handle 421,000 calls. OTISLINE handled its 2+ million calls in 2.5 million minutes. Another metric showed that while the average manufacturing/industrial call center has a ratio of 7.6 CSRs per supervisor, OTISLINE has 18 CSRs for each supervisor. Also significant is that OTISLINE earned the excellence award in a year when call volume increased much more than average – about 12 percent – while staffing levels remained flat, according to OTISLINE Manager Teresa Robert. The 95 customer service representatives at the Farmington, Conn., customer call center take customer calls and dispatch mechanics for the company’s North America territory 24 hours a day. OTISLINE also handles phone requests from mechanics. Robert gives much of the credit for earning the “Center of Excellence” distinction to the OTISLINE staff, especially the customer service representatives. “Our CSRs really feel for the customer. They have a sincere interest in helping them out. They have a drive to meet the customer’s needs,” Robert said. Benchmarkportal media contact: Chris Ablan Phone: 970-688-4152 Email: chris@benchmarkportal.com