Rideline wins top award

Auckland Regional Council’s public transport contact centre Rideline, has been recognised by the telecommunications industry as New Zealand’s top contact centre. Rideline was presented with the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand (TUANZ) Contact Centre of the Year 2004 (less than 50 seats) Award, at the TUANZ Contact Centre Awards dinner in Auckland last night.

“Rideline has come on an exciting journey since 1994 when it began as a paper-based system with just five staff receiving 200 calls a day,” says ARC Chair Gwen Bull.

“We now have 50 staff rostered on 25 hot-desks, who field about 3800 calls each day, a web-based journey planner and a text-messaging service. The team are to be congratulated on their achievements and for providing such a wonderful service for public transport users across the region,” she says.

Judged to have the best customer service, the best people and the best results, Rideline was also recognised for having introduced innovative new concepts.

“Rideline is instrumental in encouraging people to use public transport,” says ARC Passenger Transport Committee Chair Councillor Catherine Harland. “As the region’s planning and funding organisation for public transport, the ARC is working hard to implement a comprehensive transport network for the region to provide people with choices for getting where they need to go.”

“As well as funding, planning and reviewing bus, ferry and train services, the ARC is responsible for providing integrated information about public transport through timetables, on-road information and Rideline,” she says. "The quality and contribution of the team at Rideline makes a real difference everyday, helping people feel more confident about using public transport."

“We also recognise the support of the region’s transport operators who contribute 25% of the funding for Rideline,” says Cr Harland. "This Award recognises that efficiently governed and managed local government operations, can perform exceptionally well when compared with the private sector."

CEO Jo Brosnahan said that the success was the result of the leadership of the Director of Business, Jaine Lovell-Gadd and Rideline Manager, Wayne Funnell, together with their team of staff who are committed to customer excellence.

The judging process examined Rideline’s performance results where all targets were exceeded, with 83% of all calls answered within 20 seconds, customer satisfaction of 91% and less than 3% of calls abandoned. In a recent peer review, Rideline was recognised as operating 20% more efficiently than other contact centres.

In the January – March 2004 quarter, customer demand for public transport information increased by 9.8%. This includes an increase of more than 15,000 web visits, and almost 1000 more text requests per month when compared to the same quarter last year.

Rideline can be contacted on (09) 366 6400 or www.rideline.co.nz

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