AMP clients to benefit from investment

January 17th 2006

AMP clients to benefit from investment in new technologies

AMP to partner with Telecom and Gen-i for converged telephony infrastructure, data, voice and contact centre systems

AMP Financial Services expects to deliver improved customer service, call centre productivity and greater cost efficiencies following its recent appointment of Telecom to provide integrated voice and data technologies across its business.

Shirley McIntyre, AMP Financial Services Head of IT, says the move from AMP's current PABX model to a strategically converged network provides a new level of functionality that will aid the business in driving continuous improvement in the quality of service and advice.

"As a business we're constantly looking for opportunities to enhance our quality of service and technology is a key enabler for this. By consolidating our telephony infrastructure, data, voice and contact centre systems, we're using emerging technology to help ensure the right information is available on demand to our financial advisers and customers," she says.

Ms McIntyre explains that new handsets and phone-based tools such as voicemail and computer integration will provide pop-up screens on the PC, which display caller details and allow the user to email in response to voicemails.

"This type of functionality will enable faster response times to queries and provides a more streamlined, user-friendly process. In addition, we anticipate better visibility and management of our telephony services along with reduced administration costs," she says.

The integration of this new technology is currently in the planning phase, with implementation due to be completed by the end of the second quarter 2006. The first stage of rollout will involve AMP's existing phone systems being replaced with a Cisco Avid Voice Over IP (VoIP) solution and the installation of a new Contact Centre solution.

Ms McIntyre says selecting a Telco provider was the first step in the decision-making process and that Telecom stood out from the competition in the manner in which its team approached the tender.

"Once we had established the Telco component of the project, we then began to understand the potential benefits that the wider Telecom group could offer through the full scope of ICT and integration. We now have Telecom and Gen-i working together," she says.

Chris Quin, General Manager, Gen-i sees AMP's uptake of ICT as a strategic advantage for the company, one that will have great benefits for AMP's employees, advisers and clients.

"New Zealand organisations have so much more they could be offering clients and partners through the new technologies and particularly the convergence of voice, data and IT services. It's our vision that more New Zealanders will experience the benefits that a consolidated offering like this can deliver."

ENDS

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