Salmat VeCommerce Win 2009 TUANZ Award

NZ Ministry of Social Development and Salmat VeCommerce Win 2009 TUANZ Award For Local & Central Government Services
 

Auckland, 10 September 2009   The New Zealand Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and Salmat VeCommerce have won a 2009 Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand (TUANZ) Award.

MSD and Salmat VeCommerce won the TUANZ Local & Central Government Services Award following the introduction of the Salmat VeCommerce VeConnect and VeSecure solutions into its Work and Income contact centre. The centre receives approximately 6.5 million incoming calls annually, fielding enquiries that range from simple to complex assessments, and the voice-enabled technology has increased the call capacity and enhanced the service to clients.

The initial phase of the deployment, which was completed earlier this year, has enabled MSD to automatically and securely identify clients and their reason for calling. As a result, clients are gaining faster access to specialised services and benefiting from speedier resolution of calls. Average call waiting times have been reduced significantly, as much as halving in peak times. 

The system was designed following extensive research into the standard words and phrases used by clients, the reasons for calls and the type of assistance typically required.  This knowledge enabled development of audio prompts to help guide client responses ensuring that callers only have to answer a minimum of questions before being connected to a contact centre agent. 

Since going live, more than 500 Work and Income clients have been surveyed to gather feedback and to help MSD to continue to refine and improve client usability of the system.

“The new system means we have a better understanding of why clients are calling and we can get down to business quickly and work out how we can help,” said Barry Fisk, Work and Income On-line Services and Technology Director.

“We are always looking to improve our service and make it better for our clients. This technology is helping us achieve that.’’

Alan Alcock, GM Asia & New Zealand, Salmat VeCommerce said, “Throughout this project the New Zealand Ministry of Social Development and Salmat VeCommerce have remained focused on the need for benefits to clients and agents alike.  Work and Income understands the potential sensitivities of its clients and has managed to develop a system that is helping to increase the rapport between agent and client, and which is creating a more effective, approachable environment.”

About Salmat VeCommerce

Salmat VeCommerce, a Salmat company (ASX:SLM), assists organisations to deliver exceptional customer interactions. The company is a leading supplier of customer service solutions that enable organisations to enhance consumer experience, improve efficiency, increase revenues and improve security and privacy for consumers. It has developed voice self-service solutions since 1997 and today is one of the world's most experienced and successful providers of applications that utilise speech recognition, voice biometrics and other related interaction technologies.

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