[December 13, 2005]

AIM Technology Offers Significant Return on Investment for British Airports Authority Call Center

BY SUSAN J. CAMPBELL

TMCnet Communications and Broadband Columnist

Call centers face considerable challenges with extensive administrative tasks, lower employee satisfaction and attrition due to the inability of agents to be able to monitor and fully understand individual performance and how it relates to bonuses. AIM Technology, a provider of operational performance management software, has shown it can offer data analysis and insight into call center productivity, profitability and quality of service at a level not previously available to call center management.

MM Teleperformance, the third largest contact center outsourcer in the UK, has leveraged AIM Technology’s performance management suite for its customer British Airports Authority (BAA). The integration of the performance suite has improved agent productivity for BAA as well as facilitated agent self management to contribute to a two percent increase in annual sales.

As a subsidiary of SR. Teleperformance, the second largest contact center outsourcer in the UK, MM Teleperformance manages BAA’s outsourced call center in Birmingham, UK, which coordinates currency exchange and parking reservations for Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports.

Through the use of AIM Technology, BAA agents and managers are given the ability to monitor individual and team performance in real time. Online scorecards are used to identify and rectify performance issues and offer a better understanding of how bonuses are accrued.

BAA had the aim of creating a better working environment to improve employee productivity and satisfaction, according to Rachel Robinson, Group Business Development Director of MM Teleperformance. Robinson went on to say that through the use of AIM Technology, the reduction in administrative tasks has paid for the solution itself. Employee satisfaction has increased resulting in a reduction in attrition.

Tony Hayward, CEO of AIM Technology contributed by saying that the demand on the call center outsourcing market for excellent customer service and higher level of customer satisfaction continues to increase. The ability of AIM Technology to provide a product to improve visibility into call center operations combined with MM Teleperformance’s expertise in managing call centers have provided a solution to meet the needs of the BAA.

AIM Technology is a privately held company based in San Francisco, California and London, England and provides enterprise applications to more than 50 global organizations. The company focuses on providing applications that enable large enterprises to optimize operational performance of consumer-facing entities to transition the call center from a cost center to an operational asset.

Probably the biggest challenge for a call center employee is the ability to understand personal performance and how it is related to the bonus payout. If an employee is made to work toward a bonus in a program he or she cannot access or understand, the motivation and satisfaction that the bonus is intended to provide will not be realized. Additionally, call center management can be bogged down by administrative processes to assess the productivity of an individual or team and thus have an adverse affect on sales. MM Teleperformance is recognizing these challenges and by utilizing AIM Technology, will be able to cut through some of the blocks to profitability for all call centers.

Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMC and has also written for eastbiz.com. To see more of her articles, please visit Susan J. Campbell’s columnist page.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]

Discussions: