Fast-growing call center software provider Zeacom reports that it is seeing increased penetration and success in working with credit unions.

According to a company release, a well-known California credit union recently contracted with Zeacom’s (News - Alert) Process Automation Group to improve customer service, reduce contact center costs and increase profitability. The credit union suffered from a problem that commonly plagues call centers built on legacy systems: About 5 percent of all calls had to sit in the generic calling queue first, before agents could transfer them to either the Loan Servicing or Sales queue. The transferred calls amounted to more than 50 percent of all Loan Servicing calls and 33 percent of the Sales calls.

The Process Automation Group resolved the issue by installing an IVR system and ACD with intelligent call routing. Now, the IVR determines why a customer is calling and offers them numerous self serve options. This, in turn, alleviates pressure on the call center. In the event a customer needs to speak with a live agent, the system quickly routes their call to the appropriate representative – the one with the correct skills to resolve the issue.

With this new speech-enabled, self-serve system in place, the credit union’s call center agents are now freed up to handle more complex and “higher value” transactions: Time-consuming, non-revenue earning requests for information are handled by the IVR. For example, members who are behind with their payments are now routed straight to Collections, instead of wasting precious live agent time.

As a result of this new level of automation, the credit union has actually been able to reduce headcount in its call center while at the same time delivering improved customer service.

“The importance of Credit Unions in today’s cash-strapped economy cannot be overstated; they differ from banks in that customers are also the owners,” explained Zeacom President Ernie Wallerstein (News - Alert) in the release. “Running a lean operation is key, as these cooperative financial institutions are operated for the purpose of promoting thrift and providing credit at reasonable rates to its members. We understand quite well that profitability is directly tied to customer satisfaction, and that prompt service through automating otherwise time-consuming processes is a must for their success and survival.”

Following the Zeacom installation, the top agents now focus on the top percentage of profitable customers, and also engage in cross selling. Most importantly, the credit union improved earnings and reduced costs.

To learn more about Zeacom’s call center software, including its award-winning Unified Communications (News - Alert) solutions, click here.