Smart inks pact with Oracle for upgrade of call centers

Leading mobile operator Smart Communications, Inc. recently signed an agreement with global enterprise firm Oracle for the upgrade of its call center and Wireless Center operations.

The upgrade will put Smart’s multi-channeled contact center subsidiary, i-Contacts Corp. (i-CON), at par with international outsource call center companies. It will also enable Wireless Center employees to more efficiently address the varying needs of almost eight million Smart and Talk ‘N Text subscribers.

Using the Oracle E-Business Suite/ CRM (customer relationship management) solution and Oracle9i Application Server, call center agents will be able to access relevant data while talking to a customer, gaining valuable insights on customer behavior.

The system will route calls to appropriate specialists for trouble resolution, service activation and other needs. Agents will be able to give quicker responses to mobile phone subscribers.

Smart will also utilize Oracle Services, including Oracle Consulting, Oracle University, and Oracle Support Services to ease implementation and accelerate adoption among its call center and Wireless Center employees.

"Oracle’s integrated applications will make service actions more efficient and much simpler. All our call centers and Wireless Centers will have on-line access to client information, thereby increasing customer satisfaction and customer retention. This will also result in reduced average interaction time per call," according to i-CON president and chief executive officer Anastacio R. Martirez.

i-CON general manager Brenda Lynn Dichoso said the customer care applications from Oracle will initially service the contact center requirements of Smart. "We are also looking at accepting external clients who want to outsource their call center needs," she said.

The Oracle E-Business Suite automates business processes and reduces operating costs. It is a complete set of business applications sharing a single technology foundation which enables companies to, among others, efficiently manage customer processes, execute marketing campaigns, ship orders and collect payments.

Oracle9iAS integrates all the technology required to develop and deploy e-business portals, transactional applications, and Web services into a single product.

"With the acquisition of the Oracle eBusiness Suite and Oracle9iAS, Smart has taken customer service to a higher level," Oracle Phils. managing director Bernard Yu emphasized.

i-CON was created in 2001 after Smart decided to spin off its customer care center. It has currently 700 seats servicing the customers of Smart, sister firm Pilipino Telephone Corp. (Piltel), ACeS Philippine Cellular Satellite Corp. (ACeSPhil) and Smart Money Holdings Corp.

It provides the total inbound and outbound telemarketing requirements of the companies including queries, activation and cellphone usage, as well as access to customers via voice, fax, Internet and the hugely popular short messaging system (SMS) or text messaging.

The company has processed more than 100 million calls since 1994, when it was still serving only Smart’s call center requirements.