Contact Center Software That Works

​Alasdair Skeoch has been in collections for over 40 years. He’s seen collections technology come and go, and has worked through more than his fair share of implementations. At his current organization, BPO Collections, he ensures things run smoothly for both employees and customers. As part of his role, Skeoch oversees the technology and software his team uses every day: TCN Operator.

Skeoch reflected on how simple TCN’s integration process was. He said, “TCN was as smooth as a migration I’ve ever been involved in in the last 41 years. We use pretty much the full suite of the products.”

But Skeoch’s positive experiences with TCN didn’t end at implementation. He commended not only the system reliability of TCN Operator, but also said he values his relationship with the TCN team. He noted that he’s always able to reach the people he needs to talk to quickly and that he enjoys working with a vendor that aligns with BPO Collections’ business goals. 

In fact, Skeoch remarked that his experience with TCN has been so impressive that he applied Operator to four other organizations with which BPO Collections is connected.

Customizable, reliable omnichannel tools

As an expert in the collections industry, Skeoch is aware of the technicalities and unique approaches required. “We deal with customers in quite challenging circumstances. Nobody aspires to be a customer of ours,” he explained. “[But] the TCN approach aligns very neatly with our approach. You don’t necessarily want to be bleeding edge; you want to offer consistency and certainty in the solutions you provide. It’s not always about being the absolute first out there with brand-new things.”

For BPO Collections, this consistency and certainty are vital when it comes to allowing customers to communicate on their preferred channel. In fact, 60% of BPO Collections’ customers find a resolution on a digital channel – so if their contact center software platform fails, every dropped call or chat is time wasted and money lost.

Whether BPO Collections’ customers prefer chat, email, phone, text or other tools, TCN’s technology does not get in the way of its ability to reach its clients. Skeoch commended the flexibility TCN provides in customizing a tech stack that will most effectively support their unique needs and operations.

Plus, with the native integration of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions, TCN offers the ability to enhance BPO Collections’ capabilities and overall performance with always-on tools. It was able to utilize tools from Interactive Voice Response (IVR) to analytics and anything in between without having to juggle multiple interfaces. 

“Our tech stack has to be an enabler,” he said. “It has to help customers get the resolution that they want. Either by being able to do it more quickly or within a time frame that’s not quite traditional.”

For example, not only was BPO Collections able to make its services available on any channel, but it also helped several customers complete payments on Christmas Day – all thanks to TCN’s AI-powered, intuitive contact center software solutions.

Everything in one user-friendly platform

Whether providing true omnichannel communication options or increasing efficiency is the priority, TCN Operator remains an all-in-one contact center software platform. This means BPO Collections can manage all its contact center needs in a single interface, 24/7.

Skeoch said this functionality proved especially useful to BPO Collections by enabling blended inbound and outbound communications from a single platform, resulting in a more efficient and responsive team.

Since implementing this approach, they have seen their outbound connect rates increase from 60% to 75%, allowing BPO Collections to have more meaningful conversations with customers. At the same time, they have reduced their inbound abandonment rate from 4% to 2% thanks to TCN’s contact center software solutions.

But having all its tools consolidated with one vendor isn’t the only reason BPO Collections was able to achieve these results. Skeoch said, “Our agents enjoy working with the technology. It’s very simple to use. It’s very easy to deploy. And I’m very pleased that if we go into any of our four businesses in the UK, you see the same execution of the same product.”

Unmatched customer support

Many contact centers underestimate the value of choosing a contact center software provider that offers quality support. Luckily, TCN has a team of dedicated account managers and subject matter experts ready to help contact centers make the most of their tools and be there whenever they are needed.

Skeoch commended TCN’s exemplary customer support. He said, “One of the key advantages for the ongoing support process at TCN, first of all, is that actually things don’t tend to go wrong. I’m struggling to remember anything of significance in the last three years that’s gone wrong.”

Easy to implement, real-time data

For BPO Collections, Skeoch said TCN’s Business Intelligence (BI) solutions played a significant role in helping them optimize operations and save time. “The TCN BI dashboards make it easy to spot trends, monitor key metrics and make more informed decisions without spending hours pulling data together manually. It’s one of those features you don’t realize you need until you see how much clearer it makes your day-to-day operations.”

BPO Collections used these key metrics to maximize its agent training. Whereas previously, team members listened to about 2% of calls monthly to provide feedback to agents, they can now view insights from live conversations in real time. “That makes a significant difference,” Skeoch said.

A pricing model that favors the client

Ultimately, BPO Collections’ experiences after switching to TCN Operator reveal that TCN is more than just a reliable tech stack. It also offers all the tools you need to run your contact center efficiently and effectively on one platform. 

The best part? Skeoch also praised TCN’s pay-per-use pricing model, which features no contracts. “There are no three-year contracts. Five-year contracts. [TCN’s] got to keep winning [our] business. If the product’s not doing what it’s meant to do, we’re free to move elsewhere.” 

For more information on why BPO Collections continues to choose TCN and how they’ve saved money and enhanced their operations (including recovering 64 unproductive agent hours per month), check out the full story here.