El Paso 311 Contact Center Transitions to DATAMARK
How can a company successfully transition Contact Center operations from one service provider to another within 30 days? El Paso 311 challenges DATAMARK to operate, manage and staff its contact center while performing seamless transition from the previous service provider.
Background: El Paso 311 Transitions to a New Contact Center Company
El Paso 311, or EP311, is the City of El Paso’s 311 program. It is a non-emergency hotline that enables the 685,000 citizens of the City of El Paso to report problems, ask questions and get information about the community. Callers to El Paso 311 for non-emergencies avoid tying up emergency hotlines or going through frustrating municipal channels. Once you log your request or question, the 311 customer service team can schedule tasks or provide information for more than 20 city departments.
Challenge: Provide a Solution to Take Over Operations for El Paso 311 Contact Center in 30 Days
The City of El Paso awarded DATAMARK a three-year contract to operate, manage and staff the El Paso’s 311 Contact Center. In order to take over, they had to seamlessly transition from the previous service provider and staff the contact center with about 40 employees all within 30 days. Easy, right?
Assuming the operation of the City of El Paso 311 Contact Center within 30 days is no easy feat. DATAMARK experts had to come up with a plan quickly.
Solution: A “Rebadging” Transition to Staff the El Paso 311 Contact Center
To transition from the previous service provider quickly, DATAMARK had to address two items. First, they had to staff the Contact Center with 40 people proficient in handling a wide array of resident requests for information and services. Second, they sought opportunities to make improvements from the operations of the previous Contact Center.
Hiring Quality Contact Center Staff in a Short Period of Time
It would be incredibly difficult to hire and train more than 40 new managers and agents to properly staff El Paso 311 within 30 days. DATAMARK proposes a creative approach to solve this staffing problem. They would create a structured plan to rehire as many of the outgoing service provider’s Contact Center supervisors and staff as possible. This would allow them to retain experienced subject matter experts (SMEs) and agents. In doing so, they could maintain service continuity and a high quality of customer care.
Improve Quality of Operations from one Contact Center to Another
Now for the second issue, DATAMARK would have to do some research to seek out opportunities to improve working conditions and employee satisfaction. They put together a team of Contact Center experts including business engineers, project managers and transition managers. Then, they analyzed the transition, determining what would need to be done in order to deliver operational excellence while improving working conditions and employee satisfaction. They also sought ways to improve contact center data collection, reporting and analysis.
The Basic Elements of DATAMARK’s Contact Center Transition Strategy Include:
- Interviews with supervisors and agents – understand the current state of operations and reveal ways to improve workflow efficiency.
- Review staff concerns – including existing pay structure, availability of parking, benefits and working conditions.
- Document and map out the current workflow – identify and remove redundant steps and uncover opportunities to maximize efficiency and quality.
- Work with Human Resources – quickly hire and train for positions that must be filled within the 30-day transition period.
- Develop and implement a step-by-step transition plan – share with all stakeholders in the City of El Paso and DATAMARK.
- Establish a partnership with stakeholders in the City of El Paso government – introduce DATAMARK’s corporate culture and core principles of partnership and continuous improvement.
The Results: A Seamless Transition and Continuous Improvement of Contact Center Operations
DATAMARK successfully took over operations of the 311 Contact Center within the 30-day time frame required by the City of El Paso. The transition took place without any significant drop in service levels during the changeover. Transition managers delivered continued updates to city departments that rely on the 311 Contact Center for customer service. DATAMARK developed an easy-to-understand dashboard of metrics and key performance indicators to share with city managers overseeing operations.
DATAMARK project managers were responsible for overseeing every step of the transition, identifying tasks that must be completed. They assigned responsibilities and deadlines for each task and kept every affected stakeholder advised of transition progress with timely and transparent communication.
During the transition, employee satisfaction areas were even improved. For example, DATAMARK improved pay scales for experienced employees and investigated ways to improve the staff parking policy.
DATAMARK took this opportunity to introduce and share its corporate culture and values with stakeholders.
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