Contact Solutions Announces Columbia Bank Chooses Its Shared IVR Services to Better Serve Customers.Outsourcing Contact Center Automation Fits in Well with Bank's Commitment to Customer Service RESTON, Va. -- Contact Solutions (CSI CSI Crime Scene Investigator CSI CompuServe, Inc. CSI Commodity Systems, Inc. CSI Commodity Systems Inc. (Boca Raton, FL) CSI Crime Scene Investigation (CBS TV show) CSI Christian Schools International ), the industry leader in contact automation, announced that Columbia Bank (Tacoma, WA, NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :COLB COLB Certificate of Live Birth ) is a new customer of the firm's shared IVR (Interactive Voice Response) An automated telephone information system that speaks to the caller with a combination of fixed voice menus and data extracted from databases in real time. (interactive voice response) services. Columbia Bank has over 50 branches throughout Washington and Oregon. Columbia Bank will be using CSI shared IVR services for its many self-service consumer banking applications such as funds transfer, account management and balance review. Customers can use the system via either Touchtone or Speech. Columbia Bank had been managing its corporate-owned IVRs for the past decade before deciding to outsource its contact automation to CSI. Like many financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. institutions that decide to move away from IVRs that they own and manage, Columbia Bank was attracted to the substantial cost savings benefits of outsourcing the management, development, and monitoring of its IVR applications and services to a company that specializes in it. "Our focus has always been on fundamental banking and strong customer service. Outsourcing key customer service functions to Contact Solutions, a company that understands the importance of customer satisfaction while reducing our self-service costs, will help us continue to best serve our many customers," said Peter Wild, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Columbia Bank. Among the reasons why Columbia Bank decided to outsource its contact automation were: * Limited internal resources to optimize contact center automation * Concern regarding technology obsolescence ob·so·les·cent adj. 1. Being in the process of passing out of use or usefulness; becoming obsolete. 2. Biology Gradually disappearing; imperfectly or only slightly developed. and rising maintenance costs * Removal of capital expenditures * Attractiveness of the "pay as you go" model Customers will also be able to pay loans and stop check payments at the IVR. If necessary, a customer can transfer to a credit card vendor, a check reorder re·or·der v. re·or·dered, re·or·der·ing, re·or·ders v.tr. 1. To order (the same goods) again. 2. To straighten out or put in order again. 3. To rearrange. v. vendor and bank customer service in the event an ATM or check card is lost or stolen. Contact Solutions Chief Executive Officer Paul Logan Colonel Paul Logan served as a US Army Quartermaster before and during World War 2. His most notable accomplishment was the development of the "Logan Bar", or Ration D bar, an emergency chocolate ration manufactured by Hershey Chocolate. said, "The timing was right for Columbia Bank to move from their on-site IVRs to our shared IVR service, which allows them to continuously improve the self-service offerings they make available to their customers. Columbia Bank is a very customer-focused financial institution and we are confident they will be very pleased with how our solutions improve customer satisfaction." Logan also said that CSI has been able to make immediate customer service improvements for Columbia Bank's customers. "CSI employees focus non-stop on our customer's automation requirements. For example, our IVR experts have already revamped the IVR call flow which means customers will be able to get what they need at the IVR easier and feel good about using the automated solution in the future." About Columbia Bank Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, Columbia Banking System, Inc. is the holding company of Columbia Bank, a Washington state-chartered full-service commercial bank which was selected by Washington CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. magazine as one of 2008's "Washington's Best 100 Companies to Work For." With the 2007 acquisitions of Mountain Bank Holding Company and Town Center Bancorp and the 2008 internal merger of its subsidiary, Bank of Astoria, into Columbia Bank, Columbia Banking System has 53 banking offices in Pierce, King, Cowlitz, Kitsap, Thurston and Whatcom counties in Washington This is a list of counties in Washington. There are thirty-nine counties in the U.S. state of Washington. Certain residents of Snohomish County consider themselves to be part of Freedom County. State, and Clackamas, Clatsop, Tillamook and Multnomah counties in Oregon List of 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. Oregon counties are also listed in order of per-capita income. Oregon's postal abbreviation is OR and its FIPS state code is 41. . Included in Columbia Bank are former branches of Mt. Rainier National Bank, doing business as Mt. Rainier Bank, with 5 branches in King and Pierce counties. Columbia Bank does business under the Bank of Astoria name at the Bank of Astoria's former branches located in Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside and Cannon Beach in Clatsop County and in Manzanita manzanita: see bearberry. in Tillamook County. More information about Columbia can be found on its website at http://www.columbiabank.com. About Contact Solutions Contact Solutions (CSI) saves its call center clients millions of dollars by significantly improving their contact automation while uplifting customer satisfaction levels. Deploying time-tested shared IVR services, world-class IVR applications and procedures, and an industry-leading project management approach focused on Continuous Improvement around six distinct Centers of Excellence; the company has helped the contact center industry redefine contact automation standards. Large enterprises such as American Express American Express (NYSE: AXP), sometimes known as "AmEx" or "Amex", is a diversified global financial services company, headquartered in New York City. The company is best known for its credit card, charge card and traveler's cheque businesses. , Delta Airlines, Motorola and many government entities benefit from the company's focused, cost-effective contact automation approach. Contact Solutions is based in Reston, VA. Visit Contact Solutions at www.contactsolutions.com. [c]2008 Contact Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion