The deployment began in late 2008 with KANA IQ for Agents, a knowledge management solution that increases first-time closure rates, standardizes answers across customer touch points and lowers escalations, agent errors and training costs. Com Hem is now in the process of deploying additional solutions, including a Web self-service tool, an e-mail management product and live chat software. These products will complement Com Hem’s existing solutions and will provide customers with a broader and more unified customer service experience.
Com Hem elected to deploy IQ for Agents first so that it could serve as a foundation for consistent knowledge across all customer communications channels. This knowledge foundation interfaces with Com Hem’s CRM system, as well as the to-be-implemented Web self-service, e-mail and live chat channels.
The initial deployment took place over a five-month period in late 2008 and early 2009. “This was the first step towards a new, unified customer service solution,” said Christer Peltomaa, chief information officer at Com Hem. “We decided to overhaul our customer service processes in large part because we had outgrown our Microsoft SharePoint solution.
“All told, through acquisitions and organic growth, we grew our customer base from 100,000 to 1.76 million in short order,” Peltomaa said. “We experienced an information explosion, due to greater complexity in products and services, and we needed a better way to structure and search information through multiple channels. Our knowledge management processes were particularly unstructured; they were the digital equivalent of a whiteboard with 50,000 Post-it Notes.”
Maximizing Agent Productivity
Com Hem began with a thorough analysis of its legacy systems. Previous mergers and acquisitions had left a disparate set of solutions, anchored by a large number of decision-trees that were not well-suited for agent searches. Com Hem wanted to replace these legacy systems with a foundation of unified knowledge. In addition, the company wanted to deploy a comprehensive CRM suite that could easily integrate with all communications channels. Com Hem’s wish list also included the ability to capture a universal customer history to streamline future interactions and eliminate unresolved issues.
