TM CONTINUES TO DELIVER THE BEST FOR ITS CUSTOMERS
In line with its vision to become the communications company of choice, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) continues its efforts towards providing quality customer service for all its valued customers. When the Company undertook a rebranding exercise in 2005, it also embarked on various Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programmes and one of the initiatives identified was Contact Centre Transformation.
The transformation, which is an on-going process, is hoped to achieve the following:
- Higher customer goodwill resulting in better customer sales and service satisfaction
- Higher employee satisfaction in the new environment
- Single customer contact point
- Portray the new image of the Company that emphasises customer centricity
Under this transformation, TM has taken the steps to rationalize its call centres in order to serve customers better as well as to optimize resources. This includes relocating its 12 call centres to only 4 strategic locations.
Today, YAB Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, Chief Minister of Penang launched TM’s latest call centre situated at Level 58, Menara KOMTAR, Penang. The other 3 call centres are located at Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Kuching.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, Dato‘ Abdul Wahid Omar, Group Chief Executive Officer, TM said: “When we rebranded in 2005, we emphasized that it was not just a cosmetic change to our logo and name but a more fundamental approach towards instilling a customer-centric service culture amongst TM employees. To support this culture, we not only upgraded both the technical and soft skills of our customer service personnel to ensure that they are equipped with all the necessary tools and skills in handling customers but also rolled out a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) IT system which involved upgrades/changes in systems and processes that would enable TM's front line staff to have updated and accurate information in dealing with customer needs.”
All 4 call centres are currently deploying an IT Support System called Integrated Customer Allied Relationship System, or iCARE to improve its capabilities and efficiencies. iCARE is designed to improve the customer value chain operating system and improve operational effectiveness by enabling the Customer Service Representatives to have a 360 degree view of customers. This means, Customer Service Representatives can obtain detailed customer information, service accounts and billings, history of service request, complaints, faulty and ordering status hence they are able to interact with the customers better and provide improved real time service. Ultimately, customers’ experience will be enhanced.
The 4 contact centres are operated by VADS, TM’s listed subsidiary. VADS a, Managed ICT Services provider, offers customers, services and solutions in Managed Network Services, Systems Integration Services and Contact Centre Services. It is the largest Contact Centre Services (CCS) provider in Malaysia with over 3,200 customer sales representatives. VADS not only provides inbound and outbound customer service and technical support through integrated multi-lingual and multi channel interaction but also offers contact centre technologies, training and consultancy. Besides TM Group, its largest customer for CCS, VADS also operates the contact centre for a financial institution, broadcasting company and an IT software company.
The call centre in Penang will receive incoming calls on fault management and sales & services support for telephony services for the Northern region. Housing 254 Customer Service Representatives on Level 58 of KOMTAR, the centre will be operational 24 hours a day with 3 sessions per day. The centre is equipped with the latest Quality Control, Forecasting and Smart Scheduling systems. As the welfare of the workforce in the call centre is top priority, the centre ensures a conducive work environment for the Customer Service Representatives by providing them with a training room, recreational area and CCTV for their training needs, comfort as well as safety.
“A happy and satisfied workforce is a motivated workforce, leading to better customer service,” enthused Dato’ Wahid.
“Under the transformation process, TM has also introduced the Single Number Access or SNA. Prior to this, customers had to remember 11 different numbers, but now they only need to remember three numbers: 103 for TM Directory Service, 101 for International Call Service and Single Number Access, 100 for other TM’s fixed line services which include complaints, enquiries, promotions and others. This service, introduced in 2005, gives greater convenience for customers to only remember a single number to get in touch with TM, hence provides room for customer service improvement and more efficient response time. And today, we witness another significant development where this Single Number Access is also available for Celcom and TM Net’s customers. This means, customers only need to dial 100 to obtain any information on TM Group’s three core communication services namely fixed line, mobile and Internet,” Dato’ Wahid further explained.
YAB. Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon said: “With the advent of the ICT Era, Penang, must make the highest priority and urgency transition to the k-economy and k-society. One of the key objectives is to promote the development of call centres among the SMIs, service and commerce sector, tourism and public sector. This also includes promoting the development of call centre and the back office services industry. The call centre business in Asia is estimated to be worth more than RM1 billion annually. It is anticipated that this will continue to grow by at least 19% per annum. The acceleration in the use of Internet will boost the use of call centres. Penang has the potential to be a call centre hub. Organisations such as TM, Dell Asia Pacific and Intel are already running large call centre operations and are the best practice model of call centres.”
By establishing TM’s contact centre in Penang, TM is committed towards supporting the State government’s aspirations in turning Penang into a regional contact centre hub with its relatively low labour cost and good infrastructure.
“With these initiatives, TM’s contact centres are now well positioned to play a bigger role as customer support centres with skilled staff, latest IT applications and support systems. The transformation also reinforces TM’s pledge to ongoing improvements in customer service. We want to provide our customers with a greatly enhanced service,” concluded Dato’ Wahid.
About TM
Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), a leading regional information and communications group, offers a comprehensive range of communication services and solutions in fixed-line, mobile, data and broadband. As one of the largest listed companies on Bursa Malaysia with an operating revenue of more than RM16 billion, TM is driven to deliver value to its stakeholders in a highly competitive environment.
The Group places emphasis on continuing customer service quality enhancements and innovations. Currently, with investments and operations in 13 countries around Asia and globally, TM is focused on sustainable growth in both the local and international markets.
On the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) front, the Group has always been a major corporate contributor towards responsible activities in the belief that these practices are a fundamental tenet of good corporate governance. The Group promotes 3 major platforms i.e. education, sports development and community/nation-building. Under education, TM has spent some RM800 million to develop Multimedia University into one of the top universities in Malaysia with more than 20,000 students. TM has also provided scholarships to over 10,000 graduates pursuing academic programs locally and overseas. On the sports front, TM is actively contributing towards the upliftment of football at all levels while under the community/nation-building platform, the Group contributes towards causes that bring value to the community and nation at large.
For further information on TM, visit www.tm.com.my.
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