Edexcel is the largest qualification awards body in the UK. The company has curricula in all major levels of exams from junior school to A-level, and over four million people in 112 countries take part in its academic programmes.

Background
It employs nearly 1,000 permanent staff, almost 1,000 temporary staff during peak periods and 16,000 examiners and moderators. Examiners, teachers and candidates contact Edexcel call centres for information on exams all year round, and in order to provide out of hours service and cover during times of peak use, Edexcel took on an overseas call centre to supplement its UK operation.

Challenge
Edexcel's call centres in Manchester and Kuala Lumpur are the main contact point for the vast amount of incoming queries the company receives. However, the centres were not equipped with facilities for tracking calls, and the data received from the supplier came on a CD, sometimes more than a month out of date.

Managers in the UK were unable to obtain accurate information on how many calls were coming through or being put in a queue system at certain times of the day or year, and there was no way of tracking where calls were coming from. Managers were therefore severely hindered in their ability to plan their seasonal staffing requirements. Additionally, there was no way of knowing the impact of marketing initiatives. IP Solutions had previously worked with Edexcel on new broadband connections and had reduced call costs by 56%.

The company therefore turned to IP Solutions to develop a call centre solution that delivered enhanced management reporting and reduced communication costs.

Solution
Edexcel called upon IP Solutions to present the best possible solution for its inbound calling requirements. IP Solutions had previously introduced a system to improve the handling of Edexcel's in-bound calls on 0870, 0800 and 0845 numbers, and with these non-geographic numbers in place, it was possible to implement an appropriate call management solution. IP Solutions suggested the most relevant to Edexcel's needs — Call Care.

Call Care's sophisticated call centre management tools gave Edexcel full control and access to accurate call reporting statistics 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. By delivering near real time statistical information, managers gained a clear picture of their centre's activities and were able to plan accordingly.

Call Care also offered the ability to provide detailed information on IVR (Interactive Voice Response) services, including the latest call queuing features. Furthermore, managers could access a geographic analysis tool that showed call origins and success rates, giving insight into the impact regional operations and marketing campaigns had on different locations.

Results
Call Care has provided extensive, real time information on call traffic, allowing Edexcel call centres to run more smoothly and efficiently. With analysis tools tailored to the company's requirements, managers can look at successful and unsuccessful outbound and IVR calls by day and month, as well as the average number of calls in a queue and peg counts. The hosted IVR intelligently distributes, queues and routes non-geographical and geo-fixed calls and can be fully administered through a simple web interface. This enables the business to understand fully its call centre needs and serve its customers more readily and effectively.

"The flexibility of using a web portal that allows you to go in and make call management changes in real time is invaluable." - Voice Communications Manager, Edexcel

"The business case was built around the flexibility and user empowerment that Call Care was able to give Edexcel. Previously, Edexcel was at the
mercy of its provider when it needed to make any changes. Re-recording or creating prompts and messages or changing call destinations could take up to five days and incur a charge. Now, thanks to Call Care, they can perform these tasks themselves — instantly." - Director, IP Solutions