Gila Selects Software from Interactive Intelligence

Gila  replaced its previous system with contact center automation software from Interactive Intelligence.

The new software, called Customer Interaction Center (CIC), was deployed to provide inbound and outbound dialing, expanded self-service capabilities, and new quality monitoring functions.

"Since installing CIC in June, we've increased our call connect rate by 32 percent, decreased call wait time by 35 percent, and reduced costs associated with outsourced auto-dialing by 82 percent," said Patrick J. Swanick, CEO of Gila. "As an industry leader in outsourced collection services for governmental entities and financial institutions, using the best technology is essential to our continued success."

"We chose CIC because it's based on a single platform, not a collection of 'boxes' running multiple applications from different vendors," Swanick said. "Because CIC is a standards-based software product, it gave us the tools to make changes and customizations in-house."

Houston-based Automated Voice & Data Solutions (AVDS), an Interactive Intelligence Elite channel partner since 1998, sold and installed the software for Gila  to support its employee base of 220 business users and agents located at the company's Austin headquarters. Today, Gila  uses CIC for hybrid TDM and SIP-based VoIP switching, skills-based call routing, interactive voice response, unified messaging, screen pop, call recording and reporting. CIC's add-on module, Interaction Dialer, provides outbound, blended, and predictive dialing. The dialing system transfers a customer to an agent; and the system can detect answering machines.

"As a collection agency, the ability to automate outbound calls and customize call routing rules is critical," said Domenick F. Riccio, Gila's CIO. "With traditional 'multi-box' systems, integrating outbound dialing with inbound call routing often means sacrificing reliability and flexibility, not to mention adding cost and complexity. Because Interaction Dialer® runs on the same platform as CIC, we no longer worry about dropped calls, which means fewer callbacks, more accurate reporting, vastly improved customer service, reduced long distance charges, and more efficient staffing."

Using CIC's built-in graphical application generator, Gila has created bilingual IVR menus for English and Spanish-speaking customers, along with automated recording.

"Other systems have the ability to create multi-lingual IVR menus, but with a limited number of menu options and typically requiring third-party customization," Riccio said. "These systems also come with high hardware costs, especially as call volume increases. In contrast, CIC's IVR can run on commodity servers and its software-based, N+1 architecture allows for virtually unlimited menu options and IVR ports. It also provides standards-based tools for integration to a host of existing back-end systems, and it can convert call recordings into highly compressed .WAV files."

Gila routinely uses the .WAV files for agent training and shares call recordings with clients when investigating specific service issues.

The company also has more reporting options, including the ability to generate both standardized and customized reports. "With a traditional vendor, we would've had to purchase a separate reporting module and pay to have it installed and configured," Riccio said. "Not only was CIC's reporting package included, it offered more out-of-the-box reports, along with a customization tool to create new reports. With our many diverse clients, this capability has given us yet another competitive advantage."

"Surprisingly, many IP-based systems today still require a complete re-write of applications in order to migrate from a traditional switching network," Riccio said. "Because CIC uses SIP throughout its architecture, and because it was built as a separate applications layer, we can migrate users to IP incrementally, without application re-writes or forklift upgrades."

"We differentiate our services based on cost-effective, scalable and highly customizable revenue recovery solutions," Swanick said. "By investing in innovative and flexible technologies such as the Interactive Intelligence software, we're empowering our employees with the tools they need to deliver superior service to our clients."