ChallengeChange is a constant in the highly fluid, fiercely competitive telecommunications marketplace. In business since 1969, TDS Telecom has evolved from serving a few rural communities into one of the six largest independent telecom service suppliers in the U.S. The telco serves more than 1.2 million residential and business customers in 29 states. On the residential side of the business, TDS Telecom provides more than 450,000 subscribers with reliable voice communications; more than 150,000 homes rely on its high speed broadband Internet services to surf the Net; and more than 230 channels of television entertainment are delivered to its customers. The telecommunications service provider’s business-targeted services include Centrex, Managed Data Services, Virtual Private Networks, and PBX and Key phone systems.

Given the many services offered, TDS Telecom’s call center agents find themselves fielding a wide variety of inquiries. Over the years, its call centers experienced growing pains in integrating operations within the many companies it acquired, each with its own set of customer service representatives.

Scheduling this dispersed workforce presented a daunting challenge, especially since TDS Telecom still relied on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to schedule its contact center employees, which was a familiar but an inefficient and labor-intensive approach. That system opened the door for scheduling errors and made it very difficult to effectively manage and communicate schedule changes.

In the highly competitive telecom market, customers are quick to trade in one set of services from one provider for those from a competitor if customers believe they can get better service as a result. This process, dubbed churn, is generally higher in the telecom market than many other business segments. Consequently, TDS Telecom understood that it needed to revamp its call center operations in order to continue to offer the highest levels of customer service which they are well known for.

Solution

To address its growing pains and evolve its many contact centers, TDS Telecom set out in search of a workforce automation system in 1999. “GMT’s Planet was attractive to us because one side of our business functions a lot like a bank: we have walk-in traffic as well as telephone calls that we have to service,” said Larry Silver, associate manager, workforce management and reporting at TDS Telecom. “GMT’s solution, which had been widely used in retail banking, as well as contact centers, fits well with our business model because it enables us to schedule a portion of our call center agents for phone duties while leaving others to assist our walk-in traffic.”

In addition, GMT’s automated, condition-based forecasting and scheduling features were deemed stronger than competitors. The product’s advanced mathematical modeling capabilities and comprehensive automation features also set it apart from other vendors during the selection process.

$250,000 annual savings from Dincreased efficiency in contact center scheduling staff

Reduced staff required to manage scheduling by Dabout 50%

Empowered agents to schedule time off more easily Dand effectively for greater employee satisfaction

Expanded the pool of potential agents by offering Dthem more work options

TDS Telecom

GMT Customer Case Study™

As a result to selecting GMT’s Planet, TDS Telecom can now accurately predict its staffing requirements and ensure the right number of representatives are available at the right time and place to serve TDS Telecom’s customers. The company now has a staff of 10 employees who manage contact center scheduling – which is about half of the staff it previously needed, saving roughly $250,000 a year in this area alone.

At its various customer contact centers, the telecom service provider handles about 2 million calls a year, and GMT’s Planet has helped TDS Telecom to continually meet its schedule adherence levels in its contact centers. The adherence numbers the employees establish vary from an impressive 85% to 92%, depending on the team involved and the type of calls that come in. For instance, for one side of the business, it is more important to answer calls quickly; another side needs to provide customers with a lot of information; and the Internet side of the business needs to work with a variety of media types. The average call handle time is usually between 8 to 10 minutes, although they can be a few minutes shorter or much longer – as much as one hour – on occasion to completely meet the customer’s needs.

GMT Planet enabled TDS Telecom to broaden its workforce and cast a wider net for call center agents. Because the company has such a good handle on its staffing requirements, it is able to offer flexibility to employees in terms of their scheduling. Many want a part time rather than a full time schedule, so the company offers them after hours and weekend coverage.

As TDS Telecom’s business continued to evolve, GMT responded to the company’s changing requirements. When the company upgraded to a new ACD system in 2003, GMT encouraged TDS Telecom’s support team to complete the vendor certification process to ensure it fully understood how to operate the new device. When the migration was being completed, GMT had training personnel and technical support personnel on site, so if any questions arose, they would be able to answer them instantly.

In addition to becoming a favorite among managers, the GMT system also garnered kudos from TDS Telecom’s call center agents. They now have easier access to scheduling information. In the past, supervisors had to print or email constantly-changing schedules, but now a supervisor’s involvement is minimal because the agents can view their schedules online whenever they please. Via GMT Planet’s Employee Time Center, agents are also able to request time off, vacation or personal time, and then receive a quick response. Before, if a supervisor was traveling or on vacation, agents had to wait days and even weeks for answers to their requests. Now, a response usually comes in a day or two, depending on supervisor workload.

Quick Facts

Business Type: D Telecommunication services

Operation Type: D Consolidated and Distributed Call Centers

No. of Agents: D 800

Corp. HQ: D Madison, WI

Company Website: D www.tdstelecom.com

TDS Telecom’s business continues to evolve at a rapid pace with GMT Planet, it can stay ahead of competitors. Yet another constant has emerged: TDS Telecom’s continued reliance on GMT Planet to manage its contact center workforce.

About GMTGMT’s workforce and cash optimization solutions create competitive advantage by enabling companies to improve customer service and sales, while decreasing their variable expenses. The company’s product line combines precision forecasting and intelligent scheduling with powerful analytics and performance management tools – together delivering a complete solution that is priced to deliver quick return on investment. GMT serves financial services and contact center customers worldwide, including ABN AMRO, Citibank, Nielsen Media, Pizza Hut, SunTrust, UPS, Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo. The company is privately held with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, and offices in the U.K., Australia, and India.

GMT Corporation, 2831 Peterson Place, Norcross, GA 30071Tel: 770-416-6000 Fax: 770-734-9000 www.gmt.com

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