Case Study

Banking on Success - FIRSTFED Trusts TASKE Contact

When FIRSTFED opened its doors 55 years ago as a local savings and loan in Fall River, MA, few could have predicted the company would evolve into a publicly traded financial services corporation, with more than $2.3 billion in assets.

Today, FIRSTFED serves more than 80,194 families and businesses through 26 banking and loan offices across Massachusetts and Rhode Island and 32 ATMs. The company offers a wide range of financial products, including deposit accounts, loans, insurance and comprehensive fiduciary services.

FIRSTFED is committed to maintaining the superior customer service on which it built its reputation and success. In fact, the company's business plan defines enhanced client service as a corporate goal. Key to reaching this objective is FIRSTFED's Sales & Service Center, located at the company's head office in Swansea, MA. Powered by an Inter-Tel Axxess telephone switch, FIRSTFED handles from 800-1,000 calls per day and relies on TASKE Management Solutions to efficiently ensure peak performance and maintain client satisfaction.

"When we established the Sales & Service Center, we recognized that in order to measure performance and customer service standards accurately, you need the right tools in place," says Deborah Grimes, FIRSTFED's Sales & Service Center Manager.

FIRSTFED's telephone switch supplier, Econotel Business Systems, Inc., of East Providence, RI, recommended TASKE Contact for detailed, accurate reporting of contact center activity. "TASKE Contact was presented to Gary Vierra, our Senior Vice President here at FIRSTFED, and he felt it would meet our needs perfectly, which it did," says Grimes. "TASKE Technology has been very helpful in assisting in tailoring reports to fit our unique needs."

To maintain its high level of client satisfaction, FIRSTFED employs stringent customer service rules for its contact center: Eighty percent of calls must be answered within 20 seconds, and average handling time per call is not to exceed 288 seconds. After-call wrap-up time is targeted at 15 percent of shift time. Through TASKE Agent Reports and Agent Group Reports, Grimes can verify FIRSTFED's customers are receiving the superior customer service they deserve.

"TASKE software and the training we received, help us to run the Sales & Service Center more effectively and efficiently," Grimes says. "As we are evaluated on phone performance and are committed to customer service, we need to make sure we're responding to these calls in an appropriate fashion. TASKE Reports are a great way to measure our standards, and we take them very seriously."

FIRSTFED uses the advanced reporting and forecasting capabilities of TASKE software to optimize contact center staff to its fullest capacity. When staffing shortfalls or increased traffic cause service levels to slip, Grimes can quickly generate activity reports pinpointing the source of the problem and quantifying the impact on customer service.

 

Anyone that gives TASKE an opportunity will be pleasantly surprised with the great service and very pleased with the functionality they receive.

Part of FIRSTFED's proactive contact center management strategy is to use TASKE Traffic Analyzer to anticipate call loads and identify the required number of agents to meet service goals. Among the call traffic calculations that Analyzer can perform is the industry-standard Erlang C equation relating the maximum level of telephone trunk traffic to the number of extensions or agents and common delay characteristics.

"When we lost a part-time agent, TASKE allowed me to pull down reports and concrete quantitative numbers to demonstrate it had impacted our service levels," says Grimes. "Traffic Analyzer forecasted that call volume would necessitate hiring another part-time agent to meet our service criteria."

Grimes relies on TASKE's exceptional technical support team to further optimize TASKE software. "TASKE Technology's service really sets it apart from others," she says. "I can call anyone in technical support and know I'll get personalized service. Everyone is extremely helpful and this assistance helped the Sales & Service Center achieve success, even in its very first year."

As FIRSTFED continues to set the mark for responsiveness in the New England banking market, TASKE's ongoing research and development ensures the two companies will meet any customer service challenge that comes their way.

"TASKE Technology has and will continue to meet our forever-changing needs because the company recognizes that innovation is important and it is ready to rise to the occasion," says Grimes. "Anyone that gives TASKE an opportunity will be pleasantly surprised with the great service and very pleased with the functionality they receive from TASKE Management Solutions."

 

 

This document is provided to you for informational purposes only. The information is believed by TASKE Technology to be accurate as of the date of its publication, and is subject to change without notice. TASKE Technology assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions in this document and shall have no obligation to you as a result of having made this document available to you or based upon the information it contains. Not all telephone systems support the full functionality of TASKE Call Management Solutions. Contact TASKE Technology Inc. for more information.