Reducing the Number of Repetitive Enquiry Questions through Optimizing Call Center Contingency Scheme

1、reducing the number of repetitive enquiry questions through optimizing call center contingency schemesubmitted by wang pingstudent id number w2005b1001b0245supervised by gao chunlia paper submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of bachelor of artsthe institute of online educationb

2、eijing foreign studies university北京外國(guó)語(yǔ)大學(xué)網(wǎng)絡(luò)教育學(xué)院學(xué)士學(xué)位論文誠(chéng)信聲明本人鄭重聲明： 所呈交的學(xué)士學(xué)位論文，是本人在導(dǎo)師的指導(dǎo)下，獨(dú)立進(jìn)行研究工作所取得的成果。論文所涉及的項(xiàng)目為本人親自負(fù)責(zé)或者參與實(shí)施的項(xiàng)目。除文中已經(jīng)注明引用的內(nèi)容外，本論文不含任何其他個(gè)人或集體已經(jīng)發(fā)表或撰寫過的作品成果。本人完全了解本聲明的法律結(jié)果由本人承擔(dān)。學(xué)士學(xué)位論文作者簽名：王萍日期：2007年12月30日論文摘要北京外國(guó)語(yǔ)大學(xué)網(wǎng)絡(luò)教育學(xué)院（以下簡(jiǎn)稱北外網(wǎng)院）是全國(guó)第一所利用現(xiàn)代網(wǎng)絡(luò)技術(shù)優(yōu)勢(shì)、開展英語(yǔ)專業(yè)教育項(xiàng)目的教學(xué)機(jī)構(gòu)。自2001年秋季開始招收第一批學(xué)生，北外網(wǎng)院通過近

3、三年的學(xué)生助學(xué)工作的探索，于2004年6月成立呼叫中心，通過助學(xué)熱線、助學(xué)郵箱、論壇、語(yǔ)音留言、接待來(lái)訪學(xué)生來(lái)解決學(xué)習(xí)問題。本文作者從2006年3月開始承擔(dān)呼叫中心項(xiàng)目主管一職。在日常工作中，作者發(fā)現(xiàn)從每個(gè)學(xué)期成績(jī)核實(shí)期開始至開學(xué)日結(jié)束近一個(gè)月時(shí)間的特殊時(shí)期內(nèi)，呼叫中心接收的學(xué)生咨詢問題數(shù)量幾乎占每個(gè)學(xué)期咨詢總量的三分之二。為了能提高這段時(shí)期咨詢電話的接通率，更為高效地處理學(xué)生的問題，作者在與網(wǎng)院的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)以及本中心的骨干成員充分探討的基礎(chǔ)上，制定了呼叫中心應(yīng)急預(yù)案，于2006年8月第一次開始實(shí)施。呼叫中心應(yīng)急預(yù)案經(jīng)過2006年8月、2007年2月兩個(gè)學(xué)期特殊時(shí)期內(nèi)的實(shí)施，并通過呼叫系統(tǒng)內(nèi)嵌報(bào)表系

4、統(tǒng)，在現(xiàn)實(shí)數(shù)據(jù)分析的基礎(chǔ)上，可以看出該預(yù)案在這段特殊時(shí)期內(nèi)提高了呼叫中心電話接通率及學(xué)生咨詢問題的解答率。但與此不相匹配的是，學(xué)生咨詢數(shù)量沒有下降反而上升。為此在2007年6月初至7月初，作者通過調(diào)查整理呼叫中心錄入的學(xué)生問題內(nèi)容、分析研究學(xué)生咨詢的幾類主要問題以及進(jìn)行swot分析等方法確定了“優(yōu)化呼叫中心應(yīng)急預(yù)案”項(xiàng)目方案。在2007年6月執(zhí)行“優(yōu)化呼叫中心應(yīng)急預(yù)案”項(xiàng)目的過程中，通過采取項(xiàng)目進(jìn)度流程表、呼叫系統(tǒng)人工坐席咨詢事件明細(xì)報(bào)表來(lái)檢查實(shí)施過程，確保計(jì)劃內(nèi)容得到了充分執(zhí)行。在9月初的后期計(jì)劃評(píng)估部分，通過呼叫系統(tǒng)人工坐席咨詢事件明細(xì)報(bào)表、按時(shí)間段劃分的座席員表現(xiàn)總結(jié)報(bào)表導(dǎo)出數(shù)據(jù)，針對(duì)學(xué)

5、生問題及數(shù)量、參與人員表現(xiàn)情況進(jìn)行調(diào)查與分析，對(duì)項(xiàng)目結(jié)果進(jìn)行評(píng)估?！皟?yōu)化呼叫中心應(yīng)急預(yù)案”這一項(xiàng)目從2007年6月初啟動(dòng)至8月中旬結(jié)束，總計(jì)約2個(gè)半月時(shí)間。實(shí)施結(jié)果證明，此次項(xiàng)目順利完成并取得了預(yù)期的效果。該項(xiàng)目同時(shí)為一些處于非正常進(jìn)度學(xué)習(xí)的學(xué)生提供今后如何學(xué)習(xí)的方向及策略，提高這部分學(xué)生繼續(xù)學(xué)習(xí)的可能性工作中等一系列的助學(xué)工作。關(guān)鍵詞：優(yōu)化、咨詢量、問題歸類、設(shè)置abstractthe institute of online education of beijing foreign languages university (referred as beiwaionline), establ

6、ish in 2001, is one of the first institutes makes use of the advanced internet technology in english teaching in china. in june 2004, beiwaionline call center, which is an important section of learner support system, was established to solve students problems through telephone calls, emails, voice m

7、essages, posts on the online forums, as well as receiving visits from the students. the author was a project director and took charged in call center since march 2006. the author found that during the one month of score checking and starting of new semester, the amount of students consultation is tw

8、o thirds of the total of the semester. the author drew up call center contingency scheme based on the discussion with institute leaders and colleagues so as to raise the connection rate of consultation telephone calls and improve the efficiency of dealing with the students consultation. the call cen

9、ter contingency scheme was implemented first in august 2006 and then in february 2007. data analysis from these two periods shows that the scheme did raise the connection rate of consultation telephone calls and improve the efficiency of dealing with the students consultation as expected. however, i

10、t was also found out unexpectedly that the amount of students consultation increased instead of decreasing. so from june to july 2007, the author tried to optimize the call center contingency scheme by researching the students consultation contents, analyzing key questions and using swot analysis be

11、fore proposing an optimized scheme.in the process of implementing optimized call center contingency scheme in june 2007, the project team led by the author used project progressive checklist and call center manual service consultation report to monitor the progress and to ensure that the scheme is f

12、ully implemented. in september, the team used call center manual service consultation report and summary report of operators performance to export data. the team reviewed and analyzed the data regarding to students questions, operators performance to evaluate the effect of the optimized scheme. the

13、optimized call center contingency scheme was implemented from early june to mid august, 2007. the output of the implementation showed that the optimized scheme achieved the results as expected. besides decreasing the amount of students consultation, the optimized scheme also provides studying orient

14、ation and strategy for students in abnormal progress, to improve the possibility of students to continue learning and provide other support.key words: optimization inquiring quantities question categorizing setting uptable of contentspage1. introduction -12. summary of the preliminary research-22.1

15、problem -22.2 problem analysis -22.2.1 current situation of call center department -22.2.2 needs and wants analysis -22.2.3 swot analysis -43. project objective and hypothesis-53.1 project objective -53.2 project hypothesis-54. project rationale - 55. project design -65.1 planning of activities-65.2

16、 time scale of the activities-95.3 cost analysis-95.4 a critical path analysis of the activities -95.5 people involved and their responsibilities -105.6 risk analysis-116. project implementation and monitoring-116.1 project implementation-116.1.1 project implementation time, place introduction-116.1

17、.2 implementation steps-116.2 project monitoring and evaluation-136.2.1 project monitoring-136.2.2 project evaluation-147. project findings and discussion -147.1 changes in the number of students questions in the three semesters concerned147.2 comparative7.3 comparative7.3.18. conclusion -18bibliogr

18、aphy-20appendix : training of using crm and telephone -21appendix : emails of discussing students questions with olleagues-32appendix : content of call center contingency scheme -35reducing the number of repetitive enquiry questions through optimizing call center contingency schemei. introductionin

19、july 2000, beijing foreign studies university (bfsu) was authorized as an experimental university of modern long-distance education by the ministry of education (moe). in december 2000, the institute of online education, bfsu (abbreviated as beiwaionline), was formally established. the combination o

20、f the universitys strong educational resources, together with its use of contemporary network technology, has allowed beiwaionline to establish a modernized, open and flexible teaching and administration system.beiwaionline recruited its first group of students in 2001. from then on, beiwaionline ha

21、s been researching and discussing learner support system. in june 2004, beiwaionline call center, which is an important section of learner support system, was established to solve students problems through telephone calls, emails, voice messages, posts on the online forums, as well as receiving visi

22、ts from the students. the call center has become a department that solves most of the students issues. i was a project director and took charged of call center since march 2004 i found that during the one month between score checking and starting of new semester, the amount of students consultation

23、is 2/3 of the total of the semester. my team draw up call center contingency scheme based on the discussion with institute leaders and colleagues to raise the connection rate of consultation telephone calls and improve the efficiency of dealing with the students consultation. the call center conting

24、ency scheme was implemented first in august 2006 and then in february 2007. the result of data analysis from these two periods shows that the call center contingency scheme does raise the connection rate of consultation telephone calls and improve the efficiency of dealing with the students consulta

25、tion as expected. but one finding out of expectation is that the amount of students consultation increased instead of decreased. the performance that ratio rose numbers of students consultation contrasts numbers of learning students corresponding the semester. so from june to july 2007, the author t

26、ried to optimize the call center contingency scheme by researching the students consultation content, analyzing key questions and using swot analysis.during the implementation from 1 august 2007, my team took the following measures: 1) research key problem types and analyze the reasons;2) make 2007

27、autumn semester calendar;3) provide suggestions to relevant departments for improvement;4) make faq and must-read for 2007 autumn semester;5) pre-training crm (customer relationship management) and telephone communication skills;6) make overtime work timetable for staff;7) change content the voice m

28、essagethe paper believes that effective consultation can provide better service to the students. we will provide the best consultation service in learner-support to increase rate of graduation in future.ii. summary of the preliminary research2.1 problemthe call center contingency scheme was implemen

29、ted in two periods, august 2006 and february 2007. we exported report from the imbedded system of call center and analyzed the data and found that the amount of students consultation increased instead of decreasing. the performance that ratio rose numbers of students consultation contrasts numbers o

30、f learning students corresponding the semester.2.2 problem analysis2.2.1 current situation of call center departmentthe call center has become a department that solves most of the students issues since its establishment. now there are three staff members working at the call center. the calling syste

31、m has been continuously improved. the original three hotline numbers become one, which can accommodate 12 calls at the same time. in the exam scores checking period at the end of each semester, many students asked questions through telephone calls or emails.better and more efficient student support

32、service in this period will help students have a good start. its the focus and priority for call center to provide information required by and solutions to the questions from the students, which is key to the increase of the students retention.2.2.2 needs and wants analysis2.2.2.1 students profilesp

33、resently, there are about 6,000 students enrolled at beiwaionline, they are located in many places across china and even in some other countries worldwide, the majority of them learn english by using e-platform resources through internet. 2.2.2.3 datum collected from autumn 2006 and spring 2007the i

34、nput system of the call center allows setting up questions types. the questions input can be directly allocated to the relevant types and data produced can be used for analysis. to provide better service to students in autumn 2007, datum from autumn 2006 and spring 2007 need to be analyzed. during t

35、he exam score checking period in autumn 2006, 3 staff of the call center, 5 staff in the students support center and 4 part-time staff worked together. the total number of telephone calls, emails, voice messages, posts on the online forum and visits from students added up to 3606, ranking as the fir

36、st in number ever since the establishment of the call center. part of the reason was because full time students at universities cant access the online service to check the score and they rely more on the call center. during the period of exam score checking in spring 2007, the call center made “emer

37、gency response solution”. besides 3 staff at the call center and 8 staff from other departments work as a team to provide consultations via telephone calls, emails, voice messages, posts from online forums and receive visits. the total number is 1358 and 1/2 of that are of autumn 2006. chart 1: comp

38、arison in terms of the number of students questions in autumn 2006 and spring 2007the 13 types of most frequently asked questions in autumn 2006 and spring 2007 are:1) graduation: when there will be feedback after submitting application for graduation.2) exam scores: when the scores can be checked o

39、n the e-platform and when the course selection system can be opened.3) e-platform malfunction: there would be aspects for improvement when new e-platform is used in spring 2007.4) thesis: during the process of new e-platform replacing the old one, thesis still needed to be submitted through old e-pl

40、atform.5) tuition submission: where the tuition submission information can be found and when the students can pay the tuition on-site. 6) course selection: when the new courses can be selected.7) status change: how to apply for resuming the learning status and extension, etc.8) qualification for the

41、sis writing: if the students meet the requirements for thesis writing? 9) graduation for diploma program students: when the students can apply for graduation and what the procedure is like.10) united exam: when the students can register for the exam and how to register online.11) certificate applica

42、tion: how to apply for graduation certificate.12) thesis application: when the thesis application form can be filled out.13) credit recognizing: in which courses are allowed for credit recognizing and when the results can be found out. 2.2.2.3 possible reasons for the presence of students questions:

43、 1) reasons for questions on graduation, exam score checking, tuition submission, course selection, thesis application, credit recognizing, thesis applications are: students didnt see the notices on the e-platform and the notices are not obvious. 2) reasons for status changes: the institutes policy

44、concerning temporary suspension of schooling and resuming schooling has changed. number of this type of question will decrease in autumn 2007.3) diploma in english students graduation: every semester, there are students from ba in english apply for diploma. 4) certificate application: to make the pr

45、ocedure clear to students, the introduction should be strengthened on the e-platform. 2.2.3 swot analysisstrengths1) beiwaionline provided budget to optimize call center system and has made it more mature in july, 2006.2) now there are three staff working at the call center and the system is also im

46、proving. the original three hotline numbers becomes one, but it can accommodate 12 calls at the same time.3) the call center has been in operation for three years. the current 3 staff all have abundant experience and work very efficiently.weaknesses1) three staff are still not enough to handle all t

47、he students telephone calls. 2) eight temporary consultants are not experienced in answering students questions and in using crm, so they maybe provide wrong information or be slow in responding. opportunitieseffective consultation service can help student hand over new semester fee in time.students

48、 who use resources from e-platform expertly raise scores through consultationhigh quality communication can be advantageous to raising students from the confidence.threatswe need to pass the mechanism of crm to connect to answer students consultation telephones and process students consultation emai

49、ls. we may create trust crisis if the mechanism of crm appears the conk out or questions from students fail to be promptly answered.iii. project objective and hypothesis3.1 project objectivethe project objective is to reduce the number of repetitive enquiry questions through optimizing call center c

50、ontingency scheme.3.2 project hypothesisit is hypothesized that if the project could be carried out successfully, then the number of repetitive enquiry questions could be reduced. the project could also provide orientation and techniques for students in abnormal studying speed, furthermore, to impro

51、ve the possibility of students to continue learning.iv. project rationalein order to make this project successful, this paper has reviewed a significant amount of relevant literatures.the course book world class english for business emphasized the role customer service policy played in an organizati

52、on, “the organizations often provide services to the public. their success depends on having a strong customer service policy.” then it discussed the key to a good customer service policy, “a good customer service policy depends on knowing what customers want and how they feel about the service we offer.” the author also introduced focus groupsan effective approach t