BT Openreach expands Infosys distribution to 5,000 employees

Call Centre workers

BT Openreach has announced the extension of its Seamless Desktop project, rolling out Infosys company EdgeVerve Systems' AssistEdge technology to an additional 1,000 employees.

Those now using - or soon to use - the technology include front and back-office call centre agents, who are integral in providing support to fieldwokers such as engineers as well as customers.

"Over 5,000 people in over 50 centres are now able to provide our customers and engineers with a much improved service," Alan Hall, Director, Openreach said.

"This has saved us money, automated tedious tasks and enabled us to improve management planning. We know the calls are shorter and the operational processes are faster, and while we don't measure the tone of voice, I'd say they are a fair bit happier too."

BT said the implementation of the platform has reduced call handling times by 20 per cent, which is a huge bonus for customers. For staff, the amount of time it takes to login to the call handling system has been reduced from up to 20 minutes down to just seconds.

Additionally, BT said it is helping with staff training, reducing the amount of time it takes to turn a new employee into a call centre operative from six months to three months.

"We've all been on the other end of the line when a call center agent has been struggling with their computer system," Rajesh Murthy, executive vice president and global head of energy, communications and services, Infosys said.

"Often, they can't find the right information or it takes ages to log into a different system. For companies, this is a cost and customer experience nightmare. AssistEdge, which provides a single view model and can be deployed quickly and easily, is helping companies like Openreach deliver best-in-class service."

Clare Hopping
Freelance writer

Clare is the founder of Blue Cactus Digital, a digital marketing company that helps ethical and sustainability-focused businesses grow their customer base.

Prior to becoming a marketer, Clare was a journalist, working at a range of mobile device-focused outlets including Know Your Mobile before moving into freelance life.

As a freelance writer, she drew on her expertise in mobility to write features and guides for ITPro, as well as regularly writing news stories on a wide range of topics.