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

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 educationbeijing foreign studies university北京外国语大学网络教育学院学士学位论文诚信声明本人郑重声明： 所呈交的学士学位论文，是本人在导师的指导下，独立进行研究工作所取得的成果。论文所涉及的项目为本人亲自负责或者参与实施的项目。除文中已经注明引用的内容外，本论文不含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写过的作品成果。本人完全了解本声明的法律结果由本人承担。学士学位论文作者签名：王萍日期：2007年12月30日论文摘要北京外国语大学网络教育学院（以下简称北外网院）是全国第一所利用现代网络技术优势、开展英语专业教育项目的教学机构。自2001年秋季开始招收第一批学生，北外网院通过近三年的学生助学工作的探索，于2004年6月成立呼叫中心，通过助学热线、助学邮箱、论坛、语音留言、接待来访学生来解决学习问题。本文作者从2006年3月开始承担呼叫中心项目主管一职。在日常工作中，作者发现从每个学期成绩核实期开始至开学日结束近一个月时间的特殊时期内，呼叫中心接收的学生咨询问题数量几乎占每个学期咨询总量的三分之二。为了能提高这段时期咨询电话的接通率，更为高效地处理学生的问题，作者在与网院的领导以及本中心的骨干成员充分探讨的基础上，制定了呼叫中心应急预案，于2006年8月第一次开始实施。呼叫中心应急预案经过2006年8月、2007年2月两个学期特殊时期内的实施，并通过呼叫系统内嵌报表系统，在现实数据分析的基础上，可以看出该预案在这段特殊时期内提高了呼叫中心电话接通率及学生咨询问题的解答率。但与此不相匹配的是，学生咨询数量没有下降反而上升。为此在2007年6月初至7月初，作者通过调查整理呼叫中心录入的学生问题内容、分析研究学生咨询的几类主要问题以及进行swot分析等方法确定了“优化呼叫中心应急预案”项目方案。在2007年6月执行“优化呼叫中心应急预案”项目的过程中，通过采取项目进度流程表、呼叫系统人工坐席咨询事件明细报表来检查实施过程，确保计划内容得到了充分执行。在9月初的后期计划评估部分，通过呼叫系统人工坐席咨询事件明细报表、按时间段划分的座席员表现总结报表导出数据，针对学生问题及数量、参与人员表现情况进行调查与分析，对项目结果进行评估。“优化呼叫中心应急预案”这一项目从2007年6月初启动至8月中旬结束，总计约2个半月时间。实施结果证明，此次项目顺利完成并取得了预期的效果。该项目同时为一些处于非正常进度学习的学生提供今后如何学习的方向及策略，提高这部分学生继续学习的可能性工作中等一系列的助学工作。关键词：优化、咨询量、问题归类、设置abstractthe institute of online education of beijing foreign languages university (referred as beiwaionline), establish 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 messages, 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 two 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 center 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, it 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 before 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 fully 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 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 orientation 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 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 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-116.1.2 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 -18bibliography-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 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 of 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 has 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 visits 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 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 contingency 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 consultation 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 tried 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 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 messagethe 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 implemented 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 of 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 system 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 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 profilespresently, 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 input 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 the 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 first 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 “emergency 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: comparison 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 on 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-platform.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 thesis 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 application: 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: 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 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 procedure 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 improving. 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 the 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 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 emails. 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 contingency 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 improve 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 organization, “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 appro