Module: BIS4430 (Web-based Information Systems)

Lecturer: Mr. Suraj Juddoo

Improving Contact
Center Cost and
Performance using
CKM Systems
PAUL OLADIMEJI (pauloladimeji@gmail.com)
ATIMBANG NKANU (a.nkanu@yahoo.com)

MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY

Abstract
Despite call and contact centers being one of the prevalent forms of customer service,
organizations face challenges in lowering the cost of implementing CRM systems in these
centers.

The

integration

of

customer

knowledge

management

systems

into

CRM

implementation has been suggested by research, however organizations need to understand

how to implement these systems to lower costs. This research paper proposes a model for
implementing Customer Knowledge Management Systems in call centers, using appropriate
case study.

Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3
Research Methodology .............................................................................................................. 4
A Business Engineering Approach ......................................................................................... 4
Customer Relationship Management and Knowledge Management .......................................... 5
Concept and Evolution of CRM in Contact Centers ................................................................ 5
Knowledge Management and CRM Association ..................................................................... 7
Managing Knowledge in Call Centers ..................................................................................... 8
Contact Center CKM/CRM Technologies ............................................................................ 9
Analysis of Contact Center Customer Knowledge Management Models................................10
Proposed Framework for CKM in a Call Center.........................................................................12
Case Study ...............................................................................................................................15
Company Overview ...............................................................................................................15
Problem Description: Contact Center CRM Cost and Service Challenges .............................15
Implementation of integrated CKM system and framework ....................................................16
Call Center Metrics as KPIs ...................................................................................................18
LIMITATIONS AND CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................20

Introduction
In the business and information systems industry of the 21st century, one thing practitioners and
researchers agree upon is the fact that we have entered a customer-centric era, one in which
markets and business metrics are easily influenced by consumers preferences and the choices
they make. According to research (Bodine and Dorsey et al., 2013, p. 1), previous competitive
barriers such as manufacturing strength, supply power, and IT infrastructure are no longer as
important, as new technologies have helped commoditize many of these investments.
Technologies such as mobile and cloud computing provide small-scale enterprises with the
same IT resources as large enterprises, at a much lower cost (Sahandi and Alkhalil et al., 2013,
p. 2). The ease at which customers can also share their opinions about certain brands and
products has also heralded a power shift from producer to consumer. The presence of social
networks, mobile devices, web forums, etc. have led to a rapid increase in this phenomenon
data by comScore shows a 55% mobile market penetration of smartphones in the United States
alone (comScore, 2013). These technologies also have made it very easy for consumers to gain
insights about an organization, its competitors, and current prices, towards guiding him/her into
making better purchase choices.
These present industry trends mean organizations have to invest in tools and strategies for
enhancing customer service, providing customers with information they want, when they need it
(Oracle, 2011). In these times, factors such as increasing labor costs (Barry, 2013) mean
organizations have to implement CRM solutions that lower the significantly high costs of
operating call centers while increasing agent productivity. Traditional CRM applications have not
been very effective in lowering these costs as service agents still have to sift through piles of
consumer and product data using basic and hierarchical search methodologies that do not
produce the definite answer needed by the consumer. This ineffectiveness causes
organizations to incur costs for repeat calls and extensive agent training (eGain, 2004), and also
lose customers in the process.
To solve this problem, organizations need an integration of Customer Knowledge Management
into their CRM implementations in call centers (Rasooli and Abaldvi, 2007, pp. 323-332). CKM
technologies such as knowledgebase systems, intelligent search, and social media help
organizations in efficiently locating information from, about and for the consumer, thus reducing
call center costs by boosting call service levels, reducing call and response times, and enabling
consumer self-service (Oracle, 2011; eGain, 2004).

Research Methodology
This paper aims, using literature review and qualitative analysis, to examine the benefits of
customer KM initiatives on the examined organizations, with a focus on the clearest and easiest
ROI (return on investment), which is the reduction or increase in cost of call center service
costs. It also aims, through comprehensive literature review and qualitative analysis of case
study, to propose a Knowledge Process-oriented framework for CKM-based customer service in
a call center environment. This model is based on the Knowledge Process Scenario Type
approach by Strohmaier (Timbrell et al, 2004), which uses an analysis of the knowledge flows
within a call center business process to design IT-enabled customer service infrastructure. The
paper concludes by outlining best practices and success factors for implementing Customer
Knowledge Management Systems in call centers.
A Business Engineering Approach
This paper uses a qualitative analysis method to examine the potential benefits of Customer
Knowledge Management in lowering customer service costs in the contact center of a
telecommunications organization. The use of published case studies is inherent due to the
limited time-frame for research.
The foundation of this research is based on a business engineering approach developed by
Hubert sterle (sterle, 1995) which separates organizations into three layers; strategy,
processes, and information systems. The strategy layer determines business models and goals,
the process layer enables the output of the business goals, while the information systems help
in enabling these processes function optimally. This research is based mainly on the process
and information systems layers of CKM and CRM, and dwells lightly on the strategy level.

Customer Relationship Management and Knowledge Management

Concept and Evolution of CRM in Contact Centers
Currently, the concept of Customer Relationship Management is defined differently by experts in
the field of management, marketing, and information technology. However, the roots of modern
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) originated from the management concept of
Relationship Marketing, a strategic effort to identify, nurture, and maintain a network with
individual consumers over a long period of time, for the mutual benefit of both parties
organization and customer (Shani and Chasalani, 1992). While this process worked well for
small enterprises with a limited customer base, in large organizations, the process of
relationship marketing does not align holistically with organizational business processes
(marketing, sales, service, etc.) and is isolated, and as such, is not very effective (Parvatiyah
and Sheth, 2000).
Modern-day Customer Relationship Management is an information systems-led concept which
attempts to integrate the view of the customer across the enterprise using connected systems
(Bueren et al., 2004) of people, processes, and tools. Many academic researchers and
practitioners agree to the inherent benefit of integrating CRM systems into enterprise-wide
systems such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems (Abdullateef et al., 2011).
According to Kannan (2001), CRM is an incorporation of information acquisition, information
storage and decision support systems, to enable the provision of customized customer service.
Swift (2001) views CRM as a recursive process where customer relationships are formed from
the understanding of customer information. This understanding of specific customer information
would enable an organization develop high impact consumer interactions due to the intricate
knowledge of the customers preferences (Yaghoubi et al., 2011).
Over the years, contact centers have evolved from a traditional, emotionless operational CRM
medium with a reactive approach to customer interaction, into an interactive, multi-channel, and
proactive engagement center for customers to get their problems solved (Lieberman, 2012;
Avaya, 2009; Oram, 2013). This change has primarily been driven by the influence of
technology in current organizational processes. Innovative self-service and voice automation
technologies have been integrated into contact centers, to the benefit of the customers.
Quantitative research from BT and Nortel (Hickman, 2008) shows the preference of consumers
in getting automated voice messages that inform them of when ordered products have been
delivered.

Present-day contact centers integrate the operational, analytical, and collaborative aspects
of Customer Relationship Management. Operational CRM includes tools that help automate
and improve customer-facing and customer-supporting business processes, such as sales and
marketing (Buttle and Maklan, 2008). In the contact center, operational CRM helps to facilitate
communication with customers, and connects to customer touch points (Ezendu, 2010). These
touch points include social networks, electronic mail, physical meetings, telephones, among
others.
Analytical CRM comprises processes for transforming customer data gathered from operational
CRM into valuable customer insight that boosts customer and organizational values (Contact
Center World, 2003). These processes involve the capture, storage, extraction, integration,
processing, interpretation, and distribution of customer data (Buttle and Maklan, 2008), along
with a comparison of operational CRM data against data obtained from external sources (such
as market research, etc.) (Ezendu, 2010; Buttle and Maklan, 2008). Analytical CRM, supported
by techniques such as data analytics and data warehousing for decision support and expert
systems, help an organization note key consumer trends that help to identify where and how
customer relationship should be directed (Contact Center World, 2003).
Collaborative CRM refers to the alignment of separate organizational departments to share
customer data generated in their individual departments, in order to synchronize the customer
relationship process across the organization (Rouse, 2007). For example, customer feedback
obtained during technical support sessions can be shared with the marketing department, who
can use this information to gauge customer preferences and thus, align marketing campaigns
specifically towards the customers inclinations. Due to this integration with enterprise-wide
systems such as ERP, greater responsiveness to customers is achieved throughout the supply
chain (Xu and Walton, 2005).
Various authors (Buttle and Maklan, 2008; Reinhold and Alt, 2009; Xu and Walton, 2005) also
postulate a notion of collaborative CRM that involves partnership between an organization and
external actors in the value chain, such as suppliers, partners, and even some customers.
Powered by technology, both concepts of collaborative CRM have birthed the evolution of the
modern contact center, as the wider data set accessible to the organization enables them
understand customers wants in-depth, and even predict their product preferences.
In contact centers, CRM enables contact center representatives to identify customer data and
address his or her needs, by providing rapid solutions to customers queries, for greater

customer satisfaction. It is important customer queries are solved by the representative at first
contact, or a customer will find alternatives in a market full of competitors (Stuller, 1999).
Knowledge Management and CRM Association
Knowledge Management, as an organizational practice, involves the holistic and comprehensive
process of collecting, identifying, managing, and managing valuable intellectual assets of an
organization and its internal/external environment (Jelica et al., 2011). This includes activities
that involve the creation of new knowledge, accessing knowledge from external resources,
sharing valuable corporate knowledge, and making use of gained knowledge for key decisionmaking within the organization. CKM (Customer Knowledge Management), consequently, is the
application of Knowledge Management tools, processes and techniques, towards managing and
supporting the exchange of knowledge between an organization and its customers (Kong and
Cai, 2008).
The relationship between CRM and Knowledge Management approaches and techniques has
long been recognized by experts and researchers in the field (Romano and Fjermestad, 2003;
Fahey, 2001; Romano, 2000). Customer-oriented business processes such as CRM are
interactive and non-transactional, and as such may be semi-structured or unstructured. This
makes them highly complex and knowledge intensive, as the effectiveness of interactions are
influenced by an underlying supply of customer-related knowledge (Kong and Cai, 2008).
Authors such as Buttle (2009) emphasize the importance of good knowledge deployment at
customer touch points. This knowledge is leveraged from both structured (e.g. contact history,
recent queries) and unstructured (e.g. conversations with consumers) consumer data garnered
during the CRM process. The need for this has led many organizations to develop IT-based
knowledge management tools capable of capturing, storing, organizing and distributing
knowledge to and from customers, in order to effectively support business processes (Gieb and
Riempp, 2002; Buttle, 2009).
Gebert et al (2003) classifies Customer Knowledge from an organizational perspective into
three types: Knowledge for, Knowledge about and Knowledge from customers.
Knowledge for customers: This is a unidirectional, continuous knowledge flow from
organization to customer, primarily for the satisfaction of customers knowledge needs (Dous et
al., 2005; Kong and Cai, 2008). Knowledge for customers comprises knowledge about products,

markets, and suppliers (Garcia-Murillo and Annabi, 2002), and is primarily addressed by the
operational service processes of CRM such as contact and call centers (Dous et al., 2005).
Knowledge about customers: The collection and analysis of knowledge about customers is
one of the oldest integrations of knowledge management activities in the CRM domain,
according to Reichheld and Schefter (2000). Knowledge about customers comprises customers
present needs and activities, future desires, purchase history and financial status (Day, 2000).
This form of knowledge is accumulated in order to understand customers motivations and
preferences and address them in a personalized way. According to Dous et al (2005),
knowledge about customers is collected in operational CRM processes and analyzed in
analytical CRM systems.
Knowledge from customers: This comprises of customers knowledge of products, markets,
and suppliers, which organizations obtain through interactions with the consumer (Gebert et al.,
2003), for the sustainability of competitive advantage, through product and service innovation
(Dous et al., 2005), idea generation, and continuous improvement of its products and services.
Managing Knowledge in Call Centers
In modern day contact centers, the flow of information is not just one way (Rasooli and Abdalvi,
2007). Contact center staff interact directly with customers, and per se, understand their specific
needs. As a result, organizations need to set up processes and systems to convert the valuable
information gained from customer interaction, into competitive intelligence for profitable sales
and marketing campaigns. Implementation of simple feedback methods during consumer
interaction would lead to an increase in the organizations knowledge repository, making it more
up-to-date and accurate (Accenture, 2012).
At the same time, contact center staff also need accurate knowledge base systems in order to
deliver accurate information to customers in quick time. A well-aligned knowledgebase would
provide contact center staff with the benefit of abstracting the diagnosis of customer query
resolution, allowing the staff focus on troubleshooting customer queries and delivering answers
quicker. This leads to greater efficiency in the contact center.
Back-end knowledge systems also increase the efficiency of contact centers, as these systems
passively collect and analyze contact center data, and use this data to control and automate
front-office applications used by the call center staff. For example, technologies such as Skills-

based Routing and Expert Systems prioritize and automate call center query resolution
processes, based on a predictive system based on the analysis of past queries.
Traditional call center staff usually make use of informal methods (sticky notes, binders,
telephone calls) to research and answer customer queries. However, these methods are
inefficient as they do not support the storage, sharing, and reuse of knowledge. As indicated by
Rasooli (Rasooli and Abdalvi, 2007), a current customer query has probably been asked before,
and will most likely be asked again. As a result, structured back-office and front-office
knowledge systems need to be built to capture data from current contact center operations, and
optimize future operations using the knowledge gained from this data. The automation of call
center processes would also reduce the need for human power, thus reducing the huge labor
costs incurred by contact centers (Mehrotra, 2003).
An Agent-Based Customer Knowledge Management System such as the one proposed by
Ogunde et al. (2010), which is built on knowledge gained from skilled agents and based on the
experience of contact center staff, would enable both experienced and inexperienced agents
offer the same level of expertise to query resolution. This would help eliminate training costs for
new agents and also retain the expertise of old agents, in case they leave the call center
(Rasooli and Abdalvi, 2007).
Contact Center CKM/CRM Technologies

Call centers, which have been known traditionally to be limited to agents and phones, handling
inbound customer queries, have evolved to become multi-channel interaction hubs for achieving
CRM goals of delivering efficient customer values. Consequently, the traditional technologies
found in outdated call centers, such as telephones, printing machines, fax machines, etc. have
given way for the use of more modern and integrated tools such as the ones defined below.
Modern Contact Center CKM Technologies

Automated Response Systems

Knowledgebase

Self Service Systems

Data Warehouse

Speech Recognition

Agent scripting software

IVR

Analysis of Contact Center Customer Knowledge Management Models

Analysis of CRM and CKM literature shows a view of CRM as a set of processes within which
Knowledge Management activities integrate themselves. This has led to the proposition of
different CRM process models by various experts.
A popular model used to identify knowledge integration in CRM processes is the Swift model
(Swift, 2001). Swift (2001) views the CRM process as a recursive process which starts from the
building of customer knowledge, and results in impactful customer interactions (Rasooli and
Abdalvi, 2007). Swift classifies the CRM process in four stages of:
i)

Knowledge Discovery,

ii)

Market Planning,

iii)

Customer Interaction,

iv)

Analysis and Refinement.

In this model, Swift identifies the contact center as a customer interaction channel, purely for
communication with customers using a variety of tools and front office applications. The
knowledge intensive areas of this CRM process model are the Knowledge Discovery and
Analysis stages, where tools such as data warehouses (for discovering and storing knowledge)
and data mining (for analyzing customer interactions) are utilized for knowledge management.
However, this model defeats the view of the modern contact center, in which management of
customer knowledge using these tools is integrated directly into the contact center. According to
research from IBM (Prunty et al., 2006) and the views of different experts (Perry, 2011; eGain,
2004), contact centers have become a channel for intensive discovery and analytics of
customer knowledge, using tools such as data mining, knowledgebase systems, and social
media, towards delivering excellent customer value. Swifts model views the call center as an
avenue for only interaction using discovered customer knowledge, and not as a path towards
collecting this knowledge itself.
A more recent model is the work of Gebert et al. (2003) which attempts to classify CRM based
on organizational business processes of marketing, sales, and service. This model identifies six
relevant CRM business processes, which are Campaign Management, Lead Management,
Offer Management, Contract Management, Complaint Management, and Service Management.

This model recognizes that components of an Operational CRM system, such as call centers,
directly support the six sub-processes of CRM, as described above. The analytical component
of CRM primarily focuses on the processes of campaign management, lead management, and
offer management (Bueren et al., 2004). Analytical CRM would also help in the complaint
management and service management phases, as companies are able to analyze information
on customer support issues, and create automated solutions that improve the time taken for
resolution of customer issues. To cover the collaborative aspects on the process level, CRM
requires activities and technologies to design and implement interfaces to customers at
customer interaction points.
Interaction management is the design and selection of media-based communication channels
like interactive voice response (IVR) or the world-wide-web (WWW) to achieve an optimal mix of
channels (Senger, 2002). The main purpose of this is to increase the quality and value of
customer interactions while at the same time decreasing the cost of interactions by shifting
customers to less costly channels, e.g. web-self-service and knowledgebase systems.
This papers initial analysis of the contact center identifies that it encompasses the Operational,
Analytical, and Collaborative aspects of CRM. However, it does not integrate Customer
Knowledge Management in the CRM sub-processes, and consequently, is not appropriate for
the proposed framework.

Proposed Framework for CKM in a Call Center

Based on this papers focus on Business Engineering approaches, the proposed framework
dwells on the process and IS (information systems) layers of CKM integration in the contact
center. According to this approach, each knowledge process has to be supported by information
systems that deliver specific function(s) for that process (Dous et al., 2005). On the strategy
layer, it is important for organizations to identify how Customer Knowledge Management can
support business goals (Bueren et al., 2004), and thus design their CRM to align with these
goals.
The structure of the framework is also based on the definition of Knowledge Management as the
management of the knowledge lifecycle towards achieving organizational strategies (Sison,
2006). The model outlines the lifecycle of Knowledge Management processes, according to
literature from Yaghoubi et al. (2011), Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons (2004), Hendriks (2004),
Huysman (2002), Snowden (2000) and Wiig (1993). These processes include Knowledge
Acquisition, Knowledge Documentation, Knowledge Application, and Knowledge Sharing
(Rasooli and Abdalvi, 2007; Yaghoubi et al., 2011). Their underlying information systems are
also specified, along with the type of knowledge supported during each phase of the Knowledge
lifecycle. It is an adaptation of the managerial framework for knowledge-based CRM founded by
Salomann et al. (2005) and based on the business engineering approach.

Fig.1 Framework for CKM in Contact Center

For the purposes of this study, the Knowledge Acquisition life cycle encompasses the
processes taken to gather, analyze, and document customer knowledge (Tiwana, 2000). It
involves bringing in knowledge into the call center from internal and external sources. Creation
of new knowledge can be through the analysis of customer information generated from call
center operations such as inbound calls, query resolutions, etc. The process of Knowledge
Acquisition helps a call center deliver competitive intelligence to the organization, with support
from technologies such as Web Crawlers, Analytics tools, and Data Warehouses. The types of
knowledge supported during the Acquisition phase are knowledge for, knowledge from and
knowledge about customers, as information systems store knowledge necessary for enabling
agents answer customer queries, and at the same time, store knowledge about the customers
activities in the contact center.
The Knowledge Application phase refers to the direct use of customer knowledge in improving
business processes, such as query resolution, in the contact center (Bhatt, 2001). Knowledge is
used in delivering top-quality interaction filled with accurate information, thus improving
customer experience. Knowledge bases and web self-service systems are some of the tools
used in applying Knowledge Management to call centers. They are knowledge repositories that
enable customer service agents respond to customers queries accurately. Information systems
that support the application of knowledge could either be automated systems, such as IVR, or
systems accessed by human agents (Rasooli and Abdalvi, 2007). Sometimes, customers want
to talk to live agents, and this preference should not hinder the application of knowledge in
customer interaction.
The adaptation of knowledge in this research, refers to the modification of knowledge delivery in
order to suit the current context of customer service (Rasooli and Abdalvi, 2007). Each
interaction with customers through various channels requires a specific approach for delivering
knowledge to users. Examples of technologies which support this process are localization
technologies, which delivers self-service content in a different language, based on the
customers current location.
The sharing of knowledge, through collaborative CRM and CKM processes, is necessary for an
organization to further increase its capacity of and for knowledge. It involves the contribution of
knowledge by and within an organization, and the assimilation and application of gained
knowledge within and by the organization (Hendriks, 2004). A range of information systems

exist to connect sharers and receivers, and provide shared access to knowledge within and
outside the company. Some of these systems include Social Media, intranets, forums, portals,
etc. According to Snowden (1998), organizations should implement methods for sharing
knowledge, as knowledge is redundant if it cant be used by a community of stakeholders. For
example, sharing of expert knowledge on call center information systems helps the organization
when training new members of staff in the call center. Social media is a classic example of a
sharing community, where knowledge can be gained based on peoples shared preferences
(Pfeiffer and Tonkin, 2012).
However, it is important for organizations to note the implications of knowledge sharing, and
implement methods for appropriate access to knowledge. For example, knowledge sharing
information systems have to provide appropriate privileges for knowledge access, so as not to
allow unauthorized entry into an organizations intelligence repository (Robertson, 2002). Also,
contact center management needs to be wary of distributing too much information, so as to
avoid the issue of information overload, which may paralyze call center activities (Rasooli and
Abdalvi, 2007). Top level management must also ensure that the call center staff act on the
knowledge being shared with them, by implementing mechanisms to track staff activity.

Case Study
This case study explains the implementation of enterprise-wide KM systems in the contact
center of a large telecommunications company, focused on improving agent effectiveness in the
first time resolution of customer queries, while reducing the high cost of operating the contact
center.
Company Overview
Telefonica O2 is the leading telecoms company for consumers and enterprises in the UK,
servicing a rapidly growing customer base of more than 22 million mobile subscribers and
700,000 broadband customers. Telefnica O2 is a part of Telefnica Europe Plc, which is a
division of Telefnica S.A, which uses the O2 brand across its European markets of UK, Czech
Republic, Ireland and Germany, with more than 56 million subscribers across the region.
Problem Description: Contact Center CRM Cost and Service Challenges
The exponential growth of the organization have come with rising costs for supporting the
business. As a result of the high amount of customer queries every day, Telefnica O2 has
hired thousands of customer support staff across different locations in the UK. They have also
incurred millions of dollars in the purchase of a multitude of information systems deployed in the
call centers. However, the organization still faced criticism from consumers due to bad customer
service. This stemmed from the fact that customer service agents had to sift through multiple
systems in order to find different information necessary for servicing the customers request.
Telefnica O2, as a result, had numerous repeat calls, high waiting times, and repeatedly
recruited and trained new staff to handle the growing amount of queries.
Also, the complexity of the information systems led to the specialized training of 200 members
of staff to handle certain call types. This meant certain calls that fit this criteria had to be
transferred multiple times, resulting in burdensome call routing and IVR menus. As a result, the
waiting times for those specialized calls was even longer than the normal queries and led to
aggrieved customers.
Top level management of the company recognized the need to implement an integrated
enterprise-wide knowledge management system to diffuse knowledge to thousands of customer
service staff in different locations. This was meant to effectively reduce response times and
ensure speedy solutions to customers requests. The organization also approved the

implementation of a web self-service system to reduce the number of inbound calls to their call
centers, thus saving cost on the number of staff Telefnica O2 had to recruit to handle inbound
calls.
Implementation of integrated CKM system and framework
To tackle these challenges, knowledge management specialists took a holistic approach to
instituting new knowledge processes based on the framework proposed above, and custom
knowledge management software architecture to functionally support the processes.
According to Jacada Systems, the solutions provider in charge of implementing this system, the
key starting point was identifying how to collate important information into one centralized data
warehouse for access on different customer touch points and across various branches, as part
of the knowledge acquisition phase. In tackling this, Jacada gathered detailed analytics to
help Telefnica O2 identify which data were the most effective in solving customer queries.
Specific data analyzed included the number of cases solved by help articles, queries most
searched for by customers, articles ratings, and article aging, to identify content that was not
up-to-date. A customized, secure CMS was implemented on an integrated knowledgebase to
enable custom posting of help articles by expert staff, along with feedback mechanisms such as
rating systems and flagging of out of date articles, to help customer support staff improve the
consistency and efficiency of content across various channels. Crawler engines were also built
to scan the company data warehouse, and suggest the most popular customer queries at the
top of the knowledgebase homepage.
Each contact center branch was also equipped with the Jacada Agent Scripting software, which
allows administrators define questions and agent-entered responses to predict and offer
strategies for handling customer queries. The scripting software, which has access to the data
warehouse, maps and stores scripts of interaction with a user, and allows this data to be
accessible by staff across branches. This allows an agent who has not interacted with a
customer before handle a call consistently, thus reducing response times and cost.
Systems were also built for the application of knowledge to customers. New IVR systems
were equipped with enhanced speech recognition software that allows for natural language
support. This system recognizes and engages in human-like conversations and is able to
respond with How can I help you? to make the user feel they are in touch with a real human

agent. This natural sounding automated systems were inserted with expert content, and
answered customer queries using machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms.
Content was also tagged with metadata to allow agents search for content using a contextual
knowledge lookup. For example, customer queries related to correcting data settings on a
customers device are tagged with the metadata Data Settings, to help with ease of search
during interaction, and content recommendation on self-service.
Jacada also integrated systems for the adaptation of knowledge to different customer touch
points. For instance, the contact center knowledgebase adapts the design architecture to fit
different platforms. The self-service website was made adaptable with a responsive design so
as to adapt to mobile, tablet, and PC devices. The content architecture was also made flexible
so that Web channels can deliver interactive content, while over a chat channel, content could
be delivered in short, textual bits.
The self-service website also supports localization, to allow content be displayed in the
language preferred by the customer.
Internal and integrated knowledge sharing across contact center branches was one of the major
goals of the project, and to achieve this, an intranet was built for contact center staff to
collaborate with each other by offering advice on how to handle specific customer queries. The
implementation of this intranet helped new agents understand call center operations quickly and
reduced cost of training them.

Fig. 2: Adapted framework for CKM implementation in Telefonica O2

Call Center Metrics as KPIs

In order to measure the effectiveness of implementing a knowledge process system in
Telefonica O2, certain quantitative metrics were defined and measured. These metrics included
the measurement of both operational goals (such as call handling time, training time, repeat
calls), and strategic goals (such as customer retention index, cost measurement).
Metric

Reduction

Repeat Calls

30%

Call handling time

12%

Operational cost

$8 million

Training Time

60%

Table 1: Call Center Metrics

Average Training Time

6
5
4
3
2
1
0
January

February

March
Before

April
After

Fig. 3: Agent Training Time

May

LIMITATIONS AND CONCLUSION

Within limited scope and timeframe, this research has attempted to define an appropriate
framework for implementing customer knowledge systems in contact center in order to reduce
costs. While most objectives have been satisfied, direct collection and analysis of data from field
research would be more effective towards measuring the benefits of customer knowledge
integration in the Telefonica O2 contact center.
As this research identifies, in applying Knowledge Management systems in call centers,
management has to ensure the alignment of software to the knowledge process. Accenture
(2012) also suggests that change management initiatives have to be in place to ensure
employees adopt the new systems and use them to good effect.

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