How to run a world class call center

I wish to share this secret about how NTUC Income wins the award for being a world class call center:

* it uses low cost, effective technology
* the calls are answered immediately by a human voice (without the need to press buttons)
* it has a low turnover rate of employees
* the front line officers handle simple calls and refer difficult cases (about 5% of calls) to specialists to call back

The cost of the technology is only 10% to 20% of what big organisations spend on their call center systems, without sacrificing on the necessary functionalities.

By using a two level system of handling enquiries, it is easy for the front line officers to handle 95% of the calls (with less training and better service quality). They refer the difficult enquiries and complaints to the specialists. This reduces the stress of the job.

They enjoy providing the customer service.

I was involved in the strategy to build up the call center when I was CEO of NTUC Income.