Journeycall

Angus firm is serious transport player

What changes have you seen in the industry since you joined Journeycall in 2006?

Contact centres have changed a lot over the years. There is an increased demand for multi-channel contacts like social media, webchat and forms. However the want and need for voice has never changed and people still want to talk to a human when they want a solution to a problem. We understand the need for change and with that in mind and in keeping with our dedication to both quality and security, we have invested heavily in technology over the past few years.

How will changing technology effect call centres over the next 10 years?

There are so many initiatives to support passengers when it comes to public transport and other forms of travel – even when things go wrong.

These include new forms of payment and smartphone apps, AI, as well as other services to assist those who need further help.

The impact of these services, however, is being constrained thanks to a lack of understanding among the general public. Regular users may understand and use services, but occasional or new users are still somewhat uncertain. Technology can help but it’s not everything - people still want and need support and especially voice support. Passengers are clear – voice is still king.

What are the benefits/career opportunities to employees of working in a call centre?

Like any business there is not just one job role in a contact centre. For example on top of answering customer calls we have dedicated learning and development, business planning, management information and IT teams ensuring the continued excellence in customer service and service delivery.

We have our in-house HR, finance and management teams which includes team leaders, operation supervisors and operations managers who ensure the wellbeing of our entire staffing. So there are so many opportunities for new positions throughout the year.

We have a cross department working scheme which allows our employees to experience other departments in the contact centre and on top of the working experience our staff gain through the training we deliver and working with the general public we also engage with the college and universities to offer staff vocational training.

What challenges does the call centre industry face?

The industry has faced a number of changes and like anything else will continue to face challenges, I think these make us better.

We introduced many transport industry firsts like smartcard support and more recently video calling.

For us the real driver for change is the general public, the people we speak to everyday, they want convenience, easy of use and quick resolution but they will always want to speak to a person when they have a problem so I don’t see a massive challenge there.

Is there enough regulation of call centres, or could more be done to root out the rogue operators and promote best practice?

There are so many different standards, regulators and rules that a contact centre should adhere to. These are very important to our industry and we take those very seriously. We are part of the CCA Global standards, ISO 27001, cyber essentials and more. However I believe that it is the responsibility of the contact centre themselves to ensure best practice is being adhered to. We have invested a considerable amount of money and resource into our learning and development team which looks after our quality of service.

Do you foresee more call centre business returning to the UK from abroad?

Yes I do. We all want a pleasant and non-stressful experience when calling a contact centre. That is not always the case when the contact centres are abroad. The empathy and understanding of situations is not the same and the public want to see the change.

We deliver a one call solution for our customers and when contact centres are taken out of the UK that becomes difficult.

We all want a pleasant and nonstressful experience when calling a contact centre