SINGAPORE - Verizon Business scooped four Gold Awards from the prestigious Contact Centre Association of Singapore (CCAS). Verizon Business won awards in the Best Contact Centre, Contact Centre Manager, Customer Centre Team Leader and Customer Centre Champion of the Year categories for Singapore. This recognition provides a strong endorsement of the strength of Verizon Business' customer service facilities in Asia-Pacific. The Contact Centre Awards 2006 were presented on 27 October.
For the third consecutive year, Verizon Business took the Gold Award for Best Contact Centre of the Year in Singapore, and Verizon Business' Customer Contact Centre manager, Maria Rink, won Best Contact Centre Manager Singapore for her effective management of the centre. The Contact Centre of the Year award honours facilities of fewer than 50 seats and recognizes the efficiency of the company's processes and procedures, the exceptional physical layout of the call centre and, most importantly, its committed and experienced staff.
Among all of the corporations and individuals honoured by the council, Verizon Business is the only triple-award winner for three straight years.
On top of these achievements, Verizon Business also scooped Gold Awards in two more categories. In the Customer Centre Team Leader of the Year in Singapore category, Verizon Business took both the Gold Award and Silver Award, won by Joanna Ng and Christopher Chua respectively. Verizon Business' solutions manager Joe Piamthipanus also won the prestigious Gold Award for Best Contact Centre Champion of the Year in Singapore.
The state-of-the-art Verizon Business Customer Contact Centre serves the company's customers in nine national markets across the region. The 24x7 operation handles more than 22,000 customer interactions per month in Cantonese English, Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin, to ensure that customers receive assistance of the highest possible quality, regardless of time, location or local language. Using Verizon Business' advanced automatic call and e-mail distribution system and a paperless desktop driven by a knowledge engineering system, customers are able to reach the best-qualified agent for their enquiry whether it is placed via a call, e-mail or fax. In addition to this facility, local customer support is also available online via the Verizon Business Asia Portal, as well as directly in each country that Verizon Business serves throughout the region.
"Our number one priority is to deliver superior service and support to each of the customers we serve," said Denis Garner, director, customer services, Asia-Pacific, Verizon Business. "These awards are the industry's affirmation that we are meeting this critical business objective in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region. We are committed to the companies we serve and take great pride in continuing to meet all our customers' needs. We're honoured to accept the award on behalf of all our customer service agents, who are the 'heartware' of our customer contact centre and who have made these awards a reality for us."
About the Awards
Judged by a panel of respected international, call-centre consultants and commentators, the CCAS awards are considered the highest accolade for the contact-centre industry in the Singapore region. Verizon Business was judged on its policies, processes and procedures, as well as its contact centre services.
The judges interviewed the facility's senior management and customer service agents, with a particular focus on staff satisfaction with their work environment and employer. They observed the agents' ability to successfully resolve customer issues by monitoring their voice and e-mail interactions with customers and placing undisclosed test calls to the centre. The judges also reviewed the effectiveness and efficiency of the centre's floor plan during an on-site inspection.
About Verizon Business
Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), is a leading provider of advanced communications and information technology (IT) solutions to large business and government customers worldwide. Combining unsurpassed global network reach with advanced technology and professional service capabilities, Verizon Business delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world. For more information, visit www.verizonbusiness.com.
About Contact Centre Association of Singapore
The Contact Centre Association of Singapore (CCAS) is the primary professional body for the call centre industry in Singapore. Set up in 1998 as a non-profit organisation focused on the needs of the professionals in this growing industry, it acts as the primary hub for the Singapore call centre community to share best practices, address issues as a group and network with other professionals. For more information visit www.ccas.com.sg.
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Annex A
Full list of awards by the Contact Centre Association of Singapore Award 2006
Verizon Business Customer Contact Centre
Best Contact Centre of the Year (Gold)
in Singapore 2006
Maria Rink
Best Contact Centre Manager (Gold)
in Singapore 2006
Joanna Ng (Gold)
Christopher Chua (Silver)
Best Contact Centre Team Leader (Gold & Silver)
in Singapore 2006
Joe Piamthipanus
Best Contact Centre Champion (Gold)
in Singapore 2006
Andrew Kam
Best Customer Service Professional (Bronze)
in Singapore 2006
