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Brazil's electrical power utility is
using OnWeb as the engine for reducing complexity and improving
operational efficiency of its customer call center. With
this IT initiative, Eletropaulo has improved customer service
with faster response times, while reducing training for its
call center operators. Transformation of the service information
access system was accomplished by a team of five in less
than three months, without interruptions or changes to existing
applications or legacy data.
Eletropaulo is Latin America's largest
electric energy distribution company, delivering electric
power to the largest urban region of Brazil. In 1998, Eletropaulo
became a private corporation owned by AES Corporation. It
distributes electricity to over 14 million people in 24 cities
in the state of São Paulo, including the capital city
of the same name.
Eletropaulo's 4.6 million customers
use approximately 35,000 gigawatts/hour. The distribution
system includes 125 transformer stations, totaling 11.9 GVA
of installed power, a network of 16,000 km of transmission
lines, approximately 311,000 km of aerial conductors, 10,000
km of underground cables, and one million power poles.
Simplicity Was the Solution
Eletropaulo's IT team needed to reduce complexity
of its call center application to shorten call times and
improve customer service. Customer response was slow because
representatives had to navigate 80 host screens to get answers.
They also needed to reduce time spent on application training
for call center personnel. Eletropaulo’s staff of 500
call center operators access nearly thirty business processes.
The Web Call Center application, developed by NetManage,
replaced their desktop emulators and 80 host screens with
27 host screens accessed from a web server using ISAPI and
ASP technologies. OnWeb is licensed concurrently on two dedicated
servers using the Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Edition operating system. It uses a load-balancing mechanism
as part of the operating system. The servers also employ "missioncritical" fault
tolerance features. Operator workstations use Microsoft Windows
2000 and an Internet Explorer browser interface.
Return on Investment
OnWeb integrated all of Eletropaulo's
mainframe legacy service applications onto the same Webbased
platform protecting and repurposing the utility's
large IT system investments. Operational costs were reduced
by
cutting call center operator training from two months to
two weeks. Operators are able to respond 35% faster, allowing
them to service many more customers with greater satisfaction.
With OnWeb, the same 45 utility service procedures that previously
required 80 screens are now browsed using only 27 screens,
resulting in a reduction in complexity of nearly 300 percent.
"Another critical factor in helping us
make the decision was that the NetManage platform meets Eletropaulo's
future project needs because it includes Enterprise Application
Integration (EAI) resources," added Locatelli.
Looking Ahead
OnWeb is a powerful solution for Eletropaulo,
producing measurable results and impressive return in record
time. Currently, Eletropaulo is planning to expand its use
of OnWeb to automate manual business processes to improve
operational efficiency and further enhance customer service.
Accelerating the Customer Service Response
NetManage OnWeb software is a key component
of the integrated, Internet-based customer call center service
system. IBM Mainframe 3270 terminal based applications, written
in Natural/ADABAS, reside on four host systems. Call center
operators, working daily in three shifts, were accessing
more than 80 screens using PC-to-host emulators. "Before
the NetManage solution was deployed, our call center service
people used four different host applications," said
Silvio Locatelli, Eletropaulo's Business Analyst. "Customer
service was slow because operators had to browse through
80 screens to access 45 call center procedures. We decided
on NetManage because, out of the companies evaluated, they
were the only one that presented a complete solution with
acceptable deployment time —only three months—
and outstanding cost-benefit."
Eletropaulo, serving 24 cities in Brazil,
provides electricity to more people than any other utility
company in Latin America. Customer services are provided
through a 500-person call center that manages a full range
of business processes for this giant organization.
As a result of its NetManage OnWeb solution,
Electopaulo has a(n):
- OnWeb application implemented and deployed
in under four months.
- Call center operator training time reduced
from two months to two weeks.
- Call center customer response time reduced
by 35 percent.
- Customer initiating additional OnWeb
deployments.
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