CABLE & WIRELESS OPTUS HOSTS EXECUTIVE CALL CENTRE CONGRESS

Call centre strategies to increase corporate value are a focus for the second annual Executive Call Centre Congress being held in Sydney on March 30 and 31. The Cable & Wireless Optus hosted Congress is a meeting for Executives and Senior Managers directing the future of their organisations and will examine customer contact strategy, advancing technology and the changing marketplace.

Leaders from the call centre community in Australia and around the world will explore ways to take the call centre beyond the fundamentals of customer service to the position of strategic asset, adding real value for shareholders.

Industry leaders and call centre experts from around the globe make up the speaker roster including Edward de Bono (author and philosopher), Paul Donovan (Chief Commercial Officer, Cable & Wireless Optus), Jim Long (President, Nortel Enterprise Network) and Dick Simpson (Chief Operating Officer, NRMA).

Mr Paul Donovan, Chief Commercial Officer, Cable & Wireless Optus today discussed The New Consumer. According to Paul there are many factors pushing customer expectations to new levels, including cultural, social, economic and technology trends.

"The call centre represents an unparalleled opportunity to establish one-on-one relationships with customers. Their importance to corporate as well as brand marketing strategies is something we underestimate at our peril," said Mr Donovan.

"Understanding the direction of customer attitudes, expectations and inclinations is essential to planning call centre strategies," he said.

Congress attendees will share strategies to maximise relationships with customers, call centre benchmarking and practical case studies. Advancing technology, innovative approaches to organisational design and the changing consumer offer exciting new opportunities for successes through call centres and are set to be a focus for discussion.

"Call centres are a growing strategic imperative for our customer base," said John Filmer, Enterprise Director, Cable & Wireless Optus. "They are a channel to our customer's customer and are transforming the strategic approach of all types of organisations.

"The Enterprise Division of Cable & Wireless Optus deals with customers from various industries including banking and finance. Companies in these industries have the opportunity to differentiate themselves using customer channels - for example by developing one-on-one contact strategies through call centres. These are the types of experiences Congress attendees will share," he said.

One unique aspect of the Congress will be the interactive forum. The forum starts with an expert panel sharing their approaches to a challenging call centre scenario followed by delegates participating in roundtable discussions.

Through this year's Executive Call Centre Congress industry leaders and peers aim to collaborate to chart the call centre course into the future.

Note to Editors

Cable & Wireless Optus offers a range of call centre specific services. The Optus Call Centre Solutions (OCCS) team is an experienced call centre consultancy group. The team works within call centres to help optimise the complex mix of people, processes and technology resulting in the creation of high performing call centres that provide superior service, increased revenues and profits.

Cable & Wireless Optus can also provide all of the network, systems and services including 1800/13/1300 numbers through to the latest in call centre technology. This includes GeoTel, an intelligent routing solution that ensures each call is sent to the right agent - first time, every time.

For more information:
Melissa Favero
Cable & Wireless Optus
Phone: 02 9342 5030
Email: melissa.favero@cwo.com.au