Seoul - SK Telecom announced today that its T Video Call Center, a next generation interactive video call center, was awarded for Consumer Service Innovation in the 2009 Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards (GTB Innovation Awards).
The Consumer Service Innovation award recognizes projects in the telecom industry that demonstrate the highest level of innovation in consumer services and increase consumer values. Selected by an industry judging panel, T Video Call Center represents one of the most innovative projects in this category and in the industry worldwide.
Yung Kyoo Park, Senior Vice President of the Customer Oriented Management Office at SK Telecom said, "We are highly honored to be named for this prestigious award. T Video Call Center represents SK Telecom's pledge for creating new services through convergence and bringing greater value to its customers. We believe our strong customer-focused approach is a key strategy to maintain SK Telecom's position as a leading telecommunications company."
The T Video Call Center service bested tough competition this year. Alan Burkitt-Gray, Editor of Global Telecoms Business, recognized the T Video Call Center service by saying, "We were impressed by the quality and number of nominations this year - the most we have ever had - so it was a special triumph for SK Telecom to be one of the winners this year. This was an outstanding project and well deserves its award."
With T Video Call Center, users can receive visual assistance while using the Automated Response System (ARS) or while talking to call center agents. Combining video functions with the existing voice call center, the center is a perfect aid for demonstrating solutions to complex issues over the ARS. For instance, in a billing inquiry, a billing statement can be shown on the caller's mobile phone screen.
The T Video Call Center was initially aimed to enhance customer satisfaction through the provision of video customer services, ultimately driving greater use of 3G services. In collaboration with SK C&C and Soluvis, SK Telecom developed various technologies including cutting-edge Interactive Voice and Video Response (IVVR) which forms the backbone of the Center's main system.
Significant improvements have taken place since the T Video Call Center was put to use. Voice calls have declined from 40% to 15%, representing a drop in voice call demands versus using the ARS video calls, thus saving operating costs. Additionally, calls are completed in 130 seconds on average at the T Video Call Center, reducing call handling time by 13% (20 seconds per call) on average compared to using the traditional system. The reduction in call handling time has led to enhanced customer service levels and increased customer satisfaction.
Since its opening in November 2008, the number of incoming calls has steadily grown to around 550,000 calls per month. With such increases in the number of users, SK Telecom plans to expand the range of services provided through its T Video Call Center. To this end, the company is working to diversify its video transmission system, add new functions to handle billing and other value-added services, improve the user interface, and provide useful living tips and store information.
The Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards is held by the Global Telecoms Business Magazine, a monthly telecom magazine published in London. In its third year, this year's award recognized innovative enterprises in five different categories including fixed network infrastructure innovation, wireless network infrastructure innovation, wholesale service innovation, business service innovation and consumer service innovation. Selected by a judging panel, the winners of each category represent the most innovative projects in the industry worldwide.
About 350 leaders of the industry from around the world were present at the 2009 GTB Innovation Awards Ceremony held in London on the evening of June 16, 2009. This year, an extra attraction was the GTB Innovation Summit held earlier in the day, where many of the delegates took part in discussing service innovation in a world of IP transformation.
