Minister's Forerword
Introduction
Credits
Acknowledgements
Nortel Networks
PROJECTIVE OBJECTIVE
ECOMMERCE INCUBATOR NETWORK OF MULTIMEDIA CUSTOMER INTERACTION CENTRES FOR SMES
Nortel Networks is one of the world’s largest telecommunications solutions providers. Nortel Network’s first European operation was established in 1973. Today over nine hundred people are employed at the Galway campus, including over two hundred engineers in Nortel Networks’ Galway Research and Development Centre.
Business Case for eCommerce Infrastructure Project
Ireland has already established itself as a call centre capital in Europe. A key factor in this success has been the Call Centre incubator, which enabled a large number of companies to quickly establish a call centre to address their business plans. Nortel Networks decided to create an eCommerce Incubator Network (eCIN) in Ireland with hubs in Galway, Cork and Dublin to address the convergence of the World Wide Web and Call Centres. A key feature of eCIN would be the provision of an ideal learning environment for the development of call centre agents with a high level of subject expertise.
eBusiness Solution
The convergence of the Internet and Public Switched Telephone Network is driving further convergence and creating a new converged Customer Interaction Centre. This creates new business opportunities. An SME’s location therefore becomes irrelevant compared to the experience a customer receives when they interact with a Customer Interaction Centre. The Customer Interaction Centre is the hub of sales, marketing and customer service; its focus is on managing customer relationships and maximising return on investment for product and service offerings.
The Customer Interaction Centre enables customers to access products and services using new access media such as the world wide web, public access multimedia solutions (next generation pay phones) and video kiosks. Thus the traditional call centre, complete with call centre network and agents, evolves to become a Customer Interaction Centre.
Nortel project managed the deployment of the eCommerce Incubator Network (eCIN), in partnership with Call Center Solutions, an Irish owned company with call centre facilities in Dublin and Cork. The architecture for building the Customer Interaction Centre is show based on the Symposium portfolio from Nortel networks.
A key feature of eCIN is the development of Co-Source. Where in-source and outsourcing are well established terms for the delivery of services for multi-national and indigenous organisations, neither concept fully services the needs of knowledge-based service for SMEs. With "co-source" an SME can fully maximise best in class technology using their own resources with the specialist skills and customer relationship experiences. The SME’s expert sales or customer service employee has access to the call centre and the supporting multimedia technology.
eCIN Summary
- eCommerce technology infrastructure for SMEs
- Call Centre is front door for eCIN customers
- Service levels differentiates eCIN customers from their competitors
- Revenue generating web callers receive prompt response from call center agents
Who will benefit from this eCommerce Infrastructure Development?
eCIN provides a facility whereby SMEs can provide expert service using call centre technology. Further, the eCIN forum established to co-ordindate the project will evaluate the project on an on-going basis and assist in optimising the deployment and use of the new technology for the SME sector.
eCIN is deployed Nortels through the telecommunications companies, particularly Eircom, and addresses all market segments:
Retail
Tourism
Information Technology
Banks
Service Sector
Nortel Networks
Mervue Business Park
Galway
Tel: + 353 91 733552
www.nortelnetworks.com
walshd@nortelnetworks.com
