Xcel Energy implemented a project to consolidate its three contact centers onto a single virtual call center platform. The project objectives were to improve customer satisfaction, reduce risks from old technology, lower expenses, and boost employee engagement. As a result of the project, customer satisfaction metrics, self-service transactions, and cost savings increased while staffing needs and abandon rates decreased. Key factors for the project's success included strong executive support, flexibility, and partnership between call center management and business systems.

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Contact Centers and Beyond
Xcel Energy
Speaker: Stewart Goldfarb
Co-Author: Adam Burnoski

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Maybe Technology Can Help

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Xcel Energy
• Serves 3.4 million electric customers and
1.9 million gas, across 8 Midwest and
western states
• Operate 16,427 Mw distribution and
generation assets
• #1 wind power producer in the nation
• #1 voluntary green energy program

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Project Objectives
• Primary Objective
– Improve customer satisfaction
• Secondary Objectives
– Reduce risk presented by old technology
– Reduce operational expense
– Improve employee engagement

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Contact Center Operation
• 3 primary contact centers
– Amarillo, Texas
– Roseville, Minnesota
– Eau Claire, Wisconsin
– Denver, Colorado (satellite center)
• 700 agents
• 13 million annual contacts
• 50%+ IVR self-service

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Before View
• 3 PBX/ACD end of life
– Routing based on BSR (Best Service Routing)
• 3 IVR systems nearing end of life
• No ability to transfer calls between sites
once queued
• Routing and skill changes done manually
to balance service levels

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Design Objectives
• 3-site survivable design
• Single virtual call center & queue
• Queue and skill consolidation
• IVR applications on standard platform
• Technology platform for future
• Improved reporting
• Improved call routing

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Infrastructure Design
• Single PBX/ACD Avaya Communications
Manager
• Other 2 sites contain survivability servers
• Distribute calls to 3 sites port networks
Avaya G650
• Route calls across a private network

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Design
Diagram

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Call Routing
• Collapse skills/queues to a single set and
simplify
– Original: more than 300 skills
– Now: 100 total
• Back office workers utilized as reserve
agents along with cross-skilled agents
• Calls routed across network to next
available skilled agent

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Call Routing Results
• Significant reduction and simplification in
the overall vector design
• Reserve agent utilization typically in the
range of 2-6%
• Improvement in the occurrence of
extended max delays
• A staff reduction of 1.4% was achieved
while increasing call load by 4.6%

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Testing
• Used internal and external call generators
• Loaded port network to maximum
• Tested quality with random live calls
• Developed suite of disaster scenarios at
full load

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Improved Reporting
• Avaya CMS & IQ for customer experience

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Avaya IQ Detail Trace
Contact - Trace
Contact ID: 9076143
Time Zone: Central
Start
Contact
Direction
Routing Point Process Queue Destination Party Role State Dur. Exit Reason Interaction ID Source
Mar 14, 2010
8:19:30 PM
Inbound None None None 615796xxxx Customer Arrive 00:00:00
Processing
Started
9076143 Skypark_CM
Mar 14, 2010
8:19:30 PM
Inbound
CO Customer
Call (1790278)
None None 615796xxxx Customer
Waiting In
Process
00:00:05
Contact Queued
to Automated
Agent
9076143 Skypark_CM
Mar 14, 2010
8:19:35 PM
Inbound None CallRouter None Unidentified tel:615796xxxx Customer PC Self Service 00:01:51
Process
Transferred
9076143 VoicePortalSP
Mar 14, 2010
8:19:35 PM
Inbound
CO Customer
Call (1790278)
Voice Portal All
Production
(900)
None 615796xxxx Customer
Waiting in
Queue
00:00:00 Delivered 9076143 Skypark_CM
Mar 14, 2010
8:19:35 PM
Inbound
CO Customer
Call (1790278)
Voice Portal All
Production
(900)
None
IVRCPSP01 Port
28 (1796484)
Agent Alert
00:00:00
Contact
Accepted
9076143
Skypark_CM
615796xxxx Customer Alert Skypark_CM
Mar 14, 2010
8:19:35 PM
Inbound
CO Customer
Call (1790278)
Voice Portal All
Production
(900)
None
IVRCPSP01 Port
28 (1796484)
Agent Active
00:01:51 Held by Agent 9076143
Skypark_CM
615796xxxx Customer Active Skypark_CM
Mar 14, 2010
8:21:26 PM
Inbound
CO Customer
Call (1790278)
Voice Portal All
Production
(900)
None
IVRCPSP01 Port
28 (1796484)
Agent Hold
00:00:00 Reactivated 9076143
Skypark_CM
615796xxxx Customer On Hold Skypark_CM
Mar 14, 2010
8:21:26 PM
Inbound
CO Customer
Call (1790278)
Voice Portal All
Production
(900)
None
615796xxxx Customer Active
00:00:00
Contact
Completed at
Automated
Agent
9076143
Skypark_CM
IVRCPSP01 Port
28 (1796484)
Agent Active Skypark_CM
Mar 14, 2010
8:21:26 PM
Inbound
CO Customer
Call (1790278)
Voice Portal All
Production
(900)
None 615796xxxx Customer
Waiting In
Process
00:00:00 Outflowed 9076143 Skypark_CM
Mar 14, 2010
8:21:26 PM
Inbound None
Voice Portal All
Production
(900)
None
615796xxxx Customer Outflow Alert
00:00:03
Contact
Accepted
9076143
Skypark_CM
615796xxxx Customer Outflow Alert Skypark_CM
Mar 14, 2010
8:21:29 PM
Inbound None
Voice Portal All
Production
(900)
None
615796xxxx Customer Outflow Active
00:00:05
Party
Disconnected
9076143
Skypark_CM
615796xxxx Customer Outflow Active Skypark_CM
Mar 14, 2010
8:21:34 PM
Inbound None
Voice Portal All
Production
(900)
None 615796xxxx Customer Outflow Active 00:00:00
Party
Disconnected
9076143 Skypark_CM
Mar 15, 2010 11:26:10 AM
CDT

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IVR
Reporting
•
•
•

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Post-Call Survey
• Using the Verint Customer Feedback
system
• Nearly 30% of customers agree to take
survey
• More than 95% complete 5 questions
• Perception of employee performance is
tempered by survey results

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Dev / Test Environment

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Real-Time Monitoring
• Empirix OneSight / Hammer platform
• Use real synthetic transactions to monitor
PBX/IVR performance
• Use production test accounts with known
values

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Execution
• Complete telephony infrastructure change
• Complete IVR change including rewrite of
application
• Project tracked to within 1% of the
original $7 million budget
• Was delivered within 1 week of schedule

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How We Did
Customer Impacting 2008 2009
Independent customer satisfaction survey for IVR 87% 90%
J.D. Power IVR results 3rd Quartile 1st Quartile
Abandon rate 3% 2.3%
Metric (annualized basis) Target Actual
Reduction in staffing 5% 6%
Increased in IVR self service transactions 340,000 440,000
IVR Utilization Rate
* Actual of past 3 months
45.9% 47.1%
* 51.0%
Reduction in operational expense $860,000 $900,000

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Keys To Success
• Complete alignment between call center
management & business systems
• Having strong & supportive executive
sponsorship
• Flexible execution team adjusting to
changes
• Strong business PM (Adam) partnership
driving innovation and change into the call
center

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Project 2 in Execution
• Project Overview: Three Initiatives
– High-volume call answering
– Proactive contact
– Agent optimization
• Business Drivers
– High outsource costs for inbound and outbound
– Reduce and eliminate vendor relationships
– Integrated agent management suite synergy
– More accurate scheduling
– Improved customer service

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Project 1 - Completed

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Project 2 – In Execution

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Xcelenergy.com – In Design

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CRM – Target 2010

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Project 3 – Target 2011

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Xcel Energy
• Stewart Goldfarb
– Senior Business Manager
– Call Centers, Marketing & Corporate Communications
– 550 15th Street, Denver, CO 80202
– 303.571.6702
• Adam Burnoski
– Manager Resource Management
– Call Center Operations
– 3115 Centre Pointe Dr, Roseville, MN 55113
– 651.639.4915