Examples...

Knowledge Network

A Primary Matters Total Cost of Ownership/ROI Analysis . . .

The Impact of Adding Web-based, IVR-Voice Recognition, Self-Help to the FAQ and Case Management Solutions of a Technical Support Center

February 27, 2003

Primary Matters, Inc.
(902) 794-7095
www.primarymatters.com

Executive Summary
Time to Break Even
Impact on Headcount
Impact on the Budget
Impact Summary of Project Initiatives
Baseline Assumptions
Baseline Reports - Baseline Headcount
Baseline Reports - Baseline Budget
Activities Used in this Model
The Technical Support Center Headcount after Project Implementation
The Technical Support Center Budget after Project Implementation
The Web-based, IVR, Self-Help FAQ and Case Management Upgrade Project Budget
Cost per Customer after Project Deployment
Summary of Activity Costs after Project Implementation for January 2004

Executive Summary

The following chart illustrates the financial and labor impact of upgrading a typical technical support center's self-help resources. In particular, adding Web-based, voice recognition support to the IVR FAQ and Case Management for access by the field organization. The field organization is primarily traveling from one customer site to another, and has limited access to the Web. Improvements in the IVR script are paramount to making a self-help environment effective.

Time to Break Even

The following chart shows the cumulative cash flow impact, by quarter, of the IVR Case Management Upgrade project. Noting that the project doesn't start until the second quarter, breakeven on the project occurs at the end of the 5th quarter (the end of the 6th quarter of this model).

Impact on Headcount

This chart identifies the before and after change in headcount due to the project.

THE BLUE AREA REPRESENTS HEADCOUNT REDUCTION!

Impact on the Budget

This chart shows the impact on the Technical Support Center cash budget.

THE BLUE AREA REPRESENTS BUDGET SAVINGS!

Major Initiatives and Benefits to The Company from the Self-Help Upgrade Project

The goal of the Web-based, IVR, Voice Recognition FAQ and Case Management Upgrade Project is to significantly increase the use, by the field organization, of the current IVR and Web platforms by expanding its capabilities to provide more services for FAQ and Case Management. By doing this, the calls handled by technical support personnel will be significantly reduced, thus leading to both short and long term cost savings. The following highlights the major emphasis of the project:

Web-based, IVR, Voice Recognition Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)

There are 9,000 technical information support queries into the support center per month. The Web-based, IVR, Voice Recognition solutions could reasonably reduce these in half. The remaining 4,500 calls will still go to Tech Reps. Their average duration will increase from 4 minutes to 4.67 minutes per call, since the support personnel will handle the more complex calls.

Web-based, IVR, Voice Recognition Case Management Solutions

Personnel in the field create, review and modify cases by calling the technical support center and going through the information with the tech rep. The goal of adding Web-based, IVR Case Management is to enable a significant number of these calls to be off-loaded from the reps. The Web-based, IVR, Self Help Case Management solutions will provide the ability to:

Create a new Case
Listen to notes provided about the Case
Modify Case Notes
Close Cases

These applications will reasonably enable:

Offloading 40% of the calls creating new cases (reducing the 21,000 new case calls down to 12,600), and
Reducing the case modification, note query, and case closure calls from 13,500 to 6,750 per month.

The calls routed to technical support reps will increase in length as shownJune 3, 2005l productivity gain (the rate at which field personnel begin to use the self-help features) is estimated to take one year.

Impact Summary of Project Initiatives

This table summarizes the project upgrades and assumptions that are used in creating this Business Impact Analysis.

Baseline Assumptions

Labor Types and Compensation

Technical Service Representatives: These personnel handle the bulk of Level 1 and 2 calls. Their compensation is $62,000 per year with 30% benefit loading (including federal and state obligations). They have 10 vacation and holiday days, as well as 15 days of new employee training and 5 days of annual ongoing training. The average job duration is 36 months.
Technical Service Representatives - Level III: These are the highly skilled engineers who handle the complex technical issues. Their compensation is $83,000 per year with 30% benefit loading (including federal and state obligations). They have 10 vacation and holiday days, as well as 15 days of new employee training and 5 days of annual ongoing training. The average job duration is 36 months.
Technical Service Rep Supervisors: These personnel are the technical managers with a ratio of 12 Tech Reps per Supervisor. Their base compensation is $100,000 per year. All other assumptions are identical to the other employee classes.
Operations Personnel: These personnel handle the systems used by the Technical Support Center. Their base compensation is $60,000. All other assumptions are identical to the other employee classes.

Systems, Offices and Telecommunications Expense

The Baseline has included the costs of several technology solutions for the agents, office expense and telecommunications expense. These are:

A high-end ACD already in production
PCs with 19" monitors
A mid-range Case Management solution for the reps already in production
Offices at $2 per sq ft per month
Telecommunications services charged at $0.07 per minute

Project Costs

The total project costs are anticipated to be $785,000. These are allocated as shown in the table below.

Baseline Reports - Baseline Headcount

Baseline Reports - Baseline Budget

Activities Used in this Model

The following lists the Activities entered into this model. Not all of the Tech Rep calls or activities have been entered...only the Activities that vary due to the Web-based, IVR, FAQ Self help and Case Management project need to be modeled to analyze the impact of the solution.