Eckoh has entered into an exclusive contract with Addison Lee to provide automated speech recognition services until 2014.
Addison Lee, a minicab service with more than 3,000 premium minicabs, takes approximately 150,000 calls a week and has more than 28,000 corporate accounts.
Eckoh originally signed a two-year agreement in November 2010 to provide a telephone booking service to allow Addison Lee's cash customers to book a minicab without having to speak to a contact center agent.
Using Eckoh's advanced speech recognition technology, the service allows a cash customer to provide the time he needs a cab and the pickup and drop off locations, and the details of his journey are then confirmed to his mobile by text. Eckoh also uses any previous journey information for that customer to improve the accuracy and speed of the system. This service launched just before Christmas in 2010 and helped Addison Lee to manage more efficiently the time of the year when calls to their contact center are at their highest, eliminating the need for callers to queue for an agent.
As Christmas 2011 approaches, the new contract will see the automated phone service extended to allow Addison Lee's 28,000 account customers to also book journeys using the Eckoh solution. Eckoh is also working with Addison Lee on other services that will launch in 2012.
"Addison Lee has established a tremendous reputation for technical innovation, combined with high-quality customer service, so we're delighted that they've selected Eckoh as their exclusive partner for speech automation," said Nik Philpot, CEO of Eckoh, "We're looking forward to partnering with them over the next three years and providing a range of services that helps enhance their reputation through technical excellence and customer satisfaction."
Peter Ingram, IT director of Addison Lee, added: "We have been really impressed with how responsive and flexible Eckoh has been to our needs and how well they've delivered on our requirements, and this is why we&'ve decided to extend our relationship with them until 2014. Over the last year, the automated solution has helped us manage our incoming calls much more effectively, which is particularly useful in a business like ours where call levels can increase massively and unpredictably. The service has given our cash customers an alternative way of booking over the phone and we're looking forward to offering the same flexibility to our account customers."
Enquiries:
Eckoh plc
Nik Philpot, CEO
Adam Moloney, group finance director
www.eckoh.com
Tel: 01442 458 300
Buchanan Jeremy Garcia, Nicola Cronk, Gabriella Clinkard
www.buchanan.uk.com
Tel: 020 7466 5000
Singer Capital Markets
Shaun Dobson Tel: 020 3205 7500
About Eckoh
Eckoh is the UK's leading provider of customer service solutions using speech recognition and complementary services on the Web and mobile. Eckoh's solutions enable transactions, enquiries, or payments to be processed without the caller needing to talk to a contact center. This significantly reduces its clients' costs while freeing up contact center agents to deal with more complex enquiries. Eckoh is the largest provider of such hosted services in the UK.
Eckoh's secure and resilient infrastructure has the scalability to handle more than 650,000 calls an hour and up to 8,000 calls simultaneously, which means calls can always be answered no matter how unpredictable the circumstances.
For more information, visit: www.eckoh.com
About Addison Lee
Addison Lee operates a fleet of 3,000 minicabs and 200 chauffeur driven Mercedes-Benz. At almost five times the size of its nearest competitor, Addison Lee is Europe's largest minicab fleet. Ten million passengers travel with Addison Lee every year. The company also offers a range of other services, including executive coaches, international chauffeur cars, and a one-hour courier service in central London.
For more information, visit: www.addisonlee.com