OREANDA-NEWS. November 11, 2010. Sales growth of Pegas Touristik federal travel agency required an upgradeof their Contact Center and an increase in the number of operators to 65. Avaya hardware and software installed by I.T. Co. enable operation of two relatively independent Contact Centers owned by the travel agency. The first Contact Center processes applications submitted by large travel agencies, whereas the second Contact Center handles applications received from private individuals. Via IP-telephony the Contact Center of Pegas Touristik is linked with 150 partner offices throughout Russia. This helped significantly increase sales targeted at regional customers.

Pegas Touristik operates on the Russian market during the last 16 years and focuses on such travel destinations as Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Greece, India, Thailand and other countries. Since 2008 Pegas Touristik uses Avaya S8500 Media Server, which was installed by I.T. Co. to process incoming calls received by the Contact Center. Previously, 40 operators were working each shift and were daily processing over 1000 calls. The number of customers was increasing and by 2010 the number of daily calls was over 2000. By that time the need arose to enlarge the Contact Center for better cooperation with potential and existing customers. The existing office was not big enough for these purposes and the management of the company decided to open a new office specially dedicated for the Contact Center. Pegas Turistik contracted I.T. Co., its reliable partner, to equip its new office located at 47A, B. Ochakovskaya street, Moscow with engineering systems, to move there the existing Contact Center and to upgrade it with additional hardware, as well as to install new telephone system in the main office of Pegas Touristik located on Leningradsky Prospekt.

After making an assessment of current and future load of the Contact Center, I.T. Co. proposed to Pegas Touristik Avaya G650 Media Gateway with 14-slot chassis (main Media Gateway was already being used at 100% capacity), as well as IP Media Processor TN2302 for 64 voice channels and TN799DP (C-LAN), a control LAN interface, with 400 remote sockets.

The project was implemented in two stages. At the beginning, I.T. Co. specialists disassembled all systems at the existing Contact Center, as well as mounted and launched a Private Automatic Exchange (PAX). This new telephone station provides connection to 200 subscriber terminations (192 IP and 8 analog). The PAX is connected to Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) by 2 digital streams with EDSS1 signaling. While implementing a project, it was crucial to consider the possibility to boost exchange and external lines not less than 25%. Avaya S8300 Media Server fully complies with these requirements.

In parallel, I.T. Co. was installing engineering infrastructure at the new Contact Center. The following systems were installed: structured cabling system I.T. – SCS (125 ports), dedicated power supply cabling system (250 sockets), as well as air conditioning system for the server room. The SCS was designed in such a manner that makes it possible to increase the number of ports by 25%. The works were followed by mounting and commissioning of the Contact Center equipment, which became a key component of the travel agency’s corporate communication system.

One particular feature of the new Contact Center is a combination of two contact centers in one. Installed hardware and software serve as a basis for the operation of two relatively independent contact centers. The main Contact Center registers requests received from large travel agencies, while operators perform managers’ functions by managing travel. The second Contact Centers deals with franchising, i.e. cooperates with travel agencies across the country. Currently, there are 150 travel agencies. Operators of the Contact Center transfer calls received from customers to the partner agencies local to the customer’s location or in the nearest city. This cooperation allowed significant increase in sales. If a partner has its own dial system, than an IP trunk is used.

Over 60 operators of the Contact Center (including managers) process more than 3000 calls per day. For their job operators use softphones, i.e. special software, which allows processing of calls via their PC screen. The Contact Center is linked with PAX of the main office via IP trunk, which significantly reduces the cost of internal communications.

Anna Podgornaya, Pegas Touristik, General Director, commented on the initial results of system usage: “Our Contact Center is a key component, which directly influences the efficiency of our business. 80% of successful sales carried out by the travel agency depend on the quality of processed requests, and most of them are received by phone. If a customer received all necessary information, noticed careful treatment during the phone call and accurate work performed by the staff, this customer comes to the office and pays for the trip. Presently, our cooperation with regional partners is very effective and we intend to expand the regional network in the future”.