CASE STUDY

Industry Sector - Utilities

International Energy Supplier Launches its First Web-Based .NET Applications

Scenario:

As part of their Six Sigma business improvement initiative, the company wished to improve knowledge sharing and the deployment of skills-based teams from within its UK Business Transformation Unit. The organisation also wanted to improve the quality and speed of customer service offered by its call centre operators. To meet these requirements, they selected Infographics, a leading Microsoft Gold Partner, to develop Web-based solutions for Knowledge and Contact Management.

Background:

The client is an international energy company serving over five million electricity and gas customers in the US and the UK, providing electricity generation, transmission, distribution, supply services, coal mining, gas storage/hub services and supply of gas. In the UK, the company’s Business Transformation Unit is responsible for devising and implementing strategic IT projects that deliver operational improvements across the company. They also operates a customer and sales service that provides a direct link between the company and its 3.5 million retail electricity and gas customers, with activities including handling customer enquiries through three call centres.

Implementation:

The key aim in developing a Knowledge Management application was to create a mini warehouse that would drive improvements in the Business Transformation area of the Customer Service and Sales intranet site by providing swift access to information about all members of the Business Transformation team including contact details, skills, experience and specific project histories. The goal was to streamline and speed up the process of building appropriate project teams by enabling online searches based on job skills and experience criteria. They also wished to improve continuity and quality of customer care provided through call centres. To this end, Infographics was selected to develop a Web-based Contact Management application that would enable better tracking of enquiries and provide real-time access to associated internal staff data.

Infographics recommended use of the innovative Microsoft.NET technology platform to deliver flexible, robust applications to meet these requirements. Experienced .NET development professionals from Infographics worked in conjunction with the client’s Web Development Team and Senior Business Unit Directors to achieve a tailored finish that closely matched business requirements, within budget and set timescales, across each project.

Infographics also provided specialist skills transfer and training in the latest .NET Web development environment, including techniques for development and design of .NET applications using C# and ASP.NET and related SQL Server database design.

Business Benefits:

The .NET Knowledge Management application has allowed the client to gain maximum benefit from the skills and experience of the Business Transformation Unit whilst reducing time and effort involved in deploying project teams, and enabled enhancement of its shared learning culture. The .NET call centre application has improved the quality and speed of customer service provided by operators in their day-to-day work by enabling them to track the history of enquiries and access contact details for staff who have taken previous calls. It has also streamlined information finding and had a positive impact on the call centre operators’ working lives.

In summary, the business benefits gained include:

  • Superior knowledge sharing and transfer within Business Transformation Unit
  • Ability to fully leverage internal staff skills and experience to deliver cross-company benefits
  • Improved quality and speed of customer service through Customer Call Centres
  • Enhanced support and improved working tools for call centre staff

Infographics were selected to develop and deploy innovative Web-based solutions for Knowledge and Contact Management that would deliver improved efficiency, time and cost savings and have a positive impact on the quality of the working lives of client staff. By providing development specialists who could work closely with the client’s in-house resource the project delivered a successful outcome that will have significant impact on the client’s business operations and bottom line.

Technical Overview:

There were a number of technical and operational criteria specified by for each application, as detailed below.

Knowledge Management Application:

  • Flexible, robust Web front and back end administration area
  • Enabled non-technical staff to carry out updates to Business Transformation data – add, amend and remove staff members, project details
  • Enable a detailed ‘skills and experience’ and free text search
  • Enable users to securely amend their own details

Contact Management Application:

  • Enable database to be queried from a Web front end
  • Enable database to be maintained from a private Web front end
  • Empower non technical staff to maintain administration pages – add, amend and remove operator codes, records, contact, categories
  • Offer extensive structured and free text search facilities

Summary:

Infographics has assisted the client in achieving its Six Sigma goals by successfully delivering the company’s first Web-based .NET applications. These have proved to be flexible and robust solutions that have enabled them to make a significant improvement to focused areas of their company’s internal and customer-facing operations.