TTEC Secures Contract With GSA
CX technology and services provider TTEC has won a contract to modernize CX at a wide range of US federal agencies. The federal task order, titled Centers of Excellence (CoE) Contact Center Support, was awarded by the US General Services Administration (GSA) to TTEC Government Solutions, a TTEC subsidiary, to be administered in partnership with TTEC Digital, the business segment of TTEC that deploys and optimizes CX delivery solutions.
The contract will provide consulting and advisory services for federal agencies supported by the GSA, the US government body established to help manage the basic functioning of federal agencies. The contract also seeks to upgrade the user experience (UX) of the public during its interaction with government agencies and aims to create operational efficiencies among government bodies. Those twin initiatives are in line with an executive order issued by the Biden administration in December 2021 mandating federal agencies improve their CX and enable the public to conduct business with the government in simple, seamless, and secure fashion.
Related Article: OMB Launches Biden Agenda Calling for Improved CX Within the Federal Government
TTEC Digital officials say the company will help the GSA meet these goals through a differentiated ability to design, build, and deliver exceptional CX.
“Our consulting practice at TTEC Digital brings robust experience in CX strategy, operations, and technology, backed by our 40-year history of implementing and managing contact centers for thousands of clients,” says Dave Seybold, CEO at TTEC Digital. “Our world-class subject matter experts will act as a cohesive extension to the CoE and its existing capabilities, delivering seamless customer experiences for GSA and partner agencies.”
TTEC Digital’s approach will enable the GSA to leverage TTEC expertise, paving the way for partner agencies to receive tailored guidance, support, and recommendations. TTEC Digital will also provide capabilities in generative AI for advancements in training, knowledge management, talent acquisition, and employee retention at the agencies to provide journeys that are on par with the CX offered in commercial markets, TTEC executives state.
TTEC Digital began working for GSA in the summer. The contract, valued at more than $4 million, covers an initial base period of 12 months, with an option to renew and extend the agreement for two 12-month periods.
Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, TTEC is known for delivering CX technology and operational CX orchestration through its proprietary cloud-based CXaaS—CX as a service—platform. Established in 1982, the company has grown its business over the years through various acquisitions and now employs 63,900 workers on six continents.
8×8 Modernizes Customer Engagement Efforts at Lake Ridge Bank
Integrated cloud contact center and unified communications platform provider 8×8, Inc., successfully helped Monona, Wisconsin-based Lake Ridge Bank in the financial institution’s efforts to enhance customer engagement across the organization and improve employee experiences (EX).
With nearly 400 employees spanning 21 branch locations in Wisconsin, Lake Ridge Bank needed an integrated contact center and unified communications platform across mobile, desktop, and web that was scalable and easy to manage. More important, the bank required a communications solution to enable every employee in the organization—whether or not they were in the contact center—to interact with customers and provide service, especially for complex customer inquiries necessitating input from highly specialized and knowledgeable banking advisors.
With advice from Illinois-based IT consultant ACP CreativIT, Lake Ridge Bank chose 8×8 and its XCaaS—experience communications as a service—platform to help modernize the bank’s communications infrastructure to meet CX targets while enhancing operational efficiency. With its XCaaS platform, 8×8 enabled all bank employees regardless of location to obtain access to needed resources, resulting in enhanced collaboration across the company and improved customer service. The integrated XCaaS platform has also allowed the bank to reduce costs by removing the need for multiple, disparate systems.
Related Article: Customer Wins for 8×8, MoEngage, eGain, WebEngage, and Salesforce
Wade Carlson, information security and UX officer at Lake Ridge Bank, says the bank’s mission is to provide customers with the highest level of service and the best possible support. “With 8×8, we have a reliable, easy-to-manage platform that allows our managers and employees to focus on their customers, rather than technical errors or hardware malfunctions. It provides us with the same peace of mind and trust we work so hard to give our customers.”
Hunter Middleton, chief product officer at 8×8, extols the partnership and says the company is proud to provide Lake Ridge Bank with the solutions it needs. “We understand how important it is for financial services organizations to provide their customers with resources and services they need, while also providing an excellent customer experience.”
Oracle Helps Expedite Cloud-First Journey for Bahraini Telcom Firm Batelco
The Bahrain Telecommunication Company (Batelco) is revamping its core IT platforms through the deployment of Oracle Communications technologies and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Both companies have stated that with the Oracle solutions, Batelco aims to respond to changing market dynamics and meet the evolving needs of its customers with innovative new services.
“The partnership between Batelco and Oracle embodies a shared vision to accelerate digital transformation within the telecommunications sector,” says Rashid Mohamed, general manager of technology at Batelco. “With an unwavering commitment to excellence and market leadership, this collaboration will optimize our infrastructure, fortify our service offerings, and lay the foundation for future ‘techno’ breakthroughs.”
To onboard customers and roll out new services faster, Batelco will upgrade existing Oracle Communications products to a cloud-native version before moving the mission-critical telco workloads to OCI. The result will be a fully managed and automated environment, providing Batelco with greater performance, automated scaling, enterprise security, and high availability to manage demanding workloads.
Batelco is also upgrading its Oracle Siebel CRM through augmentation with CX solutions to help enhance customer journeys, create a centralized product catalog for easier product management, and provide 360-degree views of customers to improve service and offer a new automated experience, according to the telecom firm.
Batelco will also be moving to the latest versions of several Oracle Communications solutions, including Oracle Cloud Scale Charging and Billing for end-to-end revenue management, and Oracle Unified Orchestration and Oracle Unified Inventory and Topology to accelerate the design, delivery, and management of 5G, fiber, and digital services.
Jason Rutherford, senior vice president and general manager of applications at Oracle Communications, says the company’s applications will not only support current mobile and fixed services but also help drive additional revenue-generating services, from enterprise offerings to future technologies enabled by 5G and IoT. “Batelco has been a long-time Oracle collaborator, and we remain committed to supporting the transformation of their critical business operations and customer experiences for this new era in connectivity.”
Author Information
Alex is responsible for writing about trends and changes that are impacting the customer experience market. He had served as Principal Editor at Village Intelligence, a Los Angeles-based consultancy on technology impacting healthcare and healthcare-related industries. Alex was also Associate Director for Content Management at Omdia and Informa Tech, where he produced white papers, executive summaries, market insights, blogs, and other key content assets. His areas of coverage spanned the sectors grouped under the technology vertical, including semiconductors, smart technologies, enterprise & IT, media, displays, mobile, power, healthcare, China research, industrial and IoT, automotive, and transformative technologies.
At IHS Markit, he was Managing Editor of the company’s flagship IHS Quarterly, covering aerospace & defense, economics & country risk, chemicals, oil & gas, and other IHS verticals. He was Principal Editor of analyst output at iSuppli Corp. and Managing Editor of Market Watch, a fortnightly newsletter highlighting significant analyst report findings for pitching to the media. He started his career in writing as an Editor-Reporter for The Associated Press.
