Colorado Springs Utilities has adopted a hosted call center solution from Qweest that allows the organization to improve how it delivers key services, including meter-reading appointments, account review and service call status.

Qwest partnered with Contact Solutions, Inc. to deliver an integrated, cost-effective call center environment that combines network-based, hosted interactive voice response (IVR), intelligent call routing, multi-channel call distribution, multimedia contact management, network-to-desktop computer telephony integration, customer relationship management integration and consolidated reporting.

The system directs callers to the appropriate customer service agent using hosted-services technology. This multi-channel environment creates a flexible way to handle call flow and is powered with on-demand scale and capacity to economically address call-volume spikes. The combination of capabilities lets Colorado Springs Utilities tailor its outbound and inbound messaging, depending on business needs and changing customer preferences.

The menu of self-service options reduces wait times by giving Colorado Springs Utilities’ agents a more complete customer view. With visibility to data across channels, agents can pull up customer records, and review and track account activity.

Qwest's professional services team also worked with Colorado Springs Utilities to make Qwest Contact Center Solutions part of the organization’s business continuity and disaster recovery planning with three site redundancy. Because Qwest Contact Center Solutions offer the flexibility to direct callers to agents at work or at alternate locations, businesses such as Colorado Springs Utilities can remain up and running in the event of an emergency.