FROM: Colin Bishop, Chief of Member Services
SUBJECT: Engagement of ICMI Consulting for phone system and call-center consulting services
RECOMMENDATION:
title
Approve the engagement of ICMI Consulting for phone system and call-center consulting services, in an amount not to exceed $78,000.
body
BACKGROUND:
Several months ago, SBCERA staff began researching consultants to conduct a comprehensive assessment of our current phone system. This assessment will feed into the phone system replacement project which was outlined in SBCERA's Triennial Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2020-2022. While SBCERA's phone system has been targeted for replacement for some time, the importance of this project has been underscored by two separate system outages which disabled SBCERA phone services in late 2019. In addition to exploring a phone system solution which can withstand similar service disruptions, we are looking for a call-center product which can help improve customer service by accelerating call routing, minimizing queue time, and making better use of metrics. We also plan on taking a more deliberate approach to training for our staff, to include best and leading customer service practices from both the public and private sectors. Additionally, we expect the chosen consultant to partner with us on what we anticipate as a highly technical and complex procurement process for a replacement phone system.
To assist with the project, SBCERA contacted four major customer contact/call-center consulting firms, and received a set of proposals from each. All proposals were professional and comprehensive, and the International Customer Service Management Institute ("ICMI") was selected as the preferred vendor. Through their written proposal, work samples, and discussions with SBCERA, ICMI's team demonstrated a thorough understanding of the technology, workforce management, and customer service aspects of this project in a way that we feel provides the best v...
Click here for full text