KC Contact Centres, part of the KCOM Group plc, a provider of outsourced directory service enquiries across the UK, has launched a new ‘ask anything’ service for 118212 directory enquiries which it provides on behalf of Maureen. The service allows customers to ask any type of question on any subject. The ‘ask anything’ service improves upon the Maureen 118212 directory enquiry offering currently available. The ‘ask anything’ service will also have text functionality which will be delivered by WIN plc, a provider of interactive information and entertainment to mobile phones. WIN will also be supplying KC Contact Centres with backhaul support to ensure an efficient and timely service delivery.

Using the new ‘ask anything’ service, customers in the UK can now not only call 118212 but also text and ask any question their heart desires, whether it be where the nearest pizza delivery place is or what movies are playing at the local cinema. The ‘ask anything’ service will then automatically voice connect the customer with the business they are seeking as well as deliver a text with the contact details. KC Contact Centres recognised the need to give customers the freedom to ask anything and communicate their enquiry via the method of their preferred choice. Their decision to enhance its service offering not only increases the company’s value proposition, but also directly fulfils the increasing demand by customers for an SMS service offering for directory enquiries. These new capabilities and strategic efforts will help differentiate KC Contact Centres within the outsourced DQ market.

To deliver the new ‘ask anything’ service KC has worked with two partners, WIN and Quext. When a voice call is made, the contact centre operator decides whether the question can be answered using the Maureen 118212 service. If not then the caller’s question is allocated to the new ‘ask anything’ service wherein KC Contact Centres will transcribe the question to Quext who will develop an answer and deliver it as an SMS message to the customer. In cases where inbound questions are submitted to KC Contact Centres as a text message, Quext will manage and provide answers back to the customers via an SMS message. This will occur whether it be a Maureen 118212 or ‘ask anything’ type of question using the win contact manager platform as the management and delivery application. Where WIN comes into play is by providing a content management solution, which provides KC Contact Centres with back-office administration and content moderation. This incremental support assists the smooth running of the service and increases KC Contact Centres’ efficiency with account management. WIN’s technology will also enable operators to provide greater value customer support by storing callers’ questions as well as the answers delivered to them by the contact centre. This way, operators are well-equipped with the caller’s enquiry history and able to provide them with relevant and informative customer service at any time. WIN is also providing the SMS delivery platform which will process all responses from Quext and send the SMS messages out to the Maureen 118212 customers.