Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd), a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation, has come out with a new innovative service that reduces call center hold times.
Under the new service, a customer has the option to hang up and have ComEd call them back in the same amount of time they would have been placed on hold.
ComEd, which responded to about 13 million calls a year, operates two call center facilities in the Chicago area.
On an average, attempts to reach a customer service representative (CSR) are answered within 30 seconds.
The utility's call centers can handle 30,000 calls per hour as a result of voice response technology that allows customers to make simple transactions, such as reporting an outage or paying a bill, without having to talk to a CSR.
This new feature will be beneficial especially for more complex inquiries, such as billing or credit issues that require the assistance of a CSR, as it will dramatically reduce hold times if a representative is not immediately available.
Under the new service, callers will receive the option to hang up if there is an extended wait time to speak with a CSR, and will receive a return call in the same amount of time as if they stayed on hold.
The service also will be available for Spanish-speaking customers.
"We are always looking for ways to improve customer satisfaction," said Phyllis Batson, vice president of Customer Contact, ComEd said in a press release. "We know our customers don't like to be placed on hold for long periods of time. This technology upgrade gives them the freedom to do other things while they wait for a customer service representative to call them back."
ComEd claims that the new technology would help in significantly reducing abandoned phone calls because of hold times.
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation, one of the nation's largest electric utilities with approximately 5.4 million customers.
ComEd provides service to approximately 3.8 million customers across Northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state's population.
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Anil Sharma is a contributing editor for ContactCenterSolutions. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.