Central Texas College

S1 helps Central Texas College migrate to integrated communications environment.

Customer Situation

Central Texas College’s phone system had reached the end of its life. Cabling was outdated and features were very limited. The fifteen-year-old system would not accept T1 connectivity, so Caller ID information wasn’t available. 911 facilities had to be routed through a third party, making it cumbersome for the college’s administrator, who had to maintain multiple systems. The call center was in urgent need of an update. With about 17,000 students calling in to register for classes, the college’s Voice Response Unit could accept only sixteen calls at a time—the seventeenth caller received a busy signal. Calls were frequently dropped, and with no reporting mechanisms in place, managers had no way of knowing how many calls had come in, or how long callers were typically on hold. Overall, the system was difficult to manage, and the customer experience was lacking.

S1 Solution

S1 implemented Avaya's DEFINITY Communication Server powered by Avaya Communication Manager 1.3 software—offering Central Texas College powerful choices for migrating to an integrated communications environment. We provided the college with a voicemail system that integrates with email, a call accounting package, redundant processors, connectivity to remote sites, and Voiceover IP applications. To address the bottleneck in the call center, S1 brought in 20-Agent Deluxe Call Center software, which provides managers with the call center reporting they needed. The college can now take advantage of T1 connectivity, so 911 lines can be connected to the main system, without the extra third-party routing.

Benefits for Central Texas College

Central Texas College’s streamlined, more manageable new communication system offers the features required of a modern-day college, and improves the customer experience. The call center is dramatically improved—when calls come in, they’re added to a queue, where callers receive updates on estimated wait times and are given options to continue to hold, go to voicemail, or transfer to an alternative extension. Call center managers get statistics on number of incoming calls, calls in queue, how many calls were taken, and more. Agent-specific reporting is also available, allowing managers to monitor historic and real-time performance for specific call-center operators. A remote site at Fort Hood can now share voicemail with the main campus. With the call accounting package, the college can track the number of calls made, to whom, and the duration of each call. Faculty and staff now have the convenience of receiving their voicemail through email. And with the new system features, the administrator can take advantage of a Web-based database for simple real-time updating of faculty and student extensions.

About Central Texas College

Central Texas College is located in Killeen, Texas. The college employs 1,400 faculty and has an enrollment of approximately 17,000. A large percentage of students study remotely, making communication and connectivity even more critical.

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