To serve its hundreds of thousands of customers SWAN operates its Call Center in the eastern region of Slovakia in the city of Prešov. We have discussed the challenges in customer care operations with Lukáš Petruš, Head of B2C & B2B Call Center at SWAN.
Why did SWAN decide to launch its own Call Center and why did you choose Prešov as its location?
SWAN operates across all regions of Slovakia, not just through sales representatives but with entire teams playing crucial roles in various service segments. Our Call Center in Prešov was established in 2018, building on our existing B2B monitoring center in the city. This allowed us to seamlessly integrate monitoring and business support with our customer communication in other segments. The decision to have an in-house Call Center in Prešov was strategic for SWAN, leveraging the city’s quality workforce and high productivity. Previously, we outsourced Call Center services with a First Call Resolution (FCR) rate of 54%. Now, with in-house support, our FCR rate has increased to 94.5% for mobile services and 78% for fixed services. This significant improvement in customer experience allows us to oversee all processes, respond flexibly to changes, participate in company plans with immediate customer feedback, and focus on targeted development of call center operators.
What roles does your Call Center fulfill?
Establishing and constructing the Call Center was a multi-year process. Today, SWAN’s Call Center provides comprehensive support for residential services, mobile services, B2B support, and operates our network monitoring center. We also created a retention department for the 4ka brand. Besides calls, we handle online communication via webchat, Facebook, and contact forms. Our Call Center is 100% inbound and passive, focusing solely on customer support and service without any sales activities.
How has the Call Center benefited the Prešov region and how has it established itself over the years?
In 2018, the Call Center started with 20 operators for the residential segment. The organic growth of SWAN’s customer base and product portfolio propelled us forward. Today, the team, including monitoring and B2B support, consists of over 70 specialized professionals. For Prešov, this means significant employment opportunities, especially for technical graduates. We regularly collaborate with high schools in IT and networking disciplines, providing secure job opportunities in an established company. Our turnover rate is well below 10%, an impressive result in the Call Center industry. This success stems from our approach to both customers and employees, treating colleagues as internal customers. Over six years, the Call Center has developed a stable structure of supervisors, signaling to operators that career growth is possible within the Call Center, and they can contribute to decisions that improve processes and customer experience.
How can modern technological advancements be effectively integrated with the human element in a Call Center?
One of the toughest challenges in running a Call Center is adapting to change. The COVID-19 crisis highlighted this need. Customer behavior and demands are changing rapidly, and if we can’t respond dynamically, we won’t improve the customer experience. Currently, AI is a major focus in Customer Care, where it will soon have a significant impact. Two years ago, we began preparing to integrate AI into our support systems. Today, we have an AI voicebot in our IVR and are gradually implementing a chatbot and mailbot. In the future, further integrations will enable us to fully integrate AI as a key part of our team.
Where do you see current challenges for your Call Center or Call Centers in general?
As I mentioned, focusing on the advent of AI in various areas, particularly customer service, is essential. The challenge will be to keep up with the rapid growth of AI and its possibilities across all segments of our company, with special attention to Customer Care. Visionary thinking will become a necessity for every manager.
Finding the right balance between using AI and maintaining human interaction will be crucial. While AI is a powerful tool, it has limitations: it lacks critical thinking and the ability to convey the right emotions in communication. Humans are essential, especially when handling complex customer data and providing nuanced solutions. Identifying when a human should step in will be a key challenge.
Additionally, the AI-driven changes will free up human potential, which must be effectively utilized. Employees should not feel that computers will replace them. It’s important to show that their work remains meaningful and essential, highlighting their potential and talents.
Predictions indicate that over 80% of future jobs do not yet exist and will emerge with AI’s development and use. At SWAN Call Center, we see our people as our greatest asset, vital for the future alongside AI.
Lukáš Petruš, Head of B2C & B2B Call Center, SWAN
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