IRVINE, CALIF. (June 14, 2006) - For the second consecutive year, The Toll Roads´ Customer Service Call Center, which is operated by VESystems, has been recognized as a "Certified Center of Excellence" by BenchmarkPortal, in conjunction with The Center for Customer-Driven QualityTM at Purdue University. This certification places the Call Center among the top ten percent of call centers evaluated nationwide.
Irvine-based VESystems, which provides customer service and toll violations services under contract with the Transportation Corridor Agencies, initiated the re-certification process in February 2006.
"This year our emphasis has been on reducing the customer wait times and continually surveying customers to see how we can more fully meet and exceed their expectations" said Joel Bishop, Chief Operating Officer for VESystems.
"It is especially gratifying to have earned this re-certification in 2006, the busiest year ever for The Toll Roads´ Call Center," said Manfred Rietsch, VESystems Chief Executive Officer. The Call Center responds to an average of 2,502 phone calls every day. In 2005, VES customer service representatives handled a record 600,000 phone calls.
Dr. Jon Anton, Director of Benchmarking at BenchmarkPortal, stated, "Becoming re-certified as a Center of Excellence is the result of a lot of hard work on the part of the agents, supervisors, and managers at The Toll Roads´ Call Center. Anyone can just handle customer calls, but at The Toll Roads´ Call Center the team focuses on being both effective and efficient in the calls that they handle. This is what makes for a really great center, a balance between quality and quantity."
BenchmarkPortal, which provides data and benchmarking services for call center management, conducted the rigorous review of the Call Center operations. The Center of Excellence designation indicates that The Toll Roads´ Call Center ranks among the top ten percent of over 50,000 customer call centers evaluated nationwide and has successfully met strict measures of performance in the areas of customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, standards, and management.
About TCA
The Toll Roads are operated by the Transportation Corridor Agencies, two joint powers authorities formed in 1986 to plan, finance, construct, and operate Orange County's 67-mile public toll road system. Fifty-one miles of the system are complete, including the San Joaquin Hills (73) Toll Road from Newport Beach to San Juan Capistrano; and the Foothill/Eastern Toll Roads (241, 261, 133) from the 91 Freeway to south Orange County. On the web: www.thetollroads.com.
About VESystems
VESystems is an innovative electronic toll and data collection services company committed to exceeding our customer's expectations through focused utilization of technical and operational experts. VESystems provides industry-leading return-on-investment with proven software and management processes. We create project specific solutions derived from practical, real-world experience utilizing cutting-edge technology. VESystems' passion is to be the dominant provider of world-class software, customer services, and operational expertise throughout the U.S. and Canada. Established in 2000, the company has grown from 23 to over 115 team members. On the web: www.vesllc.com.
About BenchmarkPortal
BenchmarkPortal (BMP) is the custodian of the database of contact center performance metrics in conjunction with The Center for Customer-Driven QualityTM at Purdue University. This is the largest database of best practice metrics in the world. BMP provides peer group reports, industry reports, and services for contact centers in the areas of operational metrics, customer satisfaction measurement and agent satisfaction measurement. In 2005, BMP received a U.S. Patent (#6,877,034) for its unique methodology of online contact center performance benchmarking through metric gap analysis. BenchmarkPortal's web site can be found at: www.BenchmarkPortal.com.
For additional information about BenchmarkPortal contact:
Susan Hampton
BenchmarkPortal, Inc.
(805) 614-0123 ext. 36
SusanHampton[at]BenchmarkPortal.com