By Hiruni Dabarera

In fresh efforts to take its customer services up a notch, SriLanka Airlines launched its new Global Contact Centre at the Iceland Business Institution Colombo 3 yesterday, under the patronage of SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ajith Dias and Chief Executive Officer Captain Suren Ratwatte. 

The upgraded service centre will be open throughout the year to cater to SriLankan Airlines’ worldwide customer base and members of its FlySmiles frequent flyer program through the main contact number 1979. 

“We have enhanced our focus on the needs of our customers as an integral part of our effort to expand our business and bring it to profitability,” stated Dias. “I am confident that this new Global Contact Centre, which will be the first point of contact for many of our passengers, will tremendously increase levels of convenience and delight our customers,” he asserted. 

The difference between the Global Contact Centre and its predecessor is that the latter was managed by two vendors - HelloCorp and IGT. Now the total operation of the centre is carried out by SciCom, which is based in Malaysia with its fully-owned subsidiary in Sri Lanka. 

Furthermore, the former contact centre was open from 8.00 a.m. to 11.30 p.m. and hence missed out on a significant client base from the United Kingdom and other European countries. The upgraded centre now provides 24-hour service with a staff of 126 for SriLankan Airlines and 11 for Mihin Lanka onboard. During peak manning there are 41-81 staff members working at the call centre and during promotions the entire staff is on board. 

The new centre is fully equipped to facilitate 24-hour calling and emails, Skype facilities, Direct Dial numbers for select online destinations, customised services for individual FlySmile members, automated FlySmile balance enquiries, last transaction details and mileage expiry for FlySmile members, enhanced monitoring and the reporting of data and report generation from the state-of-the-art Genesys Contact Centre System and social media monitoring capability. FlySmile is currently available to its members through Facebook, Youtube and Twitter. The software that manages these operations at present is Genesys using the tool ‘Complete Customer Interface’. 

The centre also operates in compliance with international standards on Data Security and Contact Centre Operations. It is expected to shortly be certified for ISO 27001 Information Security Standards. 

When focusing on the new centre’s efficiency in responding to client requests, call centre operatives are given a time limit of 20 seconds to respond to Platinum members. The other members of the FlySmile program - Gold and Classic - are to be attended to within one minute. The overall average customer handling time is five minutes. 

In terms of expansion, the new Global Contact Centre is hoping to include more languages when responding to their clients. At present Scicom has been able to cater to Sinhala, Tamil, English and Mandarin-speaking clients while expecting to incorporate European languages like German and French in the future. 

Scicom has language support for over 40 languages and has managed similar projects in more than 12 countries since its inception. 

“In recent months we have enhanced our product by taking our services to the very doorstep of the customer through an enhanced website, sophisticated new mobile app and new ticket offices throughout Sri Lanka. Our Global Call Centre has been designed to provide a level of service which is in accordance with SriLankan Airlines’ globally-renowned standards in the air and on the ground,” noted Captain Ratwatte. 

Pic by Lasantha Kumara

UL will stick to periodic random substance abuse testing 

Amidst many media reports that have appeared, especially online, regarding the decision to carry out periodic random substance abuse tests on technical crew, SriLankan Airlines yesterday reiterated that it will adhere to the highest standards of safety and will not compromise in its duty to its passengers. 

“The safety and security of our customers will always be our first priority,” the airline said in a statement. 

“The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka requires all airline crew members to undergo periodic random substance abuse testing. Any refusal to take such a test whilst on duty is tantamount to violation of the regulation issued by the Civil Aviation Authority and anyone doing so will be subject to disciplinary action as per existing regulations and procedures,” the statement added.