EFG-Hermes banks on Orange Business Services for IP transformation

The Arab world's premier investment banking firm has already embraced IP telephony services and plans to enhance its call centre operations to support its expansion plans in the Middle East region.

Orange Business Services has been working with EFG-Hermes since 2005, when the implementation of an MPLS based IP network provided a future-proof platform for their contact centres and the telephony systems to support them. As part of its overall expansion strategy, and to capitalise on growth opportunities in the Middle East region, EFG-Hermes now plans to expand on its base of existing offices in Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as well as increasing the number of call centre agents to 500.

Building upon EFG-Hermes' existing IP VPN infrastructure, Orange Business Services will enable call centre locations with a distributed, single IP telephony system which will create one virtual call centre across the region. The call centres will gain a number of features, such as intelligent call routing across the region, online call queue monitoring and virtual overflow call routing to their other centres, ensuring the best use of their resources and call centre staff. This simplified IP infrastructure will bring EFG-Hermes benefits such as enhanced customer responsiveness, an increase in operational efficiencies, a boost in service levels and a new competitive advantage.

"The new call centre strategy will increase customer satisfaction, boost our overall levels of productivity and support trading across three different stock markets in different time zones. We will be the only brokerage in the Middle East region with the capability to trade in this way," said Sherif Cararah, Managing Director of EFG-Hermes Securities Brokerage.

"Like EFG-Hermes, we are a customer focused business, harnessing creativity and innovation. The IP transformation that EFG-Hermes is going through will bring them substantial competitive advantage. By leveraging knowledge and resources across the whole region, their customer interactions will be more effective and flexible. This will enable EFG-Hermes to grow their business and nurture their market leadership," said Lionel Reina, Vice President and General Manager of Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Orange Business Services.