American Express deploys Avaya IP Telephony solutions at its Middle Eastern HQ and new contact centre in Bahrain

The new solutions have increased American Express' Manama contact center productivity by 30%, and cut call response time by 20% as the 30 agents at the Manama customer care centre are now able to provide 24/7 service to American Express credit and charge customers around the region. The new Avaya IP solution enables American Express to provide highly personalized customer service via multi-media channels including email, the Internet, chat, phone and fax. American Express has also migrated the communications network at its Bahrain headquarters to Avaya IP telephony, bringing unprecedented opportunities for the company to reduce costs and boost productivity.

Mr. Trevor Stokes, President and CEO, American Express Middle East (AEME) said, "Through Avaya's IP telephony, we are tapping into very powerful communication features boosting our productivity and allowing us to be much more responsive to our ever-changing business environment. The financial services sector is highly competitive and building a close relationship with our Cardmembers is critical to our success. Avaya IP solutions give our Cardmembers a whole new tailored experience from our multi-media contact center."

In addition, AEME plans to link the new Bahrain contact centre with its existing customer contact centers in the region, further extending multimedia services for its customers.

Mr. Stokes explained, "We will be able to build on our existing investment in the other contact centers across the region by enabling the communication platform, based on traditional telephony, to integrate seamlessly with our new IP-enabled call center in Bahrain. The system will then automatically route Cardmember calls to an agent located either at one of our offices across the region or to our Manama contact centre enabling our Cardmembers to communicate with our agents through a secure channel and at their convenience."

The solution is based on Avaya's S8700 Media Server, running Avaya Communications Manager software. The staff has Avaya 4610 and 4630 telephone handsets, while the contact center uses Avaya Elite Contact Center.

Nidal Abou-Ltaif, Managing Director for Avaya Middle East and North Africa said, "These are very exciting times for Avaya in the Middle East. The project with American Express demonstrates how our technology is truly transforming the way businesses in this region can tap into innovative communication solutions to improve service, enhance productivity and achieve a competitive advantage over their competition."