2000 Press Release
LawNet users, among the first to benefit from additional password reset options. Faster turnaround time of at least one day and/or cost savings of up to 99 per cent expected
Singapore, 28 January 2000 - Singapore Network Services Pte Ltd (SNS) is taking on a more customer-focused tack.
Mr V. Mathivanan, MD, SNS, explained: “With more dot com companies coming into the scene and keen competition, customer service matters even more today. It will be one of the discerning factors in getting customers.”
“Look at the businesses now. Every dot com company offers e-commerce services, automatic dial-in systems and information on the World Wide Web to allow users to do business at their convenience. But what can help us to stand out, besides good support infrastructure, 24-hour x 7-day customer support call centre, is good customer service.
Barely three months since he took over the helm of the company, he has re-defined its service levels, and set standards that go beyond basic and expected levels of service.
New improved procedures for Reset Passwords
One area that will benefit from the change in service levels is the resetting of passwords for LawNet users. LawNet is a strategic legal information and communications network that allows the legal sector quick and accurate access to up-to-date law and submit electronic documents for processing.
“During a lunch meeting with Mr G. Kannan, Assistant Director, LawNet Services of the Singapore Academy of Law, he brought up the issue of LawNet users having to go through an long arduous process to get their password reset. Within a week of liaison with several parties, getting the necessary consensus and ensuring the necessary security measures are in place, plans were in place to roll out the new improved process across the board,” recounted Mr Mathivanan.
In contrast to the previous method of getting courier services to pick up the new passwords or receiving them through the conventional mail, SNS' 6,000 LawNet users can opt to pick up the passwords via e-mail, fax or the simple telephone call.
Besides a shorter turnaround time – at least one day - users can save up to 99 per cent of their collection costs.
Ms Serene Wee, Director of Singapore Academy of Law, which is in charge of the LawNet Secretariat, said: “We are very pleased to see the promptness of SNS to customer feedback, and SNS' timeliness in introducing these options to users of the LawNet service. This will give our users more flexibility and choices without compromising on security. We commend SNS for its commitment in customer service to our LawNet users.”
This is being tried out by a pilot group of LawNet users. From 1 February 2000, it will be made available to the users in the legal and manufacturing sectors. SNS has over 25,000 network users in the trading, manufacturing, distribution, retail, real estate, construction, healthcare and legal sectors. Within the next few months, these new options will be extended to users of other business sectors. The procedures would vary according to the requirements by the business partners.
A lawyer of Harpal Wong & M. Seow who is currently a user of the Singapore Titles Automated Registration System, under LawNet's conveyancing module, commented: “The option to collect the new passwords via e-mail, fax or phone has certainly helped in expediting our work by at least one day as compared to getting the passwords through the mail or by courier.”
Ms Sharon Ross, a legal secretary from another law firm agreed: “As we do not need to collect the passwords in person, the turnaround time of receiving our passwords via the new options that SNS has efficiently introduced has been reduced from several hours to a few minutes!”
“This initiative is one of several that we are undertaking to improve our service levels as a customer-centric company. We need to understand how our customers' expectations are rising and changing in this digital age. What was good enough last year may not necessarily be good enough today. There will always be room for improvement. Though we cannot meet every need every time but we are making a concerted effort to listen to our customers through regular customer sessions and act on them,” said Mr Mathivanan.
Revamp of Call Centre
One change in the pipeline is the revamping of its 24-hour Call Centre. The company is currently reviewing the customer support infrastructure which handles on average some 600 customers' queries daily. The revamp will see even more sophisticated Internet-based customer relationship management and voice telephony software installed in addition to its present artificial intelligence used to provide customer care and problem resolution.
Opinion Poll via the Internet
In its bid to continuously improve its level of customer service, SNS will, over the next few weeks, make available an opinion poll mechanism on its Corporate Website at http://www.sns.com.sg. This will enable users to provide their feedback over the Internet on SNS' specific products and services, and news.
Already used internally to understand staff sentiments, this Web-based opinion poll system over the Intranet was developed to gather and consolidate employees' views on corporate policies or topics discussed during employee gatherings.
For the opinion poll over the Internet, e-mail alerts will be triggered and routed immediately to the respective parties at SNS upon receipt of feedback, thereby ensuring prompt follow up action as opposed to online general feedback mechanisms that may take up to one day to be routed to the relevant parties.
Said Mr Mathivanan: “This online opinion poll system is a clear manifestation of our keen efforts to be attuned to our customers' needs and provide prompt follow-up action. We hope to attain high levels of customer satisfaction that would differentiate us from other dot com companies in this competitive Internet economy.”