Media and Communications

In Time of Crisis, Cincinnati Bell Keeps Community Connected, Protects Employees

Founded in 1873, Cincinnati Bell has been around as long as the telephone itself. Always the innovators, they found a solution to quickly deploy remote agents, handle double the call volume and serve their increased new customer base created by stay-at-home orders.

50%

Call increase due to pandemic

290

Contact center employees working remote

Challenge

Manage 50% call volume increase created by global pandemic
Safeguard health of contact center employees by enabling them to work remotely during Covid-19 crisis
Gain insight into overall customer experience

Value Created

Deployment of stable, reliable CCaaS platform that was implemented quickly, cost effectively
290 contact center employees safely working remotely
Staffing levels normalized in three weeks
End-to-end management of the customer experience creating better service, cost savings

Solutions Used

Avaya OneCloud CCaaS

We looked at other vendors but made the decision to go the Avaya route because I knew I was getting a stable, reliable, robust and scalable platform.

For more than 145 years, the residents of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana have relied on Cincinnati Bell, Inc. to keep them connected. Founded in 1873, the company has been around as long as the telephone itself. How does an organization not only survive, but thrive, across multiple centuries? Reinvention and near-constant evolution. It’s in Cincinnati Bell’s DNA.

When the World Health Organization declared Covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, a pandemic, Cincinnati Bell’s culture of innovation was crucial to its swift and effective response.

As Christina Neises, vice president of Contact Center Operations for Cincinnati Bell, Inc., explains, the company was battling this new enemy on two fronts.

“The safety of our contact center employees was paramount. We knew we needed to enable them to work remotely to allow for social distancing,” she says. “At the same time, our call volume increased by more than 50 percent, compounding our staffing issue. We were in a situation of ‘figure it out, and figure it out yesterday.’ And that’s exactly what we did.”

Neises turned to longtime partner Avaya for a stable and reliable solution that could be implemented quickly and cost effectively. As a result, the company’s staffing levels were normalized by week three.

Navigating a Crisis

Ohio’s stay-at-home order caused a surge in subscribers seeking help to connect at home—whether for work, school or entertainment. A Cincinnati Bell survey conducted during that period revealed that a surprising 35 percent of new residential internet customers didn’t have a service provider prior to the pandemic. On the business side, Cincinnati Bell saw increased demand for bandwidth upgrades.

“We have great relationships with Avaya and our partner STARTEK, and we said ‘this is the time where we need you,’” recounts Neises. “The teams from both companies came together with us and we were able to very quickly roll out a solution.”

Within two days of the issuance of Ohio’s stay-at-home order, Neises and her team enabled more than 100 employees to work remotely. They continued moving forward at breakneck speed to transition the rest of the contact center workforce and restore their hours of operation to pre-pandemic levels. Within three weeks, 290 contact center employees were safely working remotely so Cincinnati Bell’s call center was able to meet the increased demand for support and services from Cincinnati Bell customers.