With centralized contact center reporting across
all locations, you can learn about the business –
how to improve a revenue stream, how to run the
business more efficiently and how to appeal to
various customer needs.

When powerful NASCAR® racers roar
around the dramatically banked turns of Daytona
International Speedway each February, race fans
are too excited to think about the behind-thescenes
companies that help fuel the remarkable
growth of NASCAR racing.

But one of those companies – International
Speedway Corporation (ISC) – is thinking about
the fans. A new Avaya customer contact center is
speeding ticket sales, giving fans new sources of
race information while enabling ISC managers to
integrate and manage customer service across all
11 ISC racetracks. This high-performance customer
care solution from Avaya is steering motor
sports promoter ISC into first place with its fans
by putting fans onto the fast track for service.

Moreover, an outbound auto-dialer developed
in partnership with Trien & Associates is enabling
ISC to personalize its service to fans even further.
Sales are up and events are selling out sooner.

Customer service, responsiveness and agent
productivity have all improved – driving sales up
and leading to faster sellouts of events.

Challenge: Improving ISC Operations

Historically ticket sales for ISC-hosted events
were independently handled through telephone
contacts with ticket offices at each of the 11 race
locations. When it came to providing accurate
information about each local venue, such as
details about seating locations, track conditions
and parking, the local ticket staff could provide
firsthand information from on-site – a real benefit
for fans.

With 11 stand-alone sales offices, however,
ISC was missing out on opportunities to unify
and streamline ticket sales management and
operations. The ticket offices were not true contact
centers. Since each location was independent, ISC
employees at one track were unable to back up
the teams supporting venues at other tracks during
busy times of the year. Statistics on call handling,
such as customer wait times and average call
handling time, were not uniformly collected and,
therefore, were not effectively managed. And there
was no opportunity to integrate new technologies,
such as the Internet and email, for selling to and
communicating with fans. For a business that hosts
millions of paid motor sports fans each year, it was
time to shift to a higher gear.

ISC managers decided to explore the benefits
of creating a centralized, multichannel contact
center. Collaborating on the project was Trien &
Associates, a consulting firm that had handled
many communications technology projects for
ISC. The in-house expert was ISC Contact Center
Director Tom Canello, a veteran experienced at
handling ticket sales for multiple locations and
events. Canello would serve as liaison with the
ticketing directors at the tracks.

“Coming into it,” says Trien & Associates,
“there were individual ticket offices at the various
racetracks, but there was no overflow capability
– they couldn’t help one another out. They had
no weekend coverage because ticketing offices
weren’t open most of the year. During the weeks
leading up to a race event, they would open
with very limited hours of operation. ISC was
definitely missing out on sales opportunities.”

“We wanted to improve the level of service
for our fans,” Canello adds. “At each track, the
staff operated a ticket office. They’re selling
tickets at the walk-up, they’re fulfilling tickets,
they’re mailing – they’re doing 10,000 other
things. Taking ticket sales over the phone
was just part of what they did. They weren’t
specifically trained to handle our race fans as
efficiently and productively as a contact center
agent would.”

Trien & Associates and Canello fine-tuned
the approach:

• Establish a core group of professionally
  trained agents to handle calls from race fans
  more efficiently and productively, yet include
  and integrate operations of the disparate ticket
  offices;
• Provide early, late and weekend coverage the
  ticket offices could not offer;
• Give race fans better access to information via
  an automated FAQ database available from
  the track’s 800 number, yet ensure seamless
  transfer to a live agent when necessary;
• Make the best use of budget dollars, consolidate
  and invest centrally for improved
  productivity, instead of upgrading and maintaining
  11 independent sets of systems and
  applications; and
• Integrate new sales and communication
  channels, such as Internet, email and Web
  chat with the contact center for more effective
  marketing and sales initiatives.

Solution Wanted – for Millions of Fans

After establishing a detailed set of specifications,
ISC issued an initial contact center request for
proposal (RFP). On the mailing list were a number of contact center vendors,
including Avaya.
Site visits followed as ISC took an in-depth
look at the competitors. The original RFP was
modified to incorporate additional features and
vendors. With millions of fans to please, the rule
was “Get it right.”

At the same time, ISC wanted to prove to itself
that a centralized contact center would be able to
successfully handle sales for racetracks in distant
locations. Several months of testing with a small
group of agents proved that a centralized solution
was on the right track.

ISC selected Avaya to provide the contact
center solution, with Avaya Global Services to
provide long-term maintenance services. “You’ve
got to have a good foundation,” says Trien &
Associates. “We wanted a solid ACD (automatic
call distributor) to handle the incoming calls and
provide good control over call flows. We also
required a robust reporting system to provide
the detailed data necessary to run the center
and make well-informed decisions. The Avaya
Call Management System provided us with this
critical capability.”

Another factor in the decision, according
to Canello, was the ability for Avaya to easily
virtualize its centralized contact center operations
to include ticket office personnel at the
individual racetracks. “With the Avaya solution,
we knew we could equip all the racetrack sites
with the IP Agent application,” Canello says.
“And our network folks were really thrilled
since they didn’t have to re-engineer the network,”
because ISC chose the “telecommuter”
option that provides a separate voice path rather
than the “road warrior” option that combines
voice with data.

“We needed to incorporate the employees at
the track,” says Canello. “That was one of the key
requirements, and it actually eliminated a couple
of the other vendors’ offerings.”

The deadline to install the Avaya contact
center solution for Phase One – including Avaya
Media Servers powered by Avaya Communication
Manager, Avaya Call Management System,
Avaya Interactive Response and Avaya INTUITY
™ AUDIX® voice messaging – was a short
five months away.

An important phase one addition would
be valuable computer telephony integration
capabilities, made possible via the Avaya
Interaction Center application. ISC would add
the email and Web chat channels, also part of
the Avaya application, in the future.

Though the deadline was short, installation
proceeded smoothly. And that dependable
performance has continued. “Since it’s been operational,
the Avaya contact center has performed
very well,” says Trien & Associates.

ISC Strengthens Service With
Avaya Customer Interaction Suite

After only months of operation, the rich flow of
information from his new Avaya contact center is
giving Canello invaluable new insight into how
ISC is really serving its fans, and helping boost
sales for ISC.

Employees working in ticket offices at distant
racetracks supplement a central contact center in
Daytona Beach, Fla., staffed by 50 to 70 agents,
depending on the season. All are connected
through a single Avaya automatic call distributor.

“With centralized contact center reporting
across all locations, it’s just amazing what you
can learn about the business – how to improve
a revenue stream, how to run the business more
efficiently,” Canello observes, “and also how
to appeal to various customer needs, whether it
be the email customers, or those who just want
information. We are seeing ways to deliver what
the public wants, and make it an easier purchase.”

Among the major gains:

• Customer Service and Support – To handle
  thousands of information-only calls without
  taking valuable agent time, ISC uses Avaya
  Interactive Response. Callers reach a main
  menu with choices to purchase tickets, get
  information, inquire about existing orders and
  buy travel packages or merchandise. Based
  on the caller’s preference, Avaya Interaction
  Center connects the fan to an agent or to a set
  of frequently asked questions focused on the
  track in question.
• Voice Automation – ISC estimates that
  Avaya Interactive Response is accessed by approximately
  8 to 10 percent of incoming calls.
  This helps make ISC agents more productive
  and allows ISC to grow productively by handling
  more callers without increasing staff.
  But even more important is the increased
  accessibility to timely racetrack information it
  provides for ISC fans.
• Enhanced Self-Service – ISC uses previously
  gathered information to identify a fan’s favorite
  driver. Then, using an outbound auto-dialer
  from Viecore, Inc., an Avaya DeveloperConnection
  member, ISC sends personalized
  messages to fans in the voice of their favorite
  NASCAR drivers – promoting ticket availability
  and upgrades, hospitality packages and other
  event-related opportunities.

Initially, message prompts allowed customers
to transfer directly to the ISC contact center
where an agent can finalize a transaction
– a capability that was speech-enabled in its
subsequent phase.

The current system has already ratcheted up
sales. “With the outbound program currently in
place, we have seen an increase in event-related
sales at our contact centers. Hearing a driver’s
voice has definitely made a difference, and the
automated system is very efficient.”

The system also enables ISC to make better
use of its human resources, Canello notes.

“Giving fans the option to hear recorded
information frees our agents to help those callers
who really need personal attention, and to focus
on high-value ticket sales. Of course, if an FAQ
caller decides that they want to talk to an agent,
our Avaya solution makes the transfer seamless
and easy.”

• Agent Productivity – In the past, only 23
  percent of calls to ISC racetracks resulted in
  ticket sales. That’s because the agents were
  spending a lot of time answering questions
  from fans – answers that Avaya Interactive
  Response now provides.
• Picking Up the Pace – By matching automatic
  number identification information with
  customer records, Avaya Interaction Center
  instantly gives agents valuable customer
  information via a “screen pop,” an advantage
  Canello estimates can shave 30 to 40 seconds
  off the average time for each call. The reduction
  in call handling time provides an immediate
  8 percent productivity gain.
• Managing After-Call Work – When a call is
  completed, contact center agents log in to an
  auxiliary code to account for any time when
  they’re not available for calls. “It
  helps us quantify exactly how long
  it’s taking to do certain activities,”
  Canello says, “so it works hand in
  hand with some other initiatives
  for which we’re trying technologywise
  to increase speed.”
• Extending Performance Knowledge
  Across the Business – “Our
  ticket office personnel are great
  ticket-selling people, but now
  they’re starting to understand
  what the value of having a call
  center is all about,” says Canello.
  “Average talk time, average speed
  of answer, after-call work – it’s
  educating the people in the ticket
  offices to better understand how we can better
  serve the fans, and how productive
  we are.” The result is a win both for ISC,
  which is operating more productively, and
  for fans, who still have access to on-site
  knowledge from employees at the local
  racetrack ticket offices.
• Increased Customer Service on the Way –
  With Internet ticket sales starting, Canello
  looks forward to handling multiple channels
  of communication – a specialty of Avaya Interaction
  Center. “We’re really shooting for a
  one-stop shop for our fans,” he says. “If they
  are on the Internet, they can email or open a
  Web chat and get their questions answered. If
  a fan sends an email, and then picks up with a
  phone call, the agents on the phone will have
  access to the complete interaction history to
  address the issue at hand.”
• Quality Assurance Improvement – To ensure
  the consistent delivery of high-quality service
  to the customers, the contact center has added a
  NICE Quality monitoring system to systematically
  record customer interactions with
  agents based on a variety of criteria. These
  interactions enable supervisors to coach agents
  more effectively and determine the need for
  supplemental training.

High Performance, Start to Finish

Unlike the high-horsepower racers that roar
around its tracks, International Speedway
Corporation operates quietly, behind
the scenes. However, behind ISC’s
low-profile image lays a powerful
drive to be the best in the competitive
entertainment industry. And now, by
serving its customers more effectively
with the Avaya Customer Interaction
Suite and enhanced self-service, ISC
has added a critical ingredient to its
formula for victory.

Learn More

For more information on how Avaya
can take your enterprise from where
it is to where it needs to be, contact
your Avaya Client Executive or
Authorized Avaya BusinessPartner,
or visit us at www.avaya.com.

About Avaya

Avaya enables businesses to achieve superior
results by designing, building and managing
their communications networks. Over 1 million
businesses worldwide, including more than 90
percent of the FORTUNE 500®, rely on Avaya
solutions and services to enhance value, improve
productivity and gain competitive advantage.