The UK postal service does not seem to have been out of the news for the last 12 months with cut backs, strikes and general upheaval at Royal Mail. However, at a time when services are being cut, prices increased and post offices closed the Royal Mail directors have introduced a new technology into the mix, an online virtual assistant called Sarah and a service called, Ask Sarah.
As a consequence of a deal with Transversal, a ‘multi-channel eService provider', the Royal Mail has been able to eliminate 50% of calls to the company's contact centre in little over two months. This offers the potential for substantial cost savings, many of which is it hoped will be ploughed back into more rural post offices in an effort to save some services from cut backs.
‘Sarah' is literally able to answer hundreds of different questions from the cost of certain parcel weights to the exact location of that recorded delivery item you are waiting for. In an era where Royal Mail has come in for some harsh criticism it is interesting to see the company embracing new technology, something which will be further enhanced by the delivery of over 25,000 handheld CN3 mobile computers for collecting signatures at the doorstep. |
|
Reader Comments: 0
