Zurich Direct Insurance sells general insurance direct to consumer form two call centres: an inbound and an outbound, located in the Chicago suburbs.

Project Summary

Project Managed the software upgrades of call centre automation for inbound and outbound call centres.

Requirement

The two call centres had been under continual development since their initial launch two years before. Due to the continual changes the underlying infrastructure had become obsolete and required an upgrade. Since both call centres were large, had high volumes, and operated 7/24, there needed to be a plan which ensured continual operation with no risk of downtime.

Approach

• A test configuration was set up capable of duplicating either of the two different configurations.
• Call Centre management defined acceptance criteria and a phased in implementation plan was developed.
• Call centre operators were involved on a part-time basis designing test cases, scripts and executing the test cases.
• The software suite was installed in the development lab in Texas and all software was duplicated in the test lab in Chicago.
• Software releases, fixes and changes were installed directly from the development lab via online update and testing commenced immediately.
• The two configurations were upgraded in the development lab in parallel and by alternating the testing between the two configurations, testing in Chicago was continuous.
• Tests were conducted, results posted online and incidents prioritized within minutes of test completion.
• The new releases were implemented ahead of schedule and with no impact on production in either call centre.