Jet Airways, IBM in call centre deal; arrangement to increase revenues
Binoy Prabhakar, ET Bureau Jul 4, 2013, 11.25AM IST

NEW DELHI: IT giant IBM will manage the customer call centre, including providing improved analytics capabilities and a 'refreshed' IT infrastructure, for Jet Airways, India's second-largest airline by passengers carried, the two companies announced on Thursday.

Under the 10-year contract, IBM will provide contact centre and back-office services for the airline's 11 lines of business such as domestic and international reservations, Jet Privilege program, cargo, refunds and helpdesk services. The arrangement is an extension of their three-year relationship under which Jet says the IBM helped transform its core IT Infrastructure.

The new arrangement includes implementing an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system to improve services and use of advanced analytics technologies to increase revenue through insights gained while managing the centre. The arrangement will increase revenues by Rs 20 crore and save costs significantly, according to the companies.

Jet's call centre was previously handled by Trans Continental e-Services Pvt Ltd, a group company, which also runs as an independent BPO. Manish Dureja, marketing vice-president, Jet Airways, said the company decided to migrate and consolidate the contact centre under IBM in order to gain scale, get the best resources and talent and competitive advantage and make significant cost savings.

Dureja said Jet needed to arrive at the right time in terms of cost mix to make the transition happen. "While there was an existing arrangement, certain process had to be evaluated before extending the partnership," he said, adding that the entire offering now comes under one umbrella without any disruption and inconvenience to customers.

He said discussions on extending the partnership began nearly one and half years ago. "Talks for the project got concluded in May."

IBM has been providing a host of IT services to Jet, including managing data centre operations, ERP, flight operation, revenue management, roster and crew management, customer relationship information system, aircraft maintenance and operations system, baggage reconciliation system and sales force automation.

Anuj Kumar, GM, IBM India Global Process Services, said what his company is endeavoring to do is two significant tasks - improve revenues and make substantial cost savings.

Kumar said analytical tools have two key planks: one, data analytics in terms of managing data and drawing intelligent conclusions and second, the marketing side, where IBM will deploy tools, including marketing and campaign management tools. The aim is to create a better customer outreach and streamline the quality of services, he said.

Although customers are increasingly booking online, a call centre is significant for an airline. Customers make calls for various activities, including bookings, where they get it ticketed from travel agent, said Dureja. But a growing number of customers are increasingly using the IVR and completing the booking. Many also reschedule flight, check-in, seek flight update and information by the phone, he said.

Besides Jet, IBM has 7-8 airline clients, said Kumar. The aviation industry is an important focus of business, he said.