Go BackUK: Rail text contract for Eckoh
National Rail Enquiries has awarded a new three year contract to BT and strategic business partner Eckoh, the UK's largest provider of hosted speech recognition services, to provide TrainTrackerT Text, an interactive SMS text-based journey planning solution.
The service, which went live in early April 2008, complements the existing speech-enabled TrainTrackerT journey planning and travel information service (0871 200 4950), launched by BT and Eckoh in January 2005.
TrainTrackerT Text will be fully integrated with National Rail Enquiries' journey planning engine, ensuring that up to the minute and consistent information is given to travellers, irrespective of channel. Like the automated speech service, TrainTrackerT Text allows customers to obtain real-time arrival and departure information for UK journeys.
Furthermore, the service uses the same 'built in intelligence' as the speech service to recognise callers and to anticipate their requests.
To use the service, customers simply send a text message to the mobile short code 84950 to obtain live arrival and or departure information for their chosen station or journey.
"National Rail Enquiries is committed to providing travellers with comprehensive, multi-channel travel information services," says National Rail Enquiries CEO, Chris Scoggins. "With their ability to deliver complex messages succinctly, BT and Eckoh's technology will allow us to provide an enhanced level of information via this rapidly expanding channel".
"The widespread use of text as a means of accessing information whilst on the move has proven to be tremendously popular, making this an ideal channel for National Rail Enquiries and a perfect complement to the speech based service which has been so warmly embraced by rail travellers," adds Eckoh's Executive Director, Jim Hennigan. "We are increasingly working with clients to develop combined automated speech and interactive text based solutions as part of their multi-channel service strategies."
The TrainTrackerT automated speech service currently handles an average 15,000 calls a day and up to 50,000 calls per day during severe rail service disruptions. TrainTrackerT has been heralded as one of the UK's most innovative self service contact centre deployments, winning a variety of awards within the rail and customer management communities.
Date - 19/06/2008
