Customer Case
Mediahuis Noord Streamlines Customer Support with Polly.help Integration
Introduction
Elevating Customer Engagement Strategies at Mediahuis Noord
Mediahuis Noord, formerly known as NDC Mediagroep, is a Dutch publishing company specializing in newspapers, weekly magazines, periodicals, regional books, and online platforms. As of late 2020, the company became part of Mediahuis, a Belgian publisher known for The Telegraph. In November 2021, the company adopted its current name.
A case study conducted by KPN in partnership with Polly.Help.
The Challenge
A Disjointed Solution
The Solution
Integrating Polly.help with Genesys
Roger Hendrikx, Account Manager for Customer Contact Solutions, provided guidance during the implementation process. He introduced Mediahuis Noord to Polly.help knowledge management as a valuable addition to Genesys, leveraging the KPN API Store, which had received positive feedback from other clients. Polly.help offered a quick and intuitive way for contact center agents to find answers to customer inquiries.
Van der Plas explained that while they did have a knowledge base previously, it was housed in a different system and lacked comprehensive features. Following Roger’s recommendation, she visited Heineken that also utilized Polly.help integrated with Genesys. Impressed by its functionality, Mediahuis Noord proceeded to implement the integration with the assistance of KPN Genesys engineers.
Mediahuis Noord’s customer contact center manages queries for over 40 brands, often employing students with limited availability. Polly.help has provided them with a knowledge repository accessible to both employees and customers. With a single click within Genesys, users can access all relevant information about each brand.
Polly.help offers not only advanced search capabilities but also the ability to easily share answers via various channels such as chat and email. Each channel has tailored responses; for example, an email response might be more detailed than one for Twitter. Polly.help is also integrated with Mediahuis Noord’s websites, ensuring that FAQs are automatically updated. Furthermore, the platform’s analytics feature provides valuable insights into its usage, allowing Mediahuis Noord to address any shortcomings promptly.
Results
Since the integration of Polly.help, Van der Plas has observed significant improvements in the customer contact center. They now have a single source of truth, enabling employees to search quickly and efficiently, eliminating the need to sift through emails or various files as they did previously. If information is missing, the back office takes responsibility for updating it.
Polly.help has also resulted in substantial cost savings. Van der Plas estimates saving €2000 per month due to the deployed web self service portals on their websites. Internally, the savings come from increased efficiency and a higher first-time fix rate. Notably, it has led to a 30 percent reduction in email volume.
30%Â reduction in e-mail inquiriesÂ
20%Â increase in agent efficiency
The Power of Polly.help
Enhancing customer service: dive into Mediahuis Noord's journey with Genesys and Polly.help
Introduction
Mediahuis Noord, formerly known as the Noordelijke Dagblad Combinatie (NDC), boasts over 40 brands, including Dagblad van het Noorden and the Leeuwarder Courant. In collaboration with KPN, the media company implemented the Genesys Cloud Contact Center, a platform that routes all subscriber inquiries to its employees. Following a suggestion from KPN, Polly.help knowledge management was integrated into Genesys, enabling both employees and subscribers to swiftly access relevant information about a brand.
In this interview, Polly.Help engages in a dialogue with Didi van der Plas, Manager Customer Contact Center, to delve into the pivotal role of knowledge within the organization, the advantages ushered in by knowledge management, and their forward-looking perspectives.
Describing the customer contact center solution previously in place at the Mediahuis Noord as “a somewhat makeshift solution,” Didi van der Plas, Manager of the Customer Contact Center, explained, “The solution consisted of disparate components, including an outdated telephony system and separate systems for webcare and chat. We needed a routing platform to better manage everything, and we ultimately chose the Genesys Cloud Contact Center. After inviting various parties to participate, KPN emerged as the top choice,” Van der Plas recalled. The omnichannel Genesys contact center of Mediahuis Noord went live in December 2019. All channels are now directed to the platform, where customer queries are easily and swiftly prioritized and routed to employees.
Roger Hendrikx, Account Manager for Customer Contact Solutions, guided Mediahuis Noord through the implementation process. “During the sales process, we highlighted a valuable addition to Genesys from the KPN API Store, which had garnered enthusiastic feedback from other clients—Polly.help knowledge management. This tool enables contact center agents to find answers to customer queries quickly and intuitively,” Hendrikx explained.
Van der Plas added, “While we did have a knowledge base, it resided in a different system and was not ideal. At Roger’s recommendation, I visited a Dutch multinational that also integrated Polly.help into Genesys. I observed how they managed it and was highly impressed. Subsequently, with KPN Genesys engineers’ assistance, Polly.help realized the integration for us.”
Mediahuis Noord’s customer contact center handles queries for more than 40 brands and primarily employs students with limited availability. “This presents a challenge in ensuring that customers always receive the correct answers for the brand in question. Polly.help provides us with a knowledge base for both our employees and customers. Within Genesys, you can access Polly.help with a single click, where all relevant information for each brand can be found,” noted Van der Plas.
Polly.help not only offers comprehensive search functionality but also facilitates easy sharing of answers through channels such as chat and email. Tailored responses are available for each channel, with email responses being more extensive than those for a Twitter interaction. Furthermore, Polly.help is integrated with Mediahuis Noord’s websites, ensuring automatic updates to FAQs. Lastly, the analytics feature proves invaluable for Mediahuis Noord. Van der Plas stated, “This allows us to track how frequently people use Polly.help and address any shortcomings.”
Accordion Since the adoption of Polly.help in February 2020, Van der Plas has seen significant improvements in the customer contact center. “We now have a single source of truth where our employees can easily and quickly search, instead of having to sift through their email inbox or various files as they did in the past. If they lack information, they report it, and our back office takes care of it.”
Since the adoption of Polly.help in February 2020, Van der Plas has seen significant improvements in the customer contact center. “We now have a single source of truth where our employees can easily and quickly search, instead of having to sift through their email inbox or various files as they did in the past. If they lack information, they report it, and our back office takes care of it.”
Polly.help has also led to considerable cost savings. Van der Plas explained, “For external knowledge bases on our websites, I save about €2000 per month. Internal savings primarily stem from time saved and increasing the ‘first-time fix’ rate. This has resulted in a 30 percent reduction in email volume.”
KPN served as the single point of contact during the implementations of Genesys and Polly.help. Van der Plas expressed, “We were fully supported. The collaboration was very pleasant. KPN’s personnel are down-to-earth and easy to work with.”
Van der Plas also spoke highly of the after-sales service: “Roger occasionally checks in to see how things are going, and if I ever need anything, it’s promptly provided. Overall, in my view, KPN deserves high praise.”
Polly.help is one of the integrations available in the KPN API Store. With an API, which stands for Application Programming Interface, applications can be connected to one another. The API Store offers connections to KPN services and partner services for other organizations. Users receive comprehensive support and can engage KPN as a development partner for advice and integration.
APIs in the store that are frequently utilized by customer contact centers include speech-to-text, enabling text search and import into CRM systems, as well as WeSeeDo, which allows contact center agents to view the customer’s camera feed.
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