Readers Digest - Inspired service

The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. is a global leader in publishing and direct marketing; creating and delivering products that inform, enrich, entertain and inspire people of all ages and cultures.  The company's flagship magazine, Reader's Digest, is published in 48 editions and 19 languages and is sold in more than 60 countries.

Overloaded staff
Increased call volume made it difficult for operators to efficiently connect callers.  A majority of the volume originated from employees who called the main number requesting transfers to other employees and departments.  The multitude of routine transfer requests affected the level of service provided to all callers, especially those who needed specialized assistance. 

After hours coverage
After hours, when operators were not available, Reader’s Digest security officers were forced to answer switchboard calls, distracting them from their nightly responsibilities.  This was a serious concern because the company placed a high level of importance on safety measures and immediately took action to alleviate “call answering” from the security officer’s list of duties.

Limited telecommunications staff
Reader's Digest’s telecommunications department was diligently focused on maintaining telecommunications operations and processes, ensuring their existing equipment was cost effective and running efficiently and researching new methods of call handling and streamlining communications.  Their research led them to Parlance’s NameConnector.  “It was important to implement a turn-key service because we have limited staff for telecommunications support.  We are very pleased with the level of service provided by Parlance Corporation,” said Terry Marganella, Director of IT Client Services at Reader’s Digest.

Quick results from a managed service
Parlance’s NameConnector service was installed and operational in one business day. The service greets all callers to the main number before the second ring, prompts for the name of the person or department and automatically connects the caller in seconds.   The service is available to all callers 24/7 and utilizes customized greetings for holidays, weather notifications or emergencies. 

One digit access
Reader’s Digest employees have one digit access to the NameConnector and the service virtually eliminates all routine transfer requests to the switchboard, enabling operators to focus on callers who need specialized assistance. 

Lower operating expenses
NameConnector connects over 30,000 Reader's Digest callers per month.  It has significantly reduced Reader’s Digest existing operating expenses by lowering call duration times and reducing IT support costs. 

Positive user acceptance
“I’ve received extremely positive responses from our calling community.  NameConnector is much more efficient and costs less than operator assisted service.  Today, we provide our clients and customers with an improved level of service and have seen an immediate ROI,” said Terry Marganella, Director of IT Client Services at Reader’s Digest.  Usage continues to grow, the service has connected nearly 1 million callers since its installation.

Expanding enterprise service
Due to ease of installation, rapid user acceptance, immediate operator offload, and excellent vendor responsiveness, Readers Digest installed NameConnector at several sites.  

“NameConnector is much more efficient and costs less than operator assisted service.  Today, we provide our clients and customers with an improved level of service and have seen an immediate ROI,” says Terry Marganella, Director of IT Client Services at Reader’s Digest.