Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      ‘System offline’ scourge to end, says Schreiber – but industry must pay

      23 June 2025

      Why the spectrum gold rush may soon be over

      23 June 2025

      Tech stability key to getting South Africa off damaging financial grey list

      23 June 2025

      Naspers shifts to an AI-first strategy – and it’s paying off

      23 June 2025

      Letter: South Africa risks missing AI wave while world surges ahead

      23 June 2025
    • World

      Watch | Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk’s Mars mission

      19 June 2025

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025
    • TCS

      TechCentral Nexus S0E3: Behind Takealot’s revenue surge

      23 June 2025

      TCS | South Africa’s Sociable wants to make social media social again

      23 June 2025

      TCS+ | AfriGIS’s Helen Hulett on how tech can help resolve South Africa’s water crisis

      18 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025
    • Opinion

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Company News » First Group Management untangles communication complexity with Genesys solution

    First Group Management untangles communication complexity with Genesys solution

    By Pivotal Data20 July 2022
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Established in 2004, First Group Management is a specialist hospitality management company. The company’s contact centre in KwaZulu-Natal serves as a vital cog in the operation, managing outbound sales and collections, and inbound reservations and customer support calls.

    “However, prior to 2019, we did not have a centralised contact centre solution. Each division operated independently of each other,” explains Cecilia Bauer, senior manager: core operations at First Group Management.

    The challenges

      • Centralisation of the contact centre
      • Simplified routing strategies
      • Automated and robust dialling methods
      • Call quality improvement
      • Remote agent routing to on-premises solution
      • Agility and responsiveness in light of lockdown regulations

    “We used complicated routing strategies to connect inbound callers with the right department while fielding e-mails via independent mail clients. The outbound team was also using manual dialling methods, which was ineffective and time-consuming and was holding us back from revenue-generating opportunities.”

    Consequently, the company issued a request for proposals in 2018 and short-listed four potential managed services providers. “While multiple providers recommended Genesys Pure Engage based on the specifications issued in the RFP, Pivotal Data pitched the most comprehensive solution at the best price,” says Bauer.

    Visit pivotaldata.co.za for more

    The Genesys Engage solution completely transformed the business operation. After implementation, First Group Management empowered its agents to be more productive (in fact, agent productivity increased by 23%) and the company was subsequently able to field between 1 500 and 4 000 inbound calls a day, depending on the season.

    The migration happened over a weekend, and it was smooth sailing from day one

    Due to the Covid-19 lockdown, First Management Group realised it needed greater flexibility in its contact centre solution to become a more agile and responsive operation, particularly in light of the challenges posed by strict lockdown regulations, says Thea Bormann, director of support and operations.

    Following extensive consultations with Pivotal Data, First Group Management decided to migrate to Genesys Cloud and Go-live when the company’s Pure Engage contract ended.

    “The cloud migration project kicked off in November 2021 with scoping, and the solution went live in April, which is something we did not think was possible. The migration happened over a weekend, and it was smooth sailing from day one,” says Bauer.

    Due to omnichannel integration, First Group Management achieved a 5% reduction in the average handle time. This is a critical success factor, and its goal is to reduce this by 40%, a feat possible thanks to its migration journey with Pivotal Data.

    More control

    Importantly, the internal First Group Management team now enjoys more control and can self-manage the system to a greater degree via the cloud enhanced dashboards and reporting.

    “This functionality gives us the ability to make changes to configurations on the fly – a process that could previously take weeks,” says Bauer. “And all agents can seamlessly and easily access the solution from anywhere with a reliable Internet connection, which has enabled the company to permanently transition to a work-from-home operation.”

    Adds Bormann: “Migrating the contact centre solution to the cloud environment has brought agility and simplicity to the operation. The cloud migration also unlocked greater opportunities for autonomy through self-management capabilities, with the ability to instantly access and integrate new functionality with fewer on-site resources required, which has lowered operational costs with less time lost on logging service calls.”

    “The resultant business continuity ensured we could remain close to customers and secure bookings during lockdown, which resulted in 100% occupancy across the company’s portfolio when restrictions eased, and pent-up demand drove holiday bookings. The solution was also able to scale effectively to ensure the contact centre could manage the higher call volumes during this period.”

    Remote working capabilities again benefited the business during subsequent catastrophic events in the region, such as widespread riots and flooding, as well as persistent load shedding, which made on-site operations impossible.

    The ability to integrate all departments and sites onto a single platform delivers better collaboration and has simplified internal communications

    “These factors affirmed the need for a solution that could maintain business continuity through uninterrupted system availability and support end-to-end remote working capabilities via a fully hosted cloud-based contact centre,” says Bormann.

    The company has now embraced a work-from-home operation for all contact centre staff, which has helped to realise significant cost savings for the business in the form of lower operating expenses such as insurance and office equipment costs.

    “The ability to integrate all departments and sites onto a single platform delivers better collaboration and has simplified internal communications. More importantly, it ensures business continuity by acting as a failover as regional outages no longer affect system availability,” explains Bormann.

    Ultimately, First Group Management achieved a 10% return on investment in just four months, and together with Pivotal Data, has been named as a finalist at the Genesys Customer Innovation awards. Short-listed as a candidate in the CX Mover – Best Cloud Implementation category, First Group Management’s partnership with Pivotal Data has been hugely successful in its mission to untangle the complexities of its contact centre.

    About Pivotal Data
    Pivotal Data is a specialist provider of contact centre, CX and enterprise communication solutions. We partner with organisations to architect digitally proficient contact centre operations by bringing together the ideal combination of local and global solutions and infrastructure providers to meet unique technology requirements. Drawing from our extensive global and local partner network, we build, manage and support bespoke, innovative omnichannel solutions to address unique needs and meet evolving consumer engagement trends. Partner with us to grow your business by simplifying your digital transformation, cloud and CX journeys and create a resilient, future-ready contact centre operation.

    Reach us on +27-11-476-0300, e-mail [email protected] or visit our website at pivotaldata.co.za.

    • This promoted content was paid for by the party concerned


    Cecilia Bauer First Group Management Genesys Genesys Pure Engage Pivotal Data
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleRound one to Twitter in high-stakes legal battle with Musk
    Next Article South Africa inflation rate surges to 13-year high

    Related Posts

    Connect acquires Pivotal Data and illation

    7 December 2022

    Signs it’s time to evolve: assessing your CX maturity

    20 September 2022

    Does your contact centre have the CX factor?

    19 August 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Company News

    IoT connectivity management in South Africa – expert insights

    23 June 2025

    Let’s reimagine Joburg using the power of tech, data and AI

    23 June 2025

    Netstar doubles down on global markets while backing SA growth

    23 June 2025
    Opinion

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    AI and the future of ICT distribution

    16 June 2025

    Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

    13 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.