28th Nov 2005 07:02
Eckoh Technologies PLC28 November 2005 For Immediate Release 28 November 2005 Eckoh Technologies "MAGISTRATES COURTS TO INCREASE FINE PAYMENT REVENUES AND REDUCE COSTS WITHAUTOMATED PAYMENT COLLECTION SERVICE" •Transformational cost savings expected from automated fine payment service •Projected 35% increase in receipt of fine payments (based on West Yorkshire results) •Plans to roll out service to entire North East region by early 2006 The North East Region of Her Majesty's Court Service (HMCS) has signed up to a24-hour self-service, telephone based solution, that will significantly increasethe volume of fine payment collections as well as achieve transformational costsavings by giving customers the option to pay their court fines and fixedpenalties through an automated payment service. The advanced self-service technology, developed by Eckoh in association with BT,was introduced to the West Yorkshire HMCS some 18 months ago, where it hasalready yielded transformational cost savings; the 24/7 self-service paymentsolution is expected to achieve similar results for the outstanding 6 HMCS areasof the North East region. As well as freeing up contact centre agents to focus on more proactive paymentenforcement, the new service is expected to stimulate a higher volume of inboundcalls from customers seeking to pay their fines outside of office hours. Information provided by West Yorkshire, shows that some 15% of citizens preferto pay their court fines outside normal hours of business. Recent statisticsprovided by West Yorkshire HMCS, shows a transformational 36% increase in finepayments, quarter on quarter, since their payment application was rolled out inJune 2003. The innovative self-service technology will be run off BT/Eckoh's state-of-theart call processing platform, which is capable of handling over 650,000 calls anhour. This ensures that callers can always be confident of connecting straightthrough to the service without the prospect of call queuing or encountering busy/engaged tones. Paul Skelton (North East Regional Performance Manager) comments:"The self service solution delivered by Eckoh and BT will be particularlyhelpful for customers who want to pay their fines quickly and discreetly and whoare simply not able to make payments during normal business hours. We lookforward to working with Eckoh and BT to match the significant cost savings andtremendous operational achievement being enjoyed by HMCS - West Yorkshire." Jim Hennigan (Managing Director - Eckoh Technologies) said:"West Yorkshire is clear testament to the tremendous cost savings and revenueenhancements that can be achieved by automating a high volume of routine calltypes. We're delighted to have the opportunity to work with the remaining NorthEast HMCS areas on what's sure to be another highly significant case study forthe self-service industry." -ends-For further information & access to interviews please contact: Eckoh Technologies plc Tel: 08701 100 700Martin Turner, Chief Executive OfficerNik Philpot, Chief Operating OfficerBuchanan Communications Tel: 020 7466 5000Mark Edwards/Jeremy GarciaAnnie Garthwaite Communications Tel: 0174 6764909 Mobile: 07801 233 212 Notes to Editors About Eckoh Technologies:Eckoh Technologies plc designs, builds, hosts and manages Speech Solutions forlarge corporations and organisations using ASR (Advanced Speech Recognition) andIVR (Interactive Voice Response) technologies. It is a leading UK serviceprovider and infrastructure owner/operator, and intends to exploit theanticipated growth in demand for Speech Solutions across Europe. Eckoh has a speech alliance with BT to provide hosted speech recognitionsolutions to their corporate client base. BT and Eckoh have previously announcedsignificant contracts with UGC Cinemas, Barclays Stockbrokers, TD Waterhouse,National Rail Enquiries and now have live services with over 18 clientsincluding Lloyds TSB, Three Valleys Water, Abbey at Work, Communisis, iBuy andBSkyB. In addition to those above, Eckoh has direct contracts to supply hosted SpeechSolutions to clients including Vue Cinemas, William Hill, 02, Virgin Mobile,Ideal Shopping Direct, Tote and The London Stock Exchange. Eckoh has a call processing platform of 10,000 lines (capable of handling over650,000 calls an hour) of which over 8,000 lines incorporate speech recognitiontechnology making it the largest speech enabled call processing platform inEurope. Eckoh also operates the following businesses: •IVR - Eckoh is one of the largest providers of managed IVR and SMS services in the UK to media clients including ITV, BBC, Trinity Mirror, Channel 4, Endemol, IPC and EMAP. •Network Services - under the "Symphony" and "Anglia" brands, Eckoh supplies fixed line and mobile telephony services, broadband and data services to SMEs in the UK and Ireland. Following the acquisition of Anglia Telecom Centres Limited in April 2005, Network Services now has an SME customer base of over 15,000. In the year to 31 March 2005 Eckoh Technologies plc generated a turnover of£79.7 million and had a cash balance of £13.3m. Further information can be foundat www.eckoh.com. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Eckoh Technologies