WALVIS BAY – The electricity distributor for Erongo Region, Erongo Regional Electricity Distributor (RED), has launched a new call centre to swiftly respond to customer queries. The N$835 000 call centre, based at the company’s head office in Walvis Bay, is expected to enhance communication between Erongo RED and its clients throughout the region, said the company’s chief executive officer, Robert Kahimise, when he opened the centre last week.
The initial idea to establish a call center dates back to 2010 when a tender was sent out to develop a master plan for such a facility as required by the Electricity Control Board (ECB).
“The master plan was carried out in two phases. The first phase was to ensure that the organisation was adequately prepared for the procurement of a fully integrated, fully functional customer friendly call centre,” said acting general manager of Erongo RED, Nico Niemand.
The second phase involved the expansion of services to customers via the centre which further enhances communication and speeds up the response to any problems experienced by customers.
This will include an SMS hotline to enable Erongo RED to disseminate information of possible power cuts and upgrading to customers.
“One of the aims of the centre is to decrease the number of complaints and increase the response on enquiries.
Part of the efforts is to improve communication with customers. It should be a one-stop query resolution centre, from the point an enquiry is received to the point where the enquiry is resolved and closed,” he said.
According to him 27 823 calls were logged and 18 670 calls were handled by the centre itself between January and February this year.
Kahimise said Erongo RED places high emphasis on its relations with its clients. “The launching of the call centre is part of our efforts to improve communication. Currently Erongo RED is the only electricity provider that has a call centre in Namibia, thus we can say that the launching of the call centre is just one of the many investments we made in Erongo Region to benefit all our clients,” Kahimise said.
By Eveline de klerk