Rail passengers in the UK will soon experience quicker times for ticketing and information enquiries on several First Group rail services with the installation of a new telesales operations system.
The STAR telesales system, which is already used by seven rail services across the UK, will provide the logistical operations for First Great Western, First Scotrail, First Trans-Pennine Express and Hull Trains.
The improved system, which is operated by Fujitsu Services, expects to see customer waiting times fall by up to 30 seconds at First rail call centres in Plymouth, Fort William and India. Better scripting to guide telesales staff will make it quicker and easier for rail customers to buy a ticket or request information.
Fujitsu Services won the Rail Industry’s ‘IT innovation’ award in 2005 with their STAR telesales system and the company is also responsible for the Rail Journey Information Service (RJIS) which is used by the UK rail industry as a whole.
The STAR(Station Terminals for Advanced Rail retailing) system plays a key role in the operations of the Association of Train Operating Companies, supporting more than 4,000 terminals in stations, booking offices and call centres.
Becky Simpson, FirstInfo’s contact centre director said that the STAR telesales system was “fundamental to the improvement of the customer experience” with Nick Chisnall, Fujitsu’s head of the rail business, calling STAR “the premier rail retailing system for the 21st century”.