BW Communities

Feel The Difference

BW Online Bureau Nov 08, 2014

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[Going Full Steam: Taking the train is as easy as catching a flight now (Imaging: Neeraj Tiwari) If you are thinking of taking a train instead of flying, you will like it for more than mere thrift. Dial 139 from any fixed-line or mobile phone, the call is not only answered within three rings, answers can be found without the exasperating disconnections of the past. “We have ensured that questions asked by call centre executives are as per our draft,” says Rajini Hasija, information technology general manager at Delhi-based IRCTC (Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation). “The target is to have queries resolved within two minutes.” The 24x7 line, operational since July 2007, enables PNR enquiries, all-India current train positions, fare information and ticketing. “I was surprised when I had to make a business trip to Bangalore by train,” says T.P. Shaktivel, chief corporate officer at Unique Infoway, a Delhi-based IT company. “From getting information to booking a ticket, it was as easy as taking a flight.” Says Nilaya Varma, associate director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, “This service can be a good touchstone for customer-facing PSUs, not only in terms of services provisioning but also in terms of the business model.” Airfare hikes have traditionally worked in favour of the Railways — First AC and Second AC year-on-year growth in revenue from ticket sales went up by 43 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively, between August 2007 and 2008 — but brought with them challenges such as the need for accurate and fast information. Already, 139 — whose call centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata employ about 2,000 people — draws over 600,000 calls a day, which is expected to rise to 2 million calls by the end of the year. The system has the capacity to handle an astonishing 20 million calls a day, and more. “It is a service that is a revolution in the making,” says Nalin Shinghal, managing director of IRCTC. “139 – Rail Sampark will change the way a customer interacts with the Railways.” With 300 per cent redundancy, IRCTC can even handle heightened call traffic during emergencies. “The efficacy of the service was put to test when there were large-scale disturbances in the movement of trains during recent agitations,” says Akashdeep Singh, chief operating officer of Bharat BPO. “Soon, we will be able to route calls to the next closest destination if the network called is dead or busy.” Indeed, Indian Railways is not incurring any capital or operational expenditure for the process, which is borne by the franchisee — a consortium of the Modi Group-promoted Bharat BPO, BSNL, Spanco Telesystems, Stracon Back Office Solutions and the Omnia Group — with a 10-year contract. “The revenue potential is humungous,” says Manish Sharma, associate director at KPMG. “If infrastructure and SLAs (service level agreements) are good, the railways could be attracting short-distance travellers on road routes such as Delhi-Chandigarh or Chennai-Pondicherry.” By the end of the year, premium services such as SMS alerts, call backs and fax, and value-added services such as tourism products, hotels and car rentals will be offered on another three-digit number. There’s more. “We are awaiting government clearance so that customers can show their tickets on mobile phones and not carry a print-out,” says Praveen Kumar, CEO of the Omnia Group. But both Hasija and Kumar acknowledge that improved basic services are not intended as revenue generators. “If we can establish a credible connect in basic services, customers will be happy to pay for value-added services,” says Kumar. They sure will. m(dot)rajendran(dot)abp(dot)n (Businessworld Issue 04-10 November 2008)  