As early as in 1980s, a tax bureau in Shanghai City prepared the first hotline serving taxpayers. However, with the increasingly expansion and complexity of applied population as well as the increasingly higher demand by taxpayers, the existing service hotline for taxpayers is no longer an efficient way to satisfy the actual demands by tax bureaus and taxpayers. For solving this problem, the tax bureau of Shanghai City made its decision to construct a telecom-level call center as early as in 2005.

Infrastructural platform plays a fundamental role in construction a “telecom-level” call center

The successful operation of a call center closely depends on its infrastructure; for this purpose, Shanghai telecom-level call center jointly built by Shanghai Huabo Tech and Donjin Tech set the first example in constructing telecom-level call center. It adopted Donjin voice service platform as its infrastructure, also representing the first example of the adoption of Donjin voice service platform in a telecom call center.

Firstly, this voice platform structure has a telecom-level stability and rich service functionality. By relying on telecom-level hardware structure and the core technique of Donjin voice fundamental hardware, Donjin voice service platform further enhances the platform voice processing ability, voice exchange ability and system computing ability, making the call center having bigger capacity to respond mass load service. Meanwhile, the technical attribute, structural attribute and market attribute of complex voice services abstracted by the platform formed a voice resource library (voice record/play, wow, background music, SMS, Email, Fax, manual phone, outbound call and telephone conference), giving guarantee to call center functionality and expansion regarding resource issues.

Secondly, this voice service platform integrates multiple telecom operations mode capable doing governmental administrations. The platform has integrated uniformed service application environment, service application server, data service, open service interface and secondary development platform under an open and standard system structure, which is able to embed voice, SMS, fax, WEB and other service modes into the service flow and logic in a flexible way, enabling its ability to add new services easily and conveniently; meanwhile, its visualized and graphic-like development methodologies make the independence of service development, deployment and operation from each other, enabling a tax bureau ability focusing on new service logic design and improving service development efficiency regardless the platform’s technical structure and implementation working principles.

Thirdly, this voice platform has excellent and outstanding BOSS. The system is able to effectively upgrade the BOSS of the entire service platform by carrying out statistics, analysis and deep use of service data, uniformly coordinate internal and external service flow through functionality convergence, realize multiple applications including business support and data deep utilization so as to make a smooth and uniformed service launching with sound operation efficiency and high quality service.

Business oriented service quality upgrading is the goal

“Telecom-level” does not only means qualified hardware, more importantly, it lies in whether or not valuable and genuine services are provided to taxpayers and related departments, just like an officials concluded: “a call center does not only means the improvement of pure technical means but also functions in the update and reform of the management idea of tax payment system, and further it is an important and strategic step in improving Shanghai investment software environment”.

According this requirement, the construction of the call center at the initial phase followed a new service idea of service oriented and taxpayer focused, and realized system functions of service consulting and inquiry, service publicity and notification, tax compliant and report and decision-making support, etc. i) its has higher telephone service ability and stability: a taxpayer is enabled to make a tax payment consultation through telephone, fax, WEB and so on, which will be subsequently connected to the internal office automation system and then distributed to concerned functional departments for treatment before finally filing of treatment result in the call center or replying to the asked taxpayer. With standard and complete tax knowledge library, all taxpayers will get authoritative and uniformed answers regarding their questions; ii) the call center has outbound call function to propagandize taxpayers tax law and notify them of new tax type as well as tax payment overdue notice and urge-to-pay notice with streamlined labor force and higher working efficiency; and iii) a taxpayer is enabled to make a complaint to poor tax officials service through multiple channels, which will be further reported to the concerned department of the municipal tax bureau for treatment together with feedback to the complained taxpayer through the call center. In addition, the call center is able to analyze the connected data concerning a taxpayer for obtaining valuable statistics data, finding out the general trend regarding tax payment and economic development and further providing them to governmental departments at all levels for future decision making.

Nowadays, this call center receives more than 600 phone calls for tax related consultation each day, about 350 of which are answered by tax officials. By dialing into the call center and then inputting client ID number or none, the call center will transfer the line to concerned tax professionals according to the caller’s information and past telephone records stored in database based on the call center, by which their questions will be responded with answers quickly and the caller waiting time is saved greatly. 90% and above questions raised by taxpayers can be responded by the calling service clerks with satisfied answers, while as to those questions hard to answer and sound complicated that can not be answered when asked, the call center clerk will make a detailed notes to the question asked and the contact way of the asked taxpayer, then study this question carefully before giving the reply to the asked taxpayer within 24h; through two ways above, the question reply rate reaches 100%. In addition, the automatic voice play system is able to provide 24h service, enabling taxpayers ability to get their wanted information. “Telecom-level” call center contributes a lot to the said tax bureau in Shanghai City with its full-process-flow service and comprehensive supports in improving taxpayer management and strengthening the communication and ties with taxpayers.