WEB SELF-SERVICE TECHNOLOGY REDUCES BUSINESS OPERATING COSTS BETWEEN 20-50 PER CENT

85 per cent of Sony PlayStation customer enquiries now answered by artificial intelligence technology

Cambridge-based web services company Transversal today announced that its technology is making significant cost savings to businesses by vastly reducing the amount of incoming calls/e-mails made to customer helpdesks. Over the past year Transversal has worked with a wide range of blue-chip companies, resulting in cost reductions of between 20-50 per cent.

Metafaq, the web self-service product, uses artificial intelligence enabling any organisation to answer questions posed to their websites automatically. It reduces the number of calls made to customer helpdesks as queries are dealt with online. It also vastly reduces incoming e-mails and improves speed of response. Metafaq can be deployed within a call centre to improve efficiency or on external websites to provide answers directly to the end customer.

When a website visitor asks a question, Metafaq returns appropriate responses from a knowledgebase of previously asked questions. Only questions that cannot be answered are forwarded to support staff. Their responses are then simultaneously e-mailed back and added to the knowledgebase to be used to answer future queries. The more questions that are asked and answered, the better the system becomes at handling queries. The system ensures a dynamic and up-to-date knowledgebase of the information customers need most.

Companies which have implemented Metafaq include:

•   Sony Computer Entertainment Europe: to help manage and answer the 1500 pre-sales, technical and service enquiries it receives every day regarding its PlayStation games consoles and associated equipment and software. 85 per cent of customer queries are now answered by Metafaq.
•   Fujifilm UK: to provide online customer support regarding its photographic products. There was a 60 per cent reduction in e-mail volumes in the first four weeks due to Metafaq.
•   MFI: kitchen and bedroom retailer MFI, is using Metafaq to help manage and automatically answer the large volume of customer enquiries it receives about its products, services and stores to its website everyday.
•   TDK Systems: is using Metafaq to provide support and educational services to its increasing numbers of Bluetooth customers.

With businesses increasingly looking for ways in which to reduce costs yet still provide a high level of service, web self-service is an extremely cost effective way of doing this," commented Dr Davin Yap, founder and CEO of Transversal.

Metafaq is an immediate, intuitive and interactive medium for solving consumer queries and importantly it has enabled our clients to reduce costs by up to 50 per cent. The calculations are simple. It costs on average 6.50 to answer a query by phone compared with less than 30 pence via web self-service. Metafaq is painless to set up and provides a rapid return on investment from day one."

ENDS

About Transversal
Transversal was founded in 1998 by two researchers from Cambridge University. Transversal provides cost efficient, web-based customer support and information management solutions through its Metafaq products. Transversal aims to transform the Web from a passive information-sharing channel into an active knowledge-creation environment. To support this goal it has combined the sophisticated concept matching of its Memory Engine technology with a modular infrastructure for web-based communications and content management. Transversal is based in Cambridge. Current customers also include Sony, MFI, Fujifilm, TDK Systems, Lawson-West solicitors, DfES, Proctor & Gamble and the British Army.

For more information go to www.transversal.com

Further information

Pirate Communications
David Pincott/Ged Carroll/Alex Crawshaw
Tel. 020 7760 7050
david@piratecomms.com / ged@piratecomms.com / alex@piratecomms.com
www.piratecomms.com

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