Philippine airline calls on Avaya
PHILIPPINES--Communicaion systems and tools provider, Avaya, has won a deal to implement an interactive voice response solution (IVRS) for Cebu Pacific, one of the country's largest airline carriers.
In a briefing Wednesday, Cebu Pacific said it will replace its "old" private branch exchange (PBX) with Avaya's Internet Protocol (IP) system to beef up its customer services unit.
Cebu Pacific, which offers both domestic and international flights, invested some 12 million peso (US$300,000) in the product.
According to Marilyn Basa, director of information services for Cebu Pacific, the new system will also allow the airline carrier to grow its current customer services unit to some 120 seats, as well as increase its call handling capacities.
The company previously handled an average of 5,000 calls a day using the PBX system. However, as call volumes increased--to 12,500 customer calls a day--Basa said the company was compelled to upgrade its system.
The IVRS implementation is timely as the company will now be able to cater to more calls. "Our old system could no longer handle the increase in demand," Basa said.
Aside from offering regular airfares, Cebu Pacific also offers low-cost airline tickets to major domestic and foreign destinations. The airline carrier currently generates the bulk of its ticket sales from customer calls, although a substantial portion of bookings is made through the Internet.
"About 30 percent of our revenues come from online bookings," said Candice Iyog, Cebu Pacific vice president for marketing.
The new IP system will allow the airline carrier to manage various calls ranging from customer inquiries, flight reservations, booking confirmations and cancellations.
Avaya, meanwhile, said it will oversee Cebu Pacific's IVRS implementation alongside business partner Jebsen & Jessen Communications, a communications services company which has presence in most Asean countries.
Joel D. Pinaroc is a freelance IT writer based in the Philippines.