The Client

In line with the rise of public bike share schemes in other countries, and the success of the bike sharing scheme in Dublin city, the National Transport Authority of Ireland (NTA) was seeking a contractor to develop and implement a similar scheme for cities in the Republic of Ireland. It had been agreed that the initial rollout would be for Cork, Limerick, and Galway, with Waterford coming online soon.

The Challenge

Starting completely from fundamental basics in every area, the project faced unique challenges on every front:

• There were no bike stations in any participating city.
• There were no physical bikes, nor was there a precedent – a suitable solution had to be found that respected the needs of Irish cities.
• It was required to construct and scale day-to-day operations such as a customer service centre, physical and digital asset management, fleet control, billing management, and data analysis.
• Staff management was required in every city to ensure bikes and stations were well maintained.

Additionally, we were tasked with a tight deadline to achieve on-time project delivery.

Customer Resolution Service

The service provided for this project is a complete end-to-end solution from project inception to execution as such we support all elements of customer contact through all channels. This project is operated in association with Coca-Cola and supported by the NTA,as such great care and skill have been applied to this project since our initial involvement.Training and a thorough understanding of the product being offered is critical to the correct implementation and operation of the project, working with such clients our mutual reputations were intertwined and as such we had to ensure that the messages and service we were delivering to customers and the level of care provided to each contact was of the highest level.

We operate a support centre offering coverage for all customer queries over phone and email for this project 7 days per week 365 days per year. We offer telephone and email service channels for this project under strict service level agreements as the service operates as part of the national transport framework for Ireland. The support systems offered here encompass basic account queries, information requests, complaints resolution,back office customer support and technical support. We are also responsible for producing a comprehensive monthly report on the complete service for the NTA.

Operating under very strict internal quality procedures is standard for all clients, scheduled call monitoring, quality scoring, review and feedback is undertaken on a weekly and monthly basis for all agents to ensure that an industry leading standard of care is provided to each and every contact. We perform rigorous training programs that include, but are not limited to; one-to-one training with coaches, team leaders and subject matter experts, in class training, e-learning and regular refresher and upskilling training which is performed for all projects. Quality of service is a core offering that we provide to our clients.

By adhering to strict protocol in terms of contact handling, detailed reporting and continuous two-way communication with the NTA. Quality of service and customer satisfaction has been assured through both our own internal service delivery team but also by rigorous interrogation of all support activities by the scheme operator themselves.

Back Office Administration & Fulfilment Service

This project currently requires a substantial amount of back office administration in terms of account maintenance, payments processing, reporting, data processing, compliance and processing data requests for multiple parties. We also operate a fulfillment service for all new customer sign-ups and for clients that require reissue of service cards and other documentation required to operate the service.

Report Generation – Both regular scheduled weekly and monthly reports generated as part of the ongoing project ranging from providing visibility of utilisations rates for the service through to customer contact tabulations. Reports were generated from both quantitative sources such as metrics derived from telephony systems and rental stations to qualitative sources such as customer feedback and reporting on customer contact drivers. This data along with collected observational data with operations teams on the ground are combined into a monthly service management report provided to senior NTA members.

Receipt of correspondence from local authorities, stakeholders and scheme operators, which need to be recorded and responded to in a timely and appropriate manner. As a result of our intimate knowledge of the running of the scheme, we are regularly asked for our input on proposed scheme promotions and even extensions. We were also recently asked for our input by the NTA into the viability of keeping the BikeShare.ie scheme operational during the Covid-19 crisis.

Account administration – As the sole provider of services on this project multiple areas of accounts administration are undertaken from account fault resolution, which may involve either a technical aspect to the resolution or a level of access not normally provided to front line staff such as refund processing, resolving overpayments or providing a resolution to a difficulty in correctly using the service. As part of the account’s administration process it would also be the responsibility of the back office staff to ensure that customers were updated at all times.

Communications – Our back office team are also responsible for communicating changes to the service which may include alterations to the terms and conditions of the service or notifications of system outages (including updates to the website and social channels). Compliance fulfilment – Servicing obligatory and ad hoc requirements from authorised parties throughout the project and client-side compliance pieces; including GDPR compliances, DPA and Subject access requests.

Document and Records Management Services

Serving as the sole operator for this project we manage and store a broad set of recorded data for multiple parties, it is imperative to the success of this project that all records are properly managed and maintained. On a monthly basis we process several thousand data records from customers, local authorities and the National Transport Authority.

We support a broad range of record management channels in providing this service, both physical and electronic.

Physical documents:

• Document digitisation – Physical correspondence is digitised for backup and storage
• Document storage – Records are physically maintained where applicable in compliance with regulations and industry guidelines
• Document management and secure destruction – Documents are logged and stored based on legal criteria and compliances.
• Document destruction and disposal is performed in line with best practices for secure document management.

Electronic records:

• Secure card payment processing records
• Website interactions
• Account records – personal details
• Geo location records
• Telephony data
• Call audio records

Having designed, built, hosted and maintained all electronic systems relating to this project it is our responsibility to ensure all contractual obligations are fulfilled while also ensuring that compliances and GDPR regulations are adhered to in the performance of our operations of these systems. Large volumes of data are collected either directly or incidentally on both our users and non-user interactions with the service. These records are stored, managed and maintained in line with all legal regulations and in a manner that allows for responsiveness to any and all compliance requests.

We strive for innovation in all channels of document and record management and ensure we remain at the forefront of security and compliance with all record keeping.

Additional Services including Project Delivery

Sremium Limited, through its technology company Telclic, has been responsible for all elements of this project since its initial inception from project planning to civil works through to customer support. We have a proven track record of planning, coordination and delivering on public contracts at a national level and have offered a broad range of additional services throughout the lifecycle of this project.

Additional services include:

• Design and implementation of the hardware and technology that used at the physical locations
• Sourcing and supply of hardware from computer servers to custom casted docking stations for the bikes
• Ongoing development, maintenance and innovation of the hardware used at the stations
• Custom built software solution for the physical locations, website and support tools, user app
• Continuous innovation and enhanced automation of software platform, reporting system and fault notifications
• Service management – we perform all duties relating to the operations of the scheme from monthly reporting and meetings to management of the staff and infrastructure required to operate the project
• Planning permission and coordinating civil works for all of the many locations we service

Sremium Limited has demonstrated at a national level its competency and capacity to provide reliable services to the public over extended periods, while also demonstrating its broad range of capabilities and ability to enhance the services being offered to the public.

Value to the End Client

This project demonstrates our competency at planning and delivering on a national level public project, in association with an internationally recognised sponsor whereby reputations are intertwined and there is no scope for mistakes in the project implementation and execution.

We have demonstrated our capabilities working with public projects in the Republic of Ireland and delivering on them satisfactorily, safely and securely over extended periods of time for both physical locations as well as in the online digital realm. We look forward to continuing this trend.

We have also demonstrated our capabilities in handling a large number of inbound and outbound calls as well as providing emergency call services to the NTA:

• We operate a support centre offering coverage for all customer queries over phone and email for this project 7 days per week 365 days per year.
• We offer telephone and email service channels for this project under strict service level agreements as the service operates as part of the national transport framework for Ireland.
• The support systems offered here encompass basic account queries, information requests, complaints resolution, back office customer support and technical support. We are also responsible for producing a comprehensive monthly report on the complete service for the NTA.
• Operating under very strict internal quality procedures is standard for all clients, Scheduled call monitoring, quality scoring, review and feedback is undertaken on a weekly and monthly basis for all agents to ensure that an industry leading standard of care is provided to each and every contact.
• We perform rigorous training programs that include, but are not limited to; One-to-one training with coaches, team leaders and subject matter experts, in class training, e-learning and regular refresher and upskilling training which is performed for all projects. Quality of service is a core offering that we provide to our clients.
• By adhering to strict protocol in terms of contact handling, detailed reporting and continuous two-way communication with the NTA. Quality of service and customer satisfaction has been assured through both our own internal service delivery team but also by rigorous interrogation of all support activities by the scheme operator themselves.

This is also comparable to the project from several dimensions:

• It highlights our ability to carefully plan a project and then execute that plan correctly, while mitigating and managing inputs from multiple stakeholders and managing change throughout the lifecycle of that project.
• It demonstrates our competency in dealing with emergency call lines and handling of various emergency events.
• It shows our previous experience in categorising calls e.g. emergency calls vs. general inquiries vs. staff calls vs. passenger calls, and how we can filter them so they are handled as efficiently as possible. Our use of IVR where appropriate assists us in expediting this process, for example if 5,000 people called at once regarding a major incident then automated recordings could provide an update to all without getting through to an agent.
• It demonstrates our competency in dealing with payment providers and supplying card payments to clients securely over long periods of time.
• This project demonstrates our competency and capability to manage large volumes of customers, with varying needs and requirements, automated communication strategies and flexible payment capabilities, including recurring part payments.
• Our work on the website and customer app also illustrates our knowledge of user experiences and customer journeys.
• Security and GDPR compliances are paramount to the ongoing success of this public project.