IDG Direct Case Study
“If we were using traditional telecoms technology it would have undermined our business model” John Moran, General Manager, IDG Direct, Dublin.
IDG Direct is a privately owned telemarketing and research contact centre based in Dublin city centre. It is part of international company IDG. International Data Group (IDG) is the world's leading technology media, events and research company. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, IDG products and services reach an audience of more than 280 million technology buyers in 97 countries.
IDG Communications' global media brands include ChannelWorld®, CIO®, CSO®, Computerworld®, GamePro®, InfoWorld®, Macworld®, Network World®, PCWorld® and TechWorld®.
There are 100 people in the Dublin contact centre making research and sales lead generation calls to potential clients globally. Operating 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday, the centre make 15,000 calls a day to over 100 countries. The IDG Direct staff speaks 27 different languages.
What attracted IDG Direct to us?
The three main attractions were:
1. Speed of implementation
When IDG Direct moved into their current offices in May 2012, they were told it would take 6 to 12 weeks in order to get landlines fitted, which is standard in Ireland. Whereas we were able to provision 10 telephone numbers immediately over the phone. All IDG Direct needed to do was download soft phones for their staff and they could start making calls straight away. This speed of fast implementation is a huge benefit for new companies, or those changing locations.
2. Call quality
Call quality was a big concern to IDG Direct as they contact people in countries all over the world. Poor call quality would reflect badly on them and their clients. It has to be 100% perfect all of the time, which we have continually provided.
3. Costs Savings
Internet-based calls are much cheaper than those supplied by traditional telecoms providers. We cannot be matched in terms of international call rates. As most of IDG Directs calls are international they make huge savings with us.
Were there any other benefits?
Due to the fact that we are a complete cloud-based system, no hardware infrastructure is needed by IDG Direct. All services are provided over the internet, which meant there was no need to buy telephones, PBXs or servers. There are also no maintenance costs and no floorspace taken up by telecoms systems or other hardware.
IDG Direct uses the Oracle CRM (client relationship management) system. It was vital that our system integrated with their CRM system, which it does seamlessly. This ensures up-to-date data is kept at all times and the time taken to input data is minimal. The key element of this is a click-to-dial function, where a call is made simply by clicking on the contact in the CRM; the caller does not even have to dial the number. Additionally the call is recorded and matched to the contact without the caller having to save or attach it. Both elements are done automatically- there is no delay and crucially no room for human error.
