Finding the right technology solution to fit campus partner needs is a deeply held value of MSU IT. MSU’s multimedia call centers are a prime example of how collaboration and leading with user experience in mind is essential to a successful solution.
Over several months, MSU IT’s Unified Communications team worked closely with eight departments on campus that operate multimedia call centers — IT Service Desk, Department of Police and Public Safety, Admissions, Registrar, Human Resources, Student Life & Engagement, ContactMSU, and ContactIPF — to select a multimedia solution to enhance communications with students, faculty, staff, and guests. Collaboratively, the group identified Genesys, a state-of-the-art communications system that has paved the way for increased efficiencies and laid the foundation for even greater opportunities to enhance user experience.
John Eitel, Housing Assignments Office Assistant Manager for Student Life and Engagement, said he likes the feedback provided within the new system.
“I like how you can use the sentiment score to see ‘at a glance’ how an interaction went and where you can focus your attention,” Eitel said. “I feel like the switch to Genesys has focused my team in general on the quality of each interaction and the care and empathy we show.”
Feedback and input from partnering departments was vital to selecting the right call center solution.
“This wasn’t something that Unified Communications solely decided to move forward on,” said Chris Grewe, a member of Unified Communications. “This was a group effort. We brought in the multimedia call centers on campus as they all had a stake in the system we ultimately moved to. It was a collaborative effort to choose Genesys as the product.”
Nicholas Kwiatkowski, Unified Communications manager, said Genesys gives each call center access to advanced features.
“Some of the groups have been able to expand their services,” Kwiatkowski said. “We’ve also had a few new members join us since we launched.”
Kwiatkowski said that prior to Genesys, many call centers assigned agents to monitor the different communication methods users utilized to gain assistance. Genesys prioritizes communication types—calls, emails, and chats—and delivers them to agents.
“For example, many people might email admissions, which isn’t nearly as timely as a phone call,” Kwiatkowski said. “The software will do some prioritization and boost the efficiency of all the different agents that are in the system.”
The MSU IT Service Desk (ITSD) was the first to adopt the new system. ITSD Manager Rob McDonnell said Genesys has been a game-changer for his team.
“It’s cloud-based, meaning we can access it with a web browser instead of installing a bunch of software, we authenticate through Okta so that’s one less set of credentials to remember, and the management tools like call recording and workforce management are all baked in,” McDonnell said. “It’s also got a whole host of QA/QC tools built into it so we can stay on top of quality in real-time. It’s exceedingly rare to rely on a technology for work you actually enjoy using, but here we are. Nothing but praise for Genesys and the Unified Communications team for ushering in a new era of reliability and efficiency for our contact centers.”
The Unified Communications team continues to onboard interested departments onto the Genesys system. For more information, use this TDX form to request a consultation.
