• Expanded capacity to reach 60 per cent market penetration by 2008
• 'Virtual' structure ensures the ultimate flexibility combined with an excellent customer experience
• Local loop unbundling driving ambitious customer acquisition programme
• Contract worth £3m over three years

The Carphone Warehouse will improve customer service and business efficiency, by means of three new virtual IP contact centres. Installed by communications integrator, Affiniti, the new centres will allow The Carphone Warehouse to reach its goal of 3.5 million customers by 2009.  The contract is worth approximately £3m over three years and involves the planning, provision, building and ongoing management of the Cisco-based contact centres.

Through the new IP contact centres, The Carphone Warehouse will benefit from efficient integration of new agents, sites and applications. Utilising Affiniti's intelligent call routing, enquiries can be distributed via different agents on different sites. Calls can be placed depending on the agents skills, ensuring individual requests can be appropriately answered.  Agents will benefit from increased facilities such as CTI technology with screen pop-ups - callers are automatically recognised giving agents open access to their history and preferences.

The contact centres will manage much of the traffic generated by new services from The Carphone Warehouse, for example, the "˜Free for Life' broadband proposition that has been opened up by local loop unbundling.  1,800 new customer service advisers will meet increasing levels of demand.  Two of the contact centres are located in the North West of England and one in South Africa.

As The Carphone Warehouse's longest serving communications partner, Affiniti was chosen for its open and trusted working relationship, proven track record for delivery, attention to detail and consultative approach to delivery. 

Robert Kent, Business Relationship Manager for CRM at The Carphone Warehouse said: "The new contact centres will enable us to service our customers quickly and efficiently. We currently handle around a million calls a month and expect this to rise significantly as more and more customers take the Broadband product."

He continued: "Affiniti de-risked the project for us, providing invaluable technical expertise to complement our in-house skills and offsite testing resources to ensure efficient implementation."

Gary Young, Managing Director of Affiniti, said: "Affiniti has worked closely with The Carphone Warehouse over a number of years providing a wide range of solutions. This latest series of contact centre projects will play a key role in supporting the company's rapid business expansion for both TalkTalk and its mobile business."

Affiniti, the communications integrator, specialises in designing, implementing and managing intelligent communications solutions for private and public sector organisations.

Some of its customers include: Experian, Carphone Warehouse, British Airways, Ford, Admiral Insurance, Edinburgh Telford College , Royal Liverpool & Broadgreen Hospital , Cheshire Police, Citigroup, Lloyds TSB.

Affiniti is part of the KCOM Group.

KCOM Group PLC provides a range of integrated IT and communications services to businesses, and internet and telecommunications services to selected consumer markets, within the UK .

The Group's portfolio of businesses works with both leading private enterprise customers and public sector organisations. Through its Affiniti, Smart421 and JAM IP brands, the Group delivers solutions covering unified communications, contact centre solutions, data management, applications integration and managed services.

The KCOM Group also includes a regionally-focused business, Kingston Communications, which supports small to medium-sized businesses. Through its KC and Eclipse brands, the business offers a wide range of internet-based and telecommunications services. The regional business also provides telephony and internet services to targeted consumers through its KC, Eclipse and Karoo brands.

The Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange and employs over 2,700 people across the UK .

Jenny Roberts or Emma Turner
Nelson Bostock Communications
0207 792 7440
E: Jenny.robert@nelsonbostock.com/emma.turner@nelsonbostock.com

Dianne White
Affiniti
01442 883370
E: dianne.white@affiniti.com