20 September 2002
Since August this year, the KMB Customer Service Hotline has been equipped with the 'Digital Map Passenger Enquiry System', which can assist its operators in handling telephone enquiries twice as quickly through the speedy access it provides to various types of bus route information. Ms. P.Y. Chan, the Head of KMB's Customer Service Department, introduced the advanced features of the system at the press conference today (Friday, 20 September 2002).
After the introduction of the new system, once the operators locate the starting point and the ending point on the digital map, the system can automatically search for the bus routes linking the two places and display the routes, showing the bus stops along the routes. The greatest advantage of the system is the way in which it addresses the transportation needs of passengers who wish to find the optimal bus route in terms of distance from the bus stop, fare, journey distance or the number of bus stops passed. For example, if a passenger wants to know the bus stop that is nearest to him or her, the operator can quickly provide the answer after checking the walking distances calculated by the system and guide the passenger to the appropriate stop. The operator can also let the passenger know the route with the lowest fare where more than one route exists. If the passenger is in a hurry, the operator can recommend the bus route with the shortest journey distance or the fewest bus stops.
Another strength of the new system is its capacity to store more than 100,000 local landmarks. In cases where a passenger has no idea about a particular landmark, the operator can skim over the lists of landmarks from 32 categories (such as hotels, shopping malls, cinemas, housing estates, banks and schools) in various districts, and help the passenger to locate an appropriate starting point and ending point. In addition, the new system is able to display the three-dimensional figures of some well-known landmarks, which means operators can clearly describe the surroundings to the passenger.
If a passenger needs to change to another bus to reach the ending point, the system can recommend the appropriate bus interchange by showing the locations of bus stops for interchange, and relevant information such as the discounted fares under the Octopus Bus-Bus Interchange Scheme. The new system can also alert the operators to pass on traffic news and information about rerouting and relocation of bus stops to passengers.
Ms. Chan said, "The introduction of the new 'Digital Map Passenger Enquiry System' at our customer service hotline can significantly improve efficiency by halving the average time needed to search for route information. The handling time saved on each enquiry ranges from 30 seconds to one minute, thus raising the daily average number of passenger enquiries handled by each operator by 15%. Since we no longer need to prepare photocopies of route information for our operators, they can save time checking printed records of bus route information, and save natural resources by reducing the consumption of paper."
The improved facilities and service quality of the KMB Customer Service Hotline have resulted in better services provided by the hotline operators. A comparison of hotline service performance in August 2002 with the same period in 2001 showed the number of commendations for hotline operators increased by 100%.
The KMB Customer Service Hotline handles as many as 500,000 enquiries a month. Operating 24 hours a day with 72 telephone lines, it provides customers with daily enquiry services in Cantonese, Putonghua and English, as well as fax-on-demand and voice mail services. Passengers can also acquire bus route information or voice their opinions on KMB services through the operator service from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily (except 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.). The current number of hotline operator is over 30.
The exemplary service provided by the Hotline has won it recognition in a number of prestigious awards, including the Hong Kong Retail Management Association Customer Service Award and the Hong Kong Association for Customer Service Excellence Function Award.
For more information, please contact:
Ms Susanna Sin
Senior Manager, Media Relations
KMB Corporate Communications Department
Tel: 2786-6002/ 7909-8050
Fax: 2371-2910
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