Meet the team - Beverley Snagg

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Meet an award winning VirtualSwitchboard operator of 12 years; Beverly Snagg, and discover the secret to a consecutive gold genesis winning service.

I have been working for ComXo for 12 years. I initially started as evening staff on the commercial side of the business but found that it was not really for me. I was then offered a position within the VirtualSwitchboard side and found myself not long after becoming a Team Leader, calling my team “5 Star” as there were five members in it. ComXo has thus far been my second longest employer, which can be looked at in two ways, the value and acknowledgement they give to their employees and on my part being loyal and taking pride in my role.

Describe a situation where you managed a crisis for a customer.

To be honest, with such a sophisticated system and well informed staff and management, being in such situations is not at all as bad as it may seem. As a team we do exactly what is expected of us and deal with the situation in a professional manner as always. No problem!

What do you think makes VirtualSwitchboard different from other telephone answering services?

We are unique. We always sound as if we are internal staff and this has a lot to do with the switchboard team having knowledge of the company and the information that our account management team gathers from the customer as we rely on that in order to handle all calls in the correct way. Coaching of the staff is the key.

Radio Taxis

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Find out what Steve Burton of Radio Taxis had to say about the potential disruption the 2012 Olympics could cause.

We discussed with Radio Taxis, one of our VirtualSwitchboard customers, how they will be coping with the London Olympics.They had some interesting things to say and some useful tips on how to deal with disruption caused by the expected congestion.

1. The Olympics means a rise in fare charges. How will this affect your business and customers?

   The higher fares will come from the congestion caused by the introduction of the Olympic Route Network (ORN) and Paralympics Route Network (PRN). These lanes are essential for Olympic Athletes/Trainers/ Press and other “Olympic family members” to be able to get to and from the event and training venues in a timely fashion. We would not have been awarded the games but for the fact that transfer times, such as 30 minutes from Heathrow to Park Lane, Mayfair, can be achieved. As a consequence of the ORN many bus lanes will be cancelled or given over to the ORN and the traffic, such as taxis, that normally use these lanes will queue up behind all the other traffic and consequently journey times will take longer. As yet, there are no plans to increase the meter tariff because of the Olympic Games.

2. How have you prepared Radio Taxis for the congestion caused by the Olympics?

   We have been in contact with taxi companies in Sydney (2000 Games) and Athens (2004 Games) and most of the contacts said the same thing. Daytime traffic becomes busier but is still manageable but every night Central London will probably become the “party capital” of the world because all the International Olympic teams will set up a “community” base in town somewhere to entertain guests, athletes and dignitaries alike. We attend all the Transport for London (TfL) ORN meetings and have had input on some of the traffic changes that will be introduced albeit not as much influence as we would have liked. We have encouraged our drivers not to take their summer holidays at, what is normally the busiest time for holidays, the end of the school term. We have polled our drivers and I am happy to say that almost 90% say that they will be working throughout the Games. All of our drivers will be acutely aware of the congestion that they can look forward to during the Olympics – the major task facing us at Radio Taxis is preparing our account customers for some of the delays that we will inevitably encounter en route to their destination. I think this will be a test of our collective (Londoners) patience as the tube network and the bus network will be operating at near full capacity transporting the 800,000 or so visitors expected to arrive in London over the 17 days of the games.

3. Have you thus far taken any precautionary measures in the lead up to the games?

   Preparatory rather than precautionary. We are trying to manage people’s expectations over an event the like of which few of us have ever experienced.

4. Where does ComXo fit in helping you along this process?

   We will be a great deal busier than normal managing the “exceptions”. This is where we have a lot of our Ops personnel calling back customers keeping them informed about ETAs or delayed taxis or road diversions etc. If we are as busy as I expect us to be, whilst our people are dealing with the exceptions ComXo will be taking the bookings. If we are going to be busy then ComXo is also going to be busy.

5. Do you have any other business continuity measures?

   Yes. But I hope that I do not have to test them during the Olympics. Our link with ComXo is part of our daily operation. You are our overflow, our “safety net”. As far as the Olympics is concerned, at Radio Taxis it’s business consistency that we hope to achieve – we will test our business continuity but hope that we don’t have to prove it during the games.

6. Anything else that you would like us to mention about you?

   The Olympics were last held in London in 1948 some 64 years ago. The London 2012 Olympic games is, almost, a once in a lifetime event. Whether you support the idea of the games or not they will take place all over London and I think we should take time out to be proud of what we are doing and the fact the games will be the biggest, brashest, boldest shop window that the world will ever see and London will be the star of the show. People will, hopefully, be visiting London for years to come in the future because they saw the Archery being held at Lords Cricket Ground or they saw the Volley Ball at Horse Guards Parade or the Marathon through the streets of London. Our taxis are part of the indigenous transport of our Capital city and I am proud that we have an opportunity to show off the finest taxi service in the world in the finest capital city in the world.

Strikes

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On 30 November 2011 the biggest strike in the history of Britain took place.

The world is becoming increasingly unpredictable with a potential crisis around every corner. Such events need never affect you again. With ComXo BCP you can effectively manage your disaster recovery with a more reliable source than email. Our text, voice and email blast packages ensure vital messages are sent simultaneously to hundreds of people before disaster strikes.

Last year alone almost 190 million work days were lost to staff absence from severe snowstorms, costing UK businesses over £17b. With ComXo MultiVoice you can be in touch with key members of staff and still attend that important meeting, within minutes. So keep your business afloat by broadcasting crystal clear conferences around the world, and make sure you’re protected no matter what the circumstance.