Ethiopian to Establish 24/7 Global Call Center - 11 May, 2010
Ethiopian Airlines is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with InterGlobe Technologies (IGT) – to establish a call center that will provide Ethiopian customers access to its services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The initial phase of the call center service is planned to go live as of June, 2010 covering North America, Europe and Asia. The project will be completed in three phases through October, 2010 covering the rest of the world.
The call center will compliment the company’s website and e-ticketing activities as customers now have the option to reach Ethiopian via phone at any time. The services encompass reservations, sales, ticketing, flight information, flight irregularity handling, Sheba Miles enrollment and support programs and other similar queries.
IGT will be managing the call center operations across its centers based in Gurgaon (India) and Cairo (Egypt), supporting calls in English, French, German and Arabic, while setting up the infrastructure and process to handle Amharic and local calls in Addis with the same system. Ethiopian long term objective is to establish a similar call center in Ethiopia. The projected call center is therefore, a precursor to the eventual transfer of technology and capacity building at home.
Mr. Tewolde G. Mariam, Chief Operating Officer of the airline said, "Our objective has always been to explore ways and means to enhance our services so as to provide efficient and convenient traveling experience to our customers. Hence, our latest move to avail real-time information is part of the effort to increase passengers’ convenience."
The call center will enable customers to get accurate information regarding their flight status. The center will have the capacity to reach customers at a short notice and avail information using multi-media channels such as email, SMS, or even calls at preferential outbound rates at all times. "This partnership with Ethiopian Airlines integrates our technology, processes and best practices to provide high quality customer satisfaction to the airline industry," said Mr. Vipul Doshi, Chief Executive Officer, InterGlobe Technologies. "We are delighted to support Ethiopian Airlines to enhance their passenger experience."
About Ethiopian
Ethiopian Airlines, one of the largest and fastest growing airlines in Africa, made its maiden flight to Cairo in 1946. With the recent addition of flight services to Mombasa and Monrovia, Ethiopian provides dependable services to 37 cities in Africa and a total of 58 international destinations spanning throughout four continents.
Ethiopian won the NEPAD Transport Infrastructure Excellence Awards 2009 on November 25, 2009 and “Airline of the Year” award from the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) on November 24, 2009, bringing the total Awards honored since January 2009 to five.
In August, 2008, Ethiopian won “the 2008 Corporate Achievement Award” of Aviation & Allied Business for setting the pace towards the development and growth of the African aviation industry.
Ethiopian is also the first African carrier to win the 2008 Brussels Airport Company Award in recognition of its distinguished long haul operations witnessed through the introduction of new routes, new products, and close cooperation with Brussels Airport in marketing activities.
Ethiopian was the winner of the ‘2008 Best Airline in Africa Award’ at the African Travel Award ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria, for its excellent network and convenient connections in Africa.
For more information about this press release, please contact:
Manager PR & Publications
Ethiopian Airlines
Tel: (251-1) 517-89-07 (251-1) 517-81-65
Fax: (251-1) 661-14-74
E-mail: publicrelations@ethiopianairlines.com
About InterGlobe Technologies
InterGlobe Technologies (IGT) is a leading BPO & IT Services provider committed to delivering innovation and business excellence across the entire spectrum of the travel, transportation and hospitality domain. Ranked amongst the World’s Top 3 Travel Technology Solutions providers, the company offers integrated Application Development and Maintenance, Call Center Services, Back Office Services, Consulting Services and Solution Frameworks to the travel industry worldwide.
IGT is part of the US$ 1.5 billion InterGlobe Enterprise Limited, one of the world’s largest travel conglomerates based in India. With its footprint spanning across the globe from 5 state-of-the-art delivery centers, IGT employs over 3500 travel industry experts and maintains one of the largest TPF resource pools in the globe.
IGT is an ISO 27001:2005 and P-CMM Level 3 Organization with the IT practices assessed at the CMM-I Level 5 and the BPO processes are COPC-2000® CSP Standard Version 4.3, ISO 9001:2008, PCI DSS 1.2 and IATA certified. The organization follows Six Sigma rigor for process improvements.
