case study

Sigma Connected

Business process outsourcing specialist Sigma Connected works with Encoded to secure payments and enhance CX for blue chip clients.

Products Used:

Agent Assisted Payments for 500 agents

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OVERVIEW

Customer success

Sigma Connected further enhances both security and customer experience using Agent Assisted Payments from Encoded.

Business process outsourcing (BPO) specialist Sigma Connected offers innovative and bespoke customer contact solutions for some of the largest and best-known brands in the energy, financial services, retail, telecoms and water sectors.

Founded in 2011 with just 20 full-time employees, today Sigma Connected employs over 5,000 people and operates offices in the UK, South Africa and Australia.

As a business process outsourcer (BPO), clients rely on Sigma Connected to keep their customers’ personal and sensitive details safe at all times.

For many years, the company has been Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant. Recently, it took the decision to further strengthen the organisation’s security framework with Agent Assisted Payments from Encoded. The aim of the new solution was to replace the pause and resume method of handling card payments which relied on customers having to divulge their debit or credit card details to the agent while recordings being were manually paused and resumed.

Currently, around 500 agents at Sigma Connected depend on Encoded’s Agent Assisted Payments solution to handle thousands of inbound and outbound calls every month from customers in the energy and financial services sectors. Calls relate predominantly to general customer service and early arrears enquiries.

The new automated technology from Encoded enables secure contact centre voice payments where customers enter their card details over the phone. Customers simply use their touchtone keypad to enter their card details, whilst staying connected to the Sigma Connected agent throughout the payment process. During the call, Sigma Connected agents are provided with real-time, on-screen feedback but are protected from viewing any sensitive card details.

What is more, the Encoded solution includes tokenisation, which allows card data to be stored for future payments as a token. This means that returning customers do not have to enter their card details multiple times, streamlining the payments process while improving the customer experience (CX) and building loyalty at the same time.

“The Encoded solution delivers great business value. It bridges the gap between providing personalised customer service and enhancing security, whilst reducing the substantial risk associated with PCI DSS non-compliance.” said Ian Gerleman, Chief Technology Officer, Sigma Connected.

“We were looking for a technology partner with a proven track record in delivering fast, efficient, highly secure payment solutions. Encoded fitted our requirements perfectly. It was able to demonstrate a long and successful heritage along with the drive we need to support our growing number of blue-chip clients. Encoded offered us a very attractive package in terms of price competitiveness, performance and service value. We were confident we could trust them to help us descope our payment activities and enhance our PCI DSS compliance for clients.”

Ian Gerleman,
Chief Technology Officer,
Sigma Connected

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