Case Study - Tenpin

One Number and Virtual Telephony

Requirement

Tenpin, originally Megabowl, is the UK's largest bowling operator with over 60 high profile sites in prime retail locations.

In 2003, Tenpin made a decision to consolidate the geographic numbers being published for each site to a single One Number service. The aim was to simplify and economise on the national marketing campaign with a single, memorable 'Book to Bowl' number being published for all sites. Key to the requirement was allowing callers to speak the name of the bowl they wished to visit, since a younger demographic client base often called from mobiles.

Tenpin approached a number of large communications companies, including BT, and received a wide range of proposals and costs. X-on was awarded the contract after demonstrating an ability to deliver solutions that exceeded those of larger contenders and at a fraction of the cost.

Solution

X-on's solution was for a single non-geographic number, 0871 550 1010, to replace the geographic numbers on each of the sites. Callers were able to use one of three methods to select their local bowling site - by saying the name, selecting the local bowl based on a landline number, or by selecting from regional and local menus using a keypad. A fourth method, using mobile location based technology is to be trialled in the future.

Callers are given options of hearing opening times and location directions, with a further option for mobile callers to receive an SMS with a summary. Information given to callers reduces staff time spent on repetitive enquiries and Tenpin management were able to quantify the savings from X-on's on-line management reporting.

Callers wishing to book are transferred to the chosen bowl's reception with a structured queue and overflow mechanism to ensure that caller retention was maximized. Outside hours and at busy times, messages can be taken and delivered to staff through emails or collected by dial-in, or from the web.

Commercially, X-on was able to provide an extremely competitive solution by offsetting caller termination revenue received on the 0871 number with setup and maintenance costs.

X-on has maintained and developed the solution over four years including a recent major upgrade where a proportion of calls are now being handled in a central contact centre. The X-on PhonePresence virtual call centre allows calls to be transferred between sites.

Suppliers can bypass the system and access sites directly through a calling number lookup. More numbers have been added to the system for internal use and to identify the effectiveness of specific marketing campaigns.

Future

Mobile Location Technology will allow Tenpin's mobile customers to more quickly locate their nearest site and X-on are proposing the use of proactive mobile marketing via SMS to the client base thereby increasing footfall.

As part of this, a 'Text to Bowl' shortcode is being trialled. This will enable Tenpin to invite customers to text the word 'BOWL' to a text shortcode and automatically be connected by voice call to the local bowl or contact centre. This provides a new and memorable call to action that can be promoted on quick exposure media such as TV. It is ideal for Tenpin's younger and more impulsive target audience.

Testimonial

"When investigating the cost of setting up a Generic telephone number for 40 TenPin Bowling sites across the UK, Tenpin Ltd had previously been deterred from this method of telecommunication due to the set up and maintenance costs involved with such a system."

"X-on were recommended to Tenpin Ltd via a smaller agency specialising in on-hold music systems and were asked to pitch for the set up and maintenance of a single number telephone system that would enable TenPin to promote its business generically, whilst offering enhanced customer service."

"X-on were able to match and even over deliver on proposals that were put forward by other larger better known organisations, at a fraction of the cost. The initial proposal appeared almost too good to be true and much re-assurance was needed from X-on to convince Tenpin Ltd that all promises could be delivered."

"Four years down the line and all at Tenpin are delighted by the service that X-on continues to deliver on a daily basis. The set up and implementation of the project was totally pain free, we couldn't have dealt with a more competent supplier or a more friendly team of people. Tenpin are now also considering the other technologies through X-on and trials are planned for the coming year."

"Opportunities and solutions are constantly being put forward to us by the team at X-on, and if ever we have an issue they will solve it. I look forward to a long a fruitful relationship with this organisation and mutually beneficial developments for the future."

Debbie Hughes
National Sales Manager, Tenpin Ltd.

Quick Facts

	One number solution on 0871 550 1010 with zero deployment cost.
	Features and Technologies employed: Speaker Independent Voice Recognition for bowl selection Calling number for local bowl selection Tone menu navigation option Information service for location and opening times SMS delivery of information to mobile callers Time of day call routing Voice messaging with email delivery Interactive call queuing Caller transfer between sites Direct supplier bypass service Detailed management reporting
	Clients with similar services run by X-on: Maplin Electronics (130 stores) Makro Cash and Carry (33 stores)
	Peak simultaneous calls: Approximately 210.
	Inbound numbers: Approximately 150.
	Target numbers: Approximately 70.
	3 site termination with load sharing and failover between sites.