The Enrollment Call Center at Middle Georgia State University was a USG 2014/2015
Service Excellence Project. The Enrollment Call Center (ECC) was developed to streamline and improve student service for the Division of Enrollment Management, and specifically the Offices of Admissions, Registrar, Financial Aid and Bursar. The initial goal during implementation was to ensure an acceptable level of customer service to prospective students, current students, faculty/staff, and external stakeholders as evidenced by a decrease in the number of unanswered phone calls and service complaints. Since the University had no mechanism for monitoring incoming call volume or response time, the initial project focused on designing a dedicated phone center, with a new 1-800 number, and the development of a frequently asked questions web portal.
Vendors were researched and selected to provide both a phone center solution as well as a web portal for a knowledge base and ticketing system.
During its first year of operation (June 2014-Present), the Enrollment Call Center far exceeded all expectations and has provided the University valuable data that has allowed continual refinement and expansion of services. The evidence of success has been included as a part of the nomination package.
Since its inception, a Call Center Manager, Melinda Rodgers, and six full-time Call
Center Representatives--Thanesha Brezial, Elizabeth Douglas, Yolanda Foster, Lisa
George, Vaquasha Rhodes and Jamie Terrell--were hired and trained to work in the
University’s first ever Enrollment Call Center. The financial commitment and administrative support by the Executive Leadership of Middle Georgia State University, has allowed the establishment of an Enrollment Call Center to change the enrollment dialogue and dynamics for thousands of prospective, new and continuing students. Their exemplary level of service has been able to (1) reduce telephone hold times; (2) allow enrollment offices more time for processing and face-to-face interaction with customers; and (3) increase customer service satisfaction with departments.
To support the success of the Center, all of the ECC team were cross trained within each area of Enrollment Management and were provided customer service training. A
Standard Operating Procedures Training Manual was created and the team participated in more than 60 hours of third-party training in areas of enrollment focus and customer service. In addition, a variety of marketing messaging was used to promote the new 1-800 number and the online FAQ portal services to internal and external constitutes.

Melinda Rodgers, ECC Manager: “The Enrollment Call Center Team has customer service in the forefront of our minds in our day-to-day interactions with students, parents, and coworkers. We strive to provide the people who contact the Enrollment Call Center for assistance with a great service experience. I provide monthly feedback to administrators about caller needs and call volume. I also know the importance of listening to team members and working closely with other departments and academic units.”
The ECC has met the goals originally established:

Answer the phone within 60 seconds on average

Complete conversation within 4 minutes on average

Call Center Representatives will answer 80% of all questions asked on average

The hang up/abandon rate will be 10% or less on average.
During the time that the ECC has been in operation, nearly 140,000 calls have been received, and more than 91,000 were answered successfully, with less than 7 percent of calls abandoned (or unanswered). During that same time, the ECC responded to 15,161 student ticket inquiries online and assisted with 40 transfer evaluations. Since April 2015, the ECC has handled more than 1,800 online chats and fulfilled nearly 4,000 requests for official transcripts.
The Enrollment Call Center has been a success and handled more calls than originally expected. Customer Service complaints within Enrollment Management areas have almost disappeared and most are handled within the Call Center. Middle Georgia State experienced better results than expected. Now there is consistent, measurable data on number of calls and to which Enrollment area. Elizabeth Douglas, ECC team member,
“We provide a service where anyone can call just one number and get the answers they need about any enrollment services department. Anything from ‘how do I apply for admissions’ to ‘how do I apply for graduation’. They are able to reach out to one number and get everything they need in that one call. I provide callers with a positive/helpful attitude and want to ensure they feel like more than just another caller and know that their academic success is important to us.”
Jamie Terrell, ECC team member, “Working at the Call Center has been an amazing experience for me. I have been able to help students, parents, and employees with many topics ranging from admissions, registration, student accounts and payment to financial aid. I remember one time I had a parent of a student on the phone and she did not understand anything about the financial aid process. I walked her through every step in

great detail so that she would understand the financial aid process. As you can imagine, this was a long conversation that continued past closing time. This parent was so confused and I was more than happy to help her out. At the end of the conversation, she requested to speak to my supervisor to share her gratification with of my assistance. This call was just one example of the great customer service the Call Center strives to provide.”
The Enrollment Call Center worked diligently to change phone systems in March 2015 to a new vendor and implemented additional features for callers. Callers may now select a call back option and no longer have to hold on the line for the next available representative. The ECC has also recently expanded its services to include more options for faculty and staff to seek answers to enrollment related questions and to offer their feedback via an online form or Live Chat .
Finally, the Enrollment Call Center has taken on additional job responsibilities for several of the enrollment offices assisting with the following tasks:

Assist the Registrar’s Office with reviewing and processing transfer evaluations;

Process all electronically submitted requests for official transcripts;

Handle Enrollment Management communication outreach for the four departments;

Serve as a resource to callers about our new University status, housing, advising, and Master’s Degrees; and

Support the University in numerous retention and recruitment efforts by calling applicants, sending out registration/advising date reminders, orientation invites and payment deadline reminders.
As one of our representatives stated, “The Enrollment Call Center Team maintains a positive attitude and provides honest friendly service with the utmost understanding that our customers come first! We are the voice of Middle Georgia State and we set the pace for excellence.” Yolanda Foster, ECC team member.

REPORT INFO
Call Log June 23, 2014-March 27, 2015
Summary (Application Performance) Report
Report
Date(s):
% Accept
Service
Level
6/23/2014 to 3/27/2015
Entered Accepts Not
Accepted
Abandoned Waiting Abandoned
Waiting Time
Accept
Time
Avg Handle
Time
TOTAL: 83.31% 64996 51067
Aban
Ringing
Total % Avg
697 13204 20.42% 00:03:09
Avg
00:01:29 00:02:59
Call Log March 30, 2015-August 26, 2015 (after vendor change)
All
Calls
Answered
Calls
Summary Report 3/30/2015 to 8/26/2015
Abandon Abandon
%
Avg
Queue
Before
Abandon
(minutes)
Average
Queue
Length
(minutes)
Average
Time to
Answer
(minutes)
Average
Call
Length
(minutes)
Callback
Offered
Totals: 58199 40956 9299 1.95 5.55 3064 16.00% 3.72
Support Portal Data
2.19
Support Portal Summary (07/14/14-08/27-15)
Page Views
KB Articles Viewed
KB Searches Performed
Files Downloaded
Visits
Service Requests
Student Ticket Summary (07/14/14-08/27/15)
Student Tickets Submitted
Student Tickets Solved
Avg. Response Time
Chats Submitted
2014
56269
27483
506
30
37646
0
2014
5498
5483
1 day 11 hr 21 hr 55 min
0 1893
2015
83964
35293
1860
51
39269
1901
2015
9836
9757
Total
140233
62776
2366
81
76915
1901
Total
15334
15240
1893

Posters/signs:
Middle Georgia State University Enrollment Call Center
Examples of Advertising Messages
Social Media:

The Enrollment Call Center, and specifically the individuals who work in the Center, have done a remarkable job this past year in changing the front end customer service experience for the
University’s enrollment activities. When I began at the institution in the summer of 2012 and as we went through consolidation becoming a new institution in 2013, we received numerous complaints that rose to the level of not only my office, but to the Office of the President, and even in some cases to the USG hotline. These complaints primarily focused on never being able to speak with someone to help answer their questions, always receiving a busy signal when they called, and not receiving timely communication about financial aid.
Implementing the Enrollment Call Center with the technology to queue callers, track volume and wait time, and to provide one-stop information has diminished those complaints to almost zero. In addition, the data was able to show how the prior existing phone system and structure had not been able to handle the actual call volume that was attempting to reach us each year during peak periods of service. Furthermore, because of the exemplary leadership of the Call
Center Manager and the training of that team, we have been able to much more rapidly than anticipated add features such as Live Chat and Call Back options to provide alternative ways of communication and expand their job responsibilities to assist with certain enrollment related tasks during non-peak periods.
This team has exemplified on a daily basis what the Front Desk Support Excellence
Award is meant to represent…very soon this fall they will celebrate the milestones of answering over 100,000 phone calls, responding to thousands of student tickets and online chats all while supporting transcript processing, communication messages for different offices, and serving as a resource for faculty and staff who have questions about how to assist students in navigating any enrollment challenges. They have demonstrated respect for others by how they interact and communicate with our internal and external stakeholders; they are accessible through phone, chat, and online ticketing that provides 24/7 opportunities to research and/or ask questions; constant training and review of our data keeps them informed; the seven people in the Call
Center provide the backbone of support for students, our enrollment offices, and in many ways the organization as a whole; and finally, none of this would be possible without the technology enhancements and products that underpin the workings of the Center.
I can say without any reservation that this team has made a tremendous impact on our enrollment efforts at Middle Georgia State University and I could not imagine doing my job without them. I would never want to go back to the days without this service as it truly benefits us all. I hope that you will find them worthy of receiving this award.
With Much Appreciation to them and to you, I respectfully submit this endorsement.
Sheri Rowland,
Vice President, Enrollment Management