Netcall PLC
19 November 2003
NETCALL PLC
AGM STATEMENT
Ron Elder, Chairman of Netcall, the supplier of call centre technology products,
today made the following statement at the Company's AGM in Cambridge, at which
all resolutions were passed.
'In recent months we have announced three new initiatives to broaden Netcall's
marketing approach and smooth revenue streams. These include developing
international partnerships, establishing distribution agreements and providing a
managed service designed for call centres with less than 100 seats (QueueBuster
Service - QBS). We are pleased to report that progress has been made on all
fronts.
'Our international expansion strategy, has led to two further product trials
with major utility businesses in the US and Australia. The trial in Australia
is through our joint venture with Committed Capital and is scheduled to start
later this month. These trials are in addition to those in Spain and Japan
announced in our preliminary results statement.
'We have signed an agreement with our first distributor in continental Europe to
handle the Italian market and we are discussing further strategic distribution
agreements. In the UK, we are currently in negotiation with a major
distributor, which we hope to conclude shortly.
'We recently launched QBS and have secured our first customers for this managed
service. This is an opportunity for Netcall to address call centres with less
than 100 seats that represent up to three quarters of the market in the UK. The
QBS system charges on a per call basis, with no substantial initial capital
outlay by customers. This has two major benefits; it provides an additional,
recurring and smoother revenue stream and it significantly reduces the sales
cycle.
'Although precise timing on major new contract wins is always difficult to
predict, we are confident that our full year performance will show that the
business continues to develop strongly, with the prospect of greater visibility
on recurring income.'
19 November 2003
ENQUIRIES:
Netcall plc (www.netcall.com) Tel: 01480 495 300
Ron Elder, Chairman
David Rothschild, Chief Operating Officer
College Hill Tel: 020 7457 2020
Corinna Dorward / Adrian Duffield,
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Netcall plc
Netcall is an AIM listed company whose main product, QueueBuster, eliminates the
need to be kept waiting on hold by call centres, giving callers the option of
hanging up, keeping their place in the queue and taking a free call back when a
live agent is available to speak to them.
Netcall announced a key contract with BT Group plc for over £1.5 million in May
2003. Major organisations such as Legal & General Insurance, Vertex Customer
Management, Thames Water Utilities, Royal & Sun Alliance and The Co-operative
Bank have successfully implemented QueueBuster as a hardware solution in their
contact centres. All Netcall's multi-site customers, who have bought QueueBuster
for one call centre, have placed additional orders for their other sites within
six months of initial purchase.
The QueueBuster product allows the call centre to manage volumes and costs
whilst delivering a greater level of customer satisfaction. Personalised call
back results in less caller complaints and shifts caller control to the call
centre, so that calls can be better managed. It also eradicates the wasted call
time when customers cannot be immediately connected to the right member of
staff.
NetCall has estimated that each day 734,850 calls are made to call centres from
work awaiting an answer for two minutes or longer and that hanging on the
telephone was estimated to cost industry around £62 million a year. Some of the
longest waiting times to call centres last up to 20 minutes. Customers who
endure the stress of holding often vent their frustration at agents, wasting
call time and increasing anxiety levels in call centre staff. QueueBuster
customers all comment that the product really helps to take away the frustration
and delivers the exceptional customer service they strive for.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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