Vertex Business Services announces that its client, Georgia Natural Gas, has been recognized for contact center operations customer satisfaction excellence in the live phone channel under the J.D. Power Certified Contact Center Program.SM   The Certified Contact Center Program distinction acknowledges a strong commitment by GNG’s contact center operations to provide “An Outstanding Customer Service Experience.”  

Operating in the very competitive Georgia retail market, GNG has teamed with Vertex for business process outsourcing, including call center management, for 9 years. 

For Certification Status:

  • To become certified, the contact centers successfully passed an evaluation of dozens of best practices that encompass their integration of Voice of the Customer and Voice of the Employee insights into their business operations. 

  • As part of its evaluation, J.D. Power conducted a random survey of GNG customers who recently contacted the company’s contact centers in Kennesaw, Ga., and Richardson, Texas. 

  • A contact center must perform within the top 20% of customer service scores, which are based on benchmarks established in J.D. Power’s cross-industry customer satisfaction research.

  • The research criteria includes the customer service representative’s courtesy, knowledge and concern for the customer; promptness in speaking to a person; and timely resolution of the problem or request. 

To ensure integration of Voice of the Customer and Voice of the Employee insights into their business operations, GNG implemented the VertexOne Speech Analytics solution.  GNG had determined that greater insight into their call center interactions could positively impact their customer experience.  After their decision was made in June, 2015, Vertex implemented the solution in just 3 months.

With it, GNG is able to listen even more intently to the voice of its customers, gaining insight into emerging customer issues to increase first-call resolution. Further, by listening to the voice of the agent, GNG can identify opportunities that arise during customer interactions.

“GNG sets itself apart in the markets we serve by exceeding our customers’ expectations of service,” said Michael Braswell, president of GNG. “Vertex’s exceptional services and advanced technology have been instrumental in helping GNG achieve this. We look forward to our continued relationship, and extending our ongoing excellence in customer experience.” 

Said Andrew Jornod, chief executive officer of Vertex, “We are very proud of the GNG contact call center J.D. Power certification. As a provider of services and technology that enable an outstanding customer experience, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing our clients succeed.”

About Vertex

Dedicated solely to the utility industry, Vertex Business Services is a recognized leader in customer experience solutions. Vertex serves nearly 10 million customers for more than 30 electric, gas and water clients across North America. Through a wide range of innovative services and solutions — from the VertexOne Cloud CIS platform to consulting and analytics to BPO and customer experience outsourcing — Vertex helps utilities more efficiently deliver a compelling customer experience. For more information, visit www.vertexone.net.

About Georgia Natural Gas

Georgia Natural Gas is a leading provider of natural gas to homes and businesses in Georgia. Georgia Natural Gas is part of SouthStar Energy Services, a preeminent retail natural gas marketing company operating in nine states. Based in Atlanta, SouthStar manages a portfolio of brands across its retail footprint including Georgia Natural Gas in the state of Georgia, Nicor Advanced Energy and Nicor Solutions in Illinois, and in other states, Ohio Natural Gas, Florida Natural Gas, Maryland Energy and Grand Rapids Energy (Michigan).  SouthStar also does business in Tennessee and the Carolinas and in other parts of the southeast as SouthStar Energy Services. For more information visit: www.GNG.com.