CallGuard and Pay-by-Link enable round-the-clock secure payments
Profile
Company: Flogas, leading distributor of liquid gas to off-grid homes and businesses
Location: Leicestershire, UK
Operation: 54-seat contact center and overflow out-of-hours outsourced contact center
Solution:
- CallGuard agent-assisted phone payments
- Pay-by-Link for web-based payments through text links provided by an agent
The challenge
Flogas’ contact center team handles customer payment data, so they are in scope for PCI DSS compliance. Historically, to meet compliance needs, Flogas used the ‘Pause and Resume’ method of taking payment.
The customer service agent would pause the call recording at the point where the customer speaks their card data and resumes the recording after the transaction. Although effective at removing card data from call recordings, Flogas realized this method did not offer the most robust security or customer experience.
This method of taking payments extended to the outsourced overflow contact center where the use of different technologies meant there was an inconsistent customer experience across inquiries. Their outsourced contact center didn’t have an option to take payments over the phone which restricted Flogas to the type of calls they could take.
Meanwhile, the depots, whose primary function is to manage deliveries and logistics, were experiencing greater demand in the number of customers wanting to pay for goods at the depot and ensuring they could offer a consistent and secure solution whether a customer was present, on the phone, calling into the depot or via the contact center was important.
Sue Ellis, Head of Customer Experience Center at Flogas: “We were seeing more demand from customers to pay for goods and services out of hours and through our customer-facing colleagues. We knew we had to make a few changes to accommodate these needs while ensuring we continue to protect their card data.
“We generally have two types of customers: those who hold accounts with us (either business or consumer) and passing trade, non-account holders that need cylinders from their closest depot (for example campers and tourists). So, it’s important to us that we can sell our products safely through all of our network."
The solution
“We needed a more robust and secure way to take payments other than the ‘Pause and Resume’ solution we were currently using. We approached Eckoh and they proposed their CallGuard product which keeps our whole contact center environment free from payment card data and out of scope for PCI DSS compliance.
“CallGuard enables our agents to take payments over the phone and gives customers the option to either enter their card numbers through their telephone keypad or speak them securely at the appropriate time. Because numbers are masked from agents on their screen, they don’t see or hear the details. And, call recordings don’t need to be paused as the keypad tones are all recorded as flat tones, so can’t be interpreted.
“Eckoh also suggested their Pay-by-Link option that could be used for telephone orders or at our depots. For telephone orders, if the customer prefers to pay online while on the phone with an agent, the agent can text them a link on their phone. The customer completes the payment page with their details and the agent confirms the order for delivery at their chosen collection depot. Our depots also use the Pay-by-Link function to serve customers at the premises using the same process.
"We were very impressed, not only with the way Eckoh handled the project, but how easy it is for our agents to use. Customers have also remarked on its simplicity. As the solution could be incorporated into our outsourced contact center, it meant we can now take sales around the clock.
“We’re delighted with the result. Since we rolled out CallGuard and the Pay-by-Link app throughout Flogas we have further improved the security of our environment, whilst having peace of mind that the business is PCI DSS compliant with our customer-facing payments. Furthermore, we’ve improved the customer experience and made it more consistent and secure across our various channels and improved our ability to take payments out of hours.”
Sue Ellis
Head of Customer Experience Centre, Flogas
Looking Forward
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