Today, I am catching up with Jeff Bardell, BPA Quality’s Global Director of Data, Innovation and Quality, who is joining me from BPA Quality’s UK office in the historic city of Exeter in the UK’s beautiful county of Devon.

It’s the subject of innovation that I want to talk to him about today as BPA’s quality experience software, Quality PLUS, has been going through a pretty intense period of innovation and development.

How long have you been at BPA, and what does your role entail?

I have been with BPA for over ten years and am responsible for ensuring we have the right technology and infrastructure to support all aspects of our client’s contact centre QA programmes. Essentially, giving them the tools to deliver a high-quality service and customer experience to their clients. 

Our quality experience software, Quality PLUS, is at the heart of this. I lead a team of data scientists, analysts, and speech and AI experts to ensure we maximise the synergies between infrastructure, technology, tools, data science, AI and analytics.

What problems are your clients trying to fix when they take on quality software?

If I had to summarise it into the most significant issue, it’s about visibility. Our clients monitor calls for quality, but the data is mainly collated in complex spreadsheets, and they are not getting the instant analysis of the data they need. It can be difficult in those circumstances to quickly drill down into the data, creating a time lag for issues to be managed efficiently. 

Managing disputes and coaching conversations can also be disjointed, so often, our clients come to us looking for a way to gain more insight and structure into this area. 

Would you say Quality PLUS attracts a particular client profile, sector or size?

Yes, it does. I’d say Quality PLUS is a mid-range solution, ideal for the smaller contact centers looking to bring more rigour and automation to their monitoring and analytics. We work with clients from all sectors, but they are typically moving from a spreadsheet-based solution or maybe from QA software that is not meeting their needs. 

So, what does Quality Plus give them that they didn’t have before?

I think the biggest plus for them is they can look at real-time data and, through the dashboards, gain immediate data-driven insights into performance. This allows them to make quick decisions, which is essential in a contact center environment. They are able to get customisable  scorecards, achieve uniform assessment through calibration and have access to a tool for appeals management. And, of course – no more complex spreadsheets! 

Overall, it offers them a more efficient, accurate, and actionable way to assess and enhance the quality of their interactions.

What sort of results do they get? Can you give us some examples?

Our clients say their advisors and team leaders think it’s great; they find it highly intuitive and user-friendly. An advisor from one of our insurance clients fed back that seeing at a glance what they did wrong and their development areas allows them to improve their service.

At one of our global tech clients, a team leader reported saving 16 hours a month – time they could dedicate to an agent’s personal development. That’s the sort of result that we love. In another case, a client reported that the software had delivered almost immediate ROI.

What’s on the Quality Plus roadmap for BPA’s clients to look forward to?

It’s an exciting outlook as we are working on some great enhancements around case management, allocations, improved workflow and ensuring balanced sampling.We are very fortunate to have Elle Neal, an award-winning data scientist and AI expert, on our team. With her expertise, we are in very capable hands as we explore how to further leverage AI to enhance the user experience.

Now my final question, I know, is a hotly debated topic in this region – tell me, with a traditional British cream tea of scones with jam and cream… 

Do you put the jam before the cream or the cream before the jam?

Oh, that’s the easiest question you’ve asked; the Devon way is cream first and then the jam on top!