Austrian Post opens call centre to boost customer service

Austrian Post has opened a new call centre as it works to expand its customer service operations and improve service quality. The new operation in Klagenfurt is the postal operator’s second largest call centre, capable of handling more than 1.1m calls each year, but a further increase from the initial 23 staff is on the cards.

Staff have been taken from the operational and retail network, with around 4,000 hours of training provided.

Georg Pölzl, the Austrian Post CEO, said using existing staff in the call centre would not only mean a “new and exciting” challenge for the staff members, but would also mean better customer service because of their past experience at the postal service.

He said: “The people here available to answer callers’ questions are long-time and well-trained staff who previously worked in various areas of the company, in the service or in stores. Through their acquired knowledge they are in the best position to help our customers with their concerns.”

Pölzl said space was already allocated for more jobs to be created, adding that expanding the facility in future would see Klagenfurt turned into a centre of activity for Austrian Post.

Real estate probe

Separately, state auditors have criticised Austrian Post for certain real estate activities around 2005 to 2006, following a probe into sales of property from 2001 to 2009 related to organisational changes following the Post’s split from the Post und Telekom Austria.

The investigation suggested there had been problems with various procedures, including minimum prices for property being set too low, resulting in suggestions of “misappropriating public assets”.

However, the Rechnungshof, the auditing agency of the National Assembly, said its investigation had ultimately uncovered no criminal evidence or suspicions, and that Austrian Post had now implemented its recommendations. However, in one case a legal case for compensation is underway.

A further audit is planned for 2013.

Pölzl said in a statement: “We will support any investigations that actively continue. We are considering the facts seriously in this important issue, and I am maintaining an open and positive dialogue over the matter.”