Inform Communications Ltd
Inform 360
Inform 360 is a range of automated, channel shift services designed specifically for UK public sector, central and local government. Unified communications services are created and deployed across IVR, email, mobile-web apps, SMS, Artificially Intelligent chatbot and social-media from one central application and can be hosted and managed or self-managed.
Features
- Seamless connection between IVR, SMS, mobile-apps, webchat, social media channels
- Personalised library of proven process maps and scripts
- All production elements including voicing, editing and programming by Inform
- Customer voice files transcribed and transmitted in compatible formats
- Comprehensive reporting and analytics dashboard tracks usage and performance
- Integration with / Interrogation of front and back office sytems
- SMS with embedded urls used throughout IVR to promote channel-shift
- ASR and CLI recognition to enhance and personalise customer experience
- Chatbots feature Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing
- 24/7/365 fully hosted and managed or self-managed services
Benefits
- IVR, SMS, mobile-apps, chatbot, social-media channels created from one application
- Bespoke services built in 6 - 12 weeks
- Typically resolves 50% of enquiries without live agent assistance
- Fully hosted service works seamlessly with existing infrastructure
- Release FTE's from simple, repetitive tasks with associated savings
- Actively promotes and enables channel-shift from telephone and email
- Increases capacity within contact centre without increasing headcount
- Provides comprehensive customer service 24/7/365
- Minimal input required from client operational and technical teams
- Proven cost and efficiency savings
Pricing
£200 per unit per month
- Education pricing available
- Free trial available
Service documents
Framework
G-Cloud 11
Service ID
6 8 4 8 1 0 8 1 3 7 4 1 7 2 6
Contact
Service scope
| Software add-on or extension | Yes, but can also be used as a standalone service |
| What software services is the service an extension to | All social media and telecoms platforms |
| Cloud deployment model | Private cloud |
| Service constraints |
Occasional planned maintenance. This is always carried out during off-peak periods with a minimum of 1 week's notice. Access to the services is dependent upon: Telephone and SMS services: Third party mobile and fixed line network availability. Mobile App, email, chatbot and social media services: Third party internet availability |
| System requirements |
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User support
| Email or online ticketing support | Email or online ticketing |
| Support response times | The response times are determined by the client Service Level Agreement which can provide response times from within a minimum of 1 hour |
| User can manage status and priority of support tickets | No |
| Phone support | Yes |
| Phone support availability | 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday |
| Web chat support | Web chat |
| Web chat support availability | 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday |
| Web chat support accessibility standard | None or don’t know |
| How the web chat support is accessible | Users can access the webchat service from our website or our Facebook page subject to internet access.Facebook requires a Facebook account. Users can raise tickets and check status and obtain general information about the service |
| Web chat accessibility testing | None currently but testing is planned for Autumn 2019 |
| Onsite support | Yes, at extra cost |
| Support levels | Our Customer Services and Technical Services Teams provide customer support from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday within the standard service charges. Our automatic service monitors the performance of the service 24 hours a day 365 days a year and alerts the technical team in the event of any system downtime. In the event of a service breakdown (and also when the service is restored) an email is sent to clients. Remote training is available by telephone during normal office hours. Bespoke on site training is also available. Charges are dependent on requirements. |
| Support available to third parties | Yes |
Onboarding and offboarding
| Getting started |
After customisation of the services has been completed after full client liaison, the initial service set up is performed by Inform and this includes: Telephone / IVR: Recording, editing and publishing of all voice files (these can also be supplied by the client if required) Mobile web, Email, chatbot and social media services: creation of bespoke front end interfaces. Programming of all software systems. Interrogation of and integration with client front and back end services via API and / or file access. Building of bespoke data collection, transcription and transmission services. Because all creation and maintenance of the services are performed by Inform's Customer Service and Technical Teams, minimal training is required for client operational and technical personnel. Bespoke training notes and sessions are available on request. |
| Service documentation | Yes |
| Documentation formats |
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| End-of-contract data extraction | Inform removes and deletes all client and customer data from the system on the expiration of the contract |
| End-of-contract process | At the end of the contract all client and customer data is removed from the system and deleted by Inform and the chosen services cannot be accessed by either clients or customers. There are no financial implications associated with ending the contract. |
Using the service
| Web browser interface | Yes |
| Supported browsers |
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| Application to install | No |
| Designed for use on mobile devices | Yes |
| Differences between the mobile and desktop service |
The telephone service can work via mobile and fixed line networks. For those using email, chatbot and social media services, there are no differences between the standard mobile app. and desktop services. Bespoke development available on request. |
| Service interface | Yes |
| Description of service interface | Telephone users are greeted and guided through an automated audio script. Chatbot and email users are greeted and guided via visual prompts and / or free text. Home device users (e.g. Amazon Alexa, Google Home) are guided by audio prompts. |
| Accessibility standards | None or don’t know |
| Description of accessibility | Telephone users are greeted and guided through an automated audio script Web app and chatbot users are greeted and guided via visual prompts and free text. Home device users (e.g. Amazon Alexa, Google Home) are guided by audio prompts. Ongoing work will continue to ensure all our services are as accessible as possible. |
| Accessibility testing | None to date - this is planned for Summer / Autumn 2019 |
| API | No |
| Customisation available | Yes |
| Description of customisation |
All services are built on proven, best practice templates and scripts that have been developed over many years and honed by many millions of enquiries. Inform's customer services team then works with clients to customise the services to ensure they meet their own unique requirements. All initial and ongoing changes are then performed by the Inform Customer Service and Technical Teams. |
Scaling
| Independence of resources | UK based dual-site Data Centres with ring-fenced resources ensure almost limitless capacity. |
Analytics
| Service usage metrics | Yes |
| Metrics types | Comprehensive data on inbound and outbound usage across all chosen services / channels is available on the secure on-line administration portal. This includes, but not limited to, real time information on volumes of enquiries, the customer journey through the services and where customers need / choose to transfer to an advisor. For telephone / IVR services this also includes the duration of calls. Clients can also access a comprehensive range of bespoke reports directly from the portal. |
| Reporting types |
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Resellers
| Supplier type | Reseller providing extra features and support |
| Organisation whose services are being resold | Google, Amazon, Twilio, Messagebird |
Staff security
| Staff security clearance | Other security clearance |
| Government security clearance | Up to Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) |
Asset protection
| Knowledge of data storage and processing locations | Yes |
| Data storage and processing locations | United Kingdom |
| User control over data storage and processing locations | Yes |
| Datacentre security standards | Supplier-defined controls |
| Penetration testing frequency | At least once a year |
| Penetration testing approach | In-house |
| Protecting data at rest | Physical access control, complying with another standard |
| Data sanitisation process | Yes |
| Data sanitisation type |
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| Equipment disposal approach | Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001 |
Data importing and exporting
| Data export approach |
All customer data collected on the services is exported to the client by Inform in the clients chosen format and encryption in full compliance with GDPR. The data is also available on the client administration portal. Where required and available, customer data can be loaded directly into client electronic forms. |
| Data export formats |
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| Other data export formats |
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| Data import formats |
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| Other data import formats |
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Data-in-transit protection
| Data protection between buyer and supplier networks |
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| Data protection within supplier network |
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Availability and resilience
| Guaranteed availability | We have a comprehensive SLA guaranteeing 99% availability. Refunds of service charges are based on 1% of monthly service charges for every 30 minutes of service downtime. |
| Approach to resilience | We have full UK based dual site resilience. Full details available on request. |
| Outage reporting | SMS, email and telephone alerts. |
Identity and authentication
| User authentication needed | Yes |
| User authentication |
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| Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels | User name and password |
| Access restriction testing frequency | At least once a year |
| Management access authentication | Username or password |
Audit information for users
| Access to user activity audit information | Users have access to real-time audit information |
| How long user audit data is stored for | User-defined |
| Access to supplier activity audit information | Users contact the support team to get audit information |
| How long supplier audit data is stored for | User-defined |
| How long system logs are stored for | User-defined |
Standards and certifications
| ISO/IEC 27001 certification | Yes |
| Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001 | British Assessment Bureau Ltd |
| ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date | 06/07/2018 |
| What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover | Third party systems covered by their own security protocol |
| ISO 28000:2007 certification | No |
| CSA STAR certification | No |
| PCI certification | No |
| Other security certifications | No |
Security governance
| Named board-level person responsible for service security | Yes |
| Security governance certified | Yes |
| Security governance standards | ISO/IEC 27001 |
| Information security policies and processes | This an extensive, confidential document and is available on request |
Operational security
| Configuration and change management standard | Supplier-defined controls |
| Configuration and change management approach | There are comprehensive, confidential implementation / configuration and change management procedures that have been honed over our 30 year history of supplying and maintaining secure managed and hosted services. These are available on request. |
| Vulnerability management type | Supplier-defined controls |
| Vulnerability management approach | An automated monitoring system tests the service 24/7/365 and alerts users and management via sms and email alerts. Patches / fixes are deployed asap depending upon the nature of the required fix. |
| Protective monitoring type | Supplier-defined controls |
| Protective monitoring approach |
An automated monitoring system tests the service 24/7/365 and alerts users and management via sms and email alerts. Patches / fixes are deployed asap depending upon the nature of the required fix. We are using a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) product that provides us with a feature-rich SIEM complete with event collection, normalisation and correlation. We react according to the threat identified and deal with the threat asap. |
| Incident management type | Supplier-defined controls |
| Incident management approach |
Clients are informed of planned maintenance events at least one week in advance. Service issues are reported by clients via email. Where required, Root Cause Analysis (RCA) reports are provided via email within 5 working days of the event. |
Secure development
| Approach to secure software development best practice | Independent review of processes (for example CESG CPA Build Standard, ISO/IEC 27034, ISO/IEC 27001 or CSA CCM v3.0) |
Public sector networks
| Connection to public sector networks | No |
Pricing
| Price | £200 per unit per month |
| Discount for educational organisations | Yes |
| Free trial available | Yes |
| Description of free trial | A 3 month chatbot service with an agreed number of intents in one service area is available as a free trial. Unlimited usage of the chatbot is included via Webchat and Facebook Messenger channels. Additional intents and channels are not included. |