Dell Computer Implements Inference Technology

Dell Computer (Round Rock, TX) has implemented Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) technology from Inference

(Novato, CA) in its U.K. and Ireland call centers. Dell's call center in Bray, Ireland receives over 3,000 technical support calls a day; the site's 200 employees resolve over 90% of customer queries on the phone. Inference's CBR technology prompts Dell's technical support staff with questions and guiding them through the corporate knowledge base as they speak to customers, so they can answer more queries on the first call. Inference's CBR technology has helped Dell improve its first-time fix rate in order to solve customers' problems in a single call, according to Martin Davies, Dell's customer service director. The system leads to faster diagnosis, "an improved service for our customers, greater job satisfaction for our staff and a more cost-effective way of doing business for Dell," he said. After a three-month pilot, the system is now deployed across Dell's intranet, and Dell plans to expand the system to the Internet so customers can access the service directly. "CBR complements the extensive training Dell staff receive and makes the information available to all employees," said Philip Padfield, Inference's vice president of sales and marketing for the EMEA region. "This is true knowledge management at a completely practical level."