A definition for Sustainable BPO (Business Process Outsourcing)

“Apply AI to make the process, fast, automated and streamlined while leaving the lightest carbon footprint as possible”

Just over 5 years ago, Precision started working with the then, small challenger start-up to the energy sector, focused on reversing the world’s dependency on fossil fuels. The team set out to use technology to disrupt a somewhat complacent sector. They built a platform called Kraken, they are Octopus Energy and Precision are proud to be their Sustainable BPO partner.

Octopus & Kraken partner with Precision for BPO

The marketing team at Octopus Energy have limitless imagination when it comes to establishing brand love delivered through world-class customer service. I can remember the day when Paul (our BDM) casually, as is his way, mentioned that we will be taking delivery of 10,000 trees on behalf of Octopus that needed to be stored, watered and distributed to community organisations and schools over the coming weeks and months but that episode of discovery is covered here.

Back to Kraken, what is it and why is it important to Sustainable BPO. Kraken is an end-to-end platform integrating smart meter and consumption data, billing and payments, wholesale market data and marketing. It’s built to be efficient and intuitive for non-energy specialists in their homes or for SMEs, and the customer services teams in the company’s operations centres.

Kraken is a bespoke customer communications tool

It integrates all customer interactions and communications into a single history, rather than relying on data making the data transfer from one discrete system to another. And because customer services staff in operations centres are empowered by having a full spectrum view of their customers’ accounts, they can then take on the more proactive role of “energy specialists” in managing them more efficiently.

By its very nature, Kraken is a customer communications tool for which most comms are through digital channels, but a proportion of customers still prefer to receive paper-based invoices, statements and reminders. As Octopus grew, and boy did they grow*, the need to create an automated solution focused on sustainable delivery became essential to effective gearing. Precision has made becoming carbon negative as a company a focus priority over pretty much everything we do. Our Carbon Neutral credentials can be explored in more detail on our sustainability page and a key element of the brief focused on making our BPO solution automated and streamlined while leaving the lightest carbon footprint possible. For this, we first applied technology.

Introducing Octo-process!

Applying Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Automation to everyday mailings.

To understand the challenge fully, we must understand the complexity and scale of the requirement. Firstly, this is a machine-to-machine solution or Kraken to Octo-process and therefore must be totally based on standard logic, which is fine if focused on one product for one brand but no; Kraken became a highly desirable piece of technology and other like-minded brands wanted to be part of the Octopus story and use Kraken to underpin their Customer Services Management.

The brands that currently use Kraken include Octopus (Obviously), Good Energy and M&S Energy, and that adds a degree of complexity to the process.

On Press in 15 minutes, on the doormat in 3 days.

Octo-process became an extension of the Kraken platform and mailings triggered by Kraken and on press within 15 mins in mail sort order to ensure the best postal rates each day. This enables users of the Kraken platform to print tens of thousands of mailers every day, with the efficiency and accuracy that can only be afforded through intelligent integration of software through to hardware.

To find out more about how Precision can progress your sustainable business process outsourcing, please feel free to drop us a line…