While Many Businesses Closed Shop, CGS Maximized Resources and Personnel to Reaffirm Strong Commitment to Customers
New York, NY – November 15, 2012 – It's quite often during times of catastrophe that we see organizations and individuals go above and beyond what is expected of them. For leading technology solutions provider, CGS, that idea could not have been more evident than during the events of Hurricane Sandy.
Computer Generated Solutions, better known as CGS, provides customized contact center, help desk, and BPO services for businesses among the many solutions and services they deliver.
When Hurricane Sandy ravaged the New York and the New Jersey coastline this fall, thousands of people were left without power and shelter. And while many businesses were forced to close, CGS's Contact Center facility in Edison, New Jersey remained open and the employees went to extraordinary lengths to ensure that their customers continued to receive services.
Priding themselves as a 365-day-a-year facility, CGS employees reported to work on Monday, October 29th. With the forecast predicting that conditions would worsen as the day went on, the company closed the Edison office at 3:00 pm. Prior to the arrival of the storm, hotel rooms were reserved nearby in the event employees could not travel home at the end of their shift. Having these rooms would also provide ease in reporting to work the next day.
They also relied heavily on their offsite dispatch personnel, or work-from-home agents, to continue to support customers.
"We did whatever it took to provide support to our customers throughout the duration of this storm," said Tom Walsh, Site Director for the CGS Contact Center in Edison, New Jersey. "Service wasn't perfect, and the working accommodations weren't ideal, but we were here to help. If we had a working phone, we were going to find a way support our customers."
With no power at their New Jersey facility Tuesday morning, two CGS managers traveled to a local hotel with a subject matter expert and an hourly phone support agent in an attempt to keep operations running. Due to the fact that the phone system they utilize is cloud-based, they were able to take inbound calls using the hotel's wi-fi.
Later that day, CGS received a call from their client, offering to provide office space at their corporate facility that would allow CGS to run their full operation. The next morning CGS embarked on the trip upstate with their service delivery team, subject matter experts, and phone support personnel.
The team of 16 made the two-hour drive to Northern New York and set up shop within their customer's headquarters, working diligently until approximately 10:00 pm that night. The group then traveled back to New Jersey so employees could be with their families.
By the time the Edison offices regained power on Thursday morning, CGS already had a team en-route to northern New York once again. They decided to continue the trip as planned, but also re-opened the Edison facilities so employees who were able to travel could report to work.
"We worked in a limited capacity in Edison from an equipment and headcount perspective because a lot of our people were still without power or facing other issues," said Walsh. "Some were unable to leave their homes, couldn't get gas, or had flooding issues."
By the time Friday rolled around, CGS offices in Edison were close to 75% capacity and it was pretty much business as usual. During that harrowing week, however, CGS was always available to provide support to their customers in some way or another.
"From the time we closed the doors on Monday afternoon, until the time we returned on Friday we always had a team supporting the business," said Walsh. "Whether they were working from home, at the hotel, or upstate, the fact we were able to keep things going is a credit to the dedicated people we have here and the strong commitment we have to our customers."
While many businesses were forced to close for the entire week, the CGS contact center used a combination of resourcefulness and unwavering dedication by their employees to keep the business running.
It's one of the reasons their customers continue to come back again and again.
About CGS
For almost 30 years, CGS has enabled global enterprises, regional companies and government agencies to drive breakthrough performance through technology and services. Headquartered in New York City, CGS employs more than 5,000 professionals across North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. With global delivery capabilities, expertise across leading platforms and deep experience in multiple industries, CGS has become the IT partner of choice for thousands of organizations worldwide. CGS delivers a wide array of proprietary and third-party business applications, technology, business services and business process outsourcing solutions, including customer care, technical support and corporate learning and training. For more information please visit www.cgsinc.com and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cgsinc as well as Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComputerGeneratedSolutionsInc