Guernsey based Richmond Corporate
Services’ investment in GemaTech’s SVRLITE secure voice recording technology has already
paid for itself by enabling the company to rapidly
resolve a dispute that could have ended up in court.
The technology provides immediate access to recorded
calls enabling staff to confirm key points of a
conversation at any time. In addition to reducing
disputes, Richmond has also used the voice records
to support staff involved in a client conflict
and monitor business processes as part of a training
programme.
Fiduciary Change:
Founded in Guernsey in 1988, Richmond Corporate Services provides
trust and company administration services to clients across the
world. With 25 staff and annual transactions on behalf of clients
valued in the hundreds of millions, Richmond, in common with
other fiduciary service providers, depends upon strong, trusted
client relationships.
The company has created a global
network of trusted client introducers, from accountants,
solicitors and investment managers, who provide
detailed references for each new individual or
corporate client. As Alan Chick, managing director,
Richmond Corporate Services, explains, “The
whole fiduciary industry is based on trust – clients
and beneficiaries trust us to look after their
investments properly and we have to trust them
to provide honest and accurate information to us.”
Unfortunately in these days of
increasing litigation, the traditional tenets of
trust and reliability are being eroded. “While
the policy of only taking on referred clients ensures
a good relationship with the first generation,
those relationships can founder in the second or
third generation or with corporate clients that
have been taken over by another company,” he
says.
Rapid Resolution:
With the Finance Industry’s increasing reliance on IT solutions
to provide clients with a fast and efficient service, Richmond
Corporate Services decided to invest in voice recording technology
to add an extra layer of protection against any possible disputes
arising with clients and/or their advisors. A key requirement was
ease of use and the ability to rapidly retrieve calls to support
not only dispute resolution but enable staff to immediately replay
conversations to verify facts prior to implementing client or investment
advisors instructions or beneficiaries recommendations.
Says Chick, “The majority
of client instructions or recommendations are communicated
via the telephone and whilst we always insist on
a written confirmation, the timeliness of some
investment decisions often means we have to implement
the instructions or recommendations prior to receiving
the written confirmation.”
An ability to immediately confirm
key details if required offered a clear benefit
to the company. However, many voice recording solutions
cannot provide immediate access to recorded calls. “A
situation arose where Richmond’s bank needed
to trace calls that had been placed purporting
to come from our office. Despite knowing the time
and date of those calls, it took three people three
days (i.e. 9 man days) to retrieve the recordings,” he
says. “If voice recording was to play a role
in dispute resolution and support day to day activity,
Richmond needed a system that provided immediate
access to recorded calls.”
The company turned to GemaTech
and implemented its SVRLITE secure voice recording
system. The solution, which was installed within
30 minutes without disruption to the busy switchboard,
allows Richmond personnel to save recorded calls
to their PCs, alongside other key client information,
from Word documents to Excel spreadsheets. Both
inbound and outbound calls are indexed in a number
of ways including by date, time of day, inbound/outbound
number dialled, originating CLI (if made available)
etc. as well as staff member and/or extension number
receiving/making the call for easy retrieval.
Using a security hierarchy, calls
can be replayed only by specific individuals, to
protect company confidentiality. “As managing
director I have access to all calls,” says
Chick. “But directors and their secretaries
will be able to listen only to their own team’s
calls.”
Immediate ROI:
One of the key benefits of the GemaTech solution is the
speed with which calls can be identified and replayed – a facility
that proved crucial when a member of staff was verbally abused
by a new client. Chick explains, “A long standing client
was taken over by a US investor and, whilst I was out of the
office, my secretary received a call from the new client that
was upsetting in both tone and content.”
Chick immediately replayed the
conversation and verified the member of staff’s
claims about the inappropriate language – and
resigned the account. Indeed, the call was replayed
to the client who had initially denied such language
had been used. “Without this technology Richmond
would have been in a very difficult position, faced
with supporting a long term member of staff versus
a new, but valuable client,” he says. “Rapid
access to the call recording enabled the company
to demonstrate immediate staff support and avoided
a long drawn out process that could have significantly
undermined morale.”
The technology has also enabled
Richmond to avoid possible court action, in the
face of a client threatening to sue for “tardy” implementation
of telephone based instructions that, it was claimed,
had led to a missed investment opportunity. Pulling
together recordings of all the relevant telephone
calls – a process that took only minutes – which
supported the written instructions also received,
provided Richmond with the evidence required to
refute the claim and stop the dispute in its tracks.
The recordings clearly showed that the requested
funds had been received in the Client’s Attorney’s
Client Account on the same day the definitive written
instructions had been received.
“The investment in GemaTech
voice recording technology paid for itself in that
one instance,” Chick confirms. “The
system cost £10,000, an amount that is rapidly
incurred during any legal proceedings. Not only
did Richmond avoid the aggravation of going to
court and the associated legal costs but also minimised
the non productive time spent away from the business.”
Client Support:
With voice recording in place throughout the company, Richmond
is exploiting the technology as part of the training process
to ensure staff are following the company’s strict policies
and procedures. In addition, detailed call logs of call duration
enable the company to justify amounts invoiced to clients in
the event of a client disputing the amount invoiced.
However, it is in dispute resolution
that Chick believes the technology will play an
ever greater role throughout the industry. “Litigation
is becoming ever more prevalent,” he says. “Without
voice recording organisations will become increasingly
vulnerable to disputes based upon miscommunication
and misinterpretation. Trusted relationships are
still a key part of the business but no organisation
is immune to litigation and a breakdown in trust – without
doubt voice recording is becoming a fundamental
component of every business sector.”
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