CHELA FINANCIAL
SCOTTSDALE, AZ (MARKET WIRE) 09/11/2003
TRI, a telecommunications and information technology consulting services and solutions provider serving middle market business and government customers, announced today the completion of a comprehensive telecom/IT project with Chela Financial.
TRI was selected by Chela Financial to deliver telecommunications and information technology consulting and engineering services to support the design and deployment of Chela's new office, the Chela Financial Customer Center in Mesa, Arizona. In addition to developing system specifications that will support Chela Financial's business operations in the new center, TRI identified requirements and prepared a request for proposal with equipment and wiring specifications for the new center.
"We needed an end-to-end solution including system design, business process modeling and equipment and service acquisition," said Michael Woomer, call center manager for Chela Financial. "TRI's depth of experience, and how they work as a partner with their clients, listening and offering solutions, was the defining criteria for our selection," Woomer said.
The Chela Financial Customer Center will originate and service student loans nationwide. This is the first center of its kind for Chela Financial and the technology will enable the company to provide a streamlined loan process. Chela Financial customers will now have a single point of contact from the time of their loan application and disbursement throughout the entire repayment process.
"Chela's needs were unique and comprehensive," said Victoria Thomas, CEO of TRI. "We took a systematic and detailed approach to each phase of the project allowing us to provide value at the planning, development, implementation and post-implementation management stages of the engagement. We are delighted that Chela trusted us with such a critical part of their business," she said.
Elements of TRI's solution for Chela included equipment and service provider identification and "best value" negotiation for ACD (Automatic Call Distribution), IVR (Interactive Voice Response), AA (Automated Attendant), Messaging Systems, Workforce Software, Quality Monitoring Software and Predictive Dialers.
"TRI's expert team, led by Victoria Thomas, came into Chela Financial knowing that we were bringing in-house our previously outsourced IT and telecom operations," said Virginia Robbins, director of information technology at Chela Financial. "Ms. Thomas was able to build business models around our infrastructure and service requirements and was able to advise us on what technologies should be deployed, and most importantly, when to deploy them. The results saved Chela more than $200,000 with the project coming to completion ahead of schedule," Robbins added.
About Chela Financial
Since 1979, Chela Financial has been committed to helping students and their families find the financial resources to unleash their potential with loans, scholarships, and information. As the leading not-for-profit education finance company, Chela Financial has helped students achieve their educational goals by financing more than $4 billion of loans. The company is actively involved in community-based programs and has provided more than $2 million to scholarship and outreach programs. In addition to providing student loan secondary market services, Chela Financial originates private education loans, the AcademicEdge® Loan and the CalEdge Loan, as well as the Federal Stafford Loan, the Federal PLUS Loan, and the OnePay Consolidation Loan. For more information, please visit www.loans4students.org.