Got your number: And that number is £1.6m for 118 118

NEWS The Number 118 118 has signed a £1.6m contract with Call Centre Technology and Avaya to roll out contact centre technology to support the company's much-hyped directory enquiries business. Call Centre Technology will provide a system for 118 118 operatives based on kit from telecoms equipment manufacturer Avaya. The roll-out will create a 'virtual call centre' by linking the infrastructure already in place in the company's two 300-seater call centres in Plymouth and Cardiff. The deal follows £30m of initial investment in the UK operations of 118 118 from US parent InfoNXX. 118 118 claims the deal is to support the huge demand for its service which it attributes to its memorable number and no doubt its saturation advertising. Nik Hole, deputy MD at The Number 118 118, said in a statement: “We chose the Avaya platform as we considered it to be the only technology which could cope with the volume of calls expected and provide the reliability, resilience and scalability we required. If our service was interrupted for any reason it would have a big impact on the trust our customers have in our service, as well as reducing revenues.” However, the service has come in for some criticism from consumers who have been left unhappy at the quality of service and the availability of numbers, though in the feeding frenzy which followed the deregulation of directory enquiries services in the UK, most operators appear to have experienced some teething problems. The company claims it is expecting to take more than 50,000 calls an hour at peak periods and it believes the Avaya/CCT deal will enable it to process those more efficiently, increasing the level of customer service due to integrated reporting tools which will enable 118 118 to determine the most efficient way to staff its centres to match peaks and troughs in demand.