Project SaFiR: This was the code name given to the CRM overhaul project in which SFR wanted to set up some highly specialized training for its Customer Service Representatives. Once all challenges were fully understood, highly detailed specifications were drafted with which to survey 4 or 5 companies about their eLearning products. “In order to train users and get them to accept our new CRM system, we were looking for a solution capable of being as close as possible to the ergonomics of the actual application.” Out of all the solutions presented to them in response to their inquiry, the IT manager, the training manager, and the SaFiR project manager unanimously chose Assima for having the best fit and solution depth.
The Assima Suite was chosen for one simple reason: it was the most complete solution, and also the one which ‘immersed’ users in their environment in the most convincing way. The solution delivered with Assima Training Suite goes much further than simple screen copies. Assima Training Suite behaves like a clone of the CRM interface, thereby enabling the CSRs to interact and explore the system.
This interactivity has been the key to the success of the Assima Training Suite at SFR. Sitting at their workstations, the CSRs train themselves on an interface that is extremely similar to their live system. They don’t just sit there and read a lesson, they have to look for – and find – all the options provided by the CRM system. The trainees learn how to use the modules at their own pace, and as a result, have a much better grasp of the features they will have to use when they start taking calls from SFR customers. They can even navigate between the different components of the CRM system (Clarify, SAP, 3270 application, intranet) in a single session! The simplicity of this blended learning implementation, the stability of the cloned training environment, and the possibility to reuse components in both recurrent and self-training mode were also determining factors in the choice made by SFR managers. Assima provided fifteen learning modules for the different phases of the SaFiR project. In the beginning, Assima staff worked with 2 SFR project managers and 2 members of the SFR training staff. The team then grew when Atos Origin / Cegos consultants joined to define the training scenarios, which were validated by the extended training teams.
Two-month improvement on the initial plan: SFR was able to clone its CRM system before the production version was even up and running, and so could create training modules in advance. This meant that users could be trained much earlier. SFR has calculated that using Assima Training Suite worked out 3-4 times cheaper than a training database: For example, in the SaFiR WebSAP application (just one of the CRM components) the original estimate was 150 man-days to configure system interface flows, 300 man-days to run and maintain the training client (2 people working fulltime for 8 months), plus some extra time to develop Assima Cloning Suite sequences (80 man-days) bringing the total to more than 500 man-days.
In the end, with Assima Training Suite it took only 150 man-days to develop and run the training solution over the same 8 month period. And all, with a much higher training quality: SFR realized that Assima Training Suite was doing far more than the training database ever could. For example, the CTI (Computer Technology Integration) scenarios were very difficult to replicate in a training database; they would have had to link up to the phone system and then call a fictitious customer. Assima Training Suite provides a simple solution: the customer call is simulated by a keyboard shortcut, allowing the scenario to be continued. The Assima solution has been extended to other IT projects for applications and implementations as diverse as online shopping, e-procurement, time management, and project management. Today there are 20 SFR sites with lessons on 60 to 80 modules created over the last three years. Assima Training Suite provides highly efficient eLearning training thanks to its ability to clone an application. CSRs find themselves IN the interface rather than in front of it. This is why the Assima’s Solutions has been so successful at SFR.
