TomTom currently uses the RightNow Service module in its operations in Europe and the United States. Since opening an office in Australia in June 2005, TomTom discovered no one knew what GPS products exactly did and as a result the company had to partially automate a way to answer specific customer questions.
Roy van Keulen, TomTom support general manager, said the software was deployed to collate all questions asked by the general public into one global knowledge base daily and publish all questions and answers in each specific market.
Tomtom currently has eight people in Australia. According to Van Keulen this system has introduced an affordable way to both utilize time better for TomTom staff globally and ensure a quick turnaround of customer questions and requests.
"Tomtom came from a PDA, kind of a nerdy market to a different segment (mobile GPS) and a lot of people had educational questions about the company so we needed help with the self-assurance aspect of our Web site to work through the extra questions we received and first rolled out RightNow in Europe, then the U.S. and later Australia," Van Keulen said.
"How we deployed RightNow is all questions from customers put to us are placed in one knowledge base and on a daily basis we look to publish all questions and answers we think are relevant to a specific market and this is all very customer driven; people often recognize their questions on the Web sites.
"Around 50 percent of customer e-mails are auto-answered by the system through the existing knowledge base and the rest is a matter of reading the questions submitted and replying directly with two or three options. Last month in Australia we received around 500 e-mails and the rate is increasing by 20 to 30 percent monthly."
Van Keulen stated the company does use a degree of "standard" answers, adding that they strive to have e-mails answered by local people due to the higher impression of better quality support.
The RightNow Services module used by TomTom includes a Web self-service interface, e-mail and call tracking management and further analytic and reporting features. Before using RightNow TomTom was solely reliant on a Notes-based system.