20 May 2012
The criteria was that any project had to be complete in 12 weeks and had to be undertaken outside the normal contact centre hours to avoid any disruption to service. We quickly established that it was possible to change the desks for a more space efficient system, and reorganise them in such a fashion that this would create a total of 432 positions, an increase of around 80%.
However, in order to do this, it was necessary to install additional UPS capability, power and data networks, under-floor power systems, and upgrade the air conditioning systems to cope with the increased heat output from the additional people and IT equipment. Cube, in conjunction with YEDL, established that the incoming power supply was just adequate to cope with the extra electrical load demanded by the upgrade.
The project was completed on time and to budget and all works were carried outside of normal operating hours. This enabled Lowell to delay the need for a further facility for a further two years, whilst at the same time reducing the facilities 'cost per seat' dramatically - even after taking into considering the additional running cost in terms of additional power and supplementary cleaning resources needed to clean a much denser facility.
One of the knock on benefits of increasing the on-site numbers of staff was the reduction in the catering subsidy due to the additional volumes using the facility!