Tag: Singapore

Leaders Talk CC-APAC: Contact Centre as a Service Implementation Strategy

Friday, February 18, 2022 – The ninth Leaders Talk CC-APAC hosted by ICCA discussed “Contact Center as a Service Implementation Strategy,” by inviting a professional speaker to the Asia Pacific contact center. This discussion was presented by Andi Anugrah, Chairman of ICCA Indonesia. The speaker is Kenneth Chong, Chairman of CCAS Singapore, Amazon Web Services ASEAN Partner Segment Lead.

With this nowadays transformation such as cloud platform, Kenneth said that he can set up a call center in 10 minutes, then we can get it done. He said that the point is when we get into our service utility model, the time that we spend on the getting staging of the data center, then your infrastructure is taken away from you. And he thinks the time to value as call center operators and all you focus on what’s most important, He said, “five to value for your customers, your access to technology that’s now on-demand. That you can experiment and try. Also, we can customize and add some within minutes here.”

Kenneth also explains how leaders can take advantage of the current situation with strategic action. He thinks from the leadership side of it, he sees some of the lead in some of the industry and call center operators. What they should be looking at from a success? The first one is we should be agile. That agility gives you the speed, your time to value, and time to market because that now becomes your accelerator.

The second is that he encourages everyone to be bolder. Don’t be constrained by what we have today because access to technology is now so easy and they are cloud-based services that are highly accessible. We should be bold and make our changes. It means that we can create a safe environment, allow people to raise ideas, and that will give us the innovation culture.

That innovation culture will help us to create meaningful things that are beneficial to our customers that I should replicable. The third one is being creative and adopting changes. We should think out of the box, don’t let our legacy bring us down our ideas. Think again of a way that you can get more creative and pre-emptive.

The last one you must be ready to be dynamic. We have to be able to react fast because we are in a world that is fully and highly dynamic. We realize is that technology is highly available nowadays. We can start looking at new technology or rather a new environment for us to pilot an experiment. (ANF)

Leaders Talk: 3E as a Key for Leader in Contact Center

June 25, 2021 – The first Leaders Talk organized by Contact Center Associations of Asia Pacific (CC-APAC) discussed “Role of Leader in Contact Center Change.” We invited four speakers, who are professionals from contact centers in the Asia Pacific region.

One of the speakers is Kenneth Chong, Chairman of CCAS Singapore & Amazon Web Services Head of Sales of Amazon Connect (ASEAN). Kenneth said that one of the challenges now is workforce because we are in a limited condition as the COVID-19 pandemic is still going on.

In this pandemic situation, the leaders start building management of a virtual workforce. Kenneth said that their team or other team had not met each other in the last 18 months. How we work as a virtual team, we have seen this skill as different. The way we communicate over a video call is no longer involves physical touch. Kenneth states that make sure business still running and well-managed.

Kenneth also shared that contact centers in Singapore have evolved, such as training or engagement in these conditions has also become online. All the training sessions for agents are delivered online. Therefore, it takes different skills when operating or managing a team in person compared to a virtual team. The level of communication or empathy can be different.

Kenneth gave three tips for leaders in the contact center. The first is empathy. Be empathetic to your people and staff. The second is, engage. All critical engagement is vital during this period because your team may not be just in front of you, but they may be virtually anywhere. It is how you stay connected with the key members right now through virtual chat or other means to communicate.

The last key is empowerment. In the team, earning trust and empowering is probably the next area you will be looking for. Leaders are operated to move up the chains, so they can be the next successor. You need to empower someone around you to train them out, and then you can move for a new adventure. (ANF)

Register for Symposium 2021

Many core businesses have changed in 2021, contact center activities have also been challenged to transform rapidly in the last 12 months. Start from the evolvement of customer experience, working from home system, until the evolution of business operations.

Contact Center Association of Singapore (CCAS) presents the 17th Regional Contact Centre Virtual Symposium with two keynote speakers, Annette Franz and Steven Van Belleghem.

We will discuss the technologies and strategies that can help contact centers build better experiences in this digital and new norm world.

Join us for the 3-half day Virtual Symposium from 6 to 8 October for a series of impactful discussions and panels by experts from different industries.

Leaders Talk : Kenneth Chong

Kenneth Chong
Head of Sales, AWS Cognitive CX (ASEAN) Amazon Web Services (AWS)

With more than 20 years of experience in Contact Centre, Unified Communications, Telepresence and Collaboration Technologies, Kenneth is well-versed in consultancy, integration and enabling end-user adoption of enterprise voice, video communications and contact centre solutions across Asia Pacific. With his knowledge and experience on business operations required for an integrated communications practice, Kenneth has also worked closely with business process organizations such as outsourced contact centres in delivering top-notch services to their customers and end-users.

In his current role, Kenneth plays a pivotal role in AWS Cognitive CX Business Unit, by leading and ensuring execution of AWS Connect, Digital Customer Journey & Contact Centre strategy across ASEAN. Kenneth is also instrumental in deepening the engagement in enterprise segments of FSI, Public Sector and Service Providers, leveraging insights and understanding of enterprise communications trends, digitalization, automation, data analytics and deployment for optimal customer user experience for business outcomes. Kenneth also works with strategic partner alliances – Verint, Calabrio, Acqueon, Salesforce, etc.

Prior to joining Amazon, Kenneth led and managed the Cisco Customer Journey Solutions in ASEAN. His responsibilities include market development, sales management, applications, solution innovation and partner alliances.

Being an active member with Contact Centre Association of Singapore (CCAS), Kenneth championed the inaugural Regional Contact Centre Symposium since 2005. Kenneth is also the Chairman of CCAS since 2012.

In addition to being the executive lead in CCAS, Kenneth is also one of the founding member of Contact Centre Associations of Asia Pacific (CC APAC) since February 2019. (**)