If a Level 1 call center agent—the company's front line of customer support—is unable to solve a problem, she can save all of the data entered during the initial call and escalate the call to a senior support professional. The senior support representative then either synthesizes all of the relevant information in the knowledge base into a new solution or follows up with an appropriate expert to find the answer. The new solution then becomes part of the knowledge base.

Launch Time
3M first implemented the new technology in late 1997 in its internal IT Customer Service Center, which handles more than 15,000 technical questions from 3M employees each month. "We quickly saw a higher percentage of calls resolved on the first point of contact," says Conway. "Accuracy and consistency improved, and training time for new agents was dramatically reduced." In 1998, Expert Technical Support, 3M's post-sales customer support division, adopted the technology in a trial project that involved 3M's commercial graphics unit. The first attempt to use the system to serve end customers not only proceeded without any major glitches, it duplicated the IT support department's success. Full-time use of the technology by Expert Technical Support got under way in April 1999. The system now supports 25 of 3M's 30 business units.

The system's overall results have been impressive, says Guanzini. Agents are now able to handle an average of 59 questions a day, a 13 percent jump in productivity. "Since the deployment of the software, we have reduced support training time and costs by 35 percent, improved solution accuracy and achieved higher problem resolution rates at the first point of contact," he says. The first-call completion rate, which once hovered around 85 percent, has increased to about 94 percent. The technology has also cut escalations from Level 1 to Level 2 by 55 percent. That's important, says Guanzini, because it frees up research and development experts to concentrate on their core work—developing new products. And, perhaps most valuable, 3M is building a repository of knowledge that will help its support operations for years to come.

The big advantage for 3M's customers, says Guanzini, is the ability to get correct, precise answers to their thorniest problems. "It's no longer possible to ask the same question of 12 reps and get six or seven different answers," he notes. "That saves us time and effort and gives our customers the right answer on the first try." Call center agent Ralph Rella says the system has made his life—and the customer experience of contacting a 3M call center—easier and more pleasant. "The information is literally at my fingertips," he says. "It makes me feel great to be able to give people, on the spot, the information they need to know." He says the customers also seem much more relaxed and friendly. Indeed, 95 percent of customers now say they're satisfied with their call center interactions. (3M did not track this figure before implementing the system.)