Hawaii State FCU Improves Customer Service with Voice Call-Backs 

A commitment to care for your personal well-being is above and beyond the customer service you might usually expect from a financial institution. But for almost 100 years, Hawaii State Federal Credit Union has been guided by this founding principal as they do business with –  and care for – their 120,000 members.  

Hawaii State FCU  is one of the Aloha State’s leading financial institutions. To serve customers well, innovation and excellent customer service is a must. One of their hallmarks is a constant quest to integrate new technology to offer better service and customer experience.  

In this success story, the credit union used Fonolo’s Voice Call-Backs to reduce their wait time and improve customer satisfaction.  

Seeking a Solution for Call Volume Spikes 

Darryl-Lynn Dudoit, Hawaii State FCU’s Call Center Department Manager, oversees agents across the company’s phone and digital communications channels. Her agents handle general account inquiries and calls related to stop payments, loans, transfers, and debit or credit card requests.  

Like many call centers, Hawaii State’s agents saw a huge increase in volume with the COVID pandemic. Darryl-Lynn says inbound calls increased by 30%. Abandonment rates rose from a pre-COVID high of about 9% — which Hawaii State FCU wanted to improve — to 32%. 

Wanted: Better Reporting Tools, More Economical Service 

Addressing the volume spikes and abandonment rates was a priority, says Darryl-Lynn. The company was using a basic Cisco call-back service which Darryl-Lynn says was confusing and lacked reporting tools.   

While searching for a permanent replacement, they engaged a third-party service to answer overflow calls. Compared to service from their own well-trained agents, they found this short-term solution to be impersonal and expensive and they wished to rely upon it less.  

Voice Call-Backs Offer Better Service, Better Price  

With Fonolo Voice Call-Backs, Hawaii State FCU relies less on their overflow service. The benefits of this are twofold: 

• Members get better service from their own agents than from overflow agents who work for multiple credit unions. 
• Fonolo Voice Call-Backs cost less than the overflow service, which charges by the minute meaning costs can quickly add up.  

Other Wins for Hawaii State FCU 

• Call-backs cut down on customer wait time 
• The simple straightforward system is easy for agents to use
• The detailed Fonolo reporting has become essential
• Acceptance rates for call-backs have been very high 

Delivering Great Customer Support  

Darryl-Lynn says Fonolo Voice Call-Backs have impacted Hawaii State FCU in several positive ways, including offering great customer support to her organization. 

“The people at Fonolo are very personable and easy to do business with. They have been wonderful,” says Darryl-Lynn.