China Telecom Contributes to CIIE Hotline Service

China Telecommunications Corporation (China Telecom) has organized a pool of qualified telephone operators to make sure the 24-hour hotline of the second China International Import Expo (CIIE), which opened on Nov 5 in Shanghai, operates smoothly.

The Shanghai branch of China Telecom, one of China's three largest telecom service providers, has allocated more than 60 employees to serve the hotline operation, including telephone operators, technicians, quality control staff and backup personnel.

"We have arranged a total of 45 telephone operators for the hotline, who are working in three shifts to provide 24-hour non-stop service," said Sun Donglei, the project manager.

All the operators can speak both Mandarin and English and passed strict interviews, Sun said, adding that some of them had the experience of working for the hotlines of Expo Shanghai and other large-scale government-sponsored events.

The business of the 968888 hotline has increased dramatically this year as the CIIE has attracted wider attention after its successful debut, said Sun.

The hotline received 49,000 calls from July to October last year, which surged markedly in the same period this year to nearly 70,000. It means every telephone operator answered more than 120 calls a day on average and the calls reached a daily total of 4,500, she noted.

As the hotline operators are handling incoming calls, online inquiries are being processed by the company's cloud calling center, which receives fixed-line and mobile-phone calls, emails and messages.

The ratio of phone calls to online inquiries is nearly seven to three, which keeps the operators busy all the time, said Sun.

The hotline is backed up by a constantly expanding knowledge bank that collects the information concerning the CIIE in 12 major categories, including a general introduction of the expo, details of the forums, the exhibitors and buyers' information, public facilities, media registration and intellectual property issues.

"Our efforts make sure that more than 90 percent of the calls are put through and more than 99 percent get immediate answers. More than 96 percent of the hotline users said they are satisfied with the services," said Sun.

China Telecom organizes a pool of qualified telephone operators to make sure the 24-hour hotline of the second CIIE operates smoothly. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)