Online Help at 33,000 Feet?

Seattle’s Tenzing continues to move forward with its In-flight Internet tests. The latest service provider player it has brought on board is Echopass. The Burlingame-based company provides integrated Internet and telephone communications services for enterprise-class contact centers.

Tenzing wants to make sure that even when you are at 33,000 feet in the air, you will be able to get in touch with its customer care staff.

“Because we are partnering with airlines worldwide, with millions of passengers a year domestically and internationally, we know that delivering superior customer care is a vital element of success and the fact that many of our customers want to reach us from the air can’t be a barrier,” says Julie Cope, director of customer service for Tenzing.

And that is where Echopass CEO Art Coombs and his team come in. “By integrating our communications solution which was developed for the enterprise, with Tenzing’s leading-edge technology, we are helping to ensure the success of this groundbreaking effort,” says Coombs.

Beginning with Air Canada, Echopass will move customer service telephone calls originating from planes to the front of the Tenzing customer care center queue. In addition to air versus ground call routing, Echopass will channel calls to Tenzing according to specific needs, such as technical support or registering for the service. Echopass will also route calls according to language preference.

One airline that is probably watching the Echopass – Tenzing partnership very closely is Cathay Pacific Airways. Although Tenzing is negotiating with several U.S. and international carriers regarding implementation of the Tenzing Global system, it is Cathay that will be the first to take off with full deployment of the System later this year.