Outsourcing solutions for
games companies
■ Global, multilingual player supportsupp
■ Game localization and testing
We believe in hiring gamers that not only know how
to play but also know how to take care of other players.
TELUS International operations:
“Our value at TELUS International is that we bring structure to
player support. We know call centers and customer service.
We know hiring, training, scheduling, and so on – so studios and
publishers can focus on their own business while we take care
of their players.”
You make the games, we grow & support your players
You’re busy – we get it
The games industry is undergoing dramatic change as customer service becomes
another battlefield for winning over players. Generally speaking, however, product
development and player support have not always gone hand-in-hand. Game
development remains the key focus – it’s all about the release of the game, the
company’s core business and “raison d’être”. Player support is often a secondary
concern, edged out in favor of the frantic pace of design and launch of new games.
Given that the online games economy relies heavily on attracting and retaining players,
and then moving them to recurring or micro payments, the lack of good player support
may be surprising. A growing player base requires happy players. Recurring payments
requires recurring customers. A player support strategy should factor in somewhere
– and studios are starting to take notice.
Game studios and publishers have a massive opportunity right now. Game players,
particularly in the F2P sector, may not expect the best customer experience. As the
industry becomes increasingly fragmented and competitive, smart game studios can
extend their game lifecycle and improve the value of their brand by providing better
service. A good player support strategy can be a game-changer – where fostering a
culture of care will improve the overall player experience including player loyalty,
retention, value, recommendations, and ultimately, player base growth.
“In our view, every interaction must
reinforce the brand, enhance the game,
and deliver the best gameplay support
experience.”
■ Page 3
TELUS International
We can help – our games expertise
Since 2005, TELUS International has supported the needs of games industry supporting
all platforms and business models – from console, to mobile, to social, to MMO – from
F2P to P2P – we’ve done it.
Our games clients are some of the largest in the world, including award-winning developers, publishers and studios. We’ve watched them flourish and grow from a handful of
agents to thousands in a span of only a few years. We know what it’s like when a game
“takes off” – and we love going along for the ride!
Our games solutions provide the processes, people and technology to support your
exploding games communities. In a nutshell, here’s what we offer:
See our complete list of services on page 6.
■ Player support services: today’s gamers are extremely diverse in their
customer care needs, while expecting total convenience. Our player support
services cover general inquires, in-game issues, billing, technical support,
community and forum management, and game surveillance. Support is
available 24x7 in over 30 languages delivered via email, chat, social media
and/or phone.
TELUS International
■ Page 4
■ Premium support services: for your higher-paying players, we can
customize premium support solutions including VIP and loyalty programs.
■ Localization services: with so much of today’s games market coming
from non-English speaking countries, localization is a big concern for today’s
games developer. Our game localization services leverage the skills of
localization specialists and designers covering over 30 languages. Our services
range from language translation and glossary development to graphics
integration and cultural consulting when expanding into new and foreign
markets.
■ Game testing: video games are complex and difficult to design and test.
This often leads to some failures, errors, or bugs being present in any game
with the potential to negatively impact player experience. Our goal is to help
you find and fix those bugs (whether it’s functional testing or localization QA)
before they end up as trending issues in community forums.
At TELUS International, we understand player value.
■ Page 5
TELUS International
Our services for games companies
Player support:
General inquiries, in-game issues, player
education, registration support, billing &
payments
Community management:
Community development & retention,
forum monitoring, social channel
management
Technical support:
Troubleshooting, error code support,
browser & platform updates,
knowledgebase creation & management
Game surveillance:
Abuse, cheat detection & management,
account recovery
Premium support:
Premium subscriptions, virtual goods sales,
VIP services for heavy payers, loyalty programs, win-backs
Game testing:
Beta testing (game updates, sequels, new
releases), user experience testing, network &
load testing, localization QA
Localization:
Language translation, multimedia & graphics
integration, style & character guides building,
glossary development, cultural consulting
Delivered via email, chat, social media,
forum support, and/or phone
Available 24/7 | 30+ languages
We take care of your players, while you take care
of building amazing games.
TELUS International
■ Page 6
The outsourcing advantage
Instead of maintaining complex contact center systems and staffing global, multilingual
support teams, TELUS International takes care of this for you. Acting as an extension
of your business, and most importantly, your brand, we can:
■ Provide player support in over 30
languages
■ Provide access to a global pool of
cost-effective, game-focused experts
■ Improve player satisfaction & response
times
■ Identify & manage key metrics for player
support (CSAT, NPS, FCR, other)
■ Increase player value, activity & retention
■ Deliver differentiated & responsive services
to your gamers
■ Provide operational efficiency with flexible
staffing, best practices & leading technology
■ Scale your support program as needed to
support increased transaction volumes
■ Support your growth into new markets,
countries & languages
Your games, your metrics – how to measure success:
The call center industry loves its key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level
metrics. Here are a few metrics you might want to consider to measure the success of
your player support programs:
■ Customer / Player Satisfaction (CSAT): in its simplest form, CSAT is
expressed as a percentage between 0 and 100, with 100% representing
complete customer satisfaction.
■ Net Promoter Score (NPS): NPS is a method for measuring customer
loyalty, by asking your players one simple question – how likely are they to
recommend your game to a friend or colleague? Based on the response,
your players can be divided into 3 categories: Promoters, Passives, and
Detractors.
■ First Contact Resolution (FCR): FCR refers to a player’s inquiry or problem
being resolved in a single contact – with no further follow up required. Ideally,
FCR should be defined from the player’s perspective.
■ Page 7
TELUS International
10 ways we add value to your business
(and support your plans for global domination!):
1. We know how to hire gamers
At TELUS International, we have years of experience hiring gamers. We’ve created hiring
profiles for some of the biggest and best games companies out there. We also know
that finding people who love games is not enough. Rather, we believe in hiring gamers
that not only know how to play but also know how to take care of other players. Our
gamers are engaged and ready to help. For them, it’s never “just a game”. They’re
empowered to do what it takes to achieve player delight.
Here’s a sample of the hiring qualities we look for:














Love to play games
Love to help others
Teamwork
Games knowledge (mechanics, items, lore)
Games culture (art, music, language, stories)
Creativity
Analytical skills (problem solving & innovation)
Attention to detail
Unwavering dedication
Strong multi-tasking skills & manual dexterity
Goal oriented
Vast knowledge about computers & games consoles
Learning is seen as fun
Outside of the box thinking
2. We work hard to attract the right talent
Having a strong candidate pool is essential to the success of our client programs.
There is never a day when we’re not actively recruiting good people. Our parent
company, TELUS, is a top Canadian telco with over 13 million customer connections.
It’s also a Top 500 global brand according to Brand Finance. Our unique and valued
brand (based on critters and nature), helps us stand out from the crowd – attracting
solid talent every day.
TELUS International
■ Page 8
Our recruitment brand is also something people can experience for themselves. From
resume parties, to speed hiring events, to auditions – we make recruitment fun. Work
needs to be so much more than a paycheck. We focus on building a community not just
a company surrounding people with inspiring workplaces, onsite education opportunities,
a shared sense of social purpose, and so much more.
“
■ Page 9
U.S. support team:
She made me feel like she really cared about my problem and it was
solved... She knew what she was talking about and it came through
the words she used and the problem was solved… If all of your
employees are like her what a world.
– Player feedback
“
TELUS International
3. We speak your language
In addition to supporting your players, we act as the Voice of the Player (VOP), providing
feedback directly to your studio and developers via our “Game Champions” and
“Resolution Specialists.” As an example, Game Champions can help optimize
communications and magnify VOP. Our team collects player feedback from tickets,
forums, social media, and all other community channels. Game Champions then
consolidate and filter the feedback back to your game developers. For one client, we
set up a Skype chat room between agents, developers and QA to share urgent issues
and feedback in real time.
4. We stand by our games culture
Now more than ever, companies are placing an emphasis on cultural compatibility
between themselves and their outsourcing partners. When it comes to corporate
culture, this is where we really shine. Our team members have a “culture of games”
and it’s apparent the second you walk into one of our centers. In fact, one large games
client selected TELUS International within an hour of touring our site.
We focus on what’s important - the Voice of your Players (VOP).
TELUS International
■ Page 10
5. We work the way we play
It’s hard to drop the importance of family, friends and hobbies as soon as you walk into
the office. That’s why we encourage our team members (most of whom are Generation
Y) to enjoy their lives both inside and outside of our call centers. This means building a
community, not just a company. We want people to feel connected to each other, to our
customers, and to what’s happening in the world.
We’ve found that letting our employees “work socially” via T.Life, our internal social
network, builds a sense of global community. It empowers our team members to share
ideas, track their performance, update their skills, join clubs, find carpooling groups,
swap their schedules, and even order a coffee right to their desk! But it’s not just about
working socially; it’s also about living the games at work. Importantly, our gamers are
given the time to play at work. Gameplay is an important part of their job.
“
European support team:
Hello! Given that this game is a free game, to be honest I did
not expect to get answers, help in such a short time. You have
a genius team; if you continue like this you will have the respect
from many other players.
– Player feedback
6. We put your players first
“
Whether it’s Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) or Net Promoter Score (NPS), we focus on
improving both the performance of your games and your player support. For some of
our accounts, the “Moment of Truth” is an important concept. It’s defined as the
instance of contact between a customer and a company that gives the customer an
opportunity to form (or change) an opinion about the company. A player’s happiness
isn’t varied in the moment of truth. It’s binary, a Yes or a No to the question “Did I
resolve your issue?” And really, the only acceptable answer is “Yes!” We trust our
agents to do right by the players, offering them those surprise and delight moments.
It’s a real emotional connection that’s needed to completely resolve player issues.
■ Page 11
TELUS International
“
TELUS International operations:
Most of our games service reps are Gen Y – which means we focus on
keeping them engaged with our unique, fun, democratic culture. We have
to think and act like a games company – or our best talent would leave.
7. We understand player value
“
For your premium players, consider going the extra mile by establishing a VIP queue
with a dedicated support team. VIP services can include 24 hour chat, email and/or
phone support with rapid response times. Agents receive specialized training
emphasizing personal service, creative solutions and relationship building. They are
also empowered to consider and evaluate exceptions to policies and even have the
ability to consult directly with your developers via Skye to resolve issues. Players
receive priority attention including proactive call backs as well as special perks such
as free gift cards, exclusive in-game items, branded swag, and/or coveted opportunities
for beta testing. These VIP services also mean higher performance expectations from
our agents, including higher NPS or CSAT metrics, compared to regular support queues.
8. We invest in our teams
It’s a simple formula. Happy, engaged agents = happy, satisfied players. We make it
a priority to invest in our team members and our communities. Whether it’s our
TELUS Days of Giving building entire villages and schools for disadvantaged
communities, or educating our team members with onsite university courses and
degrees, we focus on creating meaningful workplaces that invest both in the employee
and the person. The result – some of the highest engagement scores and lowest
attrition numbers in the industry.
TELUS International
■ Page 12
9. We think global but act local
Not all gamers are the same. Not all agents are the same. We pay attention to the
cultural differences when it comes to recruiting, hiring and retaining our agents as well
as supporting your global releases and players. Over 16,000 highly engaged team
members deliver onshore, nearshore and offshore support from North America,
Central America, Asia and Europe.
10. We’re always looking to innovate
We carefully select our technology partners to add value to our clients’ support programs.
Whether it’s enabling technologies for multilingual chat customer service (using Ortsbo);
driving agent efficiency with cloud-based solutions (using Dizzion); reporting business
results beyond service level metrics (using QlikView); and/or leveraging translation and
project management technology specific to the games industry (using SDL Trados Group
Share and LTC Worx respectively) – our contact centers are optimized for scalable,
multilingual player support, testing and localization.
“
European support team:
Great, now I know that I can count on your help. Really did everything to
help me, and I’m very content. I am so happy that this wonderful game is
administrated by such wonderful people! Thank you!
– Player feedback
“
At TELUS International, we think global but act local.
■ Page 13
TELUS International
Results you can expect – client snapshots
Top grossing tablet games worldwide
This particular games client was looking to expand support to additional countries and
languages but was challenged with recruitment, ticket backlog and maintaining player
satisfaction. Here’s what we did:
■ Partenered to provide support in 9 languages for 3 major titles
■ We hired awesome people with the right fit, hitting 0% attrition
for most months
■ We achieved 97% Quality of Service via internal QA and weekly feedback
sessions
■ Using single-game-focused teams, we optimized support and increased
the number of tickets solved per agent
■ We strived for open communications, always sharing Voice of the Player
feedback
■ Importantly, we focused on a shared purpose – living the gaming brand
and culture
U.S.- based games company with UK headquarters
With over 32.5 million players, this global games client was looking for a true partner
to help with better and faster player support, including enhanced recruitment strategies
while expanding into new markets. But maintaining their games culture was essential.
Our partnership highlights include:
■ A smooth and quick transition from in-house to outsourced support
■ Establishing a dedicated operation area will full client branding
■ Recruitment focused on hiring only experienced, passionate gamers
covering 9 languages and 13 geographic markets
■ Ability to support up to 32 languages for additional growth
■ Cleared a large backlog of tickets in one month, decreasing response time
from days to immediate
■ Continued increase in player satisfaction scores where player experience is
the top priority
TELUS International
■ Page 14
Supporting MMORPGs
The client is a developer of a wide range of games, many with sequels. One particular
title is the winner of over 90 industry awards including a gamescom award for Best
Online Game. Partnership highlights:
■ Originally shared tasks with other outsourcers, but soon took over Tier 2 work
■ Quality teams perform daily audits of agent performance and provide
immediate feedback, tips, and on-the-floor support
■ Strong focus on KPIs including Emails Per Hour (EPH) and player CSAT
■ Always looking for proactive ways to improve the game
■ We strived for open communications, always sharing Voice of the Player
feedback
■ Several TELUS International “innovations” have been adopted by the client
“
■ Page 15
TELUS International operations:
We consider our client a partner. As a result, we’re always looking for
ways to improve the game. We proactively share our analysis on CSAT,
player feedback and client policies. Significant changes have been
made as a result of our input.
“
TELUS International
More MMORPGs
After a few short years, we now support 14 games for this online game publisher
specializing in immersive free-to-play MMORPGs. Partnership highlights:
■ Small support team relies on game-bundling where agents are cross-skilled
to provide efficient support
■ Developed new hire training curriculum with ability to reduce learning curve
from 90 days to 30 days to scale quickly
■ Heavy focus on maintaining game knowledge of both core mechanics and
game features
■ Reduced 2,000+ ticket backlog hitting service levels of 99%, followed by
high FCR and CSAT scores
Our goal is to stand out from the rest
by delivering differentiated support
experiences to your players.
TELUS International
■ Page 16
Casual / social / mobile gamers
With a partnership that started in 2009, the client is a top social games company
based in California with games played by 100 million monthly consumers.
Partnership highlights:
■ Strong focus on cultural alignment to internalize the brand
■ Ramped team members from 30 to 2,000 over a 2-year period
■ Reinvented partner engagement by creating an “innovations team” to
constantly brainstorm ways to increase player delight
■ Proposed game-bundling (cross-training agents) for more efficient and
cost-effective support
■ Developed and customized training curriculum for agents
■ Established a VIP “concierge” program for high touch player support
■ Page 17
TELUS International
Finding the right people
One of the world’s largest video game publishers required highly engaged but
cost-effective agents who could relate to their players and demonstrate the necessary
troubleshooting skills to resolve game-play issues. Callers ranged from casual to
hard-core gamers. Partnership highlights:
■ TELUS International developed a unique recruitment strategy to match
agents to player personalities
■ This ensured that a proper “fit” was established and that customer
expectations could be met
■ Unique to the recruitment strategy was the hiring of sisters of hard-core
gamers. The sisters were familiar with gamer traits and lingo, had strong
customer service skills and resonated with a growing female market of
advanced casual gamers
■ Using this approach, player satisfaction metrics were often exceeded
“
TELUS International
TELUS International operations:
By introducing new agents into the team wave by wave, we
can focus on ensuring team integrity and maintaining team
chemistry from the start.
“
■ Page 18
Our guiding principles for implementing player support
As player support becomes another battlefield for winning over players, here’s
our top guiding principles for implementing support for your gamers:
Make emotional connections: Studios need to develop emotional connections with
players and match gamers with like-minded support representatives. It’s important to
staff your player support teams not only with gamers who love to play and make it their
mission to continually level-up in a game, but also with players who have the desire to
help others. Players respect other players, especially ones that take the time to care.
Your player support teams need to know their stuff, speak the same language as your
gamers, and have the empathy to drive amazing player support experiences.
Understand Gen Y: Generation Y (or Millennials) are a favorite demographic of the
games industry. They represent one of the largest and most influential generations of all
time. Given their numbers, spending ability, and entry into the workforce, it’s important
to understand what matters to this generation both as employees and customers.
From a support perspective, they need to be engaged both with the company and the
games they support – or they simply move on. It’s important to take advantage of their
self-confident, optimistic, interdependent, techno-dependent, success driven, goal
oriented, and multi-tasking nature.
Customize your player support: Not all gamers are the same. For example, PC gamers
are often proud of their technical abilities and are more inclined to work with websites
or download patches to fix their own problems. In contrast, console players are convenience-driven and typically prefer having easy access to customer support. F2P players
are used to finding support in community forums or on the developer’s website.
The point is – player support needs to be customized – just like your games.
“Players respect other players, especially
ones that take the time to care.”
■ Page 19
TELUS International
Make the most of player feedback: player feedback is gold! Your player support
channels provide a tremendous opportunity to collect and analyze player feedback in
real-time and share back with your developers as required. This ensures that your
games always reflect the latest player demands. The result is increased player value,
playtime satisfaction, retention, and ultimately, a higher likelihood to recommend the
game to others.
Ensure real-time, multichannel support: many in the games community rely on peerto-peer player support, but there is a real advantage to offering good customer service
directly. Providing 24/7 multi-channel support via voice, email, online and social networks
enables your players to interact with you whenever and however they want. Further,
having a social media presence allows players to engage with developers in real time,
in their preferred communication channel. For smaller game studios, it’s an effective
way to reach a targeted and relevant audience to increase your player base.
Team up: studios that don’t have the customer service expertise in-house should
consider partnering with a contact center provider that does. It’s important to focus on
your core business of developing or publishing amazing games, while an expert takes
care of the player support infrastructure and delivery. Outsourced providers can also
scale up or down personnel to suit the development and growth of the game, globally
if needed. By launching a robust player support program, you’ll improve the overall
player experience. This also potentially means increasing player lifetime value,
enhancing player retention, and increasing your player recommendations.
TELUS International
■ Page 20
More about us
Our locations
Our global player support solutions are based in the most strategic destinations to grow
your games business efficiently and effectively:
North America: our 100,000 square-foot contact center in Nevada offers the
best bilingual English and Spanish speaking agents dedicated to superior
customer service.
Europe: connect with our TELUS International Europe team with locations
throughout Bulgaria, Romania and the United Kingdom. With over 30 ways to
say “we care” our team members are fluent in French, Spanish, German, Italian,
Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Greek and more.
Central America: access the best bilingual Spanish and English agent talent
pool in Central America with locations throughout Guatemala and El Salvador.
Harnessing local expertise, we are able to offer the most attractive locations for
labor pool availability and growth.
Asia: benefit from cost-savings without sacrificing program quality. Long
considered the most westernized of Asian countries, the Philippines has
embraced many aspects of Western living including the widespread use of
American-style English.
Getting started with TELUS International
In the outsourcing business, one size does not fit all. That’s why we take the time to
understand your business and your goals, and then tailor a solution to meet the unique
challenges faced by the games market. We guide you through a comprehensive
assessment that leaves you comfortably in the driver’s seat. You determine how you
want your program to run and how to measure success. Using this open, flexible
approach, we aim to be the premier outsourcing partner to all of our clients.
■ Page 21
TELUS International
Office space matters. From themed meeting rooms, to fitness
facilities, to onsite movie theaters, to stocked libraries - our
inspired workspaces create inspired people.
Let’s connect!
Europe:
North America:
TELUS International Europe
telusinternational-europe.com
@TELUS_eu
[email protected]
TELUS International
telusinternational.com
@TELUSint
[email protected]
© TELUS International 08_14