Mount Kenya University's Virtual Varsity has unveiled a new, ultra-modern call centre to improve services to students, guardians and parents.
Located at the 11th floor of MKU
Union Towers, Moi Avenue, Nairobi, the call centre is equipped with some of the latest technology and data system tools.
“Our aim is to answer 85 per cent of all our calls within the first 10 seconds of the first ring,” said Christopher Mutembei, director, MKU Virtual Varsity. “We can now handle over 600 calls a day.”
MKU's Virtual Varsity has close to 10,000 students from across the globe who pursue their courses online.
The students are only required to physically sit in for their CATs and exams. All other correspondence is handled virtually.
“Therefore, the call centre really comes in handy,” said Daniel Chelule, the registrar at the Virtual Varsity.
The launch of the call centre was presided over by MKU chairman Dr Simon Gicharu. He reiterated his commitment to ensuring that the university’s students receive the best support from the staff, both teaching and administrative.
“We are at the service of students and each one of us bears enormous responsibility in ensuring that the students achieve their academic dreams. This call centre is one small step for MKU Virtual Varsity and a giant leap for the education sector in as far as customer service is concerned.”
The call centre will be manned by four people, 24 hours a day. Mutembei said the motivation behind providing the service around the clock was the different time zones that the Virtual Varsity students are in.
“We have students from as far as Australia, Pakistan and Abu Dhabi. The call centre offers our students flexibility. They don’t have to stay up late hours in order to contact us during Kenya’s official working hours. We are available 24/7.”
The university operates on a very efficient management information system platform that enables seamless delivery of services (mainly involving teaching, grading) and handling of student data.