PostFinance simplifies access to internal communication by introducing a new Confluence-based information platform across Switzerland. Information is retrieved and processed more quickly, which satisfies customers and employees alike.
In July 2017 at 10:15, the telephone rings in the PostFinance Service Center. A tense customer needs urgent information. The call center agent puts the customer on hold so they can look up the information in one of a number of different databases. After a few minutes, he finds the appropriate platform, informs the customer of the answer, and says goodbye to him at 10:18. These unnecessary waiting times did not make anybody happy – it was time for a change.
PostFinance AG in Bern is one of the largest financial institutions in Switzerland and number one in Swiss payments. To differing extents, PostFinance employees interact with their customers and need to check and provide up-to-date and precise company information. In the past, the thousands of information records at PostFinance were saved on different platforms using different technologies. The information was hard to find and even more difficult to keep up to date. In 2017, a new project was launched with the aim of providing information from a central repository to all employees in an uncomplicated, streamlined and targeted manner. Confluence, Atlassian’s enterprise knowledge management solution, was quickly chosen as the new platform, having already proven itself with other projects at PostFinance. Confluence met all the basic requirements: The ability to both easily record and manage the information, and to quickly make this information available to all employees at the Service Center.
The main requirements of the new platform defined that information should be stored centrally and in a discernible structure, so that employees can find what they need as quickly as possible. In addition, the documents should be easy to edit and have a feedback option. Together with bitvoodoo, the content structuring and the presentation and functionality of the platform were designed during a conception phase. This was followed up with a prototype to affirm the concept and identify any weaknesses. In order to achieve the most favorable response, Confluence was configured with Enterprise Theme by bitvoodoo, making it aesthetically pleasing. The Enterprise Theme includes freely configurable and customizable dashboards for different target groups and departments within PostFinance.
In addition to the design adjustments, the app Metadata by Communardo was implemented. This makes it possible to structure wiki data logically. In the case of PostFinance, around 2500 Confluence content items were structured according to three languages, fifteen subject categories and six document types.
For more information on the apps used in this case, please read Professional information management with Metadata and Advanced Search.
The migration of the existing 2500 content items to the new information platform was carried out by around 30 PostFinance content experts in a surprisingly short time. Each item was rated by quality and re-categorized. Finally, bitvoodoo developed their user-friendly app Advanced Search for quick access, which allows for a precise selection of categories and keywords.
The new information platform is now being used by around 1500 PostFinance employees, and the new design has made accessing information much easier. This also means a shorter waiting time for PostFinance customers. The new streamlined process of gathering information also helps keep the quality of the content at a high level. “It’s super! The search function is really easy and functions exceptionally well – I think that’s the most important thing!” is one of the statements you hear from users after the introduction of the new information platform on Confluence.
In February 2018 at 10:15, the telephone rings in the PostFinance Service Center. The call center agent accepts the call and has to answer the same customer query as in July 2017. He quickly types the customer number into the search function and instantly gives the customer an answer. At 10:16, they say a friendly goodbye.
