The NSN Project Team is responsible for addressing and implementing an upgraded customer service that ensures direct person-to-person involvement when the company is contacted for any post-purchase reasons.

Specific objectives include:

The intended audience for this BRD is all business and technical staff who either contribute to, benefit from, or are affected by the creation and implementation of this new higher-grade customer service.

Research has demonstrated that the explosive growth of the Internet and the concomitant rise in security risk have led to a proliferation of security firms that promise protection that often is not delivered. In response to these factors, we created the National Security Number system to register, screen, and validate the credentials of these firms. This project furthers those efforts by upgrading the support provided to customers once they purchase these services.

We have determined that customers expect personalized care when contacting us for inquiries, complaints, and status updates on typically sensitive issues. Therefore, contrary to most modern post-sale services that use prerecorded responses activated by telephone number pads, our service will stress the added value of immediate human interaction with our clients.

The business needs and user needs were verified through extensive but carefully targeted interviews and focus groups, to ensure comprehensive input into the analytical process. Information thus gathered was further categorized according to functional, nonfunctional, and system requirements, which will then become the blueprint for system specifications to support development of final solutions. All documented findings and analysis will be kept in a Web-based repository for version management and efficient retrieval.

Final approval of the Business Requirements Document resides with John Smith, VP, who is the project sponsor. Primary users are identified as customer service representatives (CSRs) who handle calls coming from clients. Secondary users include the company financial, contracting, marketing, and legal staffs, each of whom in some way supports the CSRs in successfully responding to customer inquiries.

Other key stakeholders include:

The following business requirements must be satisfied by this project:

Customer service representatives need access to all corporate systems supporting this service, and such access must be easy for staff to use when in stressful communication with an agitated client.

Functional requirements supporting the above user requirements include quick data retrieval and correlation, interactive plain-language query procedures, a full history of prior inquiries from the subject customer, and supervisory access within 30 seconds for incidents requiring escalation for resolution.

a.  Although many legacy and state-of-the-art corporate systems will be employed in providing this service, its success relies on full integration across all such systems. This will ensure optimal accuracy of customer data presented to the CSRs when they respond to and resolve inquiries in real time.

b.  Past experience with sensitive customer-service activities strongly supports a Web-based graphical user interface (GUI) as the preferred method for CSRs to interact with corporate systems needed for professional and timely responses to customers.

c.  Typical user ID and password access will be required for authorized on-site CSRs to use the system(s) supporting this service. Remote access will be provided on a controlled as-needed basis, supported by Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology as is done for similar corporate resources.

d.  All data systems supporting this newly upgraded service must be available from 0700 to 2000 Eastern Time on workdays and 0900 to 1600 on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. Also, it is anticipated that as many as six full-time CSRs may concurrently access the needed systems.

e.  CSRs will need the ability to input key customer data (name, account number, address, phone numbers, etc.), as well as a free-form text entry describing the nature of the inquiry—all done through the GUI portal suggested above.

f.  System downtime or outages must not exceed 15 minutes during prime operating time, as defined above.

g.  All customer data supporting this service will be backed up nightly, with archives produced monthly and stored at an off-site service provider for 3 years.

h.  This newly designed customer service is intended for indefinite application, with improvement evaluations to be scheduled and conducted on an annual basis.

i.  All CSR processes, scripts, system access training, and customer interaction skills will be documented prior to implementation. Further, the human resources department will participate in ensuring that such documentation supports the training and certifications described below.

j.  The basic purpose of this improved customer service is to enhance the customer experience to the point where our firm is clearly recognized as the industry leader. To that end, CSRs participating in this effort will receive extensive system and customer-interaction training, supported by the human resources and marketing departments. They will also be certified as having completed such training before they begin participation in the service.

k.  Usability of the GUI or equivalent described above will be extensively tested prior to operational implementation. Such usability testing will ensure uniform application and success by all CSRs, whether neophytes or veterans.

l.  All screen text will maintain the same look and feel as that which is found on other corporate Web sites, both internal and external.

Results of customer service transactions must be summarized for timely access by senior management, who will use such reported data to gauge progress with the planned improvements in support of the customer. Detailed contents, frequency, and format of such reports are appended at the end of this BRD and include prototype reports for illustration.

a.  All involved project team members are present at the kick-off meeting and throughout the project.

b.  Key stakeholders and sponsors provide timely feedback for issues and status.

c.  Necessary funding is available for extra resources if required.

Key dependencies are shown in the detailed project plan.

a.  This support service must be ready for implementation within 4 to 6 months of project initiation, to coincide with the launch of the new NSN service.

b.  We must ensure that filling key CSR positions for this service does not cannibalize staff from our other primary customer-facing services.

Project risks will be identified and managed in accordance with the following template:

The new customer service must provide clients with comprehensive and immediate support on all inquiries, regardless of how they are transmitted to the company (phone, e-mail, fax, or surface mail). CSRs will therefore need immediate and efficient access to all pertinent customer account information on a real-time basis. This will require integration of many databases that up to now have functioned independently. It may also require development of a front-end access method for CSRs, similar to the functionality provided by a Web-based GUI.

Because this service closely resembles similar customer-facing services provided by the company, it is expected that those current successful services will serve as the model for this new initiative.

Substantive changes in scope, schedule, funding, quality, or risk must undergo scrutiny and approval by the key stakeholders before being implemented. The standard Project Change Request Form will be used for this purpose.

A.  IT Systems Diagrams

B.  Reporting Requirements (attached)

C.  Project Plan (attached)

D.  Project Change Request form (attached)

This document has been approved as the official Business Requirements Document for the National Security Number (NSN) Customer Service project and accurately reflects the current understanding of business requirements. Following approval of this document, requirements changes will be governed by the project’s change management process, including impact analysis as well as appropriate reviews and approvals, under the general control of the Project Plan and according to company policy.

Please note: Electronic signatures are acceptable if verified by documents such as e-mails that clearly indicate the approving person and date. Such e-mails are filed with the project documentation in a Web-accessible repository.

Customer Service Representative (CSR)—one of the trained staff dedicated to answering customer inquiries, whether such inquiries are by phone, mail, e-mail, fax, or personal appointment.

Graphical User Interface (GUI)—an Internet Web-based display that provides users with full-screen capabilities to enter and access data as well as link to other pages and sites, all with a minimum of keystroke entry.

National Security Number (NSN)—a standard unique identifier for security providers. The NSN is a seven-digit, intelligence-free numeric identifier. Intelligence free means that the numbers do not carry information about the providers, such as the state in which they practice or their specialization.

Standard Transaction—includes background checks, nationality inquiries and responses, and criminal history inquiries and responses.