The New York Mets Hit the Guest Experience Out of the Park

Avaya: An MVP for the Mets

A visit to Citi Field, home of the NY Mets, isn’t just about the game; but a complete experience for the fans who visit each year. Party decks, state-of-the-art sound and video systems, stadium-wide Wi-Fi, and dining options far surpassing hot dogs are just some of the reasons why the ballpark ranks as one of the top sports venues in the country. 

In fact, Citi Field has become a destination for just about any occasion, including other sporting events, corporate meetings, private parties, trade shows, concerts, and an impressive 100+ weddings and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs each year. The goal: deliver a memorable experience that keeps guests coming back. 

For the Mets, that experience extends well beyond the ballpark. Whether they’re selling season tickets, booking corporate events, or fielding media inquiries, Mets staff need the tools to take care of business quickly and with a personal touch.

A Trusted Team Player

When it came time to upgrade its voice and contact center systems, the Mets looked at multiple options before choosing Avaya Aura®. With years of working with Avaya via Nortel solutions, the Mets felt confident in selecting Avaya’s unified messaging and contact center solutions.

“Looking at our history with Avaya, its enterprise capabilities, experience in the commercial and sports markets, and the fact that it’s a well-entrenched platform, all contributed to the decision to deepen our relationship with Avaya,” says Tom Festa, Vice President of Technology, New York Mets.

What’s more, Avaya covered the organization’s wish list, which included multi-channel contact center capabilities, instant messaging, conferencing, mobility, and award-winning support services — all helping the Mets deliver a more connected experience for staff and fans.

Mets Call Center Ups Its Game

The Mets made the transition from Nortel to Aura quickly and easily, with PC soft client phones and no cabling required. When needed, the IT team can likewise make moves and changes with minimal impact to the business.

“Going IP made our implementation seem like a breeze compared to the past,” Festa says. “No more worries about office relocations. We just have users log into an existing phone in their new location and away they go.”

During peak season, the Mets call center racks up an impressive 25,000 inbound and outbound calls every week. Prior to the move to Aura, call center managers had little data to support strategic decisions.

Avaya Aura® changed that. Whether it’s an outgoing sales call or a fan’s question about weather cancellations, the Mets have the data to optimize the customer experience. Extensive reporting and analytics span every aspect of the contact center, such as call volumes, peak times, average call durations, and the number of outbound calls relative to ticket and event sales.

“Whatever question comes up, we have the information at our fingertips in Avaya Aura to devise better customer engagement,” says Chris Zaber, Vice President, Ticket Sales & Services.

With those insights, call center managers make proactive decisions about how to staff to field customer questions as expediently as possible. Plus, they can identify opportunities to train agents to increase sales and customer satisfaction.

Once tied to Microsoft CRM, agents will have customer information instantly on hand to deliver a more personalized experience as they sell group and season tickets.

“We will have the ability to tailor interaction with our customers,” Festa says. “If we can identify the customer calling, we can say, ‘By the way, Happy Birthday.’ Nowadays that’s the kind of service that people expect.”

A Smarter, More Connected Team

Before, Mets staffers were limited to 60 participants on conference calls. Now, they no longer worry about limiting call participants or conflicts with scheduling multiple conferences simultaneously. Avaya Aura Conferencing expanded capacity into the hundreds, freeing the organization to include as many people as they choose.

“If our general manager wants to hold a call with season ticket holders, or introduce a new player to the media, we have that flexibility,” Festa says. With mobility features, Avaya Equinox™ keeps Mets leadership in collaboration anytime, anywhere with calls and instant messaging.

Relocations in 1/3 the Time

After the smooth cutover to Avaya Aura, moves and changes have been just as simple. Ticketing can set up new agents in a matter of minutes.

Recently, the organization reconfigured its offices to drive a more collaborative environment. They removed cubicle walls to create a more open area and added conference rooms for private meetings. In total, 200 people relocated their desks — a transition made easier with the flexibility of Avaya Aura.

That flexibility also came into play for a special, week-long hockey event, the NHL’s annual Winter Classic, which takes place at a different stadium each year. The Mets had to relocate those 90 employees to temporary office space just for that week. Before, it would have taken a day and a half on the front and back end to reconfigure the phones. Instead, Aura’s simplicity shortened that to a few hours. 

With capabilities to enhance staff productivity and customer satisfaction, Avaya serves as one of the most valuable players on the Mets’s technology roster.

“The NY Mets have many loyal fans and want to provide them the best experience,” Festa says. “Avaya understands exactly where we need to go and delivers the technology and support that the Mets and their fans can count on.”