Moving The Yomiuri Shimbun Tokyo Headquarters' Home Delivery Inquiries from Phone to Chat: Chat-YC, a Business App That Took Root in the Field

Overview

At The Yomiuri Shimbun Tokyo Headquarters, inquiries that arise every day with sales outlets and delivery staff, such as delivery delays and changes, damaged parcels, misdeliveries, and handling of absent recipients, were mainly handled by phone. Phone conversations left no record, and when records were kept, the method varied from person to person, on paper or on a PC, so the people involved could not share who was handling which inquiry.

We developed Chat-YC, which consists of a PC interface used by customer support staff and sales outlets, and a smartphone app used by delivery staff. Inquiries are received by chat, and their status can be managed in a list. We were selected through a competition in which several vendors took part, and the app has been released.

Challenges

• Phone-centered communication left no record, and the same checks had to be repeated every time the person in charge changed
• Only the person handling an inquiry could see its status, creating a risk of missed or duplicated responses
• Because the system handles a large enterprise's business data, a high level of security was required

What We Did

• An approach of building the screens first and finalizing the requirements while looking at them in meetings held once or twice a week
• Chat with photo attachments, status management for each inquiry, and broadcast messages to outlets
• A smartphone app that allows input even where there is no signal and sends automatically once the signal returns
• Authentication that allows connections only from approved devices, plus load testing and vulnerability testing

Results

• Everyone involved can now see the content and status of inquiries on the same screen
• Every exchange is kept as a record, and multiple inquiries can be handled at the same time
• Starting with trial use in a limited scope and expanding step by step, the app has taken root as one that is used in the field

Whether an App Keeps Being Used in the Field Depends on Its First-Release Quality

Delivery staff's main job is delivering, and they cannot spend time operating an app. The moment they feel it is slow or missing features, they go back to the phone. For that reason, in this project we did not take the approach of releasing with minimal features and adding more later; instead, we aimed to meet the necessary functionality and performance in the very first release. We ran load tests again and again, anticipating moments when access spikes, such as the start of morning deliveries and broadcast notices about delays.

Rollout also did not expand to everyone at once; it began with trial use in a limited scope. By explaining the purpose and benefits to users in advance and feeding their requests into development, we prepared the ground for the new tool to be accepted. A system does not change the work just by being introduced; it only produces results once it is used in the field. At the selection stage, the client valued our ISMS certification and the concreteness of a proposal that went as far as the project approach and security.

Our Scope of Work

• Requirements definition and screen design
• UI/UX design
• Design, development, and testing of the web interface and smartphone app
• Infrastructure setup and security design
• Rollout support and post-release improvement

Client Information

Company Name

The Yomiuri Shimbun Tokyo Headquarters

Business Overview

• Newspaper publishing and sales

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you meet the strict security standards of a large enterprise? We are ISMS certified. In this case, we added authentication that allows connections only from approved devices, and submitted the results of load testing and vulnerability testing as records.

Will field staff who are not used to IT actually use it? We design around the way people in the field work. In this case, we made it possible to enter information even where there is no signal, and expanded step by step from trial use in a limited scope.

Do we have to switch everything to chat, including urgent communication? No. In this case too, the goal was to keep the phone for urgent communication and move everyday inquiries to the app.

Related Information

• Digitizing work centered on phone and fax, and making it stick in the field → DX promotion support
• Development of business web and smartphone apps → System development

Related news

• Development Begins on an App to Streamline Home Delivery Inquiry Handling
• App to Streamline Home Delivery Inquiry Handling Released

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