The Canadian Red Cross (“CRC”) is soliciting information from industry so that it may select a Canadian-based service provider to provide high-quality client service support, to manage inbound and outbound communications, support digital inquiries, and enhance customer experience through the integration of technology and Artificial intelligence (AI). The contractor will be supporting the Prevention and Safety vertical, which includes potential and actual first aid training students, instructors and training partners. CRC is looking at putting in place a three (3) year term agreement (with the possibility for two one-year extensions) with the selected vendor.
The purpose of this RFP is to source a new Canadian contact center agency to provide client services to CRC Prevention and Safety customers including, without limitation former, current and potential first aid and safety learners, instructors, training partners, corporate customers and members of the general public. The goal is to enhance the customer experience, improve service delivery, and support CRC’s mission through responsive, professional, and technology-enabled client services. The Successful Bidder is expected to improve current performance standards (baseline to be established), reduce cost, identify and collaborate to reduce call drivers, improve self-service, integrate use of technology and AI solutions, including IVR, knowledgebase and chat bots to further enhance self-service and customer satisfaction.
Current tools :
Zendesk is currently used for managing and responding to inbound emails and webforms and is anticipated to be rolled out shortly as a platform for live chat. Other tools used by the contact center include the Prevention & Safety learning environment for online training and in-person course registrations, CRM, Microsoft’s D365 F&O, Teams, Outlook and SharePoint.
Current Call Statistics:
- Average Monthly call volume: Ranging between 4,600 (December 2024) to 8,300 (April 2025)*
- Peak Times: Issue-driven, no usual peak times since users from coast to coast contact customer support. Historical intraday reports can be provided for WFM/capacity planning.
- Average handle time: 524 seconds (monthly averages range from 507-548 seconds)
Current Email Statistics:
- Average Monthly volume: Ranging between 3,796 (December 2024) to 6,153 (April 2025) *
- Peak Times: Issue-driven, no usual peak times since users from coast to coast contact customer support. Historical intraday reports can be provided for WFM/capacity planning.
- Median requester wait time (June 2024 through May 2025) 4.5 hours, 84.3% one-touch tickets
*Note that call and email volumes have decreased in 2025 in comparison to 2024 numbers thanks to the implementation of self-service options.
