Transit Agencies & Authorities
Public Transit BPO Services | Rider Support and Paratransit
A transit agency's call center serves people with no alternative. The rider trying to reach it is frequently standing at a stop in the weather, often without a car by necessity rather than choice, and sometimes depending on a paratransit trip to reach dialysis. That is a different service obligation from a commercial contact center, and it is why transit support is judged on access and equity rather than on handle time.
Global Empire Corporation supports transit agencies, authorities and their operating contractors across rider information, paratransit reservations and fare and pass support — staffed for a service where the peak is a snow morning and the standard is set by public accountability rather than by a margin target.
- 1.1B+
- Transactions Processed
- 11+
- Contact Centers Worldwide
- 27
- Service in 27+ Languages
- 35.5k+
- Over 35000 Happy Employees
- 10M+
- New Customers Acquired
The Rider Calling You Usually Has No Second Option
Commercial customer service assumes a customer who could go elsewhere. Transit does not. The person calling because a bus did not come cannot switch providers, and in many cases cannot easily switch modes — which means an unanswered line is not lost revenue, it is a rider stranded. That reframes what the center is for, and it is why agencies measure abandonment and language access rather than efficiency metrics that would flatter the numbers.
Paratransit sharpens all of it. Those trips are scheduled in advance, are frequently medical, and a booking that fails leaves a rider without a way to reach an appointment they cannot miss. The reservation line is not a convenience layer over the service — for those riders it is the service, and its reliability is examined accordingly.
- Rider information handled through the disruption mornings when every stop is calling at once
- Paratransit reservations, changes and cancellations taken to your eligibility and scheduling rules
- Language access built into the roster rather than added as a transfer to an interpreter line
- Reporting shaped to the accountability an agency actually faces, including abandonment and access
For transit agencies, authorities and operating contractors
Transit Support Services We Deliver
Rider Information
Routes, schedules, connections and real-time status, answered for riders who may not be using an app.
Paratransit Reservations
Trip booking, changes, cancellations and will-call returns handled to your scheduling and eligibility rules.
Service Disruption Support
Detours, weather events and incidents communicated consistently while every stop is calling simultaneously.
Fare & Pass Support
Fare products, reduced-fare eligibility, smartcard balances, replacements and autoload questions.
Trip Planning Assistance
Door-to-door planning for riders who are unfamiliar, visually impaired or without a smartphone.
Complaints & Commendations
Rider feedback captured to your standard with the operator, run, route, stop and time recorded properly.
Lost & Found
High-volume, entirely practical, and a persistent drain on operations staff when it has nowhere else to go.
Title VI & Language Access Support
Multilingual coverage staffed to your service area's demographics rather than routed to a generic interpreter queue.
How a Transit Program Gets Built
Language access and paratransit rules are established first, because both are accountability requirements rather than service preferences.
Establish language access
Identify the languages your service area actually needs and staff them, rather than relying on a transfer that adds minutes to every non-English call.
Encode the paratransit rules
Eligibility, booking windows, negotiation of pickup times, subscription trips and no-show policy are agency-specific and must be applied exactly.
Wire real-time information
Agents need the same live vehicle and detour data the app shows, or they will confidently give a rider information the street contradicts.
Agree disruption messaging
Weather and incident scripts approved in advance, so a snow morning produces one consistent public answer.
Build the reporting
Abandonment, answer time, language distribution and complaint categories, in the form your board and your funders expect to see them.
Related services
Build a complete support program
Frequently asked questions
Can an outside desk take paratransit reservations?
Yes, and it is one of the more common transit outsourcing arrangements — but it is also the part with the least tolerance for approximation. Eligibility conditions, booking windows, how far a pickup time may be negotiated, subscription trips, no-show and late-cancellation policy are all agency-specific and often set out in your ADA plan and your policies. Agents apply your rules exactly as written. What they do not do is make eligibility determinations, which stay with your certification process.
How is language access handled?
By staffing it, not by transferring it. Agencies have obligations around meaningful access for riders with limited English proficiency, and a routine that puts every such caller through an interpreter handoff adds minutes to exactly the calls that can least afford them. Coverage is built for the languages your service area actually uses, established from your own demographic data, with interpretation available beyond that rather than as the first resort.
What happens on a snow morning?
Everything at once, which is why the messaging is agreed before the season. Delays, detours and cancellations are announced from one approved script so riders hear a consistent answer, surge capacity opens, and agents work from live vehicle data rather than the printed schedule. The measure of success is not average handle time that morning — it is whether riders standing in the cold could reach somebody and got accurate information about whether a bus was coming.
Can agents access real-time vehicle information?
They need to, and where an agency cannot provide it we will say so plainly, because the alternative is agents reciting a timetable that the street is currently contradicting. With access to the same live data your app and signs use, an agent can tell a rider where the vehicle actually is and whether their route is detoured — which is the entire content of most disruption calls and the difference between a useful desk and a recorded schedule.
How do you handle rider complaints?
By capturing them completely enough to be actionable. A complaint recorded as unhappy with driver is useless to an operations manager; one recorded with the route, run, direction, stop, date and time, and a factual account of what the rider described, can actually be investigated against the vehicle record. Agents take them neutrally, do not adjudicate, and route to your standard. Commendations are recorded with the same care, because operators notice when only complaints are logged.
Our board expects specific reporting.
Then the reporting is designed backward from what your board, your funders and your oversight actually require, rather than delivered as a standard vendor dashboard you then have to translate. Abandonment rate, answer time, call reasons, language distribution, paratransit booking outcomes and complaint categories are the usual set. Public accountability metrics are different from commercial ones, and a center measured on the wrong things will optimize for the wrong things.
Can you support riders who do not use smartphones?
That is much of the point. A significant share of transit riders — older riders, low-income riders, riders with disabilities, visitors — either cannot or do not use trip planning apps, and the phone is their only route to the same information. Agents are trained to plan a trip conversationally, including walking directions to a stop, transfer points and accessible boarding, at whatever pace the rider needs rather than at a pace a metric would prefer.
What does transit support cost?
It follows the program: ridership and contact volume, whether paratransit reservations are in scope, the languages required and at what coverage level, the hours including weekend and late-night service, how much surge capacity is held for weather and incidents, and the reporting your accountability obligations require. Paratransit reservation handling and staffed language coverage carry the most training cost, and both are usually the reason an agency is procuring in the first place. We quote per agency.
TESTIMONIALS
Our trusted clients
Global Empire provides reliable 24/7 coverage with live support when it matters most. Their breadth of service, professionalism, and ability to answer calls quickly has made a major difference for our organization. We’re very happy with the partnership and would recommend them confidently.
Wait times no longer exist with the service Global Empire provides. We have cut labor costs dramatically, eliminated overhead from dispatch staffing, and our clients are getting picked up quicker. Spending less while improving service has become the backbone of our business.
We are not only meeting but exceeding our service level objectives. Global Empire resolves many calls without needing a live agent, and the calls that require support are answered quickly and handled faster than before. Their reporting gives us visibility anytime we need it.
We set very challenging service level objectives and insist on those standards being met. At first we were unsure if Global Empire could consistently deliver at that level, but they proved they could. Based on performance and reliability, we know we made the right decision.
Service matters greatly for customer loyalty and experience, and Global Empire provides exactly the professional support required. We’re confident we achieve more value in our contact center because of the strategic partnership and the consistency of their service.
During our recent flood disaster, Global Empire provided messaging services vital to our communications management. Their quick, efficient, and professional response stood out throughout the crisis. In situations like this, service quality is not taken for granted — it’s recognized.
Excellent service — we consistently receive comments about how professional and friendly their agents are. To our customers, it feels seamless and they assume the people answering are part of our in-office team. It has worked out far better than we thought possible.
Global Empire has provided essential call center services for over a decade, responding to medical and non-medical emergencies with accuracy and professionalism. Their commitment to quality and continuous learning is clearly reflected in the service they deliver.
I never realized how much overtime we were paying until we started using Global Empire. We were able to eliminate overtime completely while improving how calls are handled. Now our staff can focus on other important tasks that keep our customers happy.
I wasn’t using all the options Global Empire offered until one of their representatives noticed and reached out. Based on their recommendations, we made several changes that saved money and improved response time. Customers now comment on how efficiently our business runs.
We believe excellent customer service provides the sharpest competitive edge. Global Empire shares that same vision and works closely with us to deliver the best possible service quality. Their partnership supports our ongoing commitment to excellence.
The main reason we work with Global Empire is the ‘red carpet’ treatment. They have the best group of agents I’ve worked with in over 20 years, and they consistently maintain high standards for compliance and customer interactions. They lead by example.
Efficient, professional service with a personal touch. It’s rare to find a provider that consistently delivers both quality and responsiveness at this level.
Over the years I’ve been impressed with the professionally trained staff at Global Empire. Our customers are often anxious or angry, and their team consistently puts them at ease. In two decades, we have never had a customer complaint — which says everything.
As we expanded from Europe into North America, we knew customer service and technical support would be critical to success. We were impressed to learn Global Empire was handling support for a market leader. After working with them, it’s clear why — their service sets the standard.
One of our members struggled with registration and called our toll-free number. The Global Empire agent remained calm, extremely helpful, and professional throughout a long troubleshooting process. Because of that call, the customer remained loyal — and that is a huge asset.
Global Empire is over-delivering on SPH and sales targets. Their performance has helped us reduce acquisition costs significantly, and they have proven to be the missing link in our growth strategy.
I can’t believe we didn’t use Global Empire sooner. Since joining, our order accuracy improved, wait time is virtually gone, and customers receive their orders correctly and on time. This partnership has had a major impact on our national pizza business.
Because of their experience in the energy industry, Global Empire has become a valued marketing partner. Their call center solutions help us acquire customers, retain them, and provide quality service after the sale — 24 hours a day.
Our business relationship with Global Empire has been long and very satisfying. Their employees deserve full credit for the professionalism and consistency they bring to every interaction. I know firsthand how stressful frontline work can be, and their team delivers every time.
Global Empire has been an integral part of our business for years. Our customers expect to speak with someone who can assist immediately, and their team consistently delivers. They maintain professionalism, empathy, and flexibility, making it easy to work together.
With so much outsourcing in the answering services space, it was a relief to find a provider that is truly efficient. The pricing is excellent, onboarding was smooth, and our clients were far happier speaking to a live operator instead of voicemail.
We have partnered with Global Empire for over 15 years and they remain a crucial part of our 24/7 operations. They support multiple sites across states, and we couldn’t be happier with their service, reliability, and long-term consistency.
Public and community services
Related industry programs
Neighbouring sectors that buy the same capability for a different operation.