By: Becky Bracken
Every interaction in our daily lives happens in real-time. So why wouldn't customers expect the same experience with their CSP? Today's consumers have smart, touch-screen devices, unlimited apps and a million different ways to spend their mobile broadband data bundle. They want instant interaction, download and listen to music, and watch a video or update their status on Twitter and Facebook. The opportunities to empower customers to handle and manage their own experience are exploding, and providers on the bleeding edge of the trend are going to see dividends in customer retention, satisfaction and service consumption.
"The rating and charging systems which were originally designed for voice services can't keep up and this results in bill shock and a poor all-round consumer experience," Jennifer Kyriakakis, founder and VP marketing, MATRIXX Software says. "It makes perfect sense to expose consumers to the next generation of real-time systems which are designed specifically for data services. Mobile apps which allow them to see their balance, control their spending, and make informed purchasing decisions are the future."
What Services Are Prime for Self-Service?
There are some CSP systems that make sense to push out to customers for a self-service experience. An Amdocs survey released in March 2012 takes a close look at customer satisfaction and the types of interactions CSPs are most often handling from their customers. By providing visibility into OSS/BSS systems, SPs can expect to see increased call deflection with self service, and call elimination--or call shed--with proactive care.
"The results for customer satisfaction are revolutionary," Kyriakakis says. "For example, instead of beginning to watch a Netflix video and then getting throttled midway through as a data allowance runs out, the consumer can be proactively notified before the video starts that they need to top up their balance. In a similar way, if a consumer needs a heightened level of QoS – to make an important business Facetime call, for example – then they should be able to buy a bandwidth boost. The number of new services, applications and experiences CSPs can provide is literally limitless and they are all based on allowing the consumer to make their own choices in real-time."
Answers to the survey question "For which of the following reasons would you say you have called a service providers contact centre for help?" are particularly revealing:
- Network problem or coverage – 37 percent
- How to use service features – 35 percent
- How to understand various rate/ cost plans – 33 percent
- Add / change/ delete existing plans and features – 29 percent
- How to use equipment – 28 percent
- How to understand a bill – 28 percent
- Dispute a charge or billing issue – 27 percent
- Make changes to account settings and preferences – 21 percent
- Make a payment or set up an auto payment – 21 percent
- Buy or upgrade to a new phone – 20 percent
- Help with top up phone credit – 15 percent
- Cancel contract (obviously, this is not a good candidate for self service) – 14 percent
- Escalate a case – 12 percent
Many of these interactions can, and by all means should be automated today. By leveraging OSS and BSS systems and self-service applications, CSPs stand to streamline customer service, create a better customer experience, drive down support and call center costs.
