As carriers look to add more and more services to their portfolio of products, it is apparent that support costs will continue to increase in direct proportion to the concurrent services offered. Sure, there are some services which have fewer problems than others but generally speaking the following formula applies:
# of services * average support call ratio * #of subscribers = total #of support calls
Of course not every subscriber gets every service which means this formula is not entirely accurate but what is important to note - as stated above -- is that as the number of services increases, the number of support calls increases in proportion.
For communications providers these increased problems come at a time when their call centers are trying to increase service levels and first call resolution ratios.
One simple way to achieve these goals is to use a web conferencing solution.
I recently had a chance to discuss one company's solutions to these problems. In a conversation with Tom Elam - Director of Software Marketing for Motorola's Broadband Solutions Group I got to learn how Motorola is helping service providers and call centers of various sizes with their support issues through the use of web conferencing.
The company has a product called eCare which provides web conferencing with the intention of improving customer support levels.
In order to activate the service, a URL is pushed to the client or generated on a web page. Once activated, the 128-bit security enabled java application is downloaded and activated on the client's desktop allowing the support center to help the customer via customer approved actions.
The customer retains total control and they can kill the session at any time they like. They can also allow your agents to take control of their computers.
For help desks, this solution provides security, scalability and platform independence in MAC and PC environments. In addition, there is integration with help desk software from companies like Remedy.
So why is this solution better than one of the hundreds of web conferencing applications floating around the web? For starters, this application is designed for help desk situations, has high security levels and can be purchased as an on-premise or hosted solution.
eCare further enables you to review service metrics at the agent level and eCare data can be exported into CRM solutions for a holistic view of the contact center environment. Perhaps most importantly, the system allows video recordings to be made of sessions or quality monitoring and compliance purposes.
As with most web-based collaboration solutions, another use for eCare is customer or employee training which can subsequently reduce travel costs.
For service providers, a solution such as this one from eCare has the potential to increase service levels, first call resolution rates and obviously reduce expensive truck rolls. If truck rolls were expensive when oil cost $25 per barrel just what are they now?
With happier customers the service provider can even experience higher ARPU or average revenue per user.
If you are not a service provider, suffice it to say that such web-based screen sharing applications will result in happy customers that spend more and refer others.
Now may just be the time to look at web-based help desk solutions for your organization.
# of services * average support call ratio * #of subscribers = total #of support calls
Of course not every subscriber gets every service which means this formula is not entirely accurate but what is important to note - as stated above -- is that as the number of services increases, the number of support calls increases in proportion.
For communications providers these increased problems come at a time when their call centers are trying to increase service levels and first call resolution ratios.
One simple way to achieve these goals is to use a web conferencing solution.
I recently had a chance to discuss one company's solutions to these problems. In a conversation with Tom Elam - Director of Software Marketing for Motorola's Broadband Solutions Group I got to learn how Motorola is helping service providers and call centers of various sizes with their support issues through the use of web conferencing.
The company has a product called eCare which provides web conferencing with the intention of improving customer support levels.
In order to activate the service, a URL is pushed to the client or generated on a web page. Once activated, the 128-bit security enabled java application is downloaded and activated on the client's desktop allowing the support center to help the customer via customer approved actions.
The customer retains total control and they can kill the session at any time they like. They can also allow your agents to take control of their computers.
For help desks, this solution provides security, scalability and platform independence in MAC and PC environments. In addition, there is integration with help desk software from companies like Remedy.
So why is this solution better than one of the hundreds of web conferencing applications floating around the web? For starters, this application is designed for help desk situations, has high security levels and can be purchased as an on-premise or hosted solution.
eCare further enables you to review service metrics at the agent level and eCare data can be exported into CRM solutions for a holistic view of the contact center environment. Perhaps most importantly, the system allows video recordings to be made of sessions or quality monitoring and compliance purposes.
As with most web-based collaboration solutions, another use for eCare is customer or employee training which can subsequently reduce travel costs.
For service providers, a solution such as this one from eCare has the potential to increase service levels, first call resolution rates and obviously reduce expensive truck rolls. If truck rolls were expensive when oil cost $25 per barrel just what are they now?
With happier customers the service provider can even experience higher ARPU or average revenue per user.
If you are not a service provider, suffice it to say that such web-based screen sharing applications will result in happy customers that spend more and refer others.
Now may just be the time to look at web-based help desk solutions for your organization.
Although the temperature near TMC's Norwalk, CT headquarters is below freezing, I am told we are actually in spring. And I am admittedly late in sharing this information with you, frequent readers of these pages know I believe it is better to post late than not at all.
Rather than tax IP communications services, wouldn't it make more sense to give financial incentives to VoIP providers so they can keep innovating, allowing consumers and small businesses in a slower economy do better?
One of the largest if not the largest deployment of VoIP I am aware of has to be Nortel's 10-year, $300 million dollar 
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