In today's digital world, customers expect to be online all the time, and they expect that connectivity to extend to every corner of their homes. Furthermore, they increasingly expect to be able to get help and assistance from customer support 24/7 and that support staff can fix connectivity problems right away. Not being able to accommodate these expectations can mean higher customer churn and lower customer satisfaction. This is where a customer support tool comes into the picture.
Customers have very high expectations of service providers these days, not only when it comes to customer support, but also in terms of the quality of the network performance in their homes.
– Numerous surveys show that end-users expect the speed they pay for to be the speed they experience throughout their homes, not just close to the router, but in every corner of every room, says Erik Søe-Pedersen, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Icotera and continues:
– As an ISP, you can live up to those expectations in two ways: You could send out a technician to measure the Wi-Fi strength and install additional access points where needed. Unfortunately, this is a very expensive solution which is only worth the cost when dealing with, for example, businesses that have large office spaces that need to be covered. The other solution is to make sure that the CPE installed in the end-user's home is part of a customer support tool, which remotely supplies the data needed to pinpoint the locations where the signal needs to be amplified.
“Numerous surveys show that end-users expect the speed they pay for to be the speed they experience throughout their homes, not just close to the router, but in every corner of every room.”
–Erik Søe-Pedersen, Chief Commercial Officer, Icotera
Improve customer service and reduce costs
With a customer support tool, you not only save costs on expensive truck-rolls, you also pave the way for smoother customer support.
When an end-user experiences a slow or lagging Wi-Fi-connection, their most likely recourse is to contact customer support. However, customer support has two drawbacks: opening hours and waiting time. If the problem occurs outside of opening hours, the end-user is left with no choice but to wait. And the opening hours may not be convenient for everyone. Once they make the call, they may have to wait again, possibly for a long time, before reaching the help desk. The end-user then has to describe an issue that occurred days ago, and the supporter has to attempt to fix the issue over the phone. This very easily becomes a frustrating situation for both parties, and what's worse, it often doesn't solve the actual issue.
– In-home monitoring makes it possible for the customer support tool to continuously record crucial diagnostic data. In other words, the ISP's support staff have on-the-spot access to essential customer-specific information, including details that enable them to identify the problem remotely. With the right setup, each wireless device's performance and connection can be observed in real time, including practical information such as which lights on the CPE are on/off, as well as which cables are plugged into which ports - it's almost like being physically in the home, Erik Søe-Pedersen explains, and adds:
– This makes it a lot easier to guide the end-user through the process of fixing the problem, and when customer support can provide the right answers right away, the end-user's experience is infinitely more positive. Additionally, it cuts down on the time customer support has to spend on each call.
ISPs are always striving to reduce churn and time spent on support while ensuring that their products and services live up to customer expectations. Being able to remotely access CPE data to support end-users is a major advantage in that pursuit.
FAST TRACK.....
- When the CPE installed in the end-user's home is part of the customer support tool that remotely supplies data, you pave the way for smoother customer support.
- In-home monitoring makes it possible for the customer support tool to continuously record crucial diagnostic data. This means the ISP's support staff have on-the-spot access to essential customer-specific information, including details that enable them to identify the problem remotely.
- Being able to remotely access CPE data to support end-users is a major advantage in terms of
reducing churn and time spent on support while ensuring that products and services live up to customer expectations.
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