Written by Jeff Owen | Apr 6, 2015 4:00:00 AM
by Koen van Geffen, CEO of Summa (
http://addsumma.com) It doesn’t come as a surprise that worldwide the telecom market is especially very competitive. Marketing managers use words like engagement, customer journey and cross channel management to describe the ways to connect customers with their brand. Nowadays the focus on customer experience management (CEM) is no longer an option, but rather a necessity. Telecom providers have therefore realized the importance of customer satisfaction and an important part of this customer satisfaction is communications in general and reachability in particular. In the 24/7 economy and the ever more connected world we currently live in, the communication, collaboration and reachability of companies and its employees are more important than ever before.
Telecom market competition This is especially the case in very competitive markets, such as those of telecom providers, MVNO’s and MVNE’s. According to the Infonetics Research Report of January 2015, the global mobile service revenue barely grew, while mobile data services rose in every region, driven by the increasing use of smartphones. Overall, growth in telecom revenue continues to slow down in every region. Telecom providers also feel the hot breath of internet companies, such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft that deliver Over The Top (OTT) services, such as Youtube, WhatsApp and Skype. This results in a decline in traditional communications such as voice and sms and reinforces the pressure on telecommunication companies to retain customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. These companies are also looking for other ways to pursue growth. For instance through adding innovative ecosystems of digital components and applications that can seamlessly provide complementary services and products. To do this a complete picture of how people and systems communicate and collaborate is needed.
Add voice, chat and video as a upsell Customers of telecom providers should not need to worry about their communication technology, but simply be able to interact and collaborate through voice, video and chat with the device of their choice anytime they wish. When telecom providers decide to enhance their existing platforms with a real time communications suite they are able to retain customers and drive new traffic onto their networks. Giving customers the power of real-time communications also brings upsell possibilities. This is possible by introducing a freemium model for a basic solution and then drive revenue growth by offering attractive add on features and bundles.
Every company needs it But not only telecom providers are in need for real time web based communications and collaboration tools to provide a good customer experience. For example Evernote, a productivity web application, just added chat where users can share, chat, and collaborate with others without ever having to leave the workspace. Evernote CEO Phil Libin said this was one of the most requested feature of users. We firmly believe that every company can add real time communication and offer one single user experience that makes sure that customers don’t resort to external tools or applications. An investment that results in higher customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, things which every company nowadays strives for.