Mike, your story is quite a familiar one, although it's refreshing to see it told without the usual cussin' and the gaudy over-use of punctuation marks.
Coustomer care is something that the cables may be better served by outsourcing, although they feel that the metrics that determine this are not friendly to their bottom line.
The increased use of IVR and commercials on hold (which will destroy their VoIP offerings in the future due to clogging up the pipes) only go to exacerbate an already untenable condition. But automating these processes is the mode of the day, as "real" personnel hourly costs are eschewed in favor of savings.
T did an interesting thing in this regard, when they inaugurated their VoIP trials. Their discounts are made possible (for a number of reasons, not the least of which are pre-existing inflated charges to begin with, but in this context...) because, they claim, subscribers would only have one means of contact with the company, and that was through the web. Prepaying, and web-based account management, would allow them to reduce their charges to you by 3c per minute, or thereabouts. Actually, their savings in back office costs are considerable, since mailing and handling on several levels are eliminated.
This tactic is being used to discourage small fry users (under $5 to $10 dollars per month nuisance accounts) from clogging up their back offices, while at the same time giving these users a sense that they are coming out ahead of the game.
But the trend is clear. Although, it sounds as if I don't have to tell you that, do I? ;-)
Regards, Frank Coluccio |
