The future of customer service (as published in Internet Business)

In the foreseeable future the cost of an international telephone call will fall to 1% of its current level. Apart from rubbing our hands at the prospect of lower telephone bills, does it have any other implications? 

Demand for information and service will increase

The normal laws of supply and demand suggest that if the cost of something falls then demand increases. And in this case it will be our expectations for information and service that goes up.

We as consumers will expect to be able to buy anything, at any time of the day or night: to obtain assistance immediately, easily and at no cost to ourselves. And if real difficulties arise, to be able to find an expert available somewhere in the world, who can help us. It will no longer be acceptable that we buy a product and can only get assistance during working hours (when we may be at work ourselves). It will no longer be acceptable that no local retail outlet sells the replacement razor blades for the electric razor they sold me a couple of years ago ( I still haven’t found a supplier!!!). The impulse to buy will be satisfiable at any time.

The future of customer service will depend on the integration of computer and telephone networks, and the provision of public access to select parts of private computer databases.

According to this model of service the first line of contact will be the Internet Website. Not only as a 24 hrs. per day 365 days per year shop front, but also as the access point to the knowledge base that will be made up from those parts of the corporate Intranet that have been screened for public use.

But it may be hard to find the right information on the website, so access to the call centre will be the second line of service. This may be a bureau operation hired for the purpose or a virtual call centre made up from specially trained employees within the company, wherever they might be located. They will have access to both the public Internet information and the private databases of the company. Their greater familiarity with the system will enable them to help the occasional visitor to find solutions.

The history of the PC’s success is really the history of open standards. Previously each computer had its own operating system and if you wanted a specific software solution you had to get it from your computer supplier at the price they wanted to charge. The introduction of an open architecture by Intel and Microsoft led to an explosive growth in the variety of software available and a dramatic fall in its cost. A virtuous cycle of a growing market leading to lower prices, attracting further software developments that increased value added, which in turn leads to a further increase in the size of the market.

Alvin Toffler wrote 'Future Shock' in the 1950’s in which he crystallised wide spread concern that the rate of change was so great that old people were alienated from their own environment merely by the changes that occurred in their lifetime.

Today these changes occur several times in a working lifetime and there is every indication that the rate will continue to accelerate.

Intel have just celebrated the 25th anniversary of their first chip. But in the next 2 years they will sell more processing power than in the last 25 years - and in the 2 years that follow they will sell the same amount again.

The introduction of the Internet has put yet another spin on these developments. Netscape has set a new agenda that all software developers are forced to follow. Two year product development cycles that used to be treated as the norm for software are reduced to 6 months. Complicated marketing arrangements are being simplified with producers dealing directly with end users or their advisors and delivering to them direct via the Internet. This cuts out great rafts of costs - the middleman’s margin, marketing, packaging, and delivery and enables the developer to sell the software at a low price or even give it away and make money by selling support (by telephone Internet and Email only).

As the unification of voice and data networks take hold, there will be a struggle for control. Within the corporation it will be between the IT department and the facilities management department that has traditionally dealt with telephony. Outside it is between the computer network suppliers and the telephone systems suppliers.

To some extent both sides see the opportunity as a poisoned chalice. The technology is quite difficult to manage, it is not yet plug and play and therefore requires an unusual skill set to make it work. In addition the traditions of telephony and computer services are rather different. But the future lies with convergence and it is more likely that computer companies can make the transition than those in the telephony sector.

The systems integrators and facilities management companies that will increasingly offer these solutions, will have to meet the high training requirements of their clients and develop sets of solutions that can be implemented, supported and developed over time. The initial cost of developing the required skill sets and product relationships is the investment cost of providing an integrated range of services to clients.

Open systems architecture delivers more than just lower prices and more choice. It also offers the possibility of incremental development. You can start by implementing the basic CTI system that delivers screen pops of customer history information to your screen as the telephone call comes in. At a later stage you can add voice mail, IVR (Interactive Voice Response), or any other facility that becomes available, without having to overhaul the original base system.

Already specialist software developers are introducing the products of the future, such as the HyperPhone link that enables an Internet/Intranet or Email to have a phone link embedded. To automatically initiate a phone call from the office or call centre when a specific symbol is clicked on the screen (www.netcall.co.uk - WebX). How better to manage the smooth migration from self help service on the Internet to the mediated help of a call centre. But with open systems the ingenuity of developers from around the world can be added to the network if the need is there.

The message is clear. The future convergence of computers and telephony networks is coming. If you are contemplating the installation of a new telephone switch, a major software upgrade, or a new computer network, make sure that it is designed to meet that future and provides an opportunity for future growth, and is not a millstone that will hold you back.

S.Milton for Internet Business Feb 97