All posts in Wireless/Telcom

Don’t let Messaging Apps fool you!

by Tim Fujita-Yuhas on April 1, 2013 in 2013, Mobile, Tim Fujita-Yuhas, Varolii News, Wireless/Telcom with No comments

Enabling text messaging as part of a cross channel application is the smart move.

In a recent Wall Street Journal article dated Thursday, March 28, 2013, they talked about the rise of Messaging apps and contrasted this with SMS text messaging.  See the picture below for background information.

text wars Don’t let Messaging Apps fool you!

Let’s clear up a couple points of possible confusion for business readers.

1. What are messaging apps and why are consumers downloading them?

Messaging apps are mobile apps (usually requiring a smartphone) that enable consumers to send the equivalent of what look like text messages to other consumers who have also downloaded the same mobile app.  Okay, so why would a consumer want to do this since they could just send a text message to their friend?  Cost savings. If consumers are paying their wireless phone carrier for receiving or sending text messages, then they could avoid paying for those text messages or reaching their monthly limit of text messages in order to save money on their monthly mobile phone bill.  Downloading and using a mobile app to send the equivalent of text messages substitutes the cost of paying for these texts with the cost of paying for your phone’s data plan since these mobile apps are simply passing small data messages over the wireless carrier’s network.  Since some wireless phone carriers may charge more for text messaging than they do for data plans, the wireless carriers have created an incentive for cost-conscious consumers to use these messaging apps instead of continuing to use their text messaging plans.

2. Why are these apps getting so much traction outside of the US but not within the US?

In most of the world, wireless phone carriers still charge consumers for text messages, thus you see large growth rates of these Messaging Apps by consumers in places like Brazil (see chart).  However, in the US, the major wireless carriers have effectively preempted the significant growth of messaging apps by eliminating the financial incentive for consumers to download them.  US wireless carriers have been actively converting consumers over to plans that give unlimited voice and texting and have tiered data plans.  Therefore, consumers don’t need to limit the number of text messages they are sending from smartphones in an attempt to save on their monthly mobile phone bill so they have no real incentive to download these types of apps.   US wireless carriers know that video and online games and richer websites are going to fuel consumer’s utilization of their networks. Since this is where the real data growth of consumer smartphone utilization lies; this is what they are driving consumers to pay for.  US wireless carriers would be on the losing end of a battle with consumers over charging separately for text messaging when consumers could use a messaging app to achieve the same thing at a lower cost.  Since carriers want consumers to buy more smartphones as well which are capable of using more of their data network, it makes business sense for the carriers to offer unlimited voice and texting which barely utilize their built out network and charge consumers to more consumers based on using their mobile data plan.

3. Can’t my business bypass text messaging like these messaging apps do?

By now you are probably asking yourself, why can’t I use Varolii to send messages like these messaging apps are doing and avoid paying for text messages?  Well, to begin with, you or Varolii would need to create a messaging app and get your consumers to download it.  Frankly, consumers are more likely to download your primary mobile app and receive push notifications in it.

If you want two-way texting functionality like these messaging apps provide, it can be build into your mobile app as a form of instant messaging like chat with your contact center so again, no reason to create a separate messaging app.

Alternatively, you might be thinking, can’t Varolii just leverage existing messaging apps such as WhatsApp? The issue there is that most of these messaging apps are closed systems that only allow for consumer-to-consumer messaging rather than business-to-consumer text messaging.

In conclusion, text messaging is still your best bet for reaching your consumers and adding text messaging as part of your cross channel engagement strategy. Messaging Apps for business use are no more than a bad April Fool’s joke.

HTML5 - What is it and what does it mean to me? Apps not required?

by Mary Cook on December 9, 2011 in 2011, Industry News, Mary Cook, Varolii News, Wireless/Telcom with 2 Comments

Even if you're a Web novice, you may already have heard the term “HTML5” by now. You can almost feel the buzz amongst designers and web users!

Google, Apple, Facebook and others have been constantly in the mix -- and they're all pulling their socks up to maximize the benefits of this exciting new platform.

Even if you're not a web designer, you may get the feeling that HTML5 will be the next big thing when it comes to meeting the demands of the modern Web.

Should you care as an internet user (or a designer for that matter)? Yes!

HTML5 – what is the big deal?

The big deal is that pretty soon, you’ll find it everywhere on the web!

pic one1 HTML5 What is it and what does it mean to me? Apps not required?You know that with HTML4, websites usually have to depend on Flash or Silverlight plugins to show and play a video file (you may have observed this in video sharing sites like YouTube).

The DISADVANTAGE comes in the smart phones, iPads and iPhones.

Take Apple as an example. They had to drop support for HTML4 plugins to optimize the battery power of their phones. The lack of HTML4 support made much of the rich media (like video content), plainly inaccessible through these phones.

With HTML5, web designers can directly embed media with simple HTML tags like “<video>” and “<audio>” – thereby eliminating the need for plugins.

Facebook and HTML5 – How do they mix?Facebook1 HTML5 What is it and what does it mean to me? Apps not required?

Facebook has also launched its HTML resource center in an attempt to help designers build, test and deploy web applications.

As you may know, Facebook has an excellent platform on mobile; it's evident that it is pushing ahead to encourage designers to create applications with HTML5 on mobile phones.

Facebook is predominantly using HTML5 in its specific mobile products, as this makes the access to other various interrelated devices much simpler.

Amazon Adds HTML5 to Updated Kindle E-Book Format

kindle HTML5 What is it and what does it mean to me? Apps not required?With the launch of the fire tablet, Amazon has also sprung up a new book format that provides crafty designers with an opportunity to access a variety of updated features, including HTML5.  In August, Amazon also released its Kindle Cloud Reader which is an HTML5-based reading application.

Along with that, Amazon’s KF8 is a new HTML5 kindle book which is designed to enable publishers to create picture books, graphic novels and comics – all done thanks to the HTML5-rich formatting capabilities and elements of design.

Brightcove and HTML5HTNL5 HTML5 What is it and what does it mean to me? Apps not required?

Brightcove, a leading worldwide provider of cloud content services, has also announced their rousing new features that come with their video cloud online- platform smart players.

These smart players help beat a lot of discrepancies and inconsistencies when it comes to HTML playback. Moreover, the integration with the HTML5 also enables reliable reproduction with both the analytics and integration with the third party services -- take ad serving solutions for example.

The Bottom Line

future HTML5 What is it and what does it mean to me? Apps not required?The bottom line is -- as a web user and designer, you would be benefiting a lot from HTML5 without even realizing it. Popular web browsers like Safari, Chrome and Firefox all have support for at least some elements of HTML5.

Through Chrome or Safari, you can check out some of the experimental versions of YouTube that makes use of HTML5’s video features.

Google reader and Gmail also have embraced some parts of the standard. Additionally, any site which is listed as being “iPad ready” is sure to be opting for considerable use of HTML5. Take examples of the New York Times, CNN and CBS.

Yes, Flash may not be going anytime soon of course, as it is still extensively used and supported. The flash games which we have a definite affection for are still impossible to recreate from HTML.

So when you hear the term “HTML5”, more than anything, it refers to the future of the World Wide Web.

In Conclusion – What does this mean to me?

HTML5 essentially brings application capabilities to browser capability and the web experience, so the big news is that HTML5 could render mobile apps obsolete. No more downloading and parking app icons on your mobile device. You get that functionality through a browser experience. So what it means is that the communication between businesses and their customers could change radically. But you need someone who understands what this means for the patient experience in healthcare, or the consumer in finance, or the passenger in airlines (and all sorts of other customers and companies). Furthermore you will need to understand how to get the most out of your customer experience communication strategy - which means you may need a trusted vendor advisor…with knowledge and experience…like…like…Varolii!

So – Call us. 800-206-2979. Or email me, tweet me, respond to my blog, or send me a smoke signal.

References Used

What's New in HTML-5?

Amazon's new e-book format brings HTML5 support to your Kindle library

Facebook launches HTML5 Resource Center

The Present and Future of HTML5 Video Experiences

Catch 22 - Why Congress Must Modernize the TCPA

by Brian Moore on November 3, 2011 in 2011, Airlines, Banks/Finance, Brian Moore, Call Centers, Compliance, Consumer Svcs, CRM, Industry News, Mortgage, Varolii News, Wireless/Telcom with 4 Comments

catch 22 cover Catch 22 Why Congress Must Modernize the TCPAJoseph Heller does not get enough credit for coining the term "Catch 22". How many authors can claim a phrase that conveys so much meaning in two little words, immediately understood as a shorter yet more eloquent version of "between a rock and a hard place"?

In the book by the same name, Catch 22 was a military rule that said the only way to get out of a dangerous mission was to prove you were insane, but that if you wanted to get out of such a mission, it proved you were sane so you had to go.

While Heller's setting was World War II, he could easily have placed his characters in a more modern setting. Instead of focusing on a military bureaucracy intent on keeping soldiers in perpetual service, he could have written of government regulations that force American businesses to choose between keeping their customers satisfied or breaking the law.

Consider an airline. They are required by the Department of Transportation (DOT-OST-2010-0140) to promptly notify passengers of flight delays at the airport, on their website and on their telephone reservation system. Some airlines try to go the extra mile by proactively notifying passengers using interactive voice messages. But if a passenger provides their cell phone number as their point of contact, the airline would be violating the FCC's rules implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) if they send such a message to a passenger without their prior "express consent". Sounds easy if the ticket is booked on the airline's own website - just add a click box for consent to the check-out process. However, getting consent is not so easy if the flight is booked by an independent travel agent over the phone. Catch 22.

And what about a mortgage servicer? Under Fannie Mae's servicing guidelines, they are required to attempt phone contact with delinquent borrowers every three days. Fannie wants servicers to make every possible effort to assist borrowers in avoiding foreclosure by communicating all the loan modification programs the government has made available. But if the borrower has provided a mobile number (and for 30% of American households, that is the only number they have), in most cases the servicer would be at legal risk if they used automatic dialing technology to make these calls. That's because the original lender failed to obtain the necessary consent when the loan was issued. Catch 22.

I could go on. Prescription refill reminders, credit card fraud alerts, COD package delivery notifications - all good for the consumer, but risky for the business under the current TCPA. That's why a coalition of sixteen business associations ranging from the American Bankers to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce came together to draft an amendment to the TCPA that has now been sponsored as a bill by a bi-partisan group of congressional representatives.

This week I went to Washington, D.C., to lobby for this bill, HR 3035 "The Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011", the primary intent of which is to remove the distinctions made in the TCPA between landline and mobile service when using "assistive technlogy" (dialers and recorded messages) to communicate with customers for informational, not marketing, purposes.

We may not be flying dangerous missions over well-defended enemy territory when we try to do the right thing by contacting customers with information they need, but we would still have to be insane to keep doing it in the face of our own Catch 22. The only sane thing to do is change the rules.

Interactive Communications and the CRM Puzzle: The Last Mile of CRM

by Kael Kelly on October 10, 2011 in 2011, Call Centers, CRM, Kael Kelly, Wireless/Telcom with 1 Comment
last_mile

In the 1990s and 2000s, as broadband networks proliferated, telecommunications service providers struggled with what the industry coined as “the last mile problem.” High bandwidth networks crisscrossed the country, yet mostly narrowband copper wire ran from the Telco central office to the customer’s home. The last mile problem was how to get the customer access to these new, bold, high-speed networks. For the consumer, the situation was like gazing through a store window and seeing the perfect gifts, yet the store was never open.

With customer relationship management (CRM), companies spend billions of dollars each year in CRM software, contact center infrastructure, websites, analytics, and customer service representatives to support customers. They also invest heavily in systems to capture, store and analyze customer data for support and selling activities. Yet, when it comes to customer service, too much of the burden is placed on customers to engage with the companies they do business with. They have to find the information they need, get support, and determine the appropriate course of action. In that sense, CRM has a “last mile” problem, too—how to get relevant, timely information to customers so they engage with the company to solve problems and build tight relationships.

To effectively manage their business relationships, customers must comb through information and support from websites, streams of email and postal mail, inbound contact centers, and retail centers. These customer communication tools are expensive for businesses and often don’t provide an easy way for customers to take action. That is, companies don’t have a way to fully leverage on the information and systems they have where it really matters: communicating with customers in a timely way via their preferred medium. Instead, organizations put the burden of managing the relationship on the customer.

The name of the game in this decade is customer engagement. Companies have to solve this “last mile” problem with smart, effective customer interaction. The great thing about our company is the power of Varolii Interact gives businesses the ability to better engage customers through multi-channel interactions. Not messages, not “blasts,” not spam, not information overload. Rather, highly personalized communications that inform customers and let them take action, including connecting them to an expert or support staff to engage at a different level.

Personalization Pays Off - Part 2

by Brian Moore on September 8, 2011 in 2011, Brian Moore, Call Centers, Consumer Svcs, Varolii News, Wireless/Telcom with No comments

When communicating with customers, does personalization  matter? Can you expect a return for the effort and expense of recognizing your customers as individuals?

In Personalization Pays Off - Part 1, we discussed the tension between your customer's desire for personal treatment and your company's need to keep costs low by delivering products and services that are essentially the same for large segments of your customer base.

Striking a proper balance between these two competing forces is critical to ensuring customer satisfaction and company profitability.

Whole books have been devoted to this topic; I'm not trying to boil that particular ocean here.

That said, there are a few practical adjustments to "business as usual" you can make that will pay for themselves by improving customer loyalty, lowering operational costs and driving better business performance:

  • Track and act on customer's explicit and implicit preferences. An example of an explicit preference is a customer request that communications be in a language other than English; an implicit preference might be inferred from the fact that they only answer your calls between 10AM and 2PM.
  • Provide time saving conveniences to reward customers who choose to self-serve. Offer to securely store their bank or credit card account information when they make a phone or online payment so they don't have to enter it again next time. Also, configure self-service menus on web pages or IVRs to provide easier access to previously used functions.
  • Look for any and every opportunity to treat customers as individuals. Start by using their name, not their account number, when you greet them. Reference the name of the unique product or service they are using. Be specific about account status, including reference to any recent conversations, payments and purchases - all the better to prove you are talking to them about their unique situation.

The importance of this last point is hard to overstate, particularly when you are automating communications via interactive voice messaging, SMS text or email. Personalization helps cut through the noise in these channels, allowing your message to stand-out as timely, relevant and respectful.

Consider the following experiment we ran with a wireless carrier (I'll call them XYZ Mobile) who uses interactive voice messages to encourage their prepaid subscribers to "top up" their accounts by making an immediate payment. In this experiment, the target customers were randomly assigned to either group A or group B. The only difference between the messages delivered to the two groups was in the greeting - Group A were asked to confirm they were owner of the assigned phone number, while Group B were greeted by name:

• Version A

“Hi. This is XYZ Mobile calling for the owner of <206-555-1212>. Press any key to continue.

• Version B

“This is XYZ Mobile with an important reminder.  If this is <Brian Moore>, press 1.  Otherwise, press 2."

Which do you think got better results?

If you said the one that asked for the customer by name instead of by number, you're right! Over three quarters more customers indicated they were the right party and almost two-times as many topped up their accounts in direct response to the interactive voice message in Version B than in Version A:

Greeting Test2 Personalization Pays Off Part 2

Needless to say, our client concluded the experiment by treating 100% of their accounts with Version B, no doubt with a nod to Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band.

Personalization pays off

by Brian Moore on August 26, 2011 in Brian Moore, Call Centers, Wireless/Telcom with 3 Comments
personalization_pays

Since all of us are consumers, at one time or another we’ve had to communicate with the companies with whom we do business about some opportunity or issue in our relationship.

Our satisfaction with that interaction often has as much to do with how, when or where the communication took place as it does with what was said.

We are most likely to feel valued as customers when the communication is to our liking in all these dimensions; in other words when we feel the companies we do business with treat us as individuals.

On the other hand, profit-driven companies who service customers numbering in the millions or even 10’s of millions typically think about customers in much broader terms. While we often talk about providing "1 to 1" service, in reality customers are more often dealt with as part of large segments aligned around some aspect of their prior or expected behavior such as potential value, loyalty or credit risk.

Given this tension between an enterprise’s need to carefully manage their costs and a customer’s preference for personalized service, it’s no wonder our popular culture has produced numerous examples of the individual’s fight against anonymity:

  • Facebook & Twitter's popularity is driven in part by our often unfulfilled need to be recognized by others as a unique individual.
  • Robert DeNiro channeled everyone's inner "nobody" in the film Taxi Driver when his character Travis Bickle angrily asked "Are you talking to me?!?!"
  • Finally (and you may hate me for putting this tune in your head) Bob Seger and his Silver Bullet Band railed against it in their hit song “I Feel Like a Number”.

If these and other expressions of desire for personal acknowledgement represent a universal human need, doesn't it make sense for companies to make sure all the messages we send to customers communicate appreciation of their unique individual attributes?

Or at very least, shouldn't we at least call customers by their name?

In my next blog, I'll share a case study illustrating the tremendous impact one Varolii client found in that simple act, after which no one could accuse them of treating their customers "like a number".

In the meantime, tell me about your favorite expressions of individuality in popular culture. Just enter a comment below...consider it part of your own fight against anonymity!

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