Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/370753
W i re l e s s W o rl d 2 5 Tu e s d a y, S e p te m b e r 9 , 2 0 1 4 COMBINING TECHNICAL SUPPORT, AFTERMARKET REPAIR SERVICES TO IMPROVE MOBILE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE By Gary Praznik, Chief Operations Officer, Contact Center Services As we near 3.5 billion mobile phone users across the globe, manufacturers, carriers and retailers are facing a com- mon set of challenges – in particular, how to service customers and repair devices in an increasingly complex ecosystem of components, gadgets, operating systems, apps and services. What's more, operators are chal- lenged with rising competitive pressures, service, software and device commoditi- zation, and increased regulatory interven- tion in markets large and small that are slowing revenue gains, despite rapid growth in subscribers, connections and data traffic. As a result, competitors are entering a race to provide a unique and com- pelling customer experience with the best high-end technical help and support and the fastest repair services when a device does, at some point, fail. To the benefit of consumers worldwide service is, at last, becoming a strategic differentiator. At iQor, we have brought front-end global customer care, technical support and aftermarket services under one roof with our recent purchase of Jabil Aftermarket Services. We now partner with many of the world's largest mobile phone OEMs, carriers and sell- ers to create customer- focused post-sale support and repair solutions that focus on keeping con- sumers delighted with their product and loyal to the brand. Customer and Product Knowledge Inform Every Interaction When a consumer needs support after a sale is made, brand satisfaction hangs in the balance. At iQor, the vast majority of mobile device post-sales support fall into three categories – software, hardware or warranty issues – requiring speed and accuracy in communication, diagnosis and resolution path. Our Knowledge Informed Interaction (KII) system ensures our agents have the latest technical solutions and product knowledge. Agents collect, share and col- laborate on resolving technical issues on more than 250 different phones, smart- phones, tablets and other elec- tronics devices. Agents even have the ability to upvote and reward the most valuable repair solutions, or red flag out of date fixes. Faster Repairs, Quicker Returns, Lower Costs Our platform leverages applied analytics to identify service and repair trends, which in turn drives more relevant knowledge to our contact center teams at the front-end and to our depot repair facilities at the back-end. This can create shorter, more optimized interactions with consumers, significant reductions in no failure found (NFF) and reduced total repair costs and return volumes. What does this mean for our mobili- ty clients? Put simply, customer loyalty and reduced costs. For more information, visit booth 546, go to www.iQor.com, call 646-274-3044 or email sales@iQor.com. revolution. In the last year, the change capturing the most industry attention was NFV, aka Network Functions Virtualization – much less visible to con- sumers but still capable of making a major impact on their service delivery. One remarkable thing about NFV was the impact it had on another hot topic – Software Defined Networking (SDN). In some ways, NFV has helped make sense of SDN – which had been running the risk of being all hype but no deployment. There is a fundamental shift under- pinning the hype. Indeed, one could argue that the "F" in NFV is as much about "flexibility" as it is about func- tions, because NFV is opening up an era where operators will have more choice and freedom to mix and match and choose software vendors to deliver net- work functions – regardless of hardware supplier – than ever before. The rise of NFV is giving operators globally a golden opportunity to radical- ly change how current mobile networks transform to data-centric 4G LTE net- works. NFV severs the link between a mobile operator's services and its vendor hardware – giving operators the ability to Mavenir ( Cont'd. from p. 1) break-out from a single supplier deliver- ing hardware-based network equipment and services and realise the cost-savings of a multi-vendor environment. One of the most remarkable things about this wave of change is that it is built on established and deployed tech- nology. In the IT industry, virtualization is a mature and proven technology that has been used to dramatically lower the cost structure of building and maintain- ing data centers. Virtualization helps maximize return on investment and get the most out of existing infrastructure and hardware. Previously, virtualization had made relatively little impact on the telecoms world, but that is rapidly changing. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute's NFV initiative has galvanized the mobile industry and focused operators and vendors alike on the need to leverage virtualization in order to build the next generation core network. Operators can start taking advantage of NFV now, so what are the next steps? In Part Two of this article – coming tomor- row – we will discuss what operators can do to take advantage of NFV today. For more information, visit booth 4448. BESTAR TECHNOLOGIES ANNOUNCES NEW MICRO-SPEAKER BeStar Technologies is pleased to announce its newest micro-speaker. This super-small, thin, miniature speaker meas- ures 15mm long by 11mm wide by 2.5mm high. The speaker has applications for cell phones, tablets, e-books and PDA's, which require a small form factor. Micro-speak- ers are mostly used in mobile communica- tion devices and any hand held devices needing superior voice quality sound. These loudspeakers are usually installed in a plastic enclosure, and it is suggested that the back volume of the acoustic cavity is between 0.6-2cc. BeStar can provide the complete, tested audio module (speaker, enclosure and wire leads), pre-tested to your contract manufacturer in China or in the U.S. The world of electronic acoustic com- ponents is constantly evolving, but there are some key differences that make BeStar your best choice audio component suppli- er. BeStar is the manufacturer, so you'll know where and how your product was made. BeStar meets all global quality sys- tems standards including environmental ISO14001. BeStar is an engineered prod- ucts company, not an importer or broker, so it can be your center of expertise for acoustics. Because BeStar is the manufac- turer, it can compete with anybody. For more information, call 937-716- 3757, or visit www.bestartech.com.