Table of Contents:

Definition and Overview

1. An Environment without a Customer Care System

2. Develop or Buy

3. Needs of Consumers

4. Needs of Service Providers

5. Technology for Customer Care

6. Functional Requirements of a Customer Care System

7. Customer Service

8. Telemarketing

9. Repair

10. Implementation

Self-Test

Glossary

PDF of this tutorial

Rapid advances in the computer industry present an opportunity for telecommunications service providers in terms of both cost reduction and sales increases. The following are technological factors that can play a major role in determining the effectiveness of a customer care system:

• availability of powerful PCs—They can bring processing power to the CSR's desk.
• availability of computer telephony interface (CTI)—The integration of computers and telephony will eliminate the awkward manual coordination of these different technologies.
• availability of rapid application development (RAD) and object-oriented technologies—These technologies permit rapid application development and allow handling of more complex tasks.
• availability of artificial intelligence software—This technology will arm new and existing CSRs with advice, questions, and responses to service customers more effectively.
• availability of integration technologies such as CORBA and DCE—These technologies make integration with new systems and applications easier.
• availability of Internet—The Internet allows service providers to provide services online.
• availability of client/server architecture—This architecture will allow service providers to increase or decrease customer care–equipped desktops as their needs change.
• availability of graphical user interfaces (GUIs)—GUIs are more intuitive and, therefore, easier to learn.