February 20,
2007
NOTE TO READERS: "Focus on Customer
Care" is ceasing publication with this issue, and you will not be
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Top Story
CSG Systems Develops New Customer Care Products
CSG Systems has a number of initiatives designed
to help customer-service agents and MSOs better interact with
customers and sell products more effectively, said director of
customer care Chad Dunavant.
For instance, the Denver-based company’s advanced
customer-service representative solution gives CSRs access to
customer account information in real time. Moreover, CSRs can order
services, inventory company equipment, display collections
information, view invoices and verify addresses and service
availability.
CSG currently services operators that employ 35,000 CSRs,
Dunavant said.
“We took a look at changes occurring at call centers today and
held focus groups to ask what their biggest issues were,” Dunavant
said. “They told us they are offering complex bundles and order
entry has become very cumbersome. So we created wizards to simplify
that for agents.”
The company has been trialing its advanced product in five
markets and plans to deploy it across the country this year, he
said.
The company is now focusing on doing the same thing with sales.
CSG has developed an offer management tool that will provide agents
with a guided selling process to streamline and improve work order
flows. An interactive wizard guide will help agents sell the right
products and services to the right customers, ensuring better
customer satisfaction and reduced churn. The product will be
available to operators this year. Focus groups have allowed CSG to
fine-tune the tool and test markets are being set up now, Dunavant
said.
CSG also is working to put some control back into customers’
hands freeing up CSRs’ time on the phone and on the Internet, he
said. Customers of CSG clients can now access their accounts via the
Internet and in Denver customers can order products online as well,
Dunavant says. Other markets will follow this year.
And CSG is creating kiosks that operators can place in retail
outlets that will allow customers to order products and schedule
service, eliminating the need for a call or Web chat interaction.
“The idea is to focus on all aspects of customer interaction,”
Dunavant said.
News
Connecticut Legislature to Ponder Cable Bills
The Connecticut General Assembly’s Energy & Technology
Committee postponed a hearing on two bills related to cable
television service and signal quality, but legislators promise the
issues will be addressed.
The hearing, originally scheduled for Feb. 13, will address two
bills introduced by State Sen. Andrew Roraback (R-Goshen), who was
lobbied by a contingent of dissatisfied customers. The brouhaha
started last summer when Cablevision moved some
analog channels to digital. The Litchfield Cable Television Advisory
Council's (CTAC) started the crusade. Stephen Simonin, a former
cable systems engineer, claimed Cablevision is also denigrating its
signal quality to make room for Internet and phone signals on its
network. Cablevision denies the allegation.
“Mr. Simonin continues to make erroneous and incorrect statements
regarding Cablevision’s network, products and business motivations,
including the allegation that our video service is being negatively
impacted by our voice and Internet products when -- by design --
more than 98% of our network capacity is being devoted to our cable
television service,” spokesman Jim Maiella said. “We understand that
some customers have concerns over the move that is occurring across
the cable industry from analog to digital, and when we have migrated
channels from one format to the other -- most recently in the case
of Turner Classic Movies -- we have offered benefits to ease in the
transition.”
Meanwhile, the state attorney general’s office stepped into the
fray to keep things on an even playing field, according to the
Litchfield Enquirer. Cablevision is in the process of
renewing its contract in Litchfield and attorney general Richard
Blumenthal told the paper that “this proceeding provides a very
significant opportunity to hold the cable company accountable and
ask some very tough questions." He acknowledged to the paper that
Cablevision’s service could use some improvement, but noted its
service record is no different from other cable companies operating
in the state.
Legislative Update
Seniors Endorse Georgia's Cable Competition
Bill
The 60 Plus Association, a senior citizen's
advocacy organization, is publicly endorsing a bill that would give
statewide cable franchises to multichannel video distributors. If
passed, the Georgia Consumer Choice for Television Act “will greatly
benefit Georgia's consumers, particularly seniors,” association
president Jim Martin said in a statement. “Those who stand to gain
the most are seniors on fixed incomes who will be offered
competition, more choices and lower monthly cable bills if this
legislation is passed. I urge the Georgia General Assembly to
swiftly consider and pass this bill."
Similar bills have been passed in 11 states, including Texas,
Virginia, New Jersey and California. The 60 Plus Association is a
15-year-old nonpartisan organization taking on important issues such
as death tax repeal, saving Social Security, working to lower energy
costs, affordable prescription drugs and other senior-friendly
issues featuring a less government, less taxes approach.
Qwest Bid for State Charter Dies
A proposed
Colorado House bill that would have created statewide cable
franchises must go back to the drawing board after the
transportation and energy committee voted 8-4 to postpone
indefinitely the issue.
"Consumers deserve lower cable prices that competition will
bring," Rep. David Balmer, R-Arapahoe County, the bill's sponsor,
told the Denver Post. "This bill has started that important
discussion."
Qwest officials vow to continue working with
local authorities as it expands its triple play offers but
acknowledged that the statewide franchise law would have streamlined
its efforts.
"The House transportation committee granted Philadelphia-based
Comcast a one-year extension of its cable TV
monopoly in Colorado," Qwest Colorado president Chuck Ward said in a
statement. "Today's vote guarantees that Colorado consumers will be
hit with another 7% increase on their cable bill next year, and for
years to come."
City regulators and Comcast, the predominant cable operator in
the state, lobbied against the bill.
Darryn Zuehlke, director of the Denver Office of
Telecommunications, testified against the bill. He said defeating
the measure was one of the city's top priorities.
At a committee hearing held earlier this month, Ken Fellman,
representing a local government consortium, maintained the
legislation would give Qwest special treatment and that the Denver
telco has tried to negotiate franchises with only a handful of the
metro area's municipalities.
Verizon Cuts Local Deal with Richmond Despite Statewide
Law
Despite a statewide law, Verizon
recently cut a separate franchise contract with Richmond city
officials that will give most residents another choice when it comes
to television providers.
Richmond officials told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that
the deal will give the city more benefits than those required under
state law, requiring the company to operate a customer-service
center in Richmond, provide financial help for the city to produce
its own television programming and accelerate the timetable for
expanding competition around the city -- none of which is required
under the minimum standards in the state law. Still, some city
council members expressed concern that the deal will mean some
neighborhoods won’t see the same kind of competition as other
residents.
No competitor, or existing provider, is required to negotiate a
franchise agreement now that the statewide law is in place. For
instance, Cavalier Telephone has chosen not to
negotiate with local officials to provide TV service in the area.
Instead, the company is seeking to provide service under the
ordinance requirements set out in state law.
Comcast also will seek to renew its franchise in
the city without negotiating new terms, city officials told the
newspaper. The company's current agreement will expire at the end of
this month.
Richmond filed suit against Cavalier late last year for providing
service without a franchise. But last month a federal judge denied a
request by the city for injunction against Cavalier until it reaches
a deal with the city.
Competition Watch
DirecTV Launches Customer Support
Channel
DirecTV launched the first
phase of its customer-support channel on Valentine's Day, allowing
customers to access on-demand answers to the most frequent customer
questions such as new channel or package information and
installation information.
"It is important to us that our customers are happy with every
step of their DirecTV experience," DirecTV Entertainment executive
VP Eric Shanks said in a prepared statement.
DirecTV expects to add more functionality to the channel
throughout the year. Future services will include allowing customers
to change their programming packages, order equipment, and give
feedback to DirecTV easily through their television.
RCN Introduces Spanish-Speaking Calling
Plan
RCN launched an
international calling plan designed to compliment its Hispanic cable
TV programming offering. MiTelefono, or "My Telephone", is a Latin
American/Spanish Speaking international calling plan that allows
current and new residential customers to stay in touch with family
and friends in 23 Latin American countries, plus Spain and Puerto
Rico. Callers can connect with people in countries like Mexico,
Brazil, Spain and the Dominican Republic for $2.95 per month .
MiTelefono will be available to small business customers in the
future.
Call Center Briefs
Comcast Opens Fourth Chicagoland Call
Center
Comcast will open a call center
in Woodbridge, Ill., that will have 550 customer-service reps
answering phones. It’s Comcast’s fourth call center in the area and
further expansion is expected, said Mark Coffman, Comcast VP of
customer care. Comcast already has around 1,500 workers at call
centers in Schaumburg, Oak Brook and southwest suburban Tinley Park.
About 100 workers already have started in Woodridge and another 450
are expected to be hired by this summer. In addition to CSRs,
positions will include managers, support staff, quality assurance
and human resources.
AT&T To Expand Milwaukee Call Center
AT&T expects to hire up to 200
people to staff call centers for its new U-verse video service, the
company told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "We would
describe them as good-paying jobs," Scott VanderSanden, AT&T
Wisconsin president, told the newspaper. Most of the jobs will be
represented by the Communication Workers of America. The new workers
will provide customer service in the AT&T call center and
technical support to field technicians working on installation. It’s
unclear when AT&T’s u-Verse will be available to Milwaukee
residents, VanderSanden said. But AT&T has said it plans to
offer service to at least half of its customers in its 13-state area
by the end of 2008.
Q&A
 Jeff Kagan
Telecom Analyst
Jeff Kagan is one of the telecommunications industry’s most
well-known and oft-quoted analysts. His clients include many of the
nation’s largest telecom, cable television, communications and
technology companies. He is also called on by advertising and public
relations agencies and many other firms for his analysis of the
changing industry and marketplace, and who want to brief him on
their announcements and strategies. Kagan started his practice in
1987 and has been in the business since 1984. He recently answered
questions about cable and telco customer care via e-mail for
Focus on Customer Care. An edited transcript follows:
Q: Will telco competition force cable operators to up
their game when it comes to customer care?
A: Absolutely. The marketplace is about to go
through a historic shift thanks to changing technology and new
competition. Customer care will be one of the key areas companies
need to focus on to be successful going forward.
Yesterday, cable television companies had no real competition so
prices went up while quality and customer satisfaction was not a
focus. Today as competition prepares to change the game, we are
seeing the cable television companies focus on improving customer
satisfaction in order to remain competitive.
The industry is changing and becoming customer focused. That
should keep prices low and innovation high. We saw it happen in the
telephone side of the industry over the last fifteen years and the
same thing should happen here.
Q: Who will do a better job of taking care of their
customers -- telcos or cable operators? Why and how?
A: That depends on the market area and the
companies. All the competitors are rushing to upgrade their service
and improve their customer relations. They have to. It’s an
all-or-nothing game, and they are only in the first inning.
Cable television companies got an earlier start offering the
bundled services. However phone companies have a better relationship
with the customer at this point. Over the next couple years both
sides will look more alike. The cable television companies are
focusing on improving their relationship, and the telephone
companies are focusing on expanding their bundle while keeping the
customer relationship strong. Before long we will have two strong
competitors.
Q: Should there be buildout and customer service
requirements associated with statewide franchise contracts?
A: The competitive marketplace has always been
the best regulator. There is already a dominant television provider,
the local cable company. The telephone companies are a new
competitor. Should they have the same requirements as the original
cable television provider? What about the cable television companies
offering phone service using VoIP? Do they face the same regulatory
restraints as the phone companies? The answer should be consistent
either way.
I think we have to be fair to both sides. If we have high
regulatory restraints on one side, we should have it on both sides.
On the other hand, that will only slow the rollout of the
competitive services which will bring lower costs and higher
innovation to the marketplace.
Looking at it this way, as long as there is an incumbent
provider, the new competitor should not be forced to slow its
rollout with the same conditions as the original company had to deal
with.
Q: So far, competition hasn't stemmed price increases by
multichannel service providers. Will we see price wars? Are
consumers really benefitting?
A: The answer is yes we will see price wars. The
question is when? I expected to see price decreases already myself,
but I do believe it is coming. It happened on the telephone side
during the last fifteen years and it will happen on the television
side.
As soon as telephone companies start winning business from cable
television companies, we should see prices come down. Otherwise more
customers will choose the telephone companies and cable television
companies will lose.
They Said It
“I couldn't wait. I said, ‘Look there is a Santa Claus.'“
--
Freehold, N.J., resident Frank Estermera when he
signed up for Verizon Communications service last December
“If you spend $150 a month for communications services, somebody
might want to win you over. But if you don't, they don't care about
you.”
-- Rick Gamber, executive director of the
Michigan Consumer Federation, telling Associated Press that he
thinks large telecommunications companies such as AT&T and
Comcast will compete by grouping TV, Internet, cell phone and
landline phone services together and offering an overall discount --
but won't necessarily drop bills for people who want only cable TV.
Movers & Shakers
Darrel Hegar, who had been VP of sales and
marketing at Time Warner Cable in Houston, was promoted to VP/GM of
operations at Time Warner Cable in Cleveland.
Briefing Room
Verizon CSRs Speak More
Korean
(Excerpted from a 2/13/07 article on
Multichannel.com)
Verizon Communications has expanded its Korean-language
customer service availability to extend in-language aid to
subscribers in Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and Washington,
D.C. The expansion increases Verizon’s force of Korean-speaking
customer service representatives by 221%. These agents, based in
the company’s multilingual sales and service center in Queens,
N.Y., also provides assistance to small- and medium-sized
businesses which require in-language communications with their
customers. Korean-language customer service was already available
to Verizon’s West Coast and some Eastern Seaboard markets.
For
more...
Insight Spots Get Personal
(Excerpted
from the Feb. 12 issue of Multichannel News)
Insight Communications, which has been reinforcing the image of
a caring, local company in a series of branding spots since
January 2006, serves up an homage to the NBC hit The
Office with its latest set of promos. The branding messages,
created in-house, feature the company's own employees acting out
scenarios reminiscent of the workplace comedy. In one spot, the
benefits of digital phone, such as unlimited local and
long-distance calling, are discussed at a staff meeting. A female
staffer asks for repeated clarifications. “So, someone could talk
to L.A. for hours?” she asks, adding later, “So someone could talk
for a week, nonstop?” The meeting leader scoffs, “Who would talk
for a week, nonstop?” The whole room pivots to look at the curious
woman. “What!” she responds.
For
more...
elsewhere
Verizon Communications has reached a deal with
Baltimore County officials that for the first time would give
county residents a choice of cable television providers - and,
both sides said, the prospect of cheaper prices. The deal, which
requires County Council approval, sets the terms for the company
to provide service countywide within 10 years. Some communities
near the Baltimore Beltway could receive service as soon as this
summer. Verizon would compete directly with
Comcast, currently the only option for county
cable television customers.
Fore
more... [back to top] 
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