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Customer care,
while a significant expense, is
also an opportunity for operators
to gain a strategic advantage in
an increasingly commoditized market. As
mobile phones become more complex,
the challenges of providing cost effective
customer care increase. However, with
InnoPath’s Integrated Mobile
Device Management, it is possible
to reduce customer care costs and
also deliver a better subscriber experience.
Customer Care Challenges
Mobile operators
are caught in a struggle between
rising costs and increasingly aggressive
competition. As mobile devices and
the technology driving the networks
behind them become increasingly
commoditized, superior customer
service stands out as one of the
few ways for operators to differentiate
themselves from the competition – and
one of the few ways to win the hearts,
minds and wallets of their subscribers.
That said, many operators will find
it a challenge to deliver the sort
of exceptional customer care that
will provide that much needed differentiator
while containing costs.
Device Recalls – Because
of time-to-market deadlines and
device complexity, mobile devices
are often shipped with bugs. Smartphones
are becoming increasingly powerful,
capable computing platforms, much
like mobile PCs. Just as PCs (and
Macs and Linux machines…)
require patches and updates to fix
bugs and enhance the end user experience,
so do mobile phones, particularly
those based on Windows Mobile or
Symbian. In the past, providing
post-ship bug fixes and firmware
updates usually required either
a recall or for the subscriber to
take the device to a retail outlet
for a re-flash. However, operators
now have the option of performing
these updates over the air using
a technology called FOTA (Firmware
over-the-air). FOTA can help the
mobile operator avoid recalls,
as the devices can be updated
in the field, eliminating the
need to return the phone to a
shop or ship it to a service center.
This helps reduce subscriber frustration
and dissatisfaction while helping
to preserve revenue streams by
keeping phones in the field.
Device Returns – All
told, each returned phone can
cost the mobile operator $140-$200
or more,
depending on the device, how long
customer care worked with the
subscriber on the device before
the return and other factors. Sadly,
many ( figures range as high
as 63%) of these returns are avoidable
because they are returns of working
devices where ultimately no problem
is found. The reason for many of
these returns is simple. Subscribers
open up the box and can’t
immediately do what they want
to do. Then they become frustrated
and want to return the phone because “it
doesn’t
work.” Mobile device management
(MDM) helps address this problem
on multiple fronts, with FOTA
helping to proactively eliminate
problems before the subscriber
finds them. Self-care portals
can help subscribers who are having
difficulty with their mobile device
by allowing them to use a simple,
easy to understand web interface
to set up and troubleshoot their
phones. Configuration management
and configuration verification
allow Customer Service Representatives
(CSRs) to help subscribers set
up their phones or address configuration
issues faster and more economically
than was possible in the past
while these technologies all work
together to help reduce returns,
particularly with devices with
no trouble found.
Configuration
Calls - Many services and applications
require configuration and provisioning
before they will work, but many
subscribers, even relatively sophisticated
subscribers, find configuring the
device to be difficult or cumbersome.
One example is email, which, even
if a subscriber knows the correct
settings, can be frustrating and
time consuming to set up for many
handsets. Fortunately, advances
in configuration management permit
the iMDM console to present the
CSR with both expected and observed
settings, presenting differences in
red with an autofix button which restores
all settings to the expected state.
This allows the CSR to perform a one
click fix. These capabilities, taken
together, enhance the subscriber experience,
reduce escalations, reduce costs,
and increase the chances of a first
call resolution.
Impact on
the Operator’s
CSR Organization
MDM allows the operator to push
customer care and support functionality
closer to the subscriber, thus empowering
the end user and reducing overall
costs. Today, in a non-MDM environment,
when a subscriber calls for assistance
she is directed to the front line
of your support organization. Due
to the complexity of data-related
calls, she is quickly escalated up
the support ranks. Each escalation
increases the cost of customer service.
Although some calls are resolved at
this tier, in many cases, after a
half hour or more of trial-and-error,
the subscriber is instructed to come
into the store or send the handset
in.
With MDM, it is a different story.
The subscriber can first attempt to
solve the issue via a Self-Care portal
at minimal cost to the operator. This
self-care will resolve some percentage
of support calls. If an issue is not
resolved with self-care, the subscriber
can then call support, but with the
CSR portal, the capabilities of MDM
are extended to even front line support
staff, making problem resolution more
likely and reducing the need to escalate
calls. Should escalation still be
necessary, higher tier customer care
agents will be more effective because
they will have the capabilities of
MDM at hand, solving more issues.
Only a small percentage of the calls
will now result in costly device returns.
InnoPath’s
iMDM Customer Care solution consists
of a rich set of MDM applications
that lower operational expenses and
increase customer satisfaction and
loyalty.
At the core of
the solution is the iMDM Server
Suite, InnoPath’s
Integrated Mobile Device Management
platform built on years of Tier-1
deployment experience. iMDM provides
operators with the scalable foundation
upon which they can deploy a complete
set of mobile device management applications
for Customer Care, including Firmware
Management, Configuration Management,
Configuration Verification, Device
Pulse, and the ability to Lock and
Wipe the device.
The server pairs
with an InnoPath or 3 rd party OMA-DM
client on the handset, enabling
end-to-end lifecycle management
for mobile devices. The combination
of InnoPath’s server
and client permits the operator to
deploy a ‘standards+’ solution
providing additional functionality
as well as guaranteeing interoperability
and accelerating time-to-market.
The server and
client are complemented by InnoPath’s
unique CARE portal, providing frontline
CSRs and subscribers with simplified
task-based interfaces tailored to
their requirements.
Firmware Management
Enables operators to pro-actively
fix devices already shipped by upgrading
Firmware Over the Air (FOTA). FOTA
eliminates device recalls due to bugs,
security issues, or feature upgrades.
It increases customer satisfaction
by eliminating the need for a visit
to the shop. InnoPath is the FOTA
industry leader, enabling reliable,
convenient and secure upgrades to
device firmware since 2003.
Configuration Management
Enables operators
to proactively and automatically
configure “vanilla” (out
of network) devices with the appropriate
network configurations (APN, MMS,
etc.). This permits subscribers to
take advantage of the operator’s
data services, increasing revenue.
InnoPath’s Configuration Management
solution is coupled with the Integrated
Device Capabilities Repository (iDCR),
an InnoPath delivered service that
provides the MDM server with the data
required to manage the handset via
OMA-DM. Configuration Management also
relies on the operator’s existing
Automatic Device Detection (ADD)
solution. InnoPath has demonstrated
interoperability with all major
ADD implementations.
Configuration Verification and
Device Pulse
Permits the operator to pulse the
handset over-the-air for all active
configuration factory bootstrapped
settings such as MMS or service
oriented settings such as email,
as well as information on the phone’s
physical status such as battery
level, free RAM, signal level, and
roaming status. Although the iMDM
Server is extensible, able to handle
any physical status parameters,
actual support is dependent upon
the handset vendor’s implementation.
In the case of configuration and
service settings, MDM quickly compares
the returned values against the
expected baseline configuration,
and either suggests corrections
or makes corrections automatically,
pushing the corrected settings to
the handset. Device physical settings
are read-only at present. Using
Configuration Verification and Device
Pulse, the operator may quickly
troubleshoot a subscriber’s
device, returning it to working
order or to the initial factory
configuration. This capability reduces
customer care handling times thereby
reducing support costs and increasing
customer satisfaction. A subset
of this capability is also extended
to the subscriber via the CARE portal.
Lock & Wipe
Permits the operator or subscriber
to remotely lock the device, and
then if required, wipe all data. This
feature is critical if the phone
is lost or stolen. The set
of capabilities will be based upon
the OEM’s implementation,
and conforms to the evolving OMA-DM
LAWMO standard.
CSR/ Self Care Portal
Provides the subscriber
or front-line CSR with a simplified,
easy to use UI which allows
basic MDM care functions such as
updating firmware or checking, and,
if necessary, fixing configuration
settings. The portal is unique in
that it connects to the operator’s
iMDM server providing subscribers
with a real-time view into their
device for the first time.
As part of the
portal, subscribers and CSRs
may query real-time device characteristics
such as the battery level. This
is referred to as Device Pulse,
and may help identify problems
on the handset. They also have the
ability to lock, and later wipe
the device if it is lost or
stolen, critical to protecting the
user’s
confidential data.
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