DECEMBER - JANUARYTELECOM BUSINESS REVIEW8THE EVOLUTION OF SERVICE PROVIDER CUSTOMER SERVICEThink back to an evening in 2003 spent in front of the TV. Perhaps Jeff Probst was saying, "The tribe has spoken," on "Survivor," or Gil Grissom was pulling together forensic evidence on "CSI." "Friends" was still somewhere in the line-up, too, and Netflix was shelling out physical DVDs alongside Blockbuster, with its switch to streaming services still four distant years away. As a cable provider, your biggest worry was a prime-time outage and a group of angry customers who missed tribal council or the close of the case. Those providers have evolved into full-stack data services providers with quite a few more responsibilities ­ and higher customer support expectations to boot. Just as the entertainment landscape has evolved, so too has consumption of entertainment to encompass a more robust and technologically advanced set-up that requires multiple devices and services. While high-speed internet used to be a luxury for early-adopters of video streaming and workaholics, today broadband and in-home WiFi is the lifeblood of our work, education, entertainment and connection.Any downtime in the internet, streaming, phone or cloud services that power people's everyday lives is deeply disruptive.Right along with the technology advancements, the ways in which service providers deliver the customer experience have grown exponentially. Take the pandemic for one, which has brought a host of needs to the forefront, including increased bandwidth, cybersecurity requirements for a work-from-home workforce and growing interest in the cloud. Every time a new technology becomes a linchpin in our lives, it requires a retooling of service delivery and customer support. The line has continued to blur between where the provider's responsibilities for always-on service expectations begin and end.Some think that the customer experience is how you speak and interact with your customers during the order or service process. Some think it's around the pricing and competitive offers. Others argue it's the services you provide and the ease of use, performance and reliability. The truth is, the customer experience encompasses all of the above ­ and then some. Being in the business since 1992, I have had a front row seat to the shift in approach, from a traditional, in-person and phone-centered experience, to the all-inclusive philosophy that modern businesses need to survive. Tom WhiteIN MY OPINIONTom White, Chief Technology Officer, Consolidated CommunicationsBy
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