IBM Tool Gives Service Reps a Head Start on Customer Problems

It happens all the time: A customers with a complaint picks up the phone to call a center about a service problem. However, what if the service provider can pinpoint network problems before they occur? That way, customer service reps can resolve issues before disgruntled callers reach for the phone.

That’s the promise of IBM’s new Tivoli Netcool Customer Experience Management software, announced Wednesday, which is aimed at cellular, Internet and other telecom service providers.

Comprehensive Visability

Scheduled to ship in the first half of 2008, IBM said the Customer Experience Management software will give service providers instant access to a range of network and customer data through a single dashboard. Such comprehensive visibility can help customer service reps eliminate network problems — whether data, voice or other services — before they’re barraged with calls.

“Previously, service personnel could tell when service was on or off, but they couldn’t tell if a specific customer segment or individual is experiencing dropped calls, for example,” Karen Edwards, manager of service provider solutions for Tivoli, told CRM Buyer.

“If you know that a cell site is down, and a big customer has a facility that uses the site, you can immediately contact them to let them know you’re on it. This lets them have it both ways — reactive and proactive problem resolution,” she added.

Proactive Account Management

The software represents a new level of proactive account management for IBM’s wireless and wired telecom customers by enabling rapid problem resolution, greater customer satisfaction and, ultimately, revenue growth.

Customer service reps will have easy access to the network and customer accounts, which can be viewed and managed by individual customer, location, device, time, grouping and service.

Without this comprehensive view, service reps and network operations personnel had to relay problem specifics back and forth, causing resolutions to be delayed and increasing the potential to affect greater numbers of customers, according to the company.

The customer experience management software will be available in conjunction with the release of the new version of IBM Tivoli Netcool Service Quality Manager, also scheduled to be released in the first half of 2008.