Visual Self-Service

Video capability has long been a goal for telecommunications providers. From seamless video teleconferencing for business to more personal video chats between geographically distant family members, bandwidth has been the limiting factor. Those factors have since been overcome through the proliferation of T1 and fiber lines and with the introduction of low-cost and/or free applications such as Skype and Google Video. Now, we are seeing similar increases in transmission speeds and bandwidth associated with cellular data networks. An obvious application for this functionality is to offer visual customer-service in place of more traditional IVR self-service options.

This is not an entirely new concept as 2009 saw examples of the adoption of this technology for cellular video chats with customer service agents and for visual IVR menus designed for the hearing impaired. Australian cellular service provider Ovum recently announced a major increase in development in visual self-service solutions on their mobile devices. The reason for the development goes beyond the concept of simply improving customer service. According to estimates, the average cost for a customer self-service transaction through a mobile self-service application is 15 cents versus 50 cents spent on the same transaction conducted through a more traditional IVR system. As is usually the case, the development of this new technology will be a win for both the customer and service provider in the form of improved service for the customer and lower operational cost for the business.