41% rise in telecom queries in 2014: Akosha

Online consumer complaint forum Akosha has seen a 41% rise in telecom related queries in 2014. The queries basically span from VAS problems, network issues to DND issues. We spoke with Vishrut Chalsani, Co-Founder and VP- Enterprise Solutions, Akosha, to know the reasons for the rise and the solutions in sight for them.

Voice&Data: What type of queries do you receive when it comes to the telecom sector?
Vishrut Chalsani: On our platform we receive consumer queries which can further be segregated into general enquiries, feedback and complaints. The queries from the telecom sector typically deal with network issues, VAS troubles, data plan related queries, billing issues, delay in activation, DND issues, complaints related to mobile number portability, feedback for service providers, etc.

Voice&Data: Year 2014 saw a 41% rise in telecom related queries, what are the reasons for such a rise?
Vishrut Chalsani: Telecom has constantly emerged as one of the top sectors experiencing constant queries owing to the growing number of mobile usage and inevitable presence of mobile networks for ascertaining connectivity.

Almost 78% of the Indian population uses SIM cards and there is a huge subscriber base for telecom services, especially as mobile devices become more affordable for the masses. Every telecom player is offering different mobile usage plans for both pre-paid and postpaid users, resulting in lot of consumer queries and confusion in the mind of the consumers and hence they seek help.

Since telecommunications is part of everyone’s life, concerns as stated above emerged as a part and parcel of this. Furthermore, with online transactions on network providers and mobile number portability, these concerns have risen.

Telecom companies attracted the second largest number of customer queries in 2014 on Akosha’s platform at 14%. These facts spell out that there is an urgent need for brands in this space to elevate the levels of customer satisfaction they are currently being able to offer, which is why it is one of our core focus areas.

Voice&Data: In such a scenario, what type of steps should the service providers take to help their subscribers?
Vishrut Chalsani: Service providers need to rely on an efficient Customer Experience Management mechanism such as the one provided by Akosha. Brands need a tool that can be integrated with their existing traditional CRM systems. Better processes, more accountability, seamless workflows and efficient tracking is what service providers need. They need to invest in a CEM system to track these queries rapidly across any online channel and provide timely solution to the users thereby, reducing the uncertainty and anxiety.

Voice&Data: How could CRM play a role in resolving such challenges?
Vishrut Chalsani: As the world is moving towards social, mobile, becoming connected, there is a strong need to stay relevant in the digital era and catch up with changing dynamics of customer interaction. While sentiment analysis on social media is playing a pivotal role, measuring sentiment and the business relevance of the attached context holds a challenge that is still daunting. Companies that will invest extensively in developing customer experience as a value enhancer are bound to benefit in such times.

Overall having a lightweight system that close loops all interactions and at the same time listens to customer feedback in a near real time is needed. Also, these social CRMs must integrate with traditional CRMs and make the process the lot more robust. This empowers the marketers and customer service teams in large enterprises to manage all customer interactions including the ones on social media seamlessly and in a timely way to impact the overall customer experience.

Akosha OneDirect is a second-generation CRM solutions which is helping brands leverage their existing customer service apparatus to drive exceptional returns on the marketing spent.

Voice&Data: How could Akosha OneDirect is helping brands across sectors in improving overall customer experience?
Vishrut Chalsani: Akosha OneDirect helps brands to improve their customer experience and enhance their reputation. The OneDirect Enterprise Suite has been built from the ground up to address specific reasons why brands are unable to actually deliver a great customer experience. Our aim is to make a world-class CEM product keeping in mind the Indian brands requirements.

OneDirect empowers marketers and customer service teams in large enterprises to manage all online customer interactions including social media seamlessly, in a timely way to impact the overall customer experience.

We work with brands to provide second generation ORM solutions in an innovative way, besides helping them to leverage their customer service apparatus to drive exceptional returns on the marketing spent. The OneDirect tool helps the brands to streamline internal processes to improve efficiency in the existing systems. Eventually, we work on the root-cause analysis and benchmark a brand’s performance with industry peers to generate positive reputation and take customer service to the next level. We believe that client success is our success.