Communication Company Customer Service

David Strom needs to switch phone service and he looks at Adelphia and Verizon. Do a search for any telecommunications company and you’ll see plenty of complaints about all of them. That’s because their systems are complex.
I’ve worked at two telecommunications companies for ten years and it gave me perspective into why customer service is often not a smooth process. Both of these companies have been around since the early 1900s. Because of this, they had legacy systems that could only do so much.
So they took the legacy systems further than they were ever supposed to go and added other systems to work with the legacy systems. With multiple systems connecting to each other (teleco to teleco, too), it’s no surprise data gets messed up along the way.

As for quality of customer service, these companies have multiple call centers that focus on specific areas of the business. Furthermore, whenever new plans and changes come out, they have to be trained. Big companies lose track of its components simply because they’re big.
Newer companies don’t face the problems of old computer systems and their organization was created with newer systems and processes in mind, so they’re less likely to have problems. Newer companies also don’t have to deal with union workers and contracts.
Today’s communication environment allows us to pick our providers and keep our phone numbers. Something that has not been in place for long. This results in telecos getting usage data from other telecos instead of straight from the customer. It’s incredible how many external systems interface with one company’s systems.
I think when deciding on a phone service, you can’t always go by customer service and accuracy. Instead, most people judge based on uptime, features, and prices. (Added following on 9/18/06) Even though we can keep a phone number no matter where we go, it’s still challenging for most customers to switch providers and the switch doesn’t always end up better.
I’m currently reading Loyalty Myths: Hyped Strategies That Will Put You Out of Businessand Proven Tactics That Really Work, which supports that excellent customer service alone doesn’t make a business (it can for some, but not for the wireless industry).