Sham Careem, CEO of Momac, discusses how on-device self-service can benefit operators and customers alike.

Eurocomms.com: How do you define on-device self-service?

Eurocomms.com: How do you define on-device self-service?

Sham Careem: On-device self-service is automated customer care that is accessed directly on customers' mobile devices via the web or an application, enabling them to do anything from view their account details in real-time to purchase voice or data boosts to immediately add bundles and packages based on actual, immediate needs.

What specific benefits does it provide end-users with?

Enhanced customer experience. Recent research by Analysys Mason points out that customers are expecting and even requesting the option to access and manage their account details while connected on a mobile device.

Self-care and components like contextual FAQs, product and service how-to documents and videos and other automated services significantly reduce the need to contact a call centre.

When connected to business and operation support systems and other network platforms, predictive resolution detects potential network problems and can automatically provide a solution or alternative – sometimes before the user even knows something was wrong.

At the very least, the network can alert users to a problem; for example, network systems can monitor a user's internet session, letting him or her know that bandwidth is insufficient.

In its most basic form, on-device self-service permits customers to see their current balances directly on their handsets or tablets, allowing them to monitor their usage autonomously.

More sophisticated solutions give users a variety of functionality and replace many call centre tasks, making self-service incredibly convenient and time-saving.

Do you think it will replace or complement call centres and IVR?

To varying degrees, on-device self-service allows users to solve their own problems without call centre assistance.

We don't see the need for live agents and call centres ever completely going away, but we do see evidence of call centre traffic diminishing significantly with the rise of on-device self-service/care.

What benefits does it provide operators with?

The same Analysys Mason research concludes that on-device self-service solutions improve customer satisfaction and deliver significant opex savings. Implementing on-device self-service cuts call centre call volume by as much as 20 percent in 18 months.

Further, a hypothetical operator in a developed market with 10 million subscribers could realise annual cumulative opex savings of around €50 million, generating incremental annual revenue of €17.5 million four years after deployment of on-device self-services.

Turning the mobile device into a powerful customer care channel doesn't just improve customer satisfaction and reduce opex, it also boosts up- and cross-selling ability.

When contract expiry is known, operators can propose a handset or package upgrade when users use self-service to renew. For example, users roaming abroad can automatically be pushed roaming bundles with a simple “click here to accept” message.

What are the main challenges to managing such a system from an operator’s point of view?

Operators are reluctant to share subscriber data, which makes it difficult to implement self-service or any kind of personalised offers.

If an operator already uses a web-based self-service tool for customers to view and manage their accounts, it becomes much easier to use those APIs and put that service on-device.

There are no explicit challenges to managing and maintaining a system like this, particularly if the platform is cloud-based. The technology needed to implement on-device self-service should be easy to use, quick to update and simple to manipulate.

Operators should be able to integrate all of their current B/OSS systems, including analytics. A cloud-based platform that delivers on-device self-service/care should be highly-flexible and consolidate subscriber data for a superior customer experience.

What upcoming developments in this field can you tell us about?

One of the biggest developments we expect to see is the expansion of self-care and self-service to multiple screens, from the web to different mobile devices to connected televisions. The need to call a live agent to handle simple actions will continue to decrease rapidly.

As customers demand more autonomy and control over their spending, we also predict that this model of on-device/totally connected self-service will be adopted by a growing number of industries, such as airlines, financial services and retail, because of its revenue- and loyalty-generating potential.

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