Digital power predictions

While wholeheartedly agreeing with many of the points raised in Rob Furber’s “Well Connected” article last week, I believe that he missed a key issue – the impact of digital TV.

There are already over 3 million homes in the UK with Internet access at home. By the time all terrestrial analogue television is switched off around 2010, even those who have resisted the lure of the Internet will be offered a whole range of products and services via their TV, all requiring customer service support.

However, customer contact centres are already in crisis with low morale, a constant churn of staff and complaints about levels of service. I don’t believe agents will be able to handle the extra demand digital TV will create without radical action being taken – but the answer is not just to step up the recruitment drive.

In order to gear up for this significant addition to customer communication channels, businesses need to try and predict how the extra demand will impact on their already over-stretched customer service operations.

If businesses don’t use strategic modelling tools to start planning for the future now, the outlook for effective customer service looks very bleak indeed.

Gerry Moxham

Business development manager

TC Group

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