Customer Care in the LTE World.

"In fact, the impact these new [LTE] devices and services will have on customer care operations is expected to be substantial. Customer care performance metrics already show that each improvement in service capability comes with greater customer care needs. The average handle time (AHT) that a help desk representative spends with consumers to solve problems, for example, has jumped from approximately 10 minutes for feature phone customers to more than 15 minutes for smart phone customers. The AHT can be as much as 30 minutes for USB modem users.

The help desk's ability to solve a customer's problem the first time the customer calls, called first call resolution (FCR), also worsens as products and services become more complex. Of all the requests that come in for mobile broadband support, for example, 40-45% require two or more calls to reach resolution, and these calls are commonly referred from the front-line to higher skill-level personnel, which increases the cost of customer care.

Mobile operators have of course made significant investments in mobile device management, network management and OSS and BSS systems to address these needs. Even so, when a consumer calls a help desk for support, the company representative must look separately into multiple systems to identify the root cause of the consumer's problem. It is inconvenient, takes time, frustrates the customer and increases operational costs."