Being able to respond in a timely fashion to customers requirements in a timely fashion is a key to many telecommunications CRM implementations and by association telecom call centers.  However, a recent study shows that many call centers are using qualitative metrics rather than quantitative metrics to measure call center performance.

While I believe that no organization should use only one or the other, one of the best ways to determine in ‘real-time’ ( near real-time for those of us who actually have to implement this stuff…. ) the performance of your call center is to use quantitative, operational metrics to determine operational performance.  Qualitative metrics, like customer surveys and feedback, take too long to determine if there is an issue that can be corrected.

It should be noted that quantitative metrics NEED to be backed up with quantitative metrics.  The quantitative metrics are only good to tell you how fast you are going.  Qualitative tell you where you going.  Remember the immortal words of Yogi Berra:

“We're lost, but we're making good time.”

It would be unfortunate to run a call center only based on “making good time”.

While this interview was originally published in July, it gives a great example of how strategic thinking can aid internal IT departments and organizations.

For telecom organizations, the lessons learned/best practices of collaboration across functions to support a business process (ie breaking down walls) rather than a silo-ed approach are key to understanding how the P&G’s approach can be utilized in a telecommunications environment.

Remember it is about ‘sharing’ and not ‘holding’ information when it comes to business value to the organization.

In a sign of what may be a theme in 2009, Senator Herb Kohl has decided to ask some pointed questions about the price of SMS messages to the major wireless providers in the US.

While it is not unusual for a Senator to ask such questions, the mood in Washington DC will continue to be more “intrusive” than “laissez-faire” in 2009 and these types of requests will be backed with hearings and testimonies on C-SPAN.

For telecommunications firms, Senator Kohl’s interest in the difference between what an SMS costs and what’s price might signal a return to a less market-based approach to pricing telecommunications products and services from both the legislative branch and regulatory agencies.

My advice to those firms…. Make sure that your prices aren’t considered “usurious” or the FCC might decide to change how particular products are regulated…. or at the very least make telecom service providers explain their pricing methods in greater detail than they might like. :)

In a new book – Mobile as the 7th of the Mass Media;  Tomi Ahonen claims that the following are the seven forms of mass media channels ( i added the approximate dates from various sources… ):

1. Print (1450s)
2. Audio Recordings (1880s)
3. Cinema/Motion Picture (1890s)
4. Radio  (1920s)
5. Television (1950s)
6. Internet (1990s)
7. Mobile Handset (2000)

I’m not prepared to put the mobile handset on the same plane as the Gutenberg printing press since I consider #4–7 as merely different channels of written, oral and visual communications.  I am willing to concede that the impact of the mobile Internet handsets will be VERY impactful for many reasons from communications to commerce.  Not the least of which is the freeing of Internet from fixed points and the associated costs of PCs for those in non-affluent parts of the US and the world.

NOTE – The BBC seems to be agreeing with the impact of mobile devices in their year end analysis….

While many are predicting that the “sky is falling”, I would hate to let facts get in the way of a good story…. Eric Kutcher and Dilip Wagle have an excellent analysis on where telecom and IT spending stand against previous “recent” recessions.

I particularly liked, and agreed with, the concept that the cuts won’t be an “across the board” approach, but more likely in a “portfolio management” adjustment to protect, and possible expand, high priority engagements like performance management and business intelligence implementations like revenue and costs assurance and customer experience KPIs.