In the US alone, customers have more than a dozen telecom providers to choose from. Major national providers, like AT&T, take much of the limelight, but there are also regional providers (such as C Spire) and Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), with the likes of Google Fi. Amidst all the billboards and social media spots, when it comes to selecting a telecom service provider, 70 percent of consumers still say that customer experience is a major deciding factor.
Telecom providers—or telcos—that excel with customer experience grow revenues 4–8 percent more than the market average by earning greater loyalty among customers. No wonder they are expected to invest around one billion US dollars into their network cloud transformation over the next 3-5 years. Per operator, this sum reportedly equals to 38-44 percent of their total network transformation budgets.
Such investment is indicative of the huge potential that cloud technologies have to offer telecoms—boosting the all-important customer experience by streamlining operations, offering personalized services and delivering seamless omnichannel experiences.
streamlined operations.
As the second-largest wireless carrier in the United States, Verizon opted to replace its traditional hardware-based network functions with software running on cloud infrastructure. Utilizing network functions virtualization (NFV) has meant greater flexibility and more efficient network management. One advantage of this is Verizon’s cloud-based CRM, integrating multiple customer touchpoints to deliver a seamless experience across billing, support and service delivery.
Moving operations to the Cloud allows telcos to replace bulky, complex physical infrastructure with streamlined, virtual systems. This makes it easier to manage and scale their services based on demand. It also accelerates the launch of new services and updates; instead of taking weeks or months to roll out a new feature, it can be done in days or even hours.
Cloud technologies’ integration with existing systems and applications also provides a more cohesive and efficient operation, giving customer service agents all the information they need at their fingertips to deliver more effective customer support.
personalized services.
T-Mobile—the third-largest wireless carrier in the United States—is employing cloud technologies to personalize its services to more than 117 million subscribers. T-Mobile is able to better understand customer preferences and behaviors, and predict their needs, thanks to leveraging cloud-based AI and machine learning services from AWS and Google Cloud.
With cloud technologies, telcos can gather and analyze tons of customer data quickly. One outcome of this is being able to respond to a customer that frequently streams videos, for example, and offer them a special data plan that includes extra streaming benefits. Alternatively, if a customer is consistently running out of data or mostly uses their plan at night, an intelligent cloud-based system can automatically suggest a data plan or add-on service tailored to their usage patterns.
seamless omnichannel experiences.
Providing services to residential and commercial customers in 40 US states, Comcast is the nation's third-largest home telephone service provider. As a multifaceted corporation, Comcast uses cloud-based solutions to unify customer data across TV, internet services, phone services and Xfinity physical stores. In doing so, Comcast is able to execute omnichannel marketing strategies that span digital advertising, email campaigns, social media interactions and personalized promotions.
Cloud technologies allow telcos to keep all customer data in one place, so that customer service agents can provide consistent support across phone, email, live chat or social media. This consistent omnichannel experience means customers can start a conversation on the website chat and then seamlessly move to a phone call.
Cloud-based systems also help telcos to track customer issues across different channels. This means if a problem starts on social media and moves to a phone call, the customer service team has visibility of all interactions and can resolve the issue quicker.
Telco operators are predicted to inject $26 billion into cloud services this year, with spending surging to $65 billion in the next four years. Those who fail to invest in this area could fall short in competitiveness and customer satisfaction, and suffer slower service delivery, higher operating costs, limited personalization capabilities and an overall less engaging customer experience.
Randstad Digital has created a roadmap for telcos to help you prepare for your cloud migration journey—mapping out obstacles, highlighting key trends and enabling you to reach your destination with the help of future-ready cloud enablement. Download "future-ready cloud enablement: your roadmap to cloud operating model transformation" below.