Business Case for Smart Care Software Product Portfolio

Business Case for Smart Care Software Product Portfolio

Contents Company Overview... 3 Growing Challenges with Mobile Device Support... 3 Solution... 4 Privacy and Security... 6 Financial Benefits... 7 Realizing Smart Care Benefits... 10 2014 AetherPal Inc. All rights reserved. Smart Care and all other AetherPal brand and product names are service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of AetherPal Inc. in the United States and other countries. 2

Company Overview AetherPal is transforming the support experience for mobile device customers. The world s most respected mobile operators and device manufacturers rely on AetherPal s Smart Care products to engage directly with customers for rapid problem resolution, better device performance and higher productivity, resulting in satisfied customers, fewer device returns, and lower support costs. The Smart Care product portfolio is compatible with all major mobile device and operating system platforms. Powered by patent-pending algorithms developed by AetherPal, the solution remotely manages smart devices with speed, resource efficiency and security by utilizing real-time data while ensuring complete user privacy. The portfolio is comprised of several synergistic products: Secure Remote Control enables a care representative to remotely access and control a mobile device Virtual Device Depot provides a realistic simulation of devices in a provider s portfolio including tutorials and wizards on functionality and common issues Device Diagnostics enables a care representative to collect data on device and application conditions with user permission for live resolution Self Care directs a customer towards quick and automatic resolution of common issues without the need to contact a care representative AetherPal s Smart Care products improve profitability for mobile operators and device manufactures through multiple advantages. This paper analyzes several of these benefits including enhanced customer satisfaction, increased loyalty to the mobile operator and device supplier, reduced device returns, and streamlined support operations with faster resolution and fewer repeat calls. Growing Challenges with Mobile Device Support Mobile customers expectations are always on the rise. People want powerful devices, fast connections, and lots of storage, applications, features and content, all accessed through intuitive interfaces. As a consequence, customers frequently upgrade mobile devices and endeavor to use their more sophisticated features, leading to frequent questions and misunderstandings. Customer dissatisfaction has increased as smartphones and tablets have reached broader user bases. The interaction of devices, networks and applications can make seemingly simple tasks devolve to complexity and frustration. Things get more strained when customer support is contacted, which necessitates a user explanation of the problem and navigation through options while a care representative attempts to identify the cause, without real visibility into the device s parameters, menus and options. 3

According to a recent Gigaom Research paper entitled Future of Mobile Customer Experience Management: The biggest bottleneck in the CSR s [customer service representative] ability to understand what s happening on the device is the interpreter of that device, the customer. Any solution that addresses this blind disconnect should greatly facilitate diagnosis of the customer s problem, improving outcomes End-users are often challenged to express what s happening on the device and should not be expected to know the terminology The ideal solution to better support customer outcomes is to give the CSR remote access to the end user s device (always with the user s permission). This solution allows mobile operators to personalize the customer care experience, since many customers don t really want to be part of trying to find a solution; they just want the CSR to fix the problem for them. Failure to address customer support issues quickly and effectively reduces profitability through higher operating costs and the downward revenue drag of dissatisfied customers. Mobile operators and device manufacturers lose money processing device returns, absorbing cancelled contracts, servicing and escalating lengthy and confused support queries, and from the consequences of customer frustration. Solution AetherPal s Smart Care product portfolio provides a faster, lighter and more secure solution to resolve connected device issues utilizing a combination of cloud-based servers and mobile applications, depicted in the diagram below. AetherPal s Smart Care integrates live user experiences with a provider s customer care expertise for rapid, effective support 4

The Smart Care portfolio is comprised of synergistic products for mobile customer experience management. Secure Remote Control enables a care representative to remotely access and control the mobile device, when its user grants permission. Observing and experiencing customer issues first-hand improves the diagnosis of problems and determination of solutions. Immediate resolution this way is typical, and the effective live demonstration to a customer lessens likelihood of further issues. Additionally, the care representative may take note of other potential issues, or features which could be beneficial to show the customer. Such pre-emptive action circumvents future problems. Customers may even elect new options and upgrade to higher service levels when they become aware of their options through more effective care representatives. Secure Remote Control enables a care representative to gain visibility and control over a live mobile device to which a customer receiving support grants permission Virtual Device Depot is available to care representatives for use during remote control sessions, providing an array of virtual devices for navigating through screens, menus and options while simultaneously working with subscribers who need support. The virtual device content provides step-by-step instruction for addressing specific questions or issues related to device functionality, operating systems and applications. This enhances the effective expertise of care representatives, for resolving customer problems faster without having to hand off the call to a device specialist. Outside of live customer support calls, care representatives can also use Virtual Device Depot as a training tool to improve familiarity with a variety of devices without the cost or inefficiency of having the actual device at hand. 5

Virtual Device Depot provides a care representative with access to simulated use of and data about any device from an array shared with other representatives Device Diagnostics is triggered with permission of a customer contacting technical support to resolve an issue. After the customer grants permission, the care representative can collect data and observe logs and conditions on a device. This can be used to quickly identify and resolve issues, and enables the mobile network operator to provide proactive and predictive care. Self Care provides an intelligent automated attendant for a mobile device. The mobile customer can access Self Care to look up, understand and act on issues they may be experiencing with the device. Functionality related to Secure Remote Control and Device Diagnostics is then utilized to collect data from the device, evaluate the situation, and direct the customer through a wizard-based solution to resolve the issue. Self Care provides a convenient and expedient way for customers to address common issues, assure basic maintenance of devices, and reduce call volumes to customer support. This empowering of customer selfsufficiency can also strengthen loyalty and improve net promoter scores. Privacy and Security AetherPal s products have been developed to meet the security and privacy requirements of the world s most respected mobile operators and device suppliers, and their customers. Remote control sessions and access to diagnostics require the customer to grant permission to the care representative to access the device. User security and privacy is further ensured through configurable permissions to access particular applications, menu items, options, and passwords. 6

Financial Benefits Personalized Customer Care Experience When customers become frustrated with their mobile device experience, they may return the device, select a different service provider or become a negative reference. The Smart Care product portfolio accelerates familiarity with new devices and issue resolution, potentially before the customer even becomes aware of a problem. Instead of negative experiences, customers could become delighted ambassadors for their devices, boosting companies coveted netpromoter scores. One of the key benefits is reducing churn in which customers depart for another provider. If an operator with 20 million smartphone users is able to reduce its churn rate within a year from 8% to 7% (12.5% churn reduction), the cost of replacing lost customers would decline for savings of $60 million, assuming a $300 cost of customer acquisition. Customers serving as positive references to others considering mobile devices can further boost the value derived. Sensitivity analysis of saved replacement costs related to customers retained annually by reducing churn for a mobile operator servicing 20 million smartphones, based on $300 acquisition cost per customer Reduced Customer Support Costs AetherPal s Smart Care product portfolio significantly reduces customer support costs in multiple ways. Average handling times of calls (AHT) can be reduced on the order of 20%, and repeat call volumes can decline on the order of 30%, 7

largely through improved first call resolution resulting in fewer repeat calls within 21 days. The declining call volumes and fewer escalation incidents during calls, further drives more efficient and effective call resolution. The operator currently supporting 20 million smartphone customers may be selling on the order of 10 million new smartphones annually, each generating an average of one annual support call. Before an operator s use of AetherPal s Smart Care products, a support call may have averaged 20 minutes with $30 hourly expenses related to care representatives. With the efficiency gains cited above, operating costs would decline by $44 million just from better call handling and fewer repeat calls. Sensitivity analysis of annual savings levels for a mobile operator adding 10 million smartphone sales annually, each driving on average one support call with care services costing $30 hourly, based on reductions in call volume and average handling times by using AetherPal s Smart Care Reduced Device Returns Device returns represent a significant cost for mobile operators and device suppliers. The operator with 20 million smartphone customers including 10 million new device sales annually (expecting 10 million inbound support calls) may experience 20% of those calls resulting in device returns before use of Aetherpal s Smart Care products. While a small portion of device returns result from actual hardware defects, the vast majority of device returns occur when there is no issue or result from a software issue that could have been resolved remotely if the care representative had used a remote control solution. The industry term for these device returns is No Fault Found. Aetherpal s Smart Care products enable care representatives and customers to remotely diagnose 8

and resolve device, application, and network issues that previously would have resulted in a returned device. In field experience with large mobile operators, AetherPal has demonstrated reductions in the number of device returns by as much as 50%, which would result in annual savings of up to $150 million in the example analyzed here based on a cost of $150 per device for logistics and processing of a return. These savings do not factor in the benefits of reduced support call volumes that would further compound the overall cost savings for an operator. Sensitivity analysis of annual savings levels for a mobile operator servicing 10 million new smartphones annually, costing $150 per return, based on return rates before using Smart Care and on reduction of returns achieved through use of Smart Care Additional Benefits In addition to increasing revenue through improvements in customer satisfaction and realizing cost reductions through fewer support calls, more efficient calls, and reduced device returns, AetherPal s Smart Care products offer multiple other benefits. Operators may be able to offer a premium support service to their enterprise customers such as white glove or VIP programs. Another potential revenue driver is expansion of opportunities to upsell additional services to customers during the course of more effective support calls. An additional category of cost savings is from more productive care representatives who achieve higher levels of productivity, faster, with tendencies to serve longer tenures with their employers. 9

Realizing Smart Care Benefits AetherPal s Smart Care product portfolio enables a mobile operator to personalize the customer care experience, while significantly reducing support costs and device returns. The company s mobile client and cloud based software suite provide an operator with broad and deep functionality for significantly improved customer support through more effective call resolution, more efficient care representatives, enhanced self care and preventative techniques, while providing opportunities to grow revenues. Based on global deployments with Tier 1 mobile operators, the company estimates that the combined benefits of improved customer experience, reduced churn, reduced support costs, and fewer device returns can result in an increase in profitability of $100-$200 million annually for a mobile operator with 20 million smartphone customers. 10