Amdocs Survey: Service Providers Have an Opportunity to Substantially Reduce Call Center Traffic with Proactive and Improved Self-Care Options

ST. LOUIS, March 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Amdocs, the leading provider of customer experience systems, today announced the results of a global survey that highlights the critical business importance of effective self-service channels for resolving customer issues. The survey, conducted by leading analyst firm, Coleman Parkes, highlights a massive opportunity for service providers to reduce call center costs and to improve customer experience by creating a more complete, consistent and accessible self-service capability, while leveraging customer insight to proactively prevent and eliminate calls. 

Key survey findings:  

• Smartphones still present a challenge: the majority of smartphone users encounter issues related to device or service during the first year of use. 82 percent asked their service provider at least one question, while 50 percent had two or more questions.  
• Online support can be improved: 75 percent of surveyed consumers said they would prefer to use online support if it were reliable, but only 37 percent currently even try to use self-service options, which are often perceived as inaccurate or incomplete. An overwhelming 91 percent say they would use a single, online knowledge base if it were available and tailored to their needs.    
• Social media channels are under-used by service providers: more than half of all respondents (54 percent) have already complained directly to their mobile service provider through social media channels, but 73 percent of these respondents said they did not receive satisfactory answers. 
• The call center picks up the pieces: this lack of satisfactory online support is driving large numbers of consumers to call centers, wasting valuable resources.  More than 40 percent of customers contact a call center after they cannot find answers to their question via self-service and up to 50 percent of "How do I …?" calls could be deflected to self-care channels. 
• Customers expect proactive care: 96 percent of surveyed consumers expect problem notification without having to ask, preempting calls to a call center.  For example, should a problem emerge with email setup on a particular handset, all owners should be proactively sent the solution, without them having to call in to the service provider.

"We are seeing a major shift in customer behavior," said Ian Parkes, Director and Co-Founder at Coleman Parkes. "Consumers prefer to seek answers to common questions through online resources. However, many end users believe service providers' online services cannot solve their problems, so they gravitate back to the call center. There is a clear opportunity for service providers to take control of the experience and to reduce costs." 

"The proliferation of smartphones and services pose a growing support challenge for service providers as new owners struggle to understand device features, services and plans. Service providers are increasingly focused on providing simple, intuitive and proactive service capabilities, while examining strategies for becoming more proactive," said Rebecca Prudhomme, vice president of product marketing for Amdocs. "By monitoring and analyzing real-time customer information, service providers can deflect calls, which will simplify the customer experience while reducing call center volumes considerably."

The survey, conducted by Coleman Parkes, analyses the results of questionnaires completed by 2,900 smartphone users between the ages of 18-40 across North America, UK, Asia Pacific and Central and Latin America in January 2012.

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About Amdocs

For 30 years, Amdocs has ensured service providers' success and embraced their biggest challenges. To win in the connected world, service providers rely on Amdocs to simplify the customer experience, harness the data explosion, stay ahead with new services and improve operational efficiency. The global company uniquely combines a market-leading BSS, OSS and network control product portfolio with value-driven professional services and managed services operations. With revenue of $3.2 billion in fiscal 2011, Amdocs and its over 19,000 employees serve customers in more than 60 countries.  For more information, visit Amdocs at www.amdocs.com.

Amdocs' Forward-Looking Statement 

This press release includes information that constitutes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about Amdocs' growth and business results in future quarters. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be obtained or that any deviations will not be material. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to, the effects of general economic conditions, Amdocs' ability to grow in the business segments it serves, adverse effects of market competition, rapid technological shifts that may render the Company's products and services obsolete, potential loss of a major customer, our ability to develop long-term relationships with our customers, and risks associated with operating businesses in the international market. Amdocs may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, however the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These and other risks are discussed at greater length in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011, filed on December 8, 2011 and our Form 6-K furnished for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 on February 2, 2012.

SOURCE Amdocs