Category: Learn

When you have a mobile phone connection, you know you’re going to have to resort to calling customer service at some point. It could be for information related to your account or for help with an issue, but what you always seek from your wireless carrier is prompt and accurate service. However, when it comes to customer service, mobile carriers usually rank the lowest out there.

Mobile service providers have earned a bad name for their lousy customer service. Poor network and high tariffs aside, mobile service providers are often known to be rude and ill-tempered. Although, that scenario seems to be changing, as mobile companies are realizing the competition. Many have been upping their game in order to retain customers.

Every year, mobile providers are ranked according to the quality of customer service they provide. The ratings keep changing every year, based on the feedback from customers. This year’s survey proves that humans are still more popular than AI-powered robots. Mobile companies, who use robots or other means of automatic customer service, are found to be artificial and less personal by customers. As a result, they tumble in the rankings.

Let’s take a look at the five mobile companies ranked from best to worst according to customer service.

1. Verizon

Verizon is one of the largest mobile carriers with over 147.2 million subscribers. What makes this company so highly rated is its network coverage and reliability. Aside from that, Verizon ranks as having the best customer service among all major carriers. Online support, social media, and phone communication are some of the areas aced by Verizon. They also have a vast range of online resources that answer all questions customers may have about a phone or service.

2. T-Mobile

The country’s third largest mobile carrier right now, with over 73.9 million subscribers, T-Mobile is a strong contender to Verizon. Not only is the service fast and reliable, but the customer service is also decent. The customer service representatives are prompt and helpful, but there are a few issues that keep the company from the top spot. The links to helpful resources on the website are hard to locate, and the representatives often make their responses difficult to understand.

3. AT&T

What made AT&T tumble on the list is the use of automated operators. Customers prefer talking to a human being, and their use of AI automation tools are deemed too artificial by customers. To their benefit, AT&T has a website full of helpful resources where customers can find answers to questions. AT&T is one of the strongest mobile carriers in the country, with over 136 million subscribers.

4. Cricket

Cricket is one of the best prepaid carriers when it comes to customer service, owing to a very helpful website. It is also one of the few carriers to provide an online chat system. Cricket is also responsive – albeit, brief – if you ask questions on social media.

5. Sprint

Finishing at the fifth spot is Sprint, with over 60 million subscribers. In terms of customer service, the company is helpful, responsive, and easy to reach, both through email and on social media. What keeps it from the top spot is the fact that Sprint representatives are known to continuously provide inaccurate information.

The Importance of Customer Service

Customer service forms an essential part of every business. But not every business thinks “the customer is always right.” Not every company is concerned with customer satisfaction, yet it’s those who don’t put profit over the customer’s experience are the ones who ultimately succeed in this competitive market. Consider Verizon’s success in being the most popular service provider.

Any business that is serious about succeeding knows the importance of solid customer service. It’s about treating your customers like one of your own. Top-notch customer service just doesn’t happen when your only aim is extracting more money from your customers. It happens when you go out of your way to provide your customers with a little extra every time.

There are a number of reasons why customer service is so important to a business. Some of them are:

Customer retention is less expensive

Compared to customer acquisition, retaining customers is far less expensive. There are a number of expensive strategies involved in generating new business, but existing customers can easily be retained by providing excellent customer service. Even if your products are expensive, your customers will stay if they get quality service. It is very hard and expensive to get new customers, and a business should do whatever it takes to retain them.

Customer service builds trust

When you hold a track record of providing great customer service, you build the reputation of being a company that values its customers. These days, people will stick with a company only if they have good reason to. If they are dissatisfied with one business, there are many others they could easily move to. As a result, businesses have to work harder to keep customers and build trust in the brand. Quality customer service could be the key to customer loyalty.

Customer service reduces problems

When customers are dissatisfied with your service, a number of problems can arise. You will get a barrage of complaints from all corners, you will probably earn bad reviews online, and even legal cases. When you provide excellent customer service, take your customers’ feedback to heart, and solve their issues quickly, there will be far less problems for your business. Customer service prevents friction between a business and its customers, ensuring both parties remain happy.

Word-of-mouth advertising

Customer service results in word-of-mouth advertising for your business, and it’s something money cannot buy. When customers have a good experience with your company, they are more likely to recommend it to others. This results in new customers for your business, who are more keen to trust your business, simply by the power of word of mouth. This proves there really is no end-point for great customer service; you have no way to gauge the long-lasting effects!

Customer service increases the life of a business

With quality customer service, a business will keep generating new customers. When a business keeps getting new customers, while retaining the existing ones, the longevity increases and the business can last for years.

It is true that mobile carrier customer service has always had a reputation for being below the mark, but with rising competition, companies have realized they need to work hard to keep their customers. Some mobile carriers have been ahead of the game when it comes to providing great customer support, and they are reaping the benefits. For others who haven’t, hopefully they will up their game in order to remain in business and alongside their competitors.

Written descriptions of telecom or telecommunications topics use technical jargon and words not in most people’s day-to-day lexicon. Therefore, the following glossary gives definitions of some of the terms most frequently used in telecom discussions as an aid to non-technical readers.

Application Programming Interface – An Application Programming Interface (API) is software that facilitates communication between two computer programs. Global Call Forwarding’s voice API gives customers an interface between their software and Global Call Forwarding’s network. The API allows customers to obtain information such as call detail records and monthly usage.

Bandwidth – Bandwidth is the data transfer rate of a network in bits per second (bps) where “bit” is a binary digit (either 0 or 1). Messaging conversations require a bandwidth of fewer than 1,000 bits per second (Kbps). Modern networks operate at millions of bits per second (Mbps) or trillions (giga) of bits per second (Gbps).

Broadband – Broadband is a term for a high-speed internet connection, usually having a bandwidth greater than 256 Kbps.

Call Forwarding – Call forwarding is a service provided by Global Call Forwarding (GCF) for the local or international toll-free numbers that it sells. When a call is made to those numbers, GCF forwards those calls to subscribers’ numbers located anywhere in the world.

Cloud – The cloud is a network of servers each having different functions. Some of the servers run applications while others store data. Cloud-based services, like Google, Amazon or Facebook, own the servers.

CPaaS – Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) is a cloud-based delivery model that allows organizations to add real-time communications capabilities to software and applications.

Fiber-Optic Communication – Fiber-optic communication occurs by passing light signals through optical fibers. This method of communication is favored for transmitting telephone signals, internet communication, and cable television signals because of its immunity to electromagnetic interference.

4G LTE – “4G” stands for the fourth generation of mobile data technology, and “LTE” stands for Long Term Evolution. The radio sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R) set the standards for 4G bandwidth at 100 Mbps for mobile use (smartphones and tablets) and 1 Gbps for stationary use (hotspots). Since the standards were unreachable, LTE indicates that the technology is in pursuit of the standards.

5G – “5G” stands for fifth-generation mobile networks or wireless systems, and 5G systems will provide improvements over LTE for coverage, efficiency, and reduced latency. It should deliver bandwidth over 10 Mbps for tens of thousands of users, 100 Mbps in metropolitan areas, 1 Gbps simultaneously for workers in the same office, and simultaneous connections for thousands of wireless sensors.

Interactive Voice Response – With Interactive Voice Response (IVR), a computer answers incoming calls, prompts callers for information, and forwards calls to their proper destinations. This is a free feature to businesses buying virtual numbers. The feature is programmable and customizable to suit business needs.

Internet – The internet is a network of billions of computers. Cables or wireless signals connect these computers to form the network through various service providers.

Millimeter Waves – Millimeter waves (mmWaves) have wavelengths between 10 and 1 millimeters (mm). They travel at extremely high frequencies from 30 to 300 GHz where Hz stands for Hertz or cycles per second, a unit of measure for frequency. Because of their ability to transmit large amounts of data, mmWave technology is a candidate for 5G networks.

Modem and Router – A router connects your network to the computer and wireless devices, and the modem connects the network to the internet. Many internet service providers distribute combined modem–router units to their customers.

MMS – MMS stands for multimedia messaging service, which permits the sending of messages composed of text, slideshows, videos, and single images.

Net Neutrality – Net Neutrality is a principle whereby Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must treat all data on the internet equally. They cannot discriminate or charge differently based on application, attached equipment, communication method, content, platform, user, or website. With net neutrality, ISPs cannot intentionally block, slow down, or charge money for specific websites and online content.

PBX – PBX is an acronym for Private Branch Exchange. A private branch exchange is an internal telephone network for businesses or enterprises. A number of external lines connect into the PBX, which switches calls to and from the company’s extensions.

Sequential Forwarding – After a set number of rings, this feature forwards unanswered calls to a maximum of four sequential numbers.

SMS – SMS stands for short message service, commonly known as text messages. The maximum length of an SMS text is 918 characters. However, if a message is over 160 characters, it is broken down into separate messages of 153 characters or less.

Telecommunication – Telecommunication is the transmission of content, including messages, images, and data. Electromagnetic systems, such as wire, radio, or optical, are the transmission methods. Electromagnetic systems operate because of physical interactions between electrically charged particles.

Time-of-Day Routing – Time-of-day routing forwards calls based time of receipt. For example, the feature may route calls between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm to a business number. For all other times, it may forward calls to home numbers, voicemail, or mobile numbers.

Vanity Phone Numbers – A vanity phone number is one with an easily remembered number or character sequence. For example, a memorable sequence of digits could be 1-888-888-8888. An easily remembers character sequence may relate to a business such as 1-800-TSHIRTS for a tee shirt store.

Virtual Phone Numbers – The local numbers, which GCF sells, are virtual phone numbers. They differ from standard local numbers because GCF forwards the incoming calls to phones anywhere in the world. The virtual local number gives any company a virtual office in the community where the number is located.

VoIP – VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, which is a phone service that transmits calls over the internet as opposed to transmitting through a traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). VoIP systems are particularly attractive to companies that have under-utilized network capacity.

Web – The web or World Wide Web consists of web pages on the internet computers or servers. The code for the web pages uses Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Universal Resource Locators (URLs) make up the addresses of the web pages. Persons that wish to visit a web page enter the URL in their internet browser, which connects to the site.

Disclaimer: We do not support robocalling through our platform. We verify the business details of each customer along with their use case. Robocalls are not allowed using our network.

Robocalling involves the use of an automated telephone message. The call is initiated by an autodialer and delivers a prerecorded message to one or a range of numbers. The robocalling technique is used for a wide variety of communications including:

Public service announcements: For example, if your water supply is about to be suspended for a period because of repairs to the water lines in your area.

• Appointment reminders: You may receive an automated message from your doctor or dentist reminding you that you have an appointment within the next 48 hours.
• Political campaigns: Sometimes political parties will send out automated messages giving information about their incumbent.
  Opinion polls: Robocalls may be used for opinion polls by political parties to help them with their campaigns.
• Marketing: Sometimes companies use robocalling for marketing within the public sector.

Depending on the type and purpose of the robocall, it may enable interaction with the recipient either through voice or keypad activation. Sometimes there may also be interaction with a human representative during part of the call.

The Laws Governing Robocalling

In October 2013, the United States Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) mandated some rules regarding robocalling. According to the FCC’s regulations, telemarketers are prohibited from making robocalls to a consumer without first obtaining his or her written consent. Robocalls are also restricted from dialing numbers on the Do Not Call Registry.

In spite of these changes, the FCC receives more complaints each month regarding robocalling than any other problem. However, it’s difficult for the agency to track down the culprits because most of them can hide their real phone numbers behind a virtual number created through a Google Voice or Skype account. Often the robocallers don’t even use real phone numbers but mimic unassigned or inactive numbers. So what recourse is there to prevent illegal robocalling? Most phone companies are currently resorting to automated blocking tools that simultaneously block robocallers as they whitelist known or emergency numbers. This type of blocking tool is perfectly legal and the FFC encourages phone companies and individuals to use them.

Clarifying the Laws on Robocalling

Although some states have their own local robocalling laws, which differ widely from state-to-state, federal law applies in every state. Here are some examples of the mandates for robocalling and telemarketers:

A telemarketer is prohibited from using a robodialer for the purpose of sending a prerecorded message to a consumer or business cell phone or to a consumer landline unless they have written consent to do so. Such consent may be obtained through audio recording, email, or web opt-in as well as other means. The procedures must follow the federal E-Sign Act.

When robodialers make calls, they are prohibited from abandoning any more than 3 percent of its automated calls within a 30-day period.

Every prerecorded message must contain an automated opt-out message, which allows the recipient to decline to receive any further robocalls. The opt-out message must be activated by keypress or voice.

The prerecorded message must include truthful information about who is responsible for the robocalls and the exact marketing-related purpose of the call.

The prerecorded message must also include a call-back number enabling the recipient to return the call during normal business hours and decline to receive any further robocalls from this particular telemarketer.

Autodialers that do not Deliver Prerecorded Messages

The regulations for this type of call are slightly different. If a robocall is made, but no prerecorded message is used, then it is still legal if the call is to a residential landline, where this type of call is generally still allowed without the owner’s consent. This type of call is prohibited to a cell phone without the owner’s consent.

When Robocalling is Illegal and Unethical

Being on the receiving end of regular robocalls is very annoying and can be considered spam, but at times it can also prove to be dangerous, thanks to a new wave of robocalling scammers. Since 2013, fraudsters impersonating IRS agents are estimated to have conned unsuspecting victims from handing over more than $54 million. This particular batch of con artists has proven to be completely unscrupulous and equally inventive. But the tax swindle is not the only robocalling scam. The FCC also has accounts of incidents where calls were connected to people posing as sweepstakes companies and employment agencies, as well as debt collectors.

Think Twice About Using Your Personal Phone for Business

Though using your personal mobile phone for business is affordable and very convenient, especially if you are just starting a new business, you may want to think twice about doing so. Not only can using the same phone for your personal and business aspects of your life cause conflicts, it may also make your phone more susceptible to robocallers. The easiest way around this is not to carry two phones with two separate numbers; it is to get a virtual phone number for your business.

If you don’t know much about virtual phone numbers, it’s very simple. You sign up for a local or toll-free number in the country and city of your choice, and you give that number to your business clients. They call that number to contact you, and your call forwarding service redirects their call to the number of your choice. So you don’t have to give your business colleagues and clients your personal number, but you’ll still be able to take the calls on whichever phone line works best for you.

A virtual number has several advantages:

• You can avoid robocalls: If you have an automated greeting and your calls are directed to another number, this is a great way to filter out robocalls. The automated call will get stuck with your automated attendant until it times out, eliminating the issue altogether.
• You are not a victim of threats: A virtual number protects your personal information from hackers and scammers. You can blacklist and whitelist your chosen numbers.
• You won’t have to keep changing your number. Your personal phone number is an important part of your life, and chances are you’ve had it for a while. By using a virtual number to handle your business calls, you will avoid any complications that may have you wanting to change your personal number.

You can find out more about handling robocalls along with blacklisting and whitelisting with a virtual phone number by contacting Global Call Forwarding.