In a recent article posted on cnn.com, it discussed how the "Internet of Everything" will change the world of Customer service as we know it today.  In this post, we are going to discuss this in more detail.

Here's how Customer service will never be the same:

It will get more personalized

I think that everyone remembers the famous scene from the Tom Cruise hit, "The Minority Report", where the billboard display identified him by name when he walked into the store.  While this movie showed that they are doing it via an eyeball scan (that can be done today quite easily, actually), it is more likely that it would be done using technology such as NFC (Near field communication) found in your smartphone for something so personalized.  In the case of digital signage displays today, many advanced solutions do use some non-person specific characteristics (such as approximate age/gender) to help customize displays and better meet certain target audience's needs.

The reference to the movie was not intended to creep anyone out with a possible invasion of privacy or have you cover your eyes when you walk by a digital display! Rather, it was more to point out how technology will be used to optimize what advertisements you receive, and since the advertisement will be more focused, there is a strong chance that you will receive more discounts than before (the theory here being that they won't be spending as much money marketing to non-core audiences as they did before....then again, maybe they won't give any more discounts!). 

It will become more automated

Last summer, I was involved in a baseball game at night.  We were expecting the park's flood lights to be turned on by a certain time, but unfortunately, they were not.  Our fix was to call into a call center and get the service team to dispatch out someone to "hit the switch".  As we move forward in the world of M2M, more and more processes will be both automated and/or can be remedied quickly over the air (actually, many advanced municipalities have already gone to M2M solutions to keep the lights on for exactly the right amount of time, to reduce energy consumption and improve customer service).  We will start to see this for things such as photocopiers and kiosks, where downtime will be reduced (or eliminated) through more advanced monitoring solutions.

It will reduce the amount of time you spend in "IVR Hell"

"If you have a red car, a beard, know the words to Dancing Queen by ABBA and have a dog named Rusty, please press 1 now".  It seems to be coming to that point, as IVR systems are becoming increasingly complex, only to have you end up with a live person anyways.  As we move forward with M2M solutions, many forward thinking companies are starting to link up their M2M systems with their customer portals and IVR systems.  So, rather than getting all the way through the prompts and waiting on hold for a Customer Service rep, you may be given the option of resetting your devices, performing basic checks and even some basic upgrades via an IVR or simple-to-use web portal.  This may include turning on and off devices, as well as many other functions.  And, no, in case you were wondering, I do not know all of the words to Dancing Queen.....

It will reduce downtime

The best sort of downtime is really no downtime at all, isn't it?  While I don't disagree with the old adage that you can actually improve how a customer thinks about your business by reacting quickly to / resolving an issue more than if you didn't have an issue at all, it is still good not to have things fail all that often.  First, it is better for the company as having a lower amount of issues does reduce their customer service costs.  For a consumer, it allows you more peace of mind in a very busy world.

Bottom line

As companies continue to look for ways to reduce costs (yet customers are becoming increasingly annoyed with bad service), it looks like technology will play a big role in improving how customers are looked after going forward.  Look for M2M to play a major role in this transformation.  Feel free to drop me a note to ask any questions about your particular situation!

As always, let Novotech know how we can help with your M2M needs, such as antenna selection.  You can visit our website at www.novotech.com.  As well, feel free to reach out to me directly ....larry(@)novotech.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter (@NovotechM2M) and you can follow me personally as well (@LBNovotechM2M)