Analysis Approach of User Centered Innovation for Call Center Services in Telecommunication

Abstract

The growing global market of telecommunication services continuously promotes expanding customer needs and customer cares. Despite the efforts to facilitate Web-based services for customer contacts, Call Center Services (CC) with Interactive Voice Response Systems (IVR) currently remain the primary channel for customer services in telecommunication industries. In reality, the development of the system structure for IVR and the subsequent Call Center Information System are mainly based on the perspectives from the internal function processes on the provider side, i.e., a rather technical- or business- function oriented approach. User centered approaches of system innovation are therefore needed for better user experiences for such customer services. This study aims to establish a template analysis framework for the system improvement towards user-centered customer services, through conducting an empirical study in a major telecom company in Taiwan. Sampled system records in IVR logs are extracted and further linked with the corresponding transaction records which are routinely reported by customer service representatives for call handlings. In addition, individual interviews with customer service agents are also the other primary part of this system analysis. The interview results show that the problematic repair service dispatch policy and the personnel proficiency in business inquiries are critical to the quality of customer services. By further cross-referencing the results of system analysis and agent interviews, practical suggestions for system innovation towards a user-centered customer service system as well as the implications for theoretical research are in further discussion.