How to extend call centers self-service capability to mobile users.
Most major companies are using call centers for support of their customers. Trying to be more competitive and more cost-effective they outsource call centers to other countries, as well as implement self-service technologies such as Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and web sites where no humans are involved.
In turn, customers demand a higher level of service, which is available 24/7, without the need to wait an excessive amount of time for their call to be answered and to learn about how to deal with IVR systems.
Mobile technologies offer a new alternative which can become a part of an existing solutions. As in the case of a web site or an IVR system, there is no need for human resources, so companies can use it to cut down costs. It is also automated, and since 60% of the world’s population have mobile phones, it can be quickly used by customers at any time and in any place. And it is simple. It’s called Eyeline Call2Service.
How does it work? A company provides a service number for their customers. When they need support they dial this number, which is free, and get a USSD menu, where they can choose from several options. These menu items may include frequently asked questions or information about other support options. This can be a web address or a call center number, which they can use if there is no info they are looking for. The service’s number can also be saved in the user’s phonebook, so he or she later have access to support on-the-fly.
It is important to note, that due to many faces of business, a USSD menu can be used in many creative ways. Moreover, Call2Service can become a part of any self-service system.
There is also a part for marketing in this system. USSD menu may contain new products and special offers, with an option to sign up for a company’s newsletter. A subscriber will then automatically receive SMS if there is update. This way, support and engaging a customer go hand in hand.
MTS (Mobile TeleSystems), one of the largest mobile operators in Central and Eastern Europe, use USSD request system to support their subscribers through *111# portal. About five million MTS users visit the portal every month instead of calling the IVR center. MTS went even further by adding different services, including paid ones. Those are the possibilities available through Call2Service, which can be provided through a toll-free number, which can be called from any mobile operator.
All in all, Call2Service may drastically improve client satisfaction due to availability and prevalence of mobile communication, while being a cost-effective solution for companies providing customer support.
MTS in 2008 (Part II)
$ or minutes per month… Churn must be per year.
| Uzbekistan | ||||
| 2007 | 2008 | Abs chg | Prct chg | |
| ARPU | 9.7 | 7.7 | -2 | -25.97% |
| MOU | 516 | 536 | 20 | 3.73% |
| Subscriber Acquisition Cost | 4.3 | 7.7 | 3.4 | 44.16% |
| Churn | 58% | 21% | -36.90% | -173.24% |
| Turkmenistan | ||||
| 2007 | 2008 | Abs chg | Prct chg | |
| ARPU | 51.9 | 17.1 | -34.8 | -203.51% |
| MOU | 250 | 258 | 8 | 3.10% |
| Subscriber Acquisition Cost | 24.7 | 8 | -16.7 | -208.75% |
| Churn | 24.40% | 14.30% | -10.10% | -70.63% |
| Armenia | ||||
| 2007 (since 09.2007) | 2008 | Abs chg | Prct chg | |
| ARPU | 15.5 | 12.6 | -2.9 | -23.02% |
| MOU | na | 178 | na | na |
| Subscriber Acquisition Cost | 9.7 | 19.3 | 9.6 | 49.74% |
| Churn | na | 28.00% | na | na |
| Belarus | ||||
| 2007 | 2008 | Abs chg | Prct chg | |
| ARPU | 9.4 | 9.7 | 0.3 | 3.09% |
| MOU | 464 | 483 | 19 | 3.93% |
| Subscriber Acquisition Cost | 16.3 | 18.3 | 2 | 10.93% |
| Churn | 24% | 20% | -3.40% | -16.75% |
And some measures of VAS…
| VAS Russia 2008 | mln $ | |
| Messaging Revenue | 521 | 44% |
| Data Revenue | 260 | 22% |
| Content Services Revenue | 359 | 30% |
| Other | 54 | 4% |
| Total | 1193 | |
| VAS Ukraine (incl. CDMA network) | ||
| Messaging Revenue | 70 | 31% |
| Data Revenue | 35 | 16% |
| Content Services Revenue | 42 | 19% |
| Other | 76 | 34% |
| Total | 223 |
The data for the last two tables was given by quarters so I thought that may be there are some interesting trends like the growth of data revenues over the course of the year. Data revenue have, indeed, grown faster than any other segment, and almost 4 times faster than VAS in general:
| 1Q09 to 4Q08 | 2Q09 to 1Q09 | 3Q09 to 2Q09 | 4Q09 to 3Q09 | 4Q09 to 4Q08 | |
| Messaging Revenue | 12.54% | -0.48% | 9.31% | -12.71% | 8.67% |
| Data Revenue | 62.42% | 7.94% | 17.69% | -5.68% | 82.37% |
| Content Services Revenue | 6.63% | -1.54% | 14.42% | 0.66% | 20.16% |
| Total | 17.06% | 0.46% | 11.90% | -6.72% | 22.70% |
–
MTS in 2008
I have downloaded the latest presentation from MTS prepared for press (mind this). I want to put some numbers here in the blog because these numbers always change and it is hard to keep up with them when citing. But! Some numbers are really telling. I will tell you what at the end.
So… FYI, those are the end of 2008 numbers.
# of subs in mln.
| 2007 | 2008 | abs chg | prct chg | |
| Russia | 57.4 | 64.6 | 7.2 | 11.15% |
| Ukraine | 20 | 18.1 | -1.9 | -10.50% |
| Uzbekistan | 2.8 | 5.6 | 2.8 | 50.00% |
| Turkmenistan | 0.36 | 0.93 | 0.57 | 61.60% |
| Armenia | 1.4 | 2 | 0.6 | 30.00% |
95.7 mln total (if Belarus is included with its 4.32 mln.)
CAPEX
Forecast for 2009 – $1500, of which $350 million are planned for network support ($700 is a rollover from 2008, and $450 is planned for EDGE/3G upgrades). In millions of dollars.
| 2007 | 2008 | abs chg | prct chg | |
| Russia | 918.8 | 1399.3 | 480.5 | 34.34% |
| Ukraine | 544.8 | 595.6 | 50.8 | 8.53% |
| Uzbekistan | 30.1 | 139.7 | 109.6 | 78.45% |
| Turkmenistan | 31.8 | 58.2 | 26.4 | 45.36% |
| Armenia | 14 | 34.6 | 20.6 | 59.54% |
| Total | 1539.5 | 2227.3 | 687.8 | 30.88% |
| % of revenue | 18.70% | 21.70% | 3.00% |
OIBDA (unofficial terminology, Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization, which in official GAAP reports by MTS is reported as EBIDTA, though the two are different by definition) in mln. $
| 2007 | 2008 | abschg | prctchg | |
| Russia | 3152.7 | 3924.3 | 771.6 | 19.66% |
| Ukraine | 781.8 | 759.3 | -22.5 | -2.96% |
| Uzbekistan | 157.8 | 242.9 | 85.1 | 35.03% |
| Turkmenistan | 93.5 | 77.6 | -15.9 | -20.49% |
| Armenia | 37.7 | 136.3 | 98.6 | 72.34% |
| Total | 4223.4 | 5140.3 | 916.9 | 17.84% |
Operational Indicators (in $)
Russia
| 2007 | 2008 | abs chg | prct chg | |
| ARPU | 9.2 | 10.5 | 1.3 | 12.38% |
| ARPU excl. Guest Roaming | 9.0 | 10.4 | 1.4 | 13.46% |
| ARPU from VAS | 1.3 | 1.6 | .3 | 18.75% |
| VAS as % of ARPU | 12% | 15% | 3.00% | 20.00% |
| MOU | 157 | 208 | 51 | 24.52% |
| Subscriber Acquisition Cost | 26.3 | 27.3 | 1.0 | 3.66% |
| Dealer Commission | 12.6 | 14.3 | 1.7 | 11.89% |
| Advertising & Marketing | 13.7 | 13.0 | -.7 | -5.38% |
| Churn | 23% | 27% | 3.90% | 14.44% |
Ukraine
| 2007 | 2008 | abschg | prctchg | |
| ARPU | 6.6 | 7.2 | 0.6 | 8.33% |
| ARPU excl. Guest Roaming | 6.5 | 7 | 0.5 | 7.14% |
| ARPU from VAS | 0.7 | 1 | 0.3 | 30.00% |
| VAS as % of ARPU | 11% | 14% | 3.00% | 21.43% |
| MOU | 154 | 279 | 125 | 44.80% |
| Subscriber Acquisition Cost | 12.1 | 11.1 | -1 | -9.01% |
| Dealer Commission | 4.1 | 2 | -2.1 | -105.00% |
| Advertising & Marketing | 5.8 | 7.4 | 1.6 | 21.62% |
| Phone Subsidies | 0.6 | 0.4 | -0.2 | -50.00% |
| Cost of SIM and Payment Cards | 1.6 | 1.4 | -0.2 | -14.29% |
| Churn | 49% | 47% | -1.70% | -3.59% |
More to come… (ARPU from other countries, VAS break-down, analysis)
Is Everything So Bleak?
It was a nice way to end my week here, in Russia, so I thought it would be good to share it with you!
As a side note it was nice to connect with people from TruTeq (South Africa) (on our USSD Expert Group) and Myriad Mobile Software (former Esmertec/Purple Labs) -- a French Company, all in one day!
Mobile Coupons Presentation
mobileStorm from LA has had a very interesting webinar about mobile coupons. You will have to register to watch it.
As a sidetrack albeit very important, read about why SMS is a preferred medium for mobile marketing by Marcus Anderson, president of Broadplay, a Toronto, Ontario-based interactive and mobile marketing agency.
WSJ: Selling Potatoes By Phone
Below I will re-post a full (almost) article as it was reported by the Wall Street Journal here.
Why did I decide to re-post it here? Just because, I am the Editor! Well, more precisely — because it is interesting. Wait. No: because it gives us ideas about what to do in poor countries which love VAS more than rich countries. Why do they love VAS? Because poor countries use mobile phones not just to call but to enjoy every little thing on them. And there are indeed a lot of hidden treasures even in the simplest mobile phones. Mobile phones can supply crucial data and they do substitute computers and Internet. The question in this context is “How to build a profitable business model?” Read more
Video of the Eclipse (as seen on CNN)
It was amazing! Clouds cleared right before the totality. (Though in Novosibirsk the sky was all clear.) Me and my family were in Altai. That’s the video I shot, which I posted on ireport right away (I also posted it on YouTube below). Read more
Full Solar Eclipse in Russia, Siberia
Hi everybody,
Yesterday we were given a heavenly gift to observe a full solar eclipse. Ivan has posted his great video from Altai here http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-54612
Here are the pictures of solar eclipse which I took with my family (full scale, JPG format, were taken by Nikon D70, RAW sources are in the same folder 
What Awaits Us? The History of Mobile Phones…
How USSD Is Used in Practice. 1
USSD can be used for different types of services. USSD interactivity is not limited to choosing from menu. USSD services can include search or other kinds of input from users. For instance in MTS Russia service *111#, weather information is given for a particular city which can be chosen from an alphabetical list or by typing in the city’s area code. Chat is another example requiring real-time interactivity. Read more
