CUSTOMER SERVICE :

Value-added network services such as mobile data, mobile Internet and unified messaging all generate certain specific customer problems and requirements, thereby requiring customer service personnel to be aware of these issues and know how to solve them.
Nonvoice services are surprisingly complex- involving unique configurations of phone types, data cards, handheld computers, subscriptions, operating systems, Internet service providers and so on. Some network operators require customers to opt into certain value added services rather than including them as part of the core subscription- necessitating a customer service process. It is even possible to write a 350 page book about the SHORT message service (it is called "YES2SMS")!
In theory, the need for dedicated customer service for Circuit Switched Data, SMS and other nonvoice mobile services will decrease in the future as terminals and services become easier to use and as the services themselves are used more widely for customer service purposes.
The reality in the short and medium term is that the need for customer support for value-added services will increase not decrease as awareness of services and their usage increases, and as new services and terminals come onto the marketplace.
Rather than keeping everything in-house or outsourcing everything, we are a proponent of an approach that keeps first line support and customer contact in-house, whilst outsourcing the difficult specific customer service problems arising from connectivity issues and so on. In this way, the network operator is aware of and in control of the kinds of questions and problems its customers are asking.
It is well worth incurring the cost to get the customer aware, educated and initially set up with data services, because, for example, once the PC data card has been successfully connected to the laptop to the Internet software and so on, the same configuration can be repeatedly used. The one-off customer requirement leads to ongoing usage.