Consumers not smart enough for smartphones?

17.02.2011
A recent study reveals the irony of smartphones -- they are so "smart" that consumers are having difficulty using them. And service providers are challenged supporting their users.

A global study by Amdocs revealed that service providers in the Asia Pacific region, in particular, are most challenged in supporting their smartphone customers. APAC service providers noted increased volume in call center support calls, increase in average handling times of calls, increased need to divert calls to a specialist call center representative and increased time to resolve problems.

The study noted that it costs service providers to address customer concerns about their smartphones. But these are costs they have to bear just to satisfy customers. Service providers are, in fact, putting in effort to improve services from smartphone capabilities in order to increase revenues. However, the study also revealed that customers are not maximising these features.

Worldwide, customers are returning the smartphone devices to service operators reportedly because of support issues. However, often, a check revealed that there was nothing wrong with the devices.

"More than half of APAC respondents reported that between 5 to 15 per cent of their customers return smartphones, and 25 per cent of APAC respondents said that 20 to 40 per cent of these phones are no-fault returns," an Amdocs press statement read.