Telecom companies like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and T-Mobile do billions of dollars of business every year. Given how massive these companies are, they need to maintain robust call centers to help troubleshoot customer problems, field inquiries, and process sales. Even the call centers at smaller telecom companies will need to deal with many of these same things. Whether your telecom company maintains an internal call center staffed by full-time employees or uses an outsourced call center, there are a few primary tasks for which all telecom call centers are responsible. Here, some of the most common tasks that are handled in telecom call centers.

Customer Service and Tech Support

 

Like many large companies that are dealing with customers with different levels of experience with and knowledge of their products, a good portion of the inquiries that a telecommunications call center receives will be customer service or tech support. These may include questions about the product and the services the customer has access to or has signed up for, fixing problems when things go wrong or stop working, or providing information about how best to use the products or services. The agents offering customer service in a telecom call center need to be well-versed on all the products (unless they are broken up into product-specific teams) and ready to deal with potentially emotional or anxious customers. Indeed, when things like phone and internet stop working, customers can feel stranded and stressed—agents need to be able to offer simple and actionable support that cuts through this stress and anxiety.

 

New Subscriber Support

 

Since many of the services offered by telecom companies play such a vital role in the daily lives of so many people, customers are constantly searching for the best possible services to fit their lifestyle and their needs. Consequently, customers change telecom providers a lot, so the agents working in the call center are often tasked with supporting and onboarding new subscribers. To do so, they should be trained in the typical process that new customers have to go through to set up and learn their equipment and the common questions and issues that arise during this process. New customers often expect call center reps to immediately understand the error messages or blinking lights they are seeing even though the reps are not in their living room—a difficult skill set that new subscriber support reps need to cultivate as best they can.

 

Upgrades and Package Changes

 

Almost as common as new subscriber support is helping existing customers with upgrades, package changes or new equipment. Earlier we mentioned how telecom customers are constantly shopping for the company and services that best suit their needs—upgrades and tweaks to existing services are one of the biggest ways that companies keep their customers. Whether this involves adding new services, swapping out existing equipment or simply changing the terms of a customer’s contract, call center reps need to have all these options at their disposal and be able to determine what new services or upgrades are available to a given customer. In other words, the agent must know all the tools he can use to retain the customer.

One of the most important factors in a telecom call center’s ability to complete these tasks, whether that’s providing tech support, coaching new customers through installation or set-up or finding creative offerings that will help retain customers, is having a call center platform that facilitates their ability to do so. CallShaper, with its cloud-based, easy-to-use software, is just the thing. To learn more about why, request a demo today.