Market conduct and customer orientation
Customer experience
Also in 2011, customer experience continued to be a priority for Telefónica CR and a pillar of the Bravo! Strategy.
The Company also continued to emphasise the delivery on four promises to customers:
- People make the difference – we want our customers to know that we try our best to address their needs.
- The best online experience – we give our customers a comprehensive, affordable and serious offer of internet at home, on the road, at work and in the mobile phone.
- Being an O2 customer always pays off – all our offers deliver real value.
- We build on trust – we offer a reliable service and the experience that O2 delivers on its promises and gives the customer the care he truly deserves.
These commitments are the guiding criteria for our new and redesigned products and services. Telefónica CR monitors the delivery on the promises and the overall customer experience.
VDSL, a new technology for the customers of our fixed-line services, was launched, offering faster home internet. The communication campaign generated a lot of interest from existing ADSL customers. A large part of the Company’s activities focused on demonstrating the benefits of mobile internet, safety in using telecommunications technologies and direct and easy communication.
O2 Guru, Telefónica CR’s project to offer assistance and customer service on social networks, was launched in 2011. A series of videos was produced, in which O2 Guru advises, for instance, how to operate a service or configure a smartphone.
The SME division was subjected to customer re-segmentation, with a view of offering a better service to business customers. The IVR system in call centres was abandoned in favour of a direct call with a live operator, which subsequently reflected in improved rating of the customer experience.
POTR, one of the BRAVO projects in Telefónica CR, netted several notable accomplishments in 2011.
The Business Division completed the configuration of a process for keeping customers informed of the status of their requests, including mobile, and any delays which may occur. This helped to reduce the number of customer status-related enquiries. A new process, which implemented a one-day framework contract including tariff optimisation vis-à-vis the customer; this helped to reduce the rate of erroneous data input in the system in the process of entering individual terms and conditions for the customer. A function with automatically enters new numbers into a customer’s VPN group was also implemented. The customer is informed of the amount charged for the data service, unless, of course, the customer has a data price plan activated.
Some POTR activities were restarted in the SME division in 2011, which will be given a priority also in 2012. One of them is a system for correcting orders that had been erroneously input due to a failure of the human factor, which is designed to reduce the number of complaints.
In the Consumer Division, Telefónica CR focused on improving the quality of sales through the call centre. Mandatory standards for a sales call were implemented, together with the so-called sales summary before sending the order to the customer via email. The objective is to achieve a 35% reduction in the number of complaints in this category.
In 2011, changes were introduced to the system of service cancellation; the calculation of the notice period is now greatly simplified, and the customer is informed of the cancellation date upon the first contact.
A new system called ‘smart promo management’, which informs the customer of the end of a promotion by SMS and on an invoice, was applied to 80% of all promotions. The number of complaints in this category was down 75%.
The system for handling complaints in the same division was changed – the process of awarding or refusing a claim by call centre or store employees is now faster, with clear rules for the handling of complaints relating to reminders of late payment.
In our brand stores, individual customers could use the so-called ‘order summary’, which gives an easy overview of all products for the benefit of the customer and the sales assistant. This improvement helped to reduce the number of complaints and repeat calls to the call centre. An information flyer was produced for the brand stores, with the purpose to set the customer’s expectation. Telefónica CR also scrupulously adhered to the Code of Conduct for Retailers.
Products and services for people with specific needs
As in the previous years, also in 2011 the Company focused on helping and supporting people with special needs, especially senior citizens and people with disabilities, by making their communication easier.
Telefónica CR carried several models of telephones designed for senior citizens or people who find it difficult to operate regular control keys. Offering devices for people with disabilities, such as loss of hearing, was a matter of course. There was a choice of devices capable of converting text to speech for people with loss of sight.
In 2011, Telefónica CR offered Aligator A400 and a SIM pre-charged to the value of CZK 100. With each set, the customer was given a present: the brochure ‘The Internet School for Senior Citizens’. For contract customers, the tariff O2 Neon Senior offered a purchase of a mobile telephone for the symbolic price of CZK 1.
Deaf Call
Also in 2011, Telefónica CR continued to operate Deaf Call. During the course of the year, the operators handled 15,000 requests.
In the first half of 2011, a campaign was run through the media, with the aim to promote the service to the target group.
In October 2011, Telefónica CR partnered with the Deaf Union Brno and organised a ‘Double-decker Tour’. A double-decker bus, originally from London, toured 14 Czech towns and Dear Call operators campaigned at 20 schools and institutions for the fully or partially deaf.
The customer base of the Deaf Call line increased 40% in the last quarter of the year alone.
Discounts
Also in 2011, Telefónica CR offered a discount equalling the amount of the state contribution to people with a dependency of the 1st degree, and a discount on the O2 fixed-line service. The discount was claimed by a total of 48,836 customers.
Conference INSPO 2011 and the competition
‘Mobile Phone and My Handicap’
The Company was again in 2011 the General Partner INSPO: a conference on the ‘Internet and Information Systems for Persons with Special Needs’, the only event of its kind in the Czech Republic. The Company’s representatives presented Deaf Call and Emergency Care services for people with disabilities and senior citizens, which they followed up with a demonstration. In addition to financial support to the conference, the Company also donated gifts for the speakers and the winners of the writing competition ‘Mobile Phone and My Handicap, whose results were announced at the INSPO conference. The winners walked away with smartphones and two year’s worth of free internet.
Online safety
We help to guide children safely through the world of communication technology
As a provider of communications services, Telefónica CR is committed to using all available means to help eliminate potential risks that come with modern technology. Protecting children and creating a safe environment for them in the world of information and communication technology has always been a key priority with regard to the Company’s customers. Several specific actions were taken in the area of child protection.
Also in 2011, Telefónica CR continued to observe its policy on the marketing to children, which summarises the principles respected in all the Company’s marketing activities and which had been adopted previously. The Company also continued with blocking websites with child pornographic content. All websites that were made illegal in all EU countries were blocked in the O2 network.
Supporting projects in the area of protection of children
As is already a tradition, in February 2011, the Company joined the celebrations of the International Safer Internet Day, together with the National Centre for Safer Internet, gave its support to the pan-European campaign, which focused on our virtual lives. As part of the campaign, which was led by the motto ‘It’s not a game, it’s your life’, Telefónica CR organised a series of workshops dedicated to the topic of safer internet.
Also in 2011, Telefónica CR gave its support to a conference of experts, which was held in the Senate of the Czech Parliament and was organised by the National Centre for Safer Internet; the conference was dedicated to the issues of cybercrime prevention, especially among children. The conference was titled ‘Cybercrime prevention and children, technology, education and legislation’.
After the conference, the Company organised a working lunch, which brought to one table the representatives from business, policy and media, to discuss together their commitments in the area of digital technology. Luis Antonio Malvido, Chief Executive Officer Telefónica CR, was the host. The conclusions of the expert roundtable were incorporated in the Company’s strategy for the area of ‘Digital Confidence’ for the upcoming years.
The end of 2011 saw already the 9th Cyberspace International Conference, which explored the effects of the internet on the society and which was organised by the Faculty of Law, Masaryk University, in collaboration with the Faculty of Social Studies of the same institution. Telefónica CR was the general partner of the event.
The Company received the prestigious Via Bona Award for its 17 years of partnership with the Safety Line.