This report is aimed at wireless service providers, mobile device OEMs, customer support professionals, network equipment manufacturers, cellular retailers, enterprise cellular purchasers, IT, and CIOs. It examines modernized tools for improving CXM and looks at ways of offering an individualized and personal level of ongoing support. It will examine trends in CXM and the future of mobile support and service as well as provide advice to businesses looking to increase their own efficiencies.

Traditional mobile CXM solutions have focused on one-size-fits-all device configuration in the shop, self-service support tools, and over-the-phone walk-through help from a call service representative (CSR). But in the face of the new complexity, existing service offerings are becoming increasingly inefficient. This has led to consumer frustration, longer calls, unsolved problems, increased cost, increasing device returns, declining customer satisfaction, and churn.

New ways of interacting with subscribers show great promise. In an effort to personalize the customer experience, leading mobile operators are using the remote control of smartphones to improve support outcomes, improve the efficiency of CSRs, and ultimately increase customer satisfaction.

Here are a few things to consider:

• There is a perfect storm of customer difficulty with mobile phones because of a confluence of several factors. More-complex devices, fragmentation in the OS and hardware, and more-technology-averse users are coming on board.
• Complicated devices and the difficulty of supporting them have caused dissatisfaction among some users, driving churn and increased returns of equipment.
• Current techniques of customer-experience management are not up to the task. Telephone-based customer support is strained by the added challenges.
• Service providers are turning to web chat, better retail experiences, and remote control of the customer device as newer ways of improving the customer experience.
• Carriers are looking at social networks as ways of building deeper relationships with customers, fixing problems that often go unreported, and managing the brand.
• Remote control of smartphones and devices is a promising method of fixing problems faster by taking the job of interpreter away from the customer.
• Carriers are interested in remote control as a cost saver, a potential marketing tool, and as a way to increase the customer’s satisfaction with the carrier. But they are cautious about implementation, the impact on networks, and privacy concerns.

Thumbnail image courtesy of LDProd/Thinkstock.

The post The future of mobile customer experience management appeared first on Gigaom.

Few industries change at the pace mobile does. Whether it’s the iPhone 5, the importance of LTE, or BYOD trends disrupting the enterprise, there are always new technologies, trends, and companies changing the way we define mobile. Here, GigaOM Pro highlights a few segments of the mobile industry that will be important to watch in the coming months.

Tara Seals points out new opportunities for handset OEMs to differentiate their devices and remain relevant, including social TV and emerging markets.

Derek Kerton discusses how the mobile app market is still dominated by Apple and Google but identifies trends that are making space for a third player to gain ground.

GigaOM Pro’s mobile curator, Colin Gibbs, looks at new business models in the wireless service provider space, where the rise of unsubsidized handsets and non- cellular devices could disrupt traditional carriers.

Monica Paolini outlines the transition from voice- to data-centric usage models and the challenges mobile networks face as they adapt to this change.

Finally, Laurie Lamberth writes about the location-based shopping market, which has an expected growth rate of more than 90 percent through 2016.

Certainly our list does not cover every single segment in the mobile industry, and we encourage readers to weigh in with their own thoughts, questions, and predictions in the comments section of this report.

The post Mobile industry 2012 segment analysis appeared first on Gigaom.

It’s fair to say some of that scorn is merited. Lots of shareholder value has evaporated. And RIM is guilty of making errors. But the company’s problem mainly stems from one mistake: a prolonged and colossal failure to keep pace with innovation in the marketplace. This error is not on the order of months, which is enough of a lag in this industry to cost you market share. No, it’s on the order of years, and still counting.

When the iPhone dropped in 2007, RIM execs downplayed the threat. Often, that kind of response is just posturing — putting on a brave face. In RIM’s case, it was perfectly honest hubris, which is much worse. The company carried that unwarranted hubris and lackadaisical competitive response forward for a few years while sales, revenues and profits remained strong. Its weakness was hidden by a rapidly growing global appetite for smartphones.

It wasn’t until the market share began to shrink and profit numbers began suffering that the warning bells started to ring in Waterloo, Ontario. Now RIM would have to fight on its heels, not from a position of strength. But even after this realization, RIM’s reactions were terribly slow. A credible browser took an acquisition and then years. Now OS upgrades are glacial. Devices are repeatedly delayed. Tablets are rushed out buggy and sans email. Perhaps RIM could have been excused for taking one to two years to come up with a credible response to the iPhone (and eventually Android), but every armchair CEO out there knows that over five years is just irresponsible.

For now let’s get beyond the finger-pointing, because RIM is a different firm today than it was in 2007. It has new management, a full awareness of the gravity of the situation, restless investors, an upcoming OS release and a number of lingering advantages that can still be leveraged. What might the future hold for RIM? CEO Thorsten Heins has said he plans to surprise critics with RIM’s transformation. But in case you don’t like surprises, here’s a brief look at the most likely scenarios for RIM going forward and their probability of occurring.

The post Research In Motion: future scenarios and its likely fate appeared first on Gigaom.

The Kerton Group sent three delegates to CES to scout out new products, listen to keynotes, watch announcements and get tips from insiders. Led by principal analyst Derek Kerton, the group gathered what it learned for this report, which serves as an outline of the major launches and overarching trends at CES (think smartphones for $0, Androidification and connectivity). It also analyzes what those developments mean for the larger consumer electronics picture.

The post CES 2012: a recap and analysis appeared first on Gigaom.

Where is the mobile handset market headed in the near-term future, and what advice should its players heed? A look back at history suggests several clues, and many lessons around user experience, development teams, ecosystems, device strategy and more.

Companies mentioned in this report include Apple, DoCoMo, Google, HTC, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Palm and Research in Motion.

The post What the history of handset platforms can teach the future of mobile appeared first on Gigaom.