Consumers who are juggling the use of their home-based and mobile consumer electronics devices would welcome integrated technical support to manage them, if they could turn to a single company for help, according to an Accenture study.
Accenture conducted the survey to determine if consumers who are faced with a proliferation of new devices both personal and business perceive the need for integrated technology support across multiple digital devices. The 21-country survey focused on consumers who own both computers and mobile phones or smartphones.
Around 63 percent of the super-users surveyed would like to have one company provide technical support for most or all of their home and mobile consumer electronics devices, regardless of the specific communications services they use, which range from fixed landline to wireless, broadband, cable and satellite services. A super-user is defined as someone who owns and uses 14 or more consumer electronics devices.
About sixty-eight percent indicated they would want support to reduce the likelihood of serious computer problems that could put data at risk or cost a lot of money to fix; sixty-seven percent want increased security from virus and malware attacks that could put data at risk; sixty-two percent desire improved computer speed for tasks such as browsing the Internet; and, fifty-seven percent want help obtaining the latest software or security patches.
More than one-third (36 percent) indicated their top choice would be to work with someone remotely (such as chatting online, speaking on the phone, or communicating via email with a technician) and; one-third (33 percent) prefer that technicians remotely access their computer at night or during other down time.
Although consumers we surveyed are concerned with computer-related issues, our research shows that they are recognizing the value of integrated support to help manage their home and mobile devices, ranging from in-home support, including remote access, to live call-center and web support, to email”, said Kurt Hogan, senior executive, Premium Technology Services, Accenture.
We expect this concern to broaden, especially as people integrate their business hardware into the home network environment and use smartphones much the way they use computers, to browse the web, pay bills, play games, and more”, Hogan added.
Fifty-three percent of all the consumers surveyed said they would welcome the opportunity to have one company provide technical support for most or all of their home and mobile consumer electronics devices.
When asked to rank companies that would be the best fit to provide technical support for desktop or laptop computers, more than one-third (34 percent) chose a company they pay for service on a monthly basis, such as a communications provider, cable or satellite company, and, more than half of the super-users” (52 percent) agreed. More than half (58 percent) of smartphone consumers said they would look to mobile phone or smartphone providers as a likely source of technical support for these devices.
The digital home is going to become more complex, not less, as devices and applications proliferate, with consumers presented with a wide variety of service provider options. We believe there are opportunities for these providers to maximize the customer experience and solidify customer loyalty if they can equip themselves to provide integrated technical support”.
By TelecomLead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com
