A new report from the UK Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA), which examined the appetite for investment in alternative broadband networks (AltNets) by interviewing leading investors, has warned that the market has now “reached saturation point” and providers looking for further rounds of investment are likely to find new challenges. At present around 70% of […]

PRESS RELEASE

Almost half of customer service calls are abandoned due to contact centre background noise, with 42% hanging up immediately when they detect the noise.

That’s according to the team behind IRIS Clarity, the AI-powered voice isolation app, which surveyed 1,000 consumers across the UK and US around their interactions with contact centres. The results are compounded by the fact that while all respondents indicated they use voice channels in some way for their customer service inquiries, more than half (54%) said they only use it for critical issues — making voice a premium that is demonstrably failing to deliver.

The research identified repetition as a key frustration for consumers, with ‘how to spell my name’ (45%), address and postcode (43%), and banking information (36%) as the most frustrating information to repeat on the phone.

Noise around the agent isn’t the only problem — the caller’s location also has an impact on the call’s success. The majority (59%) of consumers have hung up a call because they felt they were in an inconvenient location due to background noise. The most inconvenient places that respondents have made an important call include public transport (39%), the street (36%), when out socialising (34%), and at a place of work (31%).

“In an ideal world, consumers would phone a call centre agent and there wouldn’t be any background noise on either side,” said Jacobi Anstruther, Founder and CEO of IRIS Audio Technologies. “But this simply isn’t the case. We know the power of voice and the survey results clearly show that ignoring its potential has significant ramifications on the customer and contact centre experience. The immediate abandonment of half of contact centre calls due to noise should raise red flags with contact centres everywhere, if only because it’s a huge operating expense. With its real-time and bi-directional capabilities, voice isolation software like IRIS Clarity can ensure both customers and agents can hear each other clearly, in order to get the outcomes they each need.”

These findings come fresh off the heels of IRIS Clarity’s newest whitepaper, The Role of Audio in an Increasingly Digital World, which investigates the impact of poor audio across call centres globally, as well as enterprises, healthcare, and education.

The post Almost half of customer service calls fail due to contact centre background noise first appeared on Total Telecom.

PRESS RELEASE

Speedcast, a leading communications and IT services provider, announced today that its Brazilian entity, SC Caprock, has completed the deployment of a mission-critical private LTE network at four natural gas plants and associated wells for an energy integrator in Brazil, providing high-quality, critical voice and video connectivity for workers on site. This marks the first energy company with onshore production to implement the technology in Brazil.

Using the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) solution, SC Caprock has deployed LTE access points covering the facilities using Band 28 at 700 MHz. Smartphones offer push-to-talk and push-to-video communications that enable instant connectivity and the ability to share video streams with colleagues to enhance collaboration and facilitate rapid problem-solving. The integration includes the installation of private LTE base stations, and the Nokia MX Industrial Edge (MXIE), an edge computing-based platform which runs the private wireless core functions and application processing, including the Push-to-X communications applications. In addition to systems integration, SC Caprock manages regulatory approval and provides 24×7 customer support.

“The unique value of the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) is the combination of industrial-grade private wireless connectivity, running an on-premise edge that brings the ability to add high-value applications to the network with only minor hardware changes,” said André Gustavo Sant’Anna, Brazil Country Manager at Speedcast. “In addition to voice and video, we are looking at carrying telemetry data from wells, providing a video-based AI application to detect unauthorized access to wells in remote locations, worker tracking and health and safety wearables. Wherever technology can add value to operations, integrating it is straightforward and cost-effective.”

Marcelo Entreconti, Head of Enterprise for Nokia Latin America, said: “Nokia industrial-grade private wireless networks are the backbone and best starting point for the energy sector’s digital transformation journey. We thank SC Caprock and their customer for their confidence in our company and technology, and we are looking forward to new projects with both companies in the years to come.”

Nokia has deployed mission-critical networks to more than 2,200 leading enterprise customers in the transport, energy, large enterprise, manufacturing, webscale and public sector segments around the globe. It has also extended its expertise to more than 485 large, private wireless customers worldwide across an array of sectors, and has been cited by numerous industry analysts as the leading provider of private wireless networking worldwide.

Speedcast has implemented private LTE solutions leveraging Nokia Digital Automation Cloud in the energy and mining markets since its first deployment in 2020. To learn more on Speedcast’s solutions, visit http://www.speedcast.com.

The post Speedcast deploys private LTE network for Brazilian energy integrator first appeared on Total Telecom.

NEWS

Small and inexpensive low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite are quickly becoming almost mainstream but as constellations spring up, so do the problems and dangers of space junk.

OneWeb, SpaceX, Starlink, Telesat are rarely out of the press at the moment, but flying slightly below the radar is the sticky problem of what happens to redundant hardware and who polices space traffic.

“With 1,700 satellites launched last year alone, the need to safeguard the space environment for the benefit of everyone on Earth has never been more pressing” points out Dr Paul Bate, CEO of the UK Space Agency and indeed with an estimated 130 million plus pieces of space debris orbiting Earth, ranging from tiny flecks of paint through to old satellites and even tools dropped by astronauts, you can see the problem.

Now the UK Space Agency has committed £102 million, over the next three years to tracking and reduce debris, including granting £4 million to two UK-based companies to design missions to remove existing pieces of space debris. The companies ClearSpace and Astroscale are currently designing the programmes with a consortium of industry partners and may be granted more funding once designs are complete with a view to launching the UK’s first national space debris removal mission in 2026. The projects could create upwards of 70 new jobs.

Rory Holmes, ClearSpace UK Managing Director said “Space is getting more and more congested with defunct satellites, rocket bodies and other fragments – we have to act now to ensure this precious environment remains usable for future generations.”

Nick Shave, Managing Director, Astroscale Ltd, said: “We rely on space in so many areas of our lives, yet without the rapid development of the in-orbit servicing market we cannot start removing the hazardous debris that threatens our societal dependence on satellites.”

According to Paul Kostek, IEEE senior member and advisory systems engineer with Base2 solutions there’s going to be a big shake-up going forward and discussion around deployment and management of satellites needs to be taking place now.

Related story:
FCC proposes ‘five-year rule’ to clean up dead satellites

The post How do you solve the problem of space debris? first appeared on Total Telecom.

The mobile division of supermarket chain ASDA has launched somewhat of an early “Black Friday exclusive” promotion by discounting the price of their Pay Monthly (1-month term) “unlimited data” (mobile broadband) bundles for new customers, which now start at just £15 per month. Under the deal, which will be available to order until 30th November […]

NEWS

With hurricanes heading for the coast of Florida there is plenty of turbulence in north America at the moment, but the telecom industry has been far from immune to change.

The sudden departure of CFO Bob Gunderman from Windstream after eight years is the latest change as internal candidate Drew Smith replaces him – formerly treasurer and SVP of financial planning.

Tony Thomas, president and CEO of Windstream commenting on Smith’s appointment said “He has a deep understanding of the financial and operational drivers of our business, is data driven and results oriented. He will lead our efforts to continue to invest in our strategic growth areas to drive improvements in operating results.”

Earlier in the week Charter Communications CEO Tom Rutledge announced his retirement with Chief Operating Officer Chris Winfrey stepping up to succeed him. Rutledge has been CEO since 2012 and has overseen massive growth in the company, driven mostly by acquisitions including Bright House Networks and Optimum West and its merger Time Warner Cable.

Winfrey who has been with Charter for more than a decade restated his commitment the company’s success saying we “will continue our track record of delivering the best connectivity products and service to our customers, investing in the careers of our employees, and building long-term value for shareholders.”

Elsewhere Jeff Storey also announced his retirement from Lumen Technologies with him replacement coming from Microsoft in the shape of Kate Johnson, whilst Altice USA has also looked outside for a new CEO appointing long time Comcast executive Dennis Mathew to succeed Dexter Goei who will become Executive Chairman of the Board.

There will be executives in abundance at the Total Telecom Connected America event in Dallas next March. Find out more about how you can get involved here.

 

The post Revolving doors keep turning in US telecoms first appeared on Total Telecom.

A new Censuswide survey of 2,001 UK adults (aged 16+) that have broadband, which was commissioned by ISP Zen Internet and conducted during May 2022, has found that 32% of respondents still aren’t confident they can define what “full fibre” is – that’s up from 28% when the same question was asked in 2021. Overall, […]

NEWS

Football legend Sir Geoff Hurst is at the core of a new campaign from BT aimed at helping older people make better use of technology by teaching digital skills.

Research conducted by BT shows that more than 40% of over 70s don’t feel fully confident using their mobile beyond simple calls but almost three quarters (71%) believing sharing videos and pictures with family helps tackle isolation. Currently only 17% do it regularly.

BT have teamed up with 1966 World Cup Legend, Sir Geoff Hurst, to encourage older Brits to learn new digital skills to improve their independence through the ability to connect with important services like GPs. The research found that more than 80% of over-65s wished they were more proficient in the digital world and over 60% wanting to learn a new skill.

Sir Geoff Hurst said: “What BT are doing to get older people to connect with technology is fantastic.

Last week, BT were recognised at the Connected Britain Awards for their work on the Skills for Tomorrow programme, which is a diverse project reaching many varied communities, including parents, children, job seekers, the elderly, vulnerable people, and even small businesses, bringing major benefits to communities on a national level.

BT have committed to reach 25 million people with help to make the most of life in the digital world by 2026 and have so far upskilled 14.7 million people.

Tania Caporaso, BT’s Director of Customer Care, said: “Personal connections are at the heart of everything we do, whether that’s helping families and friends stay in touch by phone, emails, texts or the small interactions our advisors make with customers everyday as we help solve their issues.

The digital skills agenda will be front and centre for the Total Telecom Connected North event in Manchester, 17-18 April 2023. Find out more at totaltele.com/connectednorth

The post They think it’s all over…but perhaps its’ not! first appeared on Total Telecom.

The British Prime Minister, Liz Truss, appears set to confirm earlier reports that she will make it easier for UK network operators and ISPs to tackle the ongoing shortage of skilled fibre broadband engineers by allowing the telecoms sector (as well as other industries) to hire more staff from abroad. At present, there are over […]

Customers of mobile operator Three UK, specifically those looking to adopt their 5G unlimited Home Broadband packages (£20 per month – first 6 months at £10), may like to know that they’re no longer shipping it with a ZTE based router and have instead replaced it with the Zyxel NR5103E. But getting 5G to work […]