Drive-through telco service debuts

Qtel has unveiled a new 'first' for Qatar, with the opening of a drive-through self-service machine for Qtel customers, says Al Bawaba.

Conveniently located in front of the Qtel Shop, Qtel's new drive-through self-service machine enables people to upgrade their phone services and manage their bills without ever leaving their cars. Waleed Al Sayed, executive director of customer services at Qtel, unveiled the new machine at an opening ceremony attended by a delegation of Qtel customer services management.

The self-service machine is programmed to handle bill payments, provide e-vouchers, and offer checks on account balances. Customers can drive up to the machine and manage their transactions in a matter of minutes.

Verizon has revealed details on a handful of self-service tools and features for helping customers manage their services themselves, including several that have been 'soft-launched' to customers without fanfare in recent months, reports Connected Planet.

“We see well north of a million or more customers on a monthly basis that self-serve,” said Patrick Smith, Verizon director of customer service. “We have a pretty comprehensive plan to continue to improve our tools.”

Recent enhancements to Verizon's self-serve tools include an easier authentication system that helps expedite calls to the company's call centre and the expansion of the company's In-Home Agent capability. In-Home Agent is a downloadable software program that provides customers with direct access to an application that performs many of the same setup, management and troubleshooting functions previously requiring assistance from a help-desk representative.

Travellers have expressed concern at Jetstar's plan to make all customers use self-service kiosks at airports, states News.com.au.

The budget airline said it intends to make the check-in process "100% customer self service". The airline will expand its self-service technology, which is already in place for domestic passengers, including Web check and self-service kiosks at some airports.

It hopes the new direction will make the check-in process quicker and more convenient. However Industry experts and travellers have expressed concern at the move.