Online self-service eclipsing e-mail

Despite the rise of forms of self-service, the most dramatic underlying trend is the extent to which the Web has supplanted e-mail as the core means of electronic or online self-service.

This emerged from the Self-Service Strategies in SA 2010 study, conducted by World Wide Worx in partnership with Consology.

The business development director at Consology, Kevin Meltzer, suggests that Web-based online self-service is eclipsing e-mail as the electronic channel of choice for delivering statements, bills and invoices to customers.

“This is because it offers a richer user experience and a more secure environment than e-mail,” he says.

According to Meltzer, current marketplace trends point towards e-mail losing favour as a channel for communicating sensitive information both among consumers and companies. “One major reason for this is that e-mail is no longer seen as a trusted channel,” he says.

However, he says the battle for e-mail communications has been dominated by spammers and phishing. A recent report by the global anti-virus company, Symantec, says spam made up 92% of all worldwide electronic messages sent in July 2010.

The study shows that, companies, especially large ones, have implemented both Web and call centre self-service. “Organisations are also beginning to embrace new trends, with one-third using social networking - an option that did not exist in this environment three years ago,” the study shows. A third also use instant messaging, which is seen to have matured in this time.

Many companies surveyed did not have the clear visibility into their self-service channel that is required to understand and grow the channel successfully.

"This is a clear indication that self-service is not yet an integral part of the operational implementation of large organisations," says Arthur Goldstuck, World Wide Worx MD.

"Companies are still working their way down the path and slowly turning on their strategic headlights,” states Goldstuck.

According to the CEO of Consology, Glen Lumley, this survey is an encouraging reflection of how far self-service has come in SA over the past 10 years, as well as a reminder of how much work companies could still do to improve their self-service offerings.

"During this time, we have seen companies' use and understanding of self-service solutions become increasingly sophisticated.

“Most now understand that it is a requirement for doing business with customers who don't want to wait in queues or hold for call centre agents unless it's really necessary," says Lumley.

In addition, Meltzer says more and more online users - particularly teens and young working adults -- are embracing highly interactive Web 2.0 services such as Facebook and Twitter over e-mail as their preferred means of communicating with friends, families and even companies they deal with.

“Electronic communication has shifted and e-mail has been left behind,” he says.

Meltzer says while over the past few years, e-mail has become so bedevilled by security issues such as phishing, spam, malware and scams that service providers such as banks are telling customers not to trust anything they receive in their mailboxes.

“E-mail is not the world of legitimate business anymore; the spammers and scammers have won."

“Corporate firewalls often shred legitimate communications such as bills and statements before they reach customers,” adds Meltzer.

Concerns about malware and phishing mean responsible companies can no longer ask their users to click on links in e-mails, open any attachments or make use of interactive features in the e-mail, he says.

"That means e-mail becomes a static medium that adds no value beyond the paper bill. For an increasing portion of Internet users, e-mail is just not good enough anymore.

“By contrast, the Web portal model allows companies to offer a range of value-added services alongside bill presentment and payment in a secure online environment,” says Meltzer.

For example, information-rich bills such as cellular accounts contain a wealth of data, he states. “Online account management through a Web portal can allow users to group and chart information, manipulate data, or look up past statements.”

That functionality can be very powerful for corporate customers - they could pull up details of their highest spending users from their cellular network's portal, he adds.

According to Meltzer, the promise of the Web as a service channel goes far beyond billing. “Once companies start to present bills to customers through an online portal, they can begin transitioning to an online self-service model that allows customers to carry out many tasks online at their convenience.”

Customers of a cellular network could apply to migrate from one cellular package to another, update their address details, activate new services or log and track a support request, he says.

"Each time a customer does one of these tasks online, he or she is taking the pressure of a phone call off your contact centre. Customers also like to help themselves and love the transparency of online self-service," says Meltzer.

He says, initially e-mail made sense as the primary communications channel between companies and customers when most users were using slow dial-up connections and were billed for phone usage per minute online.

Now that many users have access to high-speed, always-on broadband connections, they are gravitating towards the rich functionality of Web portals rather than the static medium of e-mail, he points out.