Analysis

Connecting to the Needs of Their Customers

     T-Mobile has set itself along the path of using an industry-wide, low cost competitive strategy.  Rival companies such as AT&T, Verizon and Sprint are all using a different business model focused on creating customized long term service plans and "free" phones which yield exit barriers for their customers. T-Mobile has embraced the idea of  keeping their customers through a low cost, unlimited service plan and promoting a no contract option with the bonus of being able to upgrade your phone every six months.  

     In order to be able to keep this low cost strategy and still grow their company, T-Mobile has to implement cost saving practices within their company to keep a healthy bottom line.  One of the ways they have chosen to do this is to outsource customer service and part of their sales department to independently owned and operated retail stores.  This has been made possible through a program called QuikView, which is a branch of their inter-enterprise system that allows these outsourced departments real time access to T-Mobile's

customer and billing databases. 

QuikView was developed by T-Mobile using the Adobe LiveCycle Enterprise Suite, which is an enterprise server platform, to create an interface that integrates all of its existing systems.  By using Adobe they were able to avoid the expense of developing a program from scratch and their existing programs, which represent a significant investment, remain intact.  In addition, Adobe programs are common knowledge for most computer users which meant that there is minimal training involved for their employees and a near non-existent learning curve. This EAI software was an inexpensive way to connect to outside vendors and outsourced departments, allowing T-Mobile to keep their costs down and keep with their business strategy.

QuikView Sample

Single-screen QuikView for customer care

Additional features of QuikView which promote enhanced customer service and sales include pop ups notifying the customer service or sales agent of available features specific to that customer such as a new phone or plan. VIP customers are able to be prioritized and automatically re-routed to specially trained representatives.