By Lorraine Ndebele
TelOne has launched a client experience centre in Highlands aimed at creating value and convenience to the telecom giant’s clients.
The centre is based on a business model that responds to emerging market needs and technological trends, TelOne chairman Douglas Zimbango said during the centre’s opening ceremony on Friday.
Before the upgrade, the centre was servicing a total of 20 000 clients for TelOne’s Voice, ADSL, FTTH and VSAT services from a capacity of 30 000.
However, the centre had taken a knock from the effects of incessant network vandalism adversely affecting quality of service for the company’s ADSL clients.
“TelOne has been on a transformation journey structured around four main pillars namely technology transformation, client experience transformation, culture transformation and financial transformation,” Zimbango said during Friday’s opening ceremony.
“To see this dream come into fruition, we have embarked on several projects that include digital solutions for convenience enhancement, upgrading client service outlets and aligning staff culture to this trajectory. As we gather here today, we are witnessing at least two of the mentioned pillars in practice as we endeavor to transform our client experience both physically and technologically,” Zimbango added.
Information Communication Technology (ICT), Postal and Courier Services Minister, Jenfan Muswere, applauded TelOne for the move saying it will regenerate a sector lagging behind in terms of client experience.
“As the shareholder, we have very high expectations for you and it is my belief that once you fix the client experience issues especially around quality of service and responsiveness, you will be able to deliver on the 5 targets that we have given you,” Muswere said.
“Our expectation is for you to secure 25% revenue market share, development of 10 new data centric products and services, reduction in overheard expenses and infrastructure expansion and sharing. Specific to market share growth, I am sure your renewed focus on client experience will be helpful together with other key investments that are required,” he continued.
“At Government level, we also value such projects as this one as they modernise our country and more importantly are key in the attainment of Government of Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030 as well as the National Development Strategy (NDS1) which aims to modernise our economy through the use of ICT and digital technology. This Client Experience Centre speaks to our goal of having our cities to become more modern and competitive in attracting investors more so as a service enhancement facility.”
“In our pursuit to make ICTs the backbone of the economy, we are driven by the knowledge that data is now the most traded item in the world surpassing most commodities and financial assets. I am aware that TelOne is complementing our efforts as Government in this area as you are chasing several innovations that I believe are more urgent now than ever before if you are to maintain your competitiveness in the market. Of interest is the smart cities project which has emerged a key priority for Government,” Muswere further said.
Government urged TelOne to continuously be on the hunt for modern strategies “especially now when client demands are being said to have jumped to seven years ahead of service capacity and capabilities due to COVID-19 induced user patterns.”
Meanwhile, it its bid to reposition itself to an innovative and progressive technology company, TelOne has created a dedicated client experience management committee.
The committee has been set up to continuously review issues affecting client experience and all aspects of the business.
The launch of the Chatbot –Chommie, who is a virtual assistant developed using the latest Artificial Intelligence Software to complement the contact centre service is among measures introduced to improve client experience.
Authorities said the virtual assistant has seen certain client queries being eliminated completely while others have gone down by as much as 80%.
“Furthermore, the company has also partnered a total of 12 banks to facilitate online payments for clients’ convenience through use of USSD codes especially at a time the world is battling COVID-19 which has made service provision taking and more digital inclination,” Zimbango said.
Speaking at the same event, TelOne managing director, Chipo Mtasa said the company’s emphasis is now on leveraging technology and driving digital convenience.
TelOne also shared its plans to roll out fibre network and LTE service which besides countering network vandalism, will also improve service quality.
The telecommunications parastatal company owned by the Zimbabwe government is currently seeking funding with a target to deploy 100 000 Fibre to The Home (FTTH) service lines in the next five years as well as 150 000 LTE lines in the next three years under the National Broadband Phase II project.
