The value of trust in the telecoms industry

At this moment there isn’t one business, whether a sole trader or multinational, who doesn’t rely on the telecoms and technological industries in one way or another for the maintenance and development of their business. Whether office based or mobile, the integrity and reliability of the communications network and methods is essential. But as networks, mobile phones and mobile applications and their complexity advance, ‘trust’ in these providers is beginning to morph into a theme covering a considerably wider range of topics. Not just concerned with uptime and coverage, for instance, ethics is a consideration often played out in the media, in what is fast becoming a more digitally paranoid age.

Of recent note, and of substantial scale, a tool used by most not just on a daily basis, but many times daily, was found to have an issue in its group calling functionality that allowed users to listen in on others when they hadn’t even accepted the call. The FaceTime bug on iOS devices even allowed users to see video of the user before they had picked up. The embarrassment felt by Apple was particularly pronounced, who are openly boastful of their privacy record and directly compare themselves against their rivals. Although quickly disabled and then rectified, it was a concern for the industry that arguably the most secure platform could have such a vulnerability.

Further to this, Apple were once again embroiled in media interest when it appeared that their older handsets had a battery life that purposely deteriorated in order to tempt consumer investment in newer models. These are undoubtedly issues which have affected the once unshakeable trust in their brand offered from even the most ardent Apple consumer.

There has also been specific focus on networks who have continued to charge their consumers for handsets in their contract when the balance had in fact been paid off, most notably EE and Virgin. Whilst there was no suggestion that this was a ‘purposeful act’ it did beg the suggestion that such big organisations owe a substantially greater duty of diligence to their customers. Such poor attention to detail can hardly make their customers feel like they are receiving care commensurate with the not insignificant costs associated with mobile ownership.

The trust issues go down even to an infrastructure level, with an advancement which has not yet even become widely available. There can be no avoidance of the current scrutiny of Huawei, suspected of using its technology for industrial espionage, yet still only recently, the Daily Telegraph reported the UK had agreed to allow Huawei limited access to help build Britain’s new 5G network. Although there is possibly nothing more than conjecture to the allegations levied towards Huawei, it will no doubt be difficult to garner trust in the project even at this early stage.

In business, ethics and trust are essential in not just retaining clients, but also gaining new ones, in a world where very little is safe from scrutiny – and quite rightly so. To help you develop and maintain your client relationships, our Proposal Manager software not only prevents mis-selling, but is transparent in terms of the revenues and profit margins earned and in terms of what the end user will receive and is actually signing up for. Furthermore, our Tariff Analyser software harbours trust by completing accurate analysis of the billing data and producing a clear recommendation with precisely calculated out of bundle costs in the end report.

Don’t just tow the industry line, go even further with your transparency and we will help you both retain current clients, and win new business.

For more information about Proposal Manager and its features, contact us today and we can arrange a 30 day free trial.