August 13, 2010
Published by 1to1 Media
Written by Kaitlin O'Brien
Charter Communications is on a mission to provide more value to its customers. One way the cable behemoth is doing this is to interact with customers in their preferred channel. Increasingly, that means using mobile as a key touchpoint. Jim Gallagher, director of online and e-commerce at Charter, says that the company now supports iPhone and Blackberry, and has launched a mobile-friendly website.
"Through mobile engagement, we step into the customer's environment that is most convenient for them and where they choose to interact," Gallagher says. "It is also the vehicle that best supports word-of-mouth influence, along with instant purchase capability via a phone call or mobile buy flow."
According to Gallagher, phone calls, SMS, applications, browsers, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and geo-targeted offers and banners converge within mobile. Charter now allows customers to browse TV program listings, sign up for SMS and email reminders of newly released on-demand movies, follow Charter on Twitter for news, and get turn-by-turn directions to their local Charter service center based on the customer's current location. "[Mobile] is the vehicle that best supports customers' need for instant access to Charter information," he says. The company works with Knotice on its mobile marketing efforts.
Charter's mobile website will undergo a significant upgrade in the near future to support BlackBerry and iPhone apps, says Gallagher. "We have a roadmap for significant upgrades in capability in the months ahead." He says by August, Charter will have full order automation, which will give customers the ability to order products via mobile and have that order pushed directly to the billing system without agent involvement.
Currently, about 48,000 customers have downloaded its iPhone application, and 9,500 Blackberry users have downloaded that app from its mobile site. The site receives about 10,000 visits a week from mobile users, up 4,000 per week from earlier this year, Gallagher says.
Mobile users have been most interested in registering for movie and sports alerts via SMS, which sends an alert when a customer's favorite movies become available, or when a specific sporting event is scheduled. "Thousands of our customers are using this service," Gallagher says. "Also, the TV listing and on-demand trailer viewing capabilities are highly used portions of the applications. We've received very good feedback in those areas."
Charter's foray into mobile is not without its challenges, however. "Because the data systems that support the functionality are very diverse, the coordination and integration of these systems can be challenging," Gallagher says. "This also crosses functional areas, and getting support and buy-in for presentation and capabilities can take time," he says.
Next steps include adding mobile remote digital video recorder (DVR) recording tools and mobile email access for its Internet customers. In addition, Charter plans a significant increase in the number of live agents available to customers, as well as self-service capabilities for both the mobile and traditional Charter.com users. Gallagher says he's excited about mobile and the opportunities it affords Charter to support customers and bring even more value to the relationship.