More Self Service App use means happier phone users

Our research shows that this year is going to be even better for consumers than last year. Our survey revealed that there will be a 22% increase in the number of people using the Self Service app their phone company provides. Self service apps are the number 1 way people can improve their level of customer satisfaction – essentially how happy they are – with their existing phone company.

Most phone companies offer a free, downloadable, Self Service app which can be used to manage your account. It tracks your bills, data usage, and can answer simple questions you might have. Installation takes seconds. I you install the app on your own phone, the phone company will identify you through your phone number and there are no login details required.

People should download these free apps. As you will see on the next diagram, they will make you happier with your service.

From the phone company side, there is an education gap around the self service app. Nearly 20% don’t know what these self service apps are is and less than 10% intend to try it in the year ahead.

The range 7-10 out of 10 on a customer satisfaction score is often called the ‘Net Promoter Score’. People are far more likely to give that sort of ranking to their phone company if they use the Self Service App.

As the chart and our survey shows, a higher proportion of users ranked their telco with 7-10 out of 10 on a customer satisfaction scale, than those who did not have the app installed.

The number of people with connected ‘wearables’ is increasing

The ‘Internet Of Things’ (IoT) is a term used to describe gadgets which are connected to the internet. Wearables are a great example. Your Fitbit or Apple Watch is increasingly likely to come with it’s own SIM card installed. SIM cards too, are an area of innovation with the Apple Watch containing a new ‘eSIM’ which promises to make future wearables smaller and easier to connect to cellular networks.

Wearables are primarily used to measure health and fitness related information. Australia is known as a country of ‘early adopter’s. It’s us who took to Social Media first in huge numbers and bought iPhones faster than other countries. The same is proving true of Australian adoption of wearable devices. The growth in the number of Australians prepared to try a wearable is similar to that we saw with SmartPhone adoption 10 years ago.

Our survey indicated that 7% of people already had an internet connected wearable at the end of last year and that number was set to grow by 40% in the 12 months ahead.

Wearable technology is going to be a key trend as these numbers from 2018 show. All these wearables will need a wireless / cellular data connection.

The most important ramifications of this trend will apply to phone companies. Individuals now have and need multiple SIMs, often with a single phone number, as we saw with the Apple Watch. Phone companies have invited technology to deal with this need. Telstra, for example, provide a ‘One Number’ solution for the Apple Watch 3. Ironically, although Telstra and others among the big telco brand have had challenging times recently, their billing system facilities may help them win back the customers they’re losing. It’s only the big phone companies which offer data sharing, which, as we connect more and more of our possessions to the internet will become exponentially more valuable.

For now, our 2018 phone usage survey revealed that we will be a healthier bunch, as an increasing number of us use internet connected wearables to track the ‘measured self.’

Mobile Broadband will continue to explode

One of the biggest trends which has revealed itself irecently is the uptake of mobile broadband plans which Australians invested in for the first time. We saw an enormous amount of interest in these relatively new plans. Phone companies have offered data only bundles for tablets and laptops for many years. Data allowances tended to be small – below 20GB per month, for example. Recent years have shown a change in both the size and affordability of these data plans.

Mobile Broadband bundles 30GB or more really took off in 2017. 2018saw this growth continue.

Mobile Broadband does many of the things people value better than fixed alternatives. is cheaper, faster and perceived to be more reliable than fixed connections, particularly the NBN. Mobile Broadband services meet needs that fixed broadband does not – entertaining the kids with You Tube on long journeys, helping students and business people work wherever they want to.

Given the problems NBN customers have experienced, it could be that mobile broadband grows in to a threat, perhaps even a replacement for NBN broadband connections. These are pivotal times for the NBN. Mobile broadband threatens their entire investment.