When business cut costs through technology

Among the opportunities made possible by ICT for businesses is cost-cutting in their customer service operations. As we know, multi-national companies outsource not just simple directory assistance but also customer support from the basic to technical kind, hence the establishment of Call Centers providing support services tailored to specific products or a range of product lines for the clients/customers of a given company. The convenience of dialing hotline numbers to inquire or request certain services cannot be denied but there are limits as to the quality of support that could be extended via a hotline. Still, those who became too spoiled in transacting basic requests or inquiries online or thru the phone instead of going "over-the-counter", resent the idea of having to do over-the-counter again.

My daughter's wallet with her ATM got lost in school one day. When efforts to recover the wallet failed, I dialed the bank's hotline number and asked for the card to be blocked. Upon inquiry of recent transaction history, the person on the other line refused to give me the information because I am not the account holder. But note this, i was able to have it blocked.

[My daughter is a minor. It was not a regular account but a special product of the bank's. The only way it could be opened was through a parent/guardian's account with which the account could be linked. Such was the nature of the special service offered by this bank. It exists not independently but as some extension of a "regular" account. My daughter was more of a beneficiary than a real account holder. She does not make independent deposits but draws funds directly from my linked account. Through her account, my daughter becomes a pseudo client of the bank.]

In order to get the info I desired, I thought I had to explain to the customer service specialist the nature of the bank account my daughter had but she would not hear of my explanation. She required my 12-year old daughter to make another call to personally inquire about the transaction history and balance. It didn't matter whether my daughter even understood what it was for; that even and when she did, it would definitely be WITH MY COACHING.

Normally, I would not argue about such a policy. I would even appreciate it since it sought to protect bank's clients from the prying of third parties. But I also thought that while I am not a co-account holder of my daughter, I was not exactly a third party. No matter how hard I tried to explain to the other person the nature of our accounts and my "interest" in the matter, she could not accommodate and make the exception for me. Anyway, my husband visited the branch. He asked about the requirements for replacing lost ATM for his daughter's account. The branch staff automatically looked up the account and assured my husband that there was no unauthorized transaction from the time the ATM was lost.

So, what was that? Did the staff personally know "us"? NO. What prompted her to serve my husband's need? My only guess is that the bank personnel knew the nature of my daughter's bank account. She acknowledged the interest of the parents in the matter, specifically in obtaining transaction history information. The branch personnel was in the position to understand the peculiar nature of the product it offered, something which the Call center agent could not do because the latter, I realized, was simply not a bank personnel. Most likely, the hotline person was equipped only with a "manual" that listed answers to the STANDARD inquiries, requests, transactions and services usually demanded by customers through the hotline. The manual was not designed to meet peculiar services beyond the basics. In other words, the company which authored the manual dictated the limits or the extent of assistance they would render.

This is the side of technology that we cannot help but sigh about. ICT only gets credit for making things fast, convenient, more accessible or cheaper in some cases. It is after all designed to streamline and provide short-cuts. However, the downside is that in pursuit of cost-cutting with the aid of technology, the inevitable result is that little wisdom is used on how, when or which aspects of business it should be used. The idea of a Customer Service hotline automatically and reasonably breeds expectations on the part of customer-callers. In my belief, there can be no limit as to the problems that can be subject of inquiry. Therefore, if companies wish to avail of technology in reaching out to clients, measures should be taken so as not to lose the essence of the service. In outsourcing Customer Assistance to parties who are total strangers to the line of business of a bank, the quality of assistance is diminished because they do not know anything other than the English proficiency training and the Standard Manual for customer support. And while callers who have developed reliance on hotlines for assistance might tolerate its being impersonal, the lack of real and meaningful help can be frustrating.

Without saying ICT is to blame, I think businesses can also be compromised if use of technology is done indiscriminately for "savings" purposes.

- Marichelle B. Recio