Competing for customer loyalty demands a relentless search for new ways to manage customer relationships. Companies today have no choice other than to turn networking advances to their advantage to communicate better with customers and to tap into the mass of valuable customer data now gathered daily. Used skilfully, both aspects of customer relationship management (CRM) can provide superior service, drive innovation and raise profitability.

Companies are pinning high hopes on investments in converged IP networks to help improve customer service and the quality of their customer relationships, according to a global survey of senior executives conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit for AT&T.

• Fully 73% of survey respondents cited better collaboration with customers, suppliers and partners as the most important benefit of network convergence to their business.
  
  
• 39% of respondents expect to move their contact centres on to an IP network within the next two years.
  
  
• 42% of executives say their firms will utilise web chat or messaging in two years’ time, compared with 16% today.
  
  
• More strikingly, nearly half (47%) of the companies in our survey plan to communicate with customers via video link in two years, compared with just 9% today.
  

These and other findings are presented in a new report called 'Customer service in an IP world', which is available to download now.

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