As broadband access becomes a mass-market service, subscribers are flooding customer-support lines with questions and problems, many of which have nothing to do with the broadband service itself. Faced with escalating costs in providing this customer service, some service providers are now creating fee-based customer-support services that will help consumers deal with PC and application issues, in addition to trouble-shooting their broadband services.

BT has already launched such a service, after conducting a market trial, and BellSouth said last week it will trial a Managed Home Service in Atlanta. In each case, the service provider is agreeing to provide PC support, including handling spyware, software upgrades and troubleshooting, for which customers will pay.

Analysts say such services are a good idea and are encouraging broadband providers of all types to consider establishing well-defined boundaries for what customer service they will provide for free and what consumers will have to purchase, either through direct fees or monthly subscriptions.

“It's a trend in the making,” said David Deans, a private consultant who has been working on customer-support issues. “We are now at the point of middle- to late-phase adopters of broadband. These folks need help and support and not just in the initial set-up. If the calls are coming into the service provider anyway, they need to be prepared to handle them. The time to prepare for this onslaught is not later, it's right now.”

A recent Harris Interactive poll shows more consumers are willing to adopt new technology but see customer service as a significant factor (see chart).

Deans' research, and that of others, show that a growing percentage of calls to the service provider are the result of PC problems, including spyware issues, or the consumer's need to do more, such as use home networks or digital cameras.

“In cases of complexity, consumers will call the first 800 number they can find,” said Boyd Peterson, analyst with the Yankee Group. “If you have ever tried to find an 800 number for Microsoft or Dell, you know they are hard to find. When you do find them, they are often associated with a fee-based service. But you can open any phonebook, or look on your bill, to reach the telco or the cable company. They have always been the default.”

In contrast to early adopters, newer broadband customers don't necessarily understand where the network stops and the PC starts, Peterson added.

“The line between the PC, the operating system, the portal and the application to most consumers is completely blurred,” he said. “You throw a home network in there, and consumers don't tend to view this as a set of discrete components.”

As a result, service provider help desks get calls from consumers asking to reset an eBay password or help download iTunes, Deans said. The consumer will even get angry if a telco service rep can't provide that assistance.

“You can't just hang up on that kind of call,” he said. “It may be the difference between an ongoing customer and a retention problem.”

The flood of consumer calls will only get worse as new services are introduced that link PCs with set-tops and phones in the transition to the digital home.

“If they are finding this basic broadband access with a little bit of consumer device activity to be difficult, what on earth is it going to be like when they offer VoIP and compound that with IPTV?” Dean asked.

BT took the leap because its major push to make DSL 100% available in the U.K. revealed massive demand for help that the carrier believes will only get worse.

“The timing is critical,” said David Sales, sales and marketing director for BT Entertainment, speaking at a Motive customer conference held in Austin, Texas, in November. “If we don't [set up a fee-based support service] now when only a few of our customers have things like home networks, it will be a huge task later.”

BT ran a trial of a premium customer-support service and found that people were willing to pay for the help. Forty percent of those involved said they would pay {10 per month — about $17 — to be able to call in and get problems solved, Sales said.

BellSouth was also finding its customer support reps were spending much of their time tackling questions unrelated to its services, the spokeswoman said. The quality of the service provided varied depending on the expertise of the individual service rep, something BellSouth will change with Home Managed Service.

BellSouth is trialing Home Managed Service in metro Atlanta with its Fast Access DSL customers. Using remote IT diagnostic tools that enable a support rep to “take over” a customer's computer to determine what is wrong, BellSouth technicians will help customers with issues regarding their PCs, digital cameras, software and more, a spokeswoman said. Service fees will vary, depending on the nature of the help provided, and technicians will be available for both on-the-phone and in-home assistance.

Service providers should look at a premium level of customer support as a differentiator in the competitive market, said Kenny Van Zant, executive vice president of Motive, which makes software that enables remote management of in-home devices.

“[Premium fee-based support] is one of those services that lets an operator walk more gently into management of the digital home,” he said. “You are going to go there, you need to just get there. Broadband service providers need to make the investment, whether in more complex CPE or taking a broader range of support calls, or better training of your staff. ”

One key to success in setting up a premium fee-based customer support service is clarity in managing customer expectations, the experts say.

Service providers “need to be clear about the boundaries and set expectations correctly,” said Van Zant. Customers need to understand exactly what they are expected to pay for and what they are getting in return.

“Many of our customers have market tested this, and we have seen independent third-party research that confirms that there is a pretty broad part of the market that will pay for and respect what is free support and what is additional support,” he said.

It is also important to set up a very structured referral list that doesn't depend on the judgment of the service rep, Deans said, and to realize that different types of customers need different types of support.

There is danger of a customer backlash, Yankee Group's Peterson admitted, which is why it's imperative for carriers to move quickly to position their paid customer support, much as retailers and car dealers have positioned extended warranties.

“The phone company has always been there, in terms of answering the phone to provide customer service,” he said. “Now they are trying to move more to where the rest of the marketplace has been. They are weighing the risk of negative customer reaction against the cost risk of having to take the burden of that support. That math is being more and more easy to work out — they cannot sustainably support every call that is coming in.”

“We just don't have a choice,” Sales said. “This is something we have to do.”

FACTORS CONSIDERED WHEN ACQUIRING

NEW TECHNOLOGY

“Thinking about your comfort level with new technology, please rate each of the following factors that might be considered when acquiring a new piece of electronic equipment (e.g., cell phone, TV, home computer, etc.).”

Ease of use	61%
Customer service	58%
No-hassle installation	57%
Getting a thorough understanding on how it works	53%
Warranty	50%
Easy to switch back if I don't like the new product/service	50%
Contract length or other commitment	50%
Comparisons to what I have now	29%
Brand of the company offering the product or service	23%
Source: Harris Interactive® online survey conducted in September 2005 among 1,174 U.S. adults aged 18 and over. Sampling error is +/-3 percentage points.