Smartphones make travel easier

 

An article in USA Today recently showed how people are becoming more and more reliant on their smartphone when away from home.

"Beyond online maps and travel guides, travelers are turning to their phones to look up aircraft seat configuration, track taxis, reply to early hotel check-in requests, order room service and locate nearby colleagues."

Read the full article here.

In the past, people have tended to leave their phone off as much as possible when overseas to avoid roaming charges. However, as more and more people see their phone as a vital tool when travelling, we realised a solution was needed to make sure you can keep the convenience of using your phone overseas without spending too much to do so. 

So if you are one of the "growing army of tech-savvy travelers whose smartphones are transforming their travel habits" don't forget to check out our new Truphone Local Anywhere service before you leave!

(image via USA Today)

G'day Australia - the newest Truphone Local Anywhere country

As the sole Australian working at Truphone's UK office, I am very excited about the following Truphone news.

Australia has just been announced as the third Truphone Local Anywhere country, from mid-2010, following on from the UK and USA.

This has been made possible by a partnership between Truphone and Optus, one of Australia's leading telecommunications providers.

I am very excited about this because, as an expatriate Australian living in the UK, from mid-2010 I can add an Australian phone number and Australian local rates to my Truphone Local Anywhere SIM, alongside my UK number and rates, and all my friends and family (and especially my mum!) in Australia can then call me for the cost of a local call, even though I am on the other side of the world.

And when I go back home to visit, I can avoid paying roaming rates when making and receiving calls, send text messages and use data. 

You can read all about the partnership in today's press release.

(image via Behmor)

Miracles happen at Truphone

"Truphone has its own killer app that neither Skype nor Google has – you can get through to a real human being when things go wrong. Miracles can happen."

This comment on Truphone's Customer Service's department featured in a recent article on The Guardian's Technology pages. It got me thinking about different support methods and the result vs frustration they entail.

Today, it is difficult to imagine calling a customer service/support department and not being met by an automated voice system. As a customer service Representative I understand their purpose, but when you have a technical issue or query you just want sorted it can be infuriating.

There are many different ways of communicating with a customer service/support department all aimed at providing the customer with an improved service (at least they should) whilst cutting costs for the business. Gone are the days of 'first come first served' within the support world, it's now a case of priority, with many automated voice systems sorting the callers queue position depending on the issue.

Most recently I went to call O2's customer service department but before I did I noticed ‘Lucy’ on their customer support web page. Lucy was luring me in with the line "Asking Lucy is the easiest way to get help online" and so, I clicked Lucy's smiling face. What looked like a 'live chat' screen popped up, Lucy was asking how she could help, and so I typed a question. Unfortunately this wasn't a live chat service (that I've used successfully before on dabs.com) but an FAQ search function with a face. Not impressed. The answer returned was suitably non-helpful and I felt deflated that I would, after all, need to make a phone call.

However new support technologies aren't all bad and I do believe they get a bad name – how often do people complain about a customer service experience, and how rarely do you take the time to say something positive?

Truphone's customer service department do utilise an automated voice system which filters the calls depending on the device. As much as this may not be to every customer’s approval it aids the customer service representative to provide the best support. It also provides the business with invaluable information so we can develop our products and services.

Over the coming months some changes are happening within Truphone's customer service department that should improve the customer experience. If you have any ideas or comments then please let us know.